A 2023 survey by the Japan Cabinet Office offers a stark picture of the scale of domestic abuse and its different guises: More than 1 in 4 married people have experienced some form of spousal violence, with 9% of women reporting financial abuse.
When the victim happens to be non-Japanese, she may be burdened with further social pressures or judgments. Foreign wives in Japan are often viewed as one of two contrasting stereotypes, says Aya Kitamura, an associate professor at Tsuda University. Women from other Asian countries are frequently portrayed as having “come from a poor country to find happiness in a wealthy one,” while Western women are instead framed as “strong, independent women who chose their Japanese partners.”
Kitamura says these “polarized stereotypes” may sometimes prevent women from recognizing their own abuse when they “fall outside society’s dominant images.”
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