Dear SSJ-Forum member,
The Department of East Asian Studies - Japanese Studies at the University of Vienna would like to draw your attention to the upcoming hybrid u:japan lecture:

Nanase Shirota:
"Precarious stepping stones: Transnational Japanese Hostesses in London and their labour, career and gendered migration"

Date and time: Thursday, October 24, 2024, 18:00~19:30 (CEST, UTC +2h)

Location: Onsite @ Campus of the University of Vienna Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies room JAP 1 (2K-EG-21), University Campus Hof 2.4, Spitalgasse 2, 1090 Vienna, Austria
https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/index.php?id=23548#c646040

Online: Join the lecture via Zoom (no registration necessary):
https://univienna.zoom.us/j/65936537065?pwd=bQ9LvhgCjek39oUwXwOGqxUKjFI3vE.1
Meeting-ID: 659 3653 7065 | Passcode: 011083

Abstract: Some single Japanese women go abroad to places such as London, Los Angeles, and Southeast Asia for a variety of reasons, and work as hostesses entertaining Japanese (and other Asian) men in nightclubs. These women - transnational Japanese hostesses - are a subject from the North largely overlooked in surveys of global intimate labour. This talk focuses on Japanese hostesses working in London. These women, typically in their 20s and 30s, are often working holidaymakers or students. Their personal narratives reveal that they try to compensate for their lack of social and linguistic capital by selling femininity, Japaneseness and communication. Moreover, their stories disclose some structural factors, such as the diversification of intimate work on a global scale, that influence their decision to pursue this line of work, which eventually led them to gendered migration. First, Nanase Shirota (University of Cambridge, UK) will present these hostesses' personal narratives and explain the structural elements that influence their work choices and career paths. Second, based on these analyses, she argues that they use hostess work as a stepping-stone for their own goals, whilst these jobs and strategies eventually draw them back to 'their own place', which they had initially decided to leave. Finally, she will share some findings from her most recent fieldwork in Amsterdam, Ho Chi Minh City, and Kuala Lumpur.

For more information on the speaker and future events at u:japan, please follow the link below:
https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/

We look forward to your participation!
Christopher Kummer, Florian Purkarthofer, Elisabeth Semmler, Astrid Unger and Ralf Windhab

PS: If you missed a lecture or want to review, head to our recorded lectures section:
https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/ujapanlectures/records/

u:japan lectures
Department of East Asian Studies / Japanese Studies at the University of Vienna
E-mail: ujapanlectures.ostasien@univie.ac.at

Kindly sponsored by the Toshiba International Foundation:
https://www.toshibafoundation.com/