Dissertation

Educated Muslim women in a non-Muslim world: navigating identities in Sendai, Japan

On Wednesday 3 September 2025 Yu Ai successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Author

Y. Ai

Date

03 September 2025

Links

Leiden Repository

This dissertation explores the lived experience of young Muslim women originating from diverse backgrounds who have come to Sendai, Japan, in pursuit of educational and professional opportunities. It examines how these women navigate the intersections of their religious, gender, and ethnic identities within a society that remains largely unfamiliar with Islam. By doing so, the study offers empirical insights into the ways Muslim immigrants experience integration in non-Muslim Japan, providing a perspective that diverges from the predominant focus on Western contexts in existing scholarship. At the same time, it reveals how Japan, a country historically ingrained with the myth of cultural and ethnic homogeneity, is responding to the growing diversity and multiculturalism brought about by increasing immigration within Asia.

Supervisor: Prof.dr. I.B. Smits
Co-supervisor: Dr. J. Rana

• area studies
• japan
• japan studies