Female Labor Force Participation In Urban Japan

This volume examines the nature of married women's participation in the economies of three East Asian countries—Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. In addition to asking what is similar or different about women's economic participation in this region of the world compared to Western societies, the book also asks how women's work patterns vary across the three countries.

Japanese Women Working provides a wide range of perspectives on the study of working women in Japan over the last century. Contributors address issues of state policy towards and management of women workers, and also provide accounts of the experiences of particular groups of workers: domestic servants, hospital care assistants, textile workers , miners, homeworkers and 'professional' housewives. The book highlights many of the issues and decisions that have faced working women in Japan, and calls into question the accuracy of the prevailing domestic stereotype of Japanese women. Essays included span a period rapid economic change, and look at Japan as an industrializing country, indicating the importance of the overall economic environment, as well as taking into account cultural factors, in determinig women's position in the labour market. Bringing together contributions by historians, economists, anthropologists and management specialists from Europe, Japan and the United States, the book underlines the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to the study of women working. It is a major addition to the existing English language literature on Japanese Women, and will make life easier for non-specialists to inform themselves about a critical area of Japanese social and economic development.

Gender has long been a major determinant of individuals work-career and life trajectory in Japanese society. The complexity of this social phenomenon has inspired the five contributors to this volume, edited by Atsuko Suzuki, to probe the nature and ramifications of changing gender norms in Japan from a multidisciplinary perspective incorporating sociology, social psychology and economics.