Navigating Stepwise Lifestyle Mobilities via the Global South: Japanese Migrant Families’ Negotiation of Educational and Lifestyle Aspirations in Malaysia

Abstract

Studies of the transnational migration of East Asian families have examined how they enhance their status and well-being by moving their children to schools in Western anglophone countries. Although recent studies have identified Southeast Asia as a new, affordable destination for less affluent families, we do not know their future transnational trajectories. To fill this gap, this study employed interview data from 46 Japanese families who had migrated to Malaysia with their children and investigated how they navigated their transnational mobilities from Malaysia. To explain their pattern, I introduce the concept of ‘stepwise lifestyle mobilities’, transnational mobility pathways adopted by relatively affluent people from developed countries, who may face constraints due to factors such as race, ethnicity, limited global experience or financial limitations but a desire for an international experience. They start from a low-cost, low-risk country like Malaysia and seek staged lifestyle migration regionally and/or globally.