Japanese Fathers in the United States: Negotiating Different Cultural Expectations

• Main Author: Abe, Yuka
• Format: Others
• Published: Digital Archive @ GSU 2006
• Subjects: Japanese fathers in the United States; cultural expectations; fatherhood; paternal conduct; situational adjustment; cognitive boundaries; Sociology
• Online Access: http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/sociology_theses/2; http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=sociology_theses

Japanese fathers residing abroad have not been given much attention in Japanese scholarship. In this study, I examine how Japanese fathers in the United States negotiate between Japanese and American cultural expectations regarding fatherhood. Relying on a symbolic interactionist perspective, and through qualitative research involving in-depth interviews with 24 Japanese fathers who live in the United States for business, I focus on the men's culture, conduct, and self-identification. My interviews suggest that Japanese fathers who temporarily stay in the United States usually adhere to Japanese culture and, accordingly, live up to Japanese expectations of fatherhood. Thus, paternal modifications influenced by expectations from close associates are due not to their embracing American fatherhood, but rather to their "situational adjustment." Ultimately, this is a study of cognitive boundaries and of how people decide to internalize cultural expectations different than their own.