Weblog narratives of Japanese migrant women in Australia: Consequences of international mobility and migration

• This paper draws attention to the personal weblogs written by Japanese migrant women in Australia.
• Entries in these weblogs elucidate their daily experiences, thoughts, concerns, and feelings.
• Blog data provide rich personal accounts of migrant experiences from the first-hand positions of migrants.
• It critiques celebratory attitudes toward global mobility by discussing the disadvantages of migration.

This paper draws attention to the personal weblogs written by Japanese migrant women in Australia. Entries in these weblogs elucidate their daily experiences, thoughts, concerns, and feelings. Blog data provide rich personal accounts of migrant experiences from the first-hand experiences of migrants. Based on collected blog entries, this paper details Japanese spouses’ settlement experiences in Australia by highlighting issues of language and culture, and critiques celebratory attitudes toward international mobility by discussing the disadvantages of migration. While mobility to western countries is often romanticized and regarded as a symbol of emancipation for Japanese women, diasporic subjects still confront social exclusion and marginalization in an adopted society. Migrants’ struggles and difficulties remain even in Australia, which is a country generally perceived as a multicultural society that has a large number of migrants and a long history of immigration.