Japan

Women and the Economic Miracle: Gender and Work in Postwar Japan

Citation:

Brinton, Mary C. 1994. Women and the Economic Miracle: Gender and Work in Postwar Japan. Berkley: University of California Press.

Author: Mary C. Brinton

Annotation:

Summary:
This lucid, hard-hitting book explores a central paradox of the Japanese economy: the relegation of women to low-paying, dead-end jobs in a workforce that depends on their labor to maintain its status as a world economic leader. Drawing upon historical materials, survey and statistical data, and extensive interviews in Japan, Mary Brinton provides an in-depth and original examination of the role of gender in Japan's phenomenal postwar economic growth.

Brinton finds that the educational system, the workplace, and the family in Japan have shaped the opportunities open to female workers. Women move in and out of the workforce depending on their age and family duties, a great disadvantage in a system that emphasizes seniority and continuous work experience. Brinton situates the vicious cycle that perpetuates traditional gender roles within the concept of human capital development, whereby Japanese society "underinvests" in the capabilities of women. The effects of this underinvestment are reinforced indirectly as women sustain male human capital through unpaid domestic labor and psychological support.

Brinton provides a clear analysis of a society that remains misunderstood, but whose economic transformation has been watched with great interest by the industrialized world. (Summary from Google Books)
 
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
 
2. Women in the Japanese and U.S. Economies
 
3. Human Capital Development Systems
 
4. The Evolution of a Gendered Employment System
 
5. Gendered Work Lives
 
6. Gendered Education
 
7. Conclusion


 

Topics: Age, Development, Economies, Education, Gender, Gender Roles, Households, Livelihoods, Post-Conflict Regions: Asia, East Asia Countries: Japan

Year: 1994

Men and Nature: Hegemonic Masculinities and Environmental Change

Citation:

MacGregor, Sherilyn, and Nicole Seymour, eds. 2017. “Men and Nature: Hegemonic Masculinities and Environmental Change.” RCC Perspectives: Transformations in Environment and Society (4), 1-93.

Authors: Sherilyn MacGregor, Nicole Seymour

Annotation:

Summary:
Drawing on ecofeminist theory, environmental politics, and queer theory and ecology, this volume sheds light on the connections between masculinities and environmental change. The essays in this collection examine how hegemonic masculinities are performed and how they are reproduced under conditions of climate change, often perpetuating racial and gender inequalities and unequal power relations. The contributors reveal the making and negotiating of masculinities in very different cultural and economic settings, from central Africa to Central America, to the USA and Japan. Together, these scholars, academics, artists, and activists explore how masculine roles, identities, and practices shape human relationships with the more-than-human world. (Summary from Environment & Society Portal)
 
Table of Contents:
Foreword: Masculinities in the Sociocene
Raewyn Connell
 
Introduction
Sherilyn MacGregor and Nicole Seymour
 
1. Representing Disaster with Resignation and Nostalgia: Japanese Men’s Responses to the 2011 Earthquake
Naoki Kambe
 
2. Excuse Us, While We Fix the Sky: WEIRD Supermen and Climate Engineering
Jim Fleming
 
3. Of Storms, Floods, and Flying Sharks: The Extreme Weather Hero in Contemporary American Culture
Susanne Leikam
 
4. Masculinity, Work, and the Industrial Forest in the US Pacific Northwest
Erik Loomis
 
5. Every Day Like Today: Learning How to Be a Man in Love (An Excerpt from the Manuscript)
Alex Carr Johnson
 
6. Inventing Bushcraft: Masculinity, Technology, and Environment in Central Africa, ca. 750–1250
Kathryn M. de Luna
 
7. “The Love of the Chase Is an Inherent Delight in Man”: Hunting and Masculine Emotions in the Victorian Zoologist’s Travel Memoir
Will Abberley
 
8. Rural Masculinities in Tension: Barriers to Climate Change Adaptation in Nicaragua
Noémi Gonda
 
9. Taking Up Space: Men, Masculinity, and the Student Climate Movement
Jody Chan and Joe Curnow
 
10. Boys Will Be Boys (An Art Installation: Staged Wilderness and Male Dreams)
Nicola von Thurn

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Feminisms, Ecofeminism, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Race, Sexuality Regions: Africa, Central Africa, Americas, Central America, North America, Asia, East Asia Countries: Japan, Nicaragua, United States of America

Year: 2017

Sexual Violence, Masculinity, and Agency in Post-Surrender Japan, 1945

Citation:

Kramm, Robert. 2019. "Sexual Violence, Masculinity, and Agency in Post-Surrender Japan, 1945." Journal of Women's History 31 (1): 62-85.

Author: Robert Kramm

Abstract:

In the immediate post-surrender period in late summer 1945, thousands of American servicemen entered Japan. Despite Japanese authorities’ tactical planning of a “female floodwall” with brothels and other recreational facilities to distract the occupiers from the Japanese population, especially from Japanese women, and the occupiers’ demonstration of military power, the first physical encounter of occupiers and occupied in the “militarized peace” of occupied Japan was nevertheless accompanied by violence—sexual violence in particular. Contrary to the often-portrayed peaceful image of the American occupation of Japan, this article highlights sex and violence as significant markers for the asymmetrical power relations during the occupation period. It analyzes the arena of sexual violence in which Japanese police officers and administrators, as well as Japanese civilians, struggled to prevent and control, but also to articulate and instrumentalize, the occupiers’ sexual assaults.

Topics: Gender, Women, Masculinity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Masculinism, Livelihoods, Sexual Livelihoods, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Post-Conflict, Sexual Violence, Violence Regions: Asia, East Asia Countries: Japan

Year: 2019

Gender and Conflict in East Asia

Citation:

Bjarnegård, Elin, and Erik Melander. 2017. “Gender and Conflict in East Asia.” In Routledge Handbook of Asia in World Politics, edited by Teh-Kuang Chang and Angelin Chang. New York: Routledge.

Authors: Elin Bjarnegård , Erik Melander

Abstract:

In East Asia, as in the rest of the world, peace and conflict display clear gendered patterns. These patterns contribute both to a better understanding of peace and conflict per se, but gender is also of importance for grasping the causes and consequences of armed conflict. This chapter illustrates numerous ways in which a gender perspective contributes to the knowledge of issues of peace and conflict in East Asia. The constructivist argument points to some interesting possible ways in which changing gender relations may be working for peace in parts of East Asia. The view of China as an enemy is clearly the most widespread in South Korea, but the gender gap is very small with 36" of men and 34" of women thinking of China as an enemy. The gender gap is more evident in Japan where almost a quarter of the male population think of China as an enemy, while only 16" of women do.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Conflict, Gender, Peace Processes Regions: Asia, East Asia Countries: China, Japan, South Korea

Year: 2017

Representing Disaster with Resignation and Nostalgia: Japanese Men's Responses to the 2011 Earthquake

Citation:

Kambe, Naoki. 2017. “Representing Disaster with Resignation and Nostalgia: Japanese Men’s Responses to the 2011 Earthquake.” RCC Perspectives: Transformations in Environment and Society, no. 4, 15–22.

Author: Naoki Kambe

Annotation:

Summary:
Naoki Kambe explores the masculinist rhetoric of Japanese male intellectuals’ reactions to the 2011 earthquake. Through an analysis of several responses by Japanese male intellectuals and writers, Kambe explores how, in times of disaster, these intellectuals and writers express the cultural and masculine ideals of akirame, or resignation—which is linked to mujō, or the impermanence of nature—and of nostalgia for the remote past. In doing so, Kambe makes observations about the connections between masculinity and nation in the Japanese context. (Summary from Environment & Society Portal)

Topics: Environment, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Nationalism Regions: Asia, East Asia Countries: Japan

Year: 2017

What Is the Role of Mothers in Transit-Oriented Development? The Case of Osaka–Kyoto–Kobe, Japan

Citation:

Waygood, E. Owen D. 2011. “What Is the Role of Mothers in Transit-Oriented Development? The Case of Osaka–Kyoto–Kobe, Japan.” In Women’s Issues in Transportation: Summary of the 4th International Conference, Vol. 2: Technical Papers, 163-78. Washington, DC: Transportation Research Board of the National Academies.

Author: E. Owen D. Waygood

Abstract:

The majority of mothers in Japan are not employed outside the home, but their role in chauffeuring and accompanying children on their trips is much less than in Western societies. Cultural expectations and the built environment in the Osaka region of Japan contribute to children as young as 10 and 11 traveling without adult accompaniment for the majority of trips. This independent travel in turn reduces the chauffeuring burden on parents. The chauffeuring of children in the United States and other Western countries is conducted mostly by mothers, but the role of mothers in the travel context of their children’s travel has not been investigated for Japan. Children ages 10 and 11, from nine different schools in varying neighborhoods, were surveyed about their travel by using a child-friendly diary. The survey results show that parents accompanied children for less than 15% of their trips on weekdays, whereas data from the United States indicate that children are accompanied by a parent on more than 65% of weekday trips they make. The average daily travel time was 40 min for children in Japan versus 72 min for their American counterparts, despite a similar number of trips per day. The paper further examines children’s trips with the accompaniment of parents, by sex of parent, by time of day and mode, and by destination. The influence of various built environment measurements and car ownership on accompaniment and the accumulated time burden on parents is also examined. This research contributes to land use planning through examining the built environment and mobility management through discussion on cultural values.

Topics: Age, Youth, Gender, Households, Infrastructure, Transportation Regions: Asia, East Asia Countries: Japan

Year: 2011

Gender and Post-War Relief: Support for War-Widowed Mothers in Occupied Japan (1945-52)

Citation:

Takenaka, Akiko. 2016. “Gender and Post-War Relief: Support for War-Widowed Mothers in Occupied Japan (1945-52).” Gender & History 28 (3): 775–93. 

Author: Akiko Takenaka

Abstract:

This article analyses the gender implications that emerged through welfare support for the war‐bereaved in post‐Asia‐Pacific War Japan. It follows the foundation, activities and dissolution of the Federation of Bereaved War Victims, the first support group for the war‐bereaved that initially began as an organisation for military widows. After its dissolution, members of the Federation went on to create two separate groups – the Victims’ Federation and Widows’ Federation – whose members, scope and objectives presented stark gendered divisions. By examining this divide, and by analysing the earlier histories of the organisations, this article explores the relationships among gender, military, death and bereavement, and post‐war relief. The article pays particular attention to the tensions and negotiations among various interest groups, including military widows, women widowed from other causes, feminist activists, male lawmakers, bereaved fathers and the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. I place the dissolution of the Federation in its social and political contexts and analyse its relationship to the contemporaneous discussions on female citizenship. In particular, I focus on two areas mobilised by Japanese feminist activists since the early twentieth century: suffrage and motherhood. The short history of the Federation provides a means to examine the reconfiguration of the connection between gender and citizenship during the demilitarisation and democratisation processes that occurred in occupied Japan.

Topics: Citizenship, Democracy / Democratization, Gender, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Post-Conflict Regions: Asia, East Asia Countries: Japan

Year: 2016

Formulating Japan's UNSCR 1325 National Action Plan and Forgetting the "Comfort Women"

Citation:

Motoyama, Hisako. 2018. “Formulating Japan’s UNSCR 1325 National Action Plan and Forgetting the ‘Comfort Women.’” International Feminist Journal of Politics 20 (1): 39–53.

Author: Hisako Motoyama

Abstract:

In September 2015, the Japanese government announced its first national action plan (NAP) to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325, just ten days after forcefully legislating controversial security bills that would effectively lift the constitutional restrictions on overseas exercise of military force. Why did the conservative administration embrace Resolution 1325 while propelling militarization? This paper examines the formulation process of Japan’s NAP, focusing on gendered struggle over remilitarization and war memory, especially that of the “comfort women,” or Japanese imperial military sexual slavery during World War II. I will examine how post–Cold War remilitarization in Japan was closely intertwined with the struggle over war memory and the gender order of the nation, and how the conservative administration embraced international gender equality norms in an attempt to identify itself as a powerful liberal democracy engaged in maintaining the international security order, and to erase the memory of imperial military sexual violence in the past. By doing so, I attempt to critically reconsider the framework of the UN Women, Peace and Security agenda, which constructs powerful developed nations “not in conflict” as innocent supporters of women in conflict zones.

Keywords: Security Council Resolution 1325, women, peace and security, military sexual violence, imperialism, militarization

Topics: Democracy / Democratization, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Peace and Security, International Organizations, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarization, Security, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325, Sexual Violence, Sexual Slavery, SV against Women Regions: Asia, East Asia Countries: Japan

Year: 2018

Segregation, Exclusion and LGBT People in Disaster Impacted Areas: Experiences from the Higashinihon Dai - Shinsai (Great East-Japan Disaster)

Citation:

Yamashita, Azusa, Christopher Gomez, and Kelly Dombroski. 2017. “Segregation, Exclusion and LGBT People in Disaster Impacted Areas: Experiences from the Higashinihon Dai - Shinsai (Great East-Japan Disaster).” Gender, Place & Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography 24 (1): 64–71.

Authors: Azusa Yamashita, Christopher Gomez, Kelly Dombroski

Abstract:

English Abstract:
The Great East-Japan Disaster, which began with the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, prompted discussions throughout the Japanese lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community on the vulnerabilities that LGBT people face during disaster because of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. This short essay shares some of the post-disaster experiences, challenges and discussions of the LGBT community in Japan. Reports coming out of the LGBT community have stressed that pre-disaster discrimination and fears of discrimination and repression among LGBT people have hampered their recovery. There is a real fear of being discriminated against and having their family and friends discriminated against. This situation has led to the isolation and vulnerability of LGBT individuals. Despite the majority being reluctant to come out publically, the disaster forced numerous individuals to reveal their gender identity, particularly when confronted with life in shelters, the lack of supply of medication and so on. In turn, this has resulted in instances of discrimination and bullying. These accounts reveal that the main aims of disaster policies and disaster ethics – based on addressing the greatest good of the majority – largely fail to cater for LGBT people, who are not only victims of the disaster but can also be valuable contributors in the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) process.

Spanish Abstract:
El Gran Desastre del Este de Japón, que comenzó con el terremoto y tsunami de marzo de 2011, desató discusiones en toda la comunidad lesbiana, gay, bisexual y transgénero (LGBT) sobre las vulnerabilidades que las personas LGBT enfrentan durante un desastre debido a su orientación sexual, identidad de género y expresión de género. Este breve ensayo comparte algunas de las experiencias, desafíos y discusiones post-desastre de la comunidad LGBT en Japón. Informes que surgen de la comunidad LGBT han enfatizado que la discriminación pre-desastre y los miedos a ésta y de la represión entre las personas LGBT han obstaculizado su recuperación. Hay un miedo real a ser discriminadxs, ellxs o sus familias y amigxs. Esta situación ha llevado a individuos LGBT al aislamiento y la vulnerabilidad. A pesar de que la mayoría son reacios a salir públicamente, el desastre forzó a numerosos individuos a revelar su identidad de género, particularmente cuando enfrentan la vida en los refugios, la falta de medicamentos y así sucesivamente. A su vez, esto resultó en instancias de discriminación y bullying. Estos relatos revelan que los objetivos principales de las políticas y éticas de desastre – basados en abordar el mayor beneficio de la mayoría – no tienen en cuenta a las personas LGBT, quienes no sólo son víctimas del desastre sino que pueden también ser valiosas contribuyentes en el proceso de Reducción del Riesgo de Desastre (RRD).

Chinese Abstract:
2011年三月,随着地震与海啸而来的东日本大灾难,刺激了全日本的男女同性恋、双性恋与跨性别(LGBT)社群对于LGBT人们因为性向、性别身份认同与性别表现,在灾难中所经历的脆弱性之探讨。此一简要文章,分享日本有关LGBT社群的若干灾后经验,挑战与探讨。来自LGBT社群的研究报告,强调灾害前对LGBT人们的歧视,以及LGBT人们对歧视与压迫的恐惧,伤害了他们的復原。对于自身受到歧视,及其亲友遭受歧视,存在着真实的恐惧。此一境况导致LGBT个人的孤立和脆弱性。尽管大多数人不情愿公开出柜,但灾难却迫使无数的个人揭露自身的性别身份认同,特别是当经历生活在避难所以及缺乏医药供给等,而此般境况回头导致了歧视和霸凌事件。这些说法揭露了灾难政策和灾难伦理的主要目标 – – 以应对大多数人的最大利益为根据 – – 多半无法照料LGBT人们,而他们不仅是灾难的受害者,亦可能同时是灾难风险降低(DRR)过程中宝贵的贡献者

Keywords: vulnerability, Inequalities, disaster management, LGBT, Great East Japan Disaster, social exclusion

Topics: Civil Society, Environment, Environmental Disasters, Gender, LGBTQ, Security Regions: Asia, East Asia Countries: Japan

Year: 2017

Mining Women: Gender in the Development of a Global Industry, 1670 to 2005

Citation:

Mercier, L., and J. Gier-Viskovatoff. 2006. Mining Women: Gender in the Development of a Global Industry, 1670 to 2005. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Authors: L. Mercier, J. Gier-Viskovatoff

Abstract:

This book explores gender relations and women's work and activism in different parts of the world. It also explores the subject from multiple perspectives and links each of these not only to cultural and domestic arrangements but also to an emerging industrial and capitalist system from the Eighteenth through the Twentieth centuries. (Abstract from Palgrave Macmillan)

Annotation:

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction
Mercier, Laurie et al.
 
2. Mining Women, Royal Slaves: Copper Mining in Colonial Cuba, 1670–1780
Díaz, María Elena
 
3. Making a Difference in Colonial Interventionism in Gold Mining in Wassa Fiase, Gold Coast (Ghana): The Activism of Two Women, 1874–1893
Akurang-Parry, Kwabena O.
 
4. Lifting the Layers of the Mountain’s Petticoats: Mining and Gender in Potosí’s Pachamama
Absi, Pascale
 
5. Kamins Building the Empire: Class, Caste, and Gender Interface in Indian Collieries
Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala
 
6. Sociability, Solidarity, and Social Exclusion: Women’s Activism in the South Wales Coalfield, ca. 1830 to 1939
Jones, Rosemary
 
7. Gender Relations in Iron Mining Communities in Sweden, 1900–1940
Blomberg, Eva
 
8. Invisible Labor: A Comparative Oral History of Women in Coal Mining Communities of Hokkaido, Japan, and Montana, USA, 1890–1940
Yoshida, Kayoko (et al.)
 
9. Coal Mining Women Speak Out: Economic Change and Women Miners of Chikuho, Japan
Sone, Sachiko
 
10. “I’m a Johnny Mitchell Man”: Gender and Labor Protest in the Pennsylvania Hard Coal Uprising, 1900–1902
Stepenoff, Bonnie
 
11. Violence and the Colorado National Guard: Masculinity, Race, Class, and Identity in the 1913–1914 Southern Colorado Coal Strike
DeStefanis, Anthony
 
12. “I Hate to Be Calling Her a Wife Now”: Women and Men in the Salt of the Earth Strike, 1950–1952
Baker, Ellen
 
13. Godless Communists and Faithful Wives, Gender Relations and the Cold War: Mine Mill and the 1958 Strike against the International Nickel Company
Steedman, Mercedes
 
14. Just a Housewife? Miners’ Wives between Household and Work in Postwar Germany
Jung, Yong-Sook
 
15. Women into Mining Jobs at Inco: Challenging the Gender Division of Labor
Keck, Jennifer (et al.)
 
16. From Ludlow to Camp Solidarity: Women, Men, and Cultures of Solidarity in U.S. Coal Communities, 1912–1990
Guerin-Gonzales, Camille
 
17. Epilogue
Gier, Jaclyn J.

Topics: Caste, Class, Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Economies, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Men, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Post-Conflict Regions: Africa, West Africa, Americas, Caribbean countries, North America, South America, Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Europe, Nordic states, Northern Europe Countries: Bolivia, Cuba, Ghana, India, Japan, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States of America

Year: 2006

Pages

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