Maendeleo and Manhood: Kenyan Runners in Japan

For the most fortunate men who make it out of Kenya, success in distance running while being in Japan is not the main priority. Their primary focus as migrants is to expedite the process of matching images of manliness in Kenya that are critical to their own understanding of success. I explore here the main challenges to their actualization of themselves as “real men.” I argue that the deliberate displays of maendeleo—a Swahili term meaning a sense of forward momentum and making progress—are critical to how they frame themselves as successful men. They aim to avoid becoming “inferior men,” or even worse, being labeled useless back in Kenya.