Masako Tanaka

Masako Tanaka is a practitioner, activist and academic focusing on gender and migration issues in Japan. She is a professor at the Department of Global Studies at Sophia University, Japan.

Migrant women in Japan often abort any unintended pregnancy through self-medication or give birth without legal status for children due to limited access to contraceptive options and policy gaps on reproductive health and rights. My research addresses these problems, not only for migrants but also for all women in Japan.

Areas of expertise: Gender, migration, development, South Asia

Selected media coverage

Improving reproductive health - Impact, November 9, 2020

Making emergency contraceptives more accessible (in Japanese) - Japan In Depth, March 15, 2019

Why there is less acceptance towards female contraception in Japan (in Japanese) - Business Insider Japan, April 3, 2019.

Filipinos and Nepalese face challenges in Japan even as their communities grow - The Japan Times, January 3, 2018.

Experts warn Japan's language schools are becoming a front for importing cheap labor - The Japan Times, January 3, 2017

From Chitwan to Chiyoda - Nepali Times, December 29, 2017.

Selected publications

Roles of Migrant Organizations as Transnational Civil Societies in Their Residential Communities: A Case Study of Nepalese Organizations in Japan. Japan Review of Cultural Anthropology, 2019. Link
Advocating Sex Workers' Rights by Identity-Based Associations in Nepal. Asian Journal of Law and Society, 2020. Link
Nepalese migrants in Japan: What is holding them back in getting access to healthcare by Masako Tanaka and Prakash Shakya. PLOS ONE, 2018. Link
Self-help Organisations as Interfaces for the Integration of Nepalese Migrants: A Case Study in Ota and Oizumi, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. Settling Down: The Struggles of Migrant Workers to Adapt, 2017. Link