“Reverse Marriage Migration”: A Case Study of Japanese Brides in Bali

Abstract

Most of the existing literature on international marriage in Asia focuses on Southeast Asian brides marrying into East Asian families, particularly those in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. Our study examines a “reverse” case, that is, Japanese women marrying Southeast Asian males and settling with their husband's families in Southeast Asia. Primarily based on qualitative data from in-depth interviews in Bali (Indonesia) in 2010, this article explains why and how reverse marriage migration takes place from the Japanese wives' point of view. Unlike the “usual” marriage migration that is often purposely and even commercially brokered, reverse marriage migration typically resulted from the Japanese women's self-discovery journeys, which were in turn driven by various structural conditions in Japanese society. After marriage, the women desired to be integrated in the local community and were committed to the extended family norm. The article concludes that reverse marriage migration is a unique aspect of the grassroots transnational relationship between Japan and Southeast Asian societies.