ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the processes and social conditions through which some Filipinas in Japan have become what one might call 'transnational un-mothers', who are vilified both in the Catholic Philippines and in Japan. It begins with a brief exploration of the citizenship concept as it relates to the women's lives. The chapter describes important routes of numerous Filipinas' migration abroad and the historical context in which they developed postcolonial desires to go to Japan. It provides ethnographic accounts that demonstrate some of the ways through which many Filipinas wished to leave the Philippines, married Japanese men, and struggled to achieve marital and social citizenships in Japan. Citizenship is perhaps one of the most discussed concepts in contemporary migration studies. The multiplicity of citizenship means that its different dimensions engender different belongings to different groups, which may cut across national and other social and geographical boundaries.
