I wrote this article on June 22, 2014. Since then, Japanese women have seen some changes in their status in Japanese society. Their efforts to break through traditional gender roles has taken several decades to get to their current point. In fact, more Japanese women work today than American women. But Japan’s traditional female roles remain an influence. The Conclusion of this article touches on the continued challenges Japanese women face. I’ve updated this article to reflect the new information.
This article focuses on women’s gender roles in modern Japan; we cannot discuss these roles without touching on gender role history and the roles of men. Male and female roles influence each other. History shapes these roles too. My previous article about gender expectations in Japan, gives you a brief outline of Japan’s history with gender roles.
Brief History of Female Gender Roles
Confucian ideals influenced Japan. Confucian society focuses on the family. Men are the heads of the household; women are dependent on the men. Each have predefined roles. Confucian society expect women to marry, produce heirs, and over see the household. Until just after World War II, Japanese culture favored arranged marriages. Although folklore expressed love within these marriages as the ideal, marriage remained a business contract between families and within the community. For example, the folktale “The Death of Cho” focuses on the community aspect of marriage on a small island:
On Hatsushima Island, a beautiful girl named Cho became known for her charm and refinement. At the age of eighteen, every young man on the island had fallen in love with her, but few dared to ask. Among them was a handsome twenty-year-old fisherman named Shinsaku.
Shinsaku approached Cho’s brother Gisuke about his prospects. Gisuke rather liked Shinsaku and didn’t have a problem with Shinsaku marrying his sister. In fact, he suspected their mother would also approve of Shinsaku if she was still alive.
So Gisuke went to speak with this sister. “You know, you really should marry soon. You are eighteen, and we don’t want spinsters on Hatsushima or girls brought from the mainland to marry our men. Shinsaku would be a good match.”
She rolled her eyes. “Please spare me the talk about being a spinster again. I don’t intend to remain single. Out of all the men of the island, I’d rather marry Shinsaku.”
This delighted Gisuke. He and Shinsaku decided to hold the wedding in three days. As news of this spread, the other men of the island grew angry at Shinsaku. The men ignored their fishing as they debated about a way to thwart Shinsaku and give each of them a fair chance at winning Cho’s hand. Some disagreements even broke into fistfights.
The news of the fights and grumbling reache Gisuke and Shinsaku. They consulted with Cho and agreed that to break off the marriage for the island’s peace. But this did little to take the kettle off the fire. Each day, fights broke out among the thirty bachelors of the island. Depressed that her happiness and life could cause such hardship in the village, Cho decided she had only one recourse. She wrote two letters, one for Gisuke and one for Shinsaku.
“For over three hundred years our people have lived happily and peacefully. Now because of me, all we have is fighting and anger. It would be better if I hadn’t been born. So I’ve decided to die to bring everyone back to my senses. Please tell them this. Farewell.”
After leaving the letters next to the sleeping Gisuke, she slipped out of the house and into a stormy night. She climbed the rocks near their cottage and leaped into the sea.
The next morning, Gisuke found the letters. He rushed out to find Shinsaku. After they read the letters, they went out to search for her, knowing that they were already too late. They found her straw sandals on the rocks near her home, and Gisuke knew she had jumped into the sea. He and Shinsaku dived and founder her body on the seabed. They brought it back to the surface and buried it near the outcropping she leaped from.
From that day, Shinsaku couldn’t sleep. He kept Cho’s letter and straw sandals near his bed, surrounded by flowers. Each day he visited her tomb. As the days passed and his grief increased, Shinsaku decided his only recourse was to join her. He went to her tomb to stay goodbye. He happened to look up on the rocks and saw her standing there.
“Cho!” he shouted and ran toward her.
See Also100 examples of how to apologize professionally in an emailUnderstanding Scales and Scale Drawings - A Guide[Top 10] Oxygen Not Included Best SeedsHow Are Shoes Made?Shinsaku’s shout woke Gisuke. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“I saw her,” Shinsaku said. “I was going to jump into the sea so I could find her, but then she showed herself.”
Gisuke made a noise deep in his throat as he thought. “She did that to stop you. She wouldn’t want you to die. Rather, you should dedicate your life to something. Tell you what, I will help you build a shrine to her. She will wait for you to die naturally. You can please her by never marrying anyone else.”
Shinsaku nodded. “How could I marry another woman?”
Cho’s death had shaken the other bachelors of the island. When they learned Shinsaku and Gisuke started building a shrine to Cho, they joined them. The shrine was called “The Shrine of O Cho-san of Hatsushima.” On the anniversary of her death, each June 10th, the islanders held a ceremony in her memory. Every June 10th, it rained. The fisherman wrote a song in her honor:
Today is the tenth of June. May the rain fall in torrents!
For I long to see my dearest O Cho-san.
Hi, Hi, Ya-re-ko-no-sa! Ya-re-ko-no-sa!
As a part of the contract, a wife could be returned to her family if she failed to produce an heir or caused too much disruption in the husband’s family. Family lineage was more important than marriage. Ideally, three generations would live under a single roof.
During the Tokugawa Shogunate (1602-1868), women did not legally exist. Women could not own property and were subordinate to men in every way (Friedman, 1992).
Gradually, Confucian family ideals shifted. The largest shift happened after World War II. In 1946, the Japanese Constitution revised a set of laws that defined Japanese family relations. The Civil Code of 1947 granted woman every possible legal right:
- Women could own property.
- Women could inherit a family estate.
- Women could marry and divorce freely.
- Women gained parental rights.
- Women could vote.
Women were granted additional rights. The revised Civil Code sought to create equality between the sexes. Despite legal equality, in practice women were not equal. The Civil Code was a marked shift in thinking. Before, a woman was expected to be dependent on her father, her husband, and finally on her eldest son. All were heads of the household. Now, should could be the head of the household (Sato, 1987).
Women were still expected to protect the household. Men were expected to be the breadwinners (Cooper, 2013; Sato, 1987; Saito, 2007 ).
Chores and Marriage
In 2007, Japanese men average only 30 minutes of housework, child care, and elder care each day (North, 2009). This is regardless of how much the wife works. Wives are expected to shoulder these tasks. Although this is changing. Part of the slow pace of change simply has to do with time. In Japan, men are often overworked and underpaid. They live their jobs.
- Men are expected to be ideal workers, putting the goals of the company first.
- Children are entitled to having a full-time parent.
Women are expected to be this full-time parent. The man simply cannot be a full-time parent with the demands of his company (mandatory over time, for example). Women are entitled to not much beyond motherhood; men are not entitled to much beyond work (Bae, 2010).
Women’s happiness is found only in marriage, according to tradition. Women marry between 22-27 years old. It was not uncommon for women to be socially outcast if she failed to marry by 27. However, this is changing. It is becoming more acceptable for both men and women to marry later in life.
Traditional Family Structure
The problems Japanese woman face relate to the traditional family structure. This system is called the ie. The head of the household was responsible for finding a marriage partner for the family’s heir. Married women had to produce an heir. This structure continues in how a husband and wife refer to each other in public (Kawamura, 2011) :
- shujin – used by a wife to address her husband in public. It means “house master.”
- kanai – used by a husband to address his wife in public. It means “one who remains inside the home.”
In Japan, children are almost exclusively birthed within marriage. Unmarried women make up only 2% of births. Marriage and children are synonymous (Kawamura, 2011; Saito, 1987).
While the traditional structure and societal expectations seem to work against women, they work equally against men. Men who do not want to work long hours or want to be stay at home dads face criticism.
The Three Submissions
In the ie tradition, women submitted to male authority in three ways (Cooper, 2013).
- When young, she submits to her father.
- When married, she submits to her husband.
- When old, she submits to her sons.
Motherhood is considered the defining characteristic of a woman. Motherhood is adulthood in many regards. Many young Japanese women struggle to form their own sense of identity apart from this cultural expectation. The idea of shojo caused a stir when it first appeared because it was between girlhood and motherhood. Kawaii bunka, culture of cute, tried to form an identity between girlhood and motherhood apart from the expected three submissions. It is becoming more common for single women in their late twenties to early thirties to be recognized as shakaijin – members of society, but they still face social pressure to marry (Pike and Borovoy, 2004).
The Shifts in Female Gender Role
Phew, with all of that behind us, some of you might be a little upset. Women are making strides toward equality in Japan. Equality benefits men as much as it does women. Some women crave gender-defined tasks despite the progress of equality. Filling these roles (such as shopping and taking a dinner menu request from the husband) is seen as intimacy and validation (North, 2009). That’s why you see man anime girls make bento boxes to express their affection.
Moving away from traditional roles opens both men and women up to problems. Many follow the traditional method to avoid rocking the boat with family members. Even “modern” families, those that try to evenly divide work and family obligations, keep some of the traditional roles. The roles kept vary. Advertising is slowly catching up with this role negotiation. Fathers are more fashionable and there are even magazines dedicated to fatherhood (North, 2009).
I will outline some of the shifts in women’s gender roles and effects of these shifts:
- Both men and women express strong intentions to marry. In Japan, like in the United States, marriage is a marker of adulthood (Kawamura, 2011).
- Married women in Japan increasingly hold part-time and full-time jobs (North, 2009; Japan Times, 2012).
- Dual income households report less stress on the husband compared to traditional households (Bae, 2010).
- Both men and women feel more satisfied in dual income households that share family roles (Bae, 2010). The sharing of family roles is slowly increasing.
- Japan faces a shortage of children because of the shifting roles of women, economic realities, and the reluctance of many men to share what was once considered female tasks (Kawamura, 2011).
- Despite the changes, Japanese TV still portrays traditional gender roles: men hold male jobs (police officer, soldier etc); women hold traditionally female jobs (housewife, nurse, etc). This is thought to slow role changes across most demographics (Shinichi, 2007).
- Women are increasingly educated. Like in the United States, Japanese women with college level education are overtaking men.
Preference for Daughters
Increasingly, families want to have daughters rather than sons. Woman favor daughters more than men, yet men also increasingly favor daughters over sons. Remember, Japan shares Confucian views with China and Korea. Sons are supposed to carry on the family name. Traditional-minded men tend to favor sons. Traditional-minded women favor daughters.
The preference for daughters points to a continuation of tradition in regards to women and a more liberal view with men. Women may favor daughters because they want the daughter to help in traditional roles: care giver and companion. (Fuse, n.d.).
Conclusion
Like in the United States, Japanese women have a distance to go to achieve full equality. Japanese women work outside the home in greater numbers than American women. As of 2016, more Japanese women had jobs than American women. 74.3% vs. 76.3%. However, this doesn’t reflect in wages or academics. A Japanese woman earns 73% of a man at the same level. Japanese women account for 49% of university students, but they only make up 14% of faculty positions. In business, Japanese women account for 2% of positions on boards of directors and 1% of executive committee members. They also make up less than 1% of CEOs (Diamond, 2019).
Japanese women continue to struggle against misogyny and objectification. In Japanese media, you see women fall between the goddess problem and objectification. In both cases, she isn’t seen as a person. Men also have less-than flattering portrayals in media. Often, men appear driven by sex and other base motivators.
The structure of Japan’s businesses doesn’t help matters. Most Japanese women want to work, but many also want to have children. Japanese companies invest on training employees and offer a life-long job. In return, they expect employees to work long hours and remain with the company for life (Diamond, 2019). Women don’t want to work such long hours and want time off to have children. They also may not return to work after having a child because of the lingering traditional pressures. This all adds up to companies being reluctant to offer high-level positions to women and to pay them equally with men. It will take more time to change Japan’s corporate culture.
These factors combine with people’s reluctance to get married, resulting in Japan’s low birthrate. Remember, only 2% of births happen outside of marriage. Increasingly, Japanese people don’t consider marriage necessary for a fulfilling life. Marriage can be a financial catastrophe for women because of the corporate culture. However, the decline in population will reduce the resource strain Japan currently experiences. Right now, Japan imports much of its raw resources, which isn’t sustainable.
Japanese women have made strides toward the ability to balance career and family, but it still remains an either or proposition. Tradition will continue to be an influence for decades to come.
References
Bae, J. (2010). Gender Role Division in Japan and Korea: The Relationship between Realities and Attitudes. Journal Of Political Science & Sociology, (13), 71-85.
Cooper, J. (2013). The Roles of Women, Animals, and Nature in Traditional Japanese and Western
Folk Tales Carry Over into Modern Japanese and Western Culture .
Diamond, Jared (2019) Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis. New York, Little, Brown and Company.
Friedman, S. (1992). Women in Japanese Society: Their Changing Roles. http://www2.gol.com/users/friedman/writings/p1.html
Fuse, K. (n.d). Daughter preference in Japan: A reflection of gender role attitudes?. Demographic Research, 281021-1051.
Kawamura, S. (2011). Marriage in Japan: attitudes, intentions, and perceived barriers. (Electronic Thesis or Dissertation). Retrieved from https://etd.ohiolink.edu/
Kazuko Sato, E., Mitsuyo Suzuki, E., & Kawamura, M. (1987). THE CHANGING STATUS OF WOMEN IN JAPAN. International Journal Of Sociology Of The Family, 17(1), 88.
“Married Women Want to Work.” The Japan Times. N.p., 4 June 2012. Web. 4 Mar. 2013.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2012/06/04/editorials/married-women-want-to-work/
NORTH, S. (2009). Negotiating What’s ‘Natural’: Persistent Domestic Gender Role Inequality in Japan. Social Science Japan Journal, 12(1), 23-44.
Pike, K. & Borovoy, A. (2004). The Rise of Eating Disorders in Japan: Issues of Culture and Limitations of the Model of “Westernization.” Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 28:493–531
Shinichi, S. (2007). Television and the Cultivation of Gender-Role Attitudes in Japan: Does Television Contribute to the Maintenance of the Status Quo?. Journal Of Communication, 57(3), 511-531. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2007.00355.x
