User:Michan3636/sandbox

Professional life[edit source]
Kazuyo Sejima, an architect During the 21st century, Japanese women are working in higher proportions than the United States's working female population. Income levels between men and women in Japan are not equal; the average Japanese woman earns 40 percent less than the average man, and a tenth of management positions are held by women. Women are often found in part time or temporary jobs. 77% of these jobs were filled by women in 2012. Among women who do work, women-only unions are small in size and in relative power. A common occupation for young women is that of office lady, that is, a female office worker who performs generally pink collar tasks such as serving tea and secretarial or clerical work.

Japan has a strong tradition of women being housewives after marriage. When mothers do work, they often pick up part-time, low-paying jobs based on their children's or husband's schedule. Taking care of the family and household is seen as a predominately female role, and working women are expected to fulfill it. Nevertheless, in recent years the numbers of women who work has increased: in 2014, women made up 42.7% of the labour force of Japan. Therefore, in 2014, prime minister Shinzo Abe stated for the future economic growth, it is necessary to increase more women to be a manager or leader in a company. Moreover, Japan has an especially high proportion of women who work part-time, and a majority of those women are mothers.

In one poll, 30% of mothers who returned to work reported being victims of "maternity harassment", or "matahara". The obento box tradition, where mothers prepare elaborate lunches for their children to take to school, is an example of a domestic female role.

A number of government and private post-war policies have contributed to a gendered division of labor. These include a family wage offered by corporations which subsidized health and housing subsidies, marriage bonuses and additional bonuses for each child; and pensions for wives who earn below certain incomes. Additionally, in 1961, income for wives of working men were untaxed below $10,000; income above that amount contributed to overall household income. Corporate culture also plays a role; while many men are expected to socialize with their managers after long work days, women may find trouble balancing child-rearing roles with the demands of mandatory after-work social events.

Some economists suggest that a better support system for working mothers, such as a shorter daily work schedule, would allow more women to work, increasing Japan's economic growth. To that end, in 2003, the Japanese government set a goal to have 30% of senior government roles filled by women. In 2015, only 3.5% were; the government has since slashed the 2020 goal to 7%, and set a private industry goal to 15%.

Education[edit source]
Teenage girls reading books, Summer Evening Beside the Lake (1897) by Fujishima Takeji

With the development of society, more and more girls are going to colleges to receive higher education. Today, more than half of Japanese women are college or university graduates. The proportion of female researchers in Japan is 14.6%.

Modern education of women began in earnest during the Meiji era's modernization campaign. The first schools for women began during this time, though education topics were highly gendered, with women learning arts of the samurai class, such as tea ceremonies and flower arrangement. The 1871 education code established that students should be educated "without any distinction of class or sex". Nonetheless, after 1891 students were typically segregated after third grade, and many girls did not extend their educations past middle school.

By the end of the Meiji period, there was a women's school in every prefecture in Japan, operated by a mix of government, missionary, and private interests. By 1910, very few universities accepted women. Graduation was not assured, as often women were pulled out of school to marry or to study "practical matters". Girls' high school in early period, c. 1939. Notably, Tsuruko Haraguchi, the first woman in Japan to earn a PhD, did so in the US, as no Meiji-era institution would allow her to receive her doctorate. She and other women who studied abroad and returned to Japan, such as Yoshioka Yayoi and Tsuda Umeko, were among the first wave of women's educators who lead the way to the incorporation of women in Japanese academia.

After 1945, the Allied occupation aimed to enforce equal education between sexes; this included a recommendation in 1946 to provide compulsory co-education until the age of 16. By the end of 1947, nearly all middle schools and more than half of high schools were co-educational. Moreover, until 1947, women did not have the opportunities to enter national university at that time.

In 2012, 98.1% of female students and 97.8% of male students were able to reach senior high school. Of those, 55.6% of men and 45.8% of women continued with undergraduate studies, although 10% of these female graduates attended junior college.

Surname change[edit source]
The Civil Code of Japan requires legally married spouses to have the same surname. Although the law is gender-neutral, meaning that either spouse is allowed to change his/her name to that of the other spouse, Japanese women have traditionally adopted their husband’s family name and 96% of women continue to do so as of 2015. In 2015, the Japanese Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the law, noting that women could use their maiden names informally, and stating that it was for the legislature to decide on whether to pass new legislation on separate spousal names. Moreover, they mentioned that there are two options for couples who do not want to change their original surname after they got married. However, it will be only be inconvenient for Japanese women at certain places and also in the labor market.

Political status of women[edit source]
The Japanese Constitution, drafted by the US and adopted in the post-war era, provided a legal framework favorable to the advancement of women’s equality in Japan. Women were given the right to vote in 1947. This allowed them greater freedom, equality to men, and a higher status within Japanese society. Other postwar reforms opened education institutions to women and required that women receive equal pay for equal work. In 1986, the Equal Employment Opportunity Law took effect. Legally, few barriers to women's equal participation in the life of society remain. However, socially they lack opportunities in the workforce due to the long work hours and dominance in the workplace by men. Portrait of Ichiyō Higuchi, pioneering female author on 5000 yen banknote

In a global survey of women in parliaments, Japan ranked 123rd out of 189 countries. In Japan's Diet, women hold slightly less than 10% of seats despite a government goal for 30% of elected officials to be women by 2020. In the lower house of the Diet, women hold only 8% of seats, with 19% in the upper house. Less than 1% of mayors were women.

The Japanese government has expressed a will to address this inequality of numbers in the 21st century of the Heisei period through several focused initiatives, and a 2012 poll by the Cabinet Office found that nearly 70% of all Japanese polled agreed that men were given preferential treatment.

woman in Japan The Hidden sun Smith, R. and Robins-Mowry, D. (1984). The Hidden Sun: Women of Modern Japan. The American Historical Review, 89(2), p.501.

This article is reliable because there are some citations in the text, and she used many references to support her article.

Nakano, L. (2018). Women in politics in Japan: beyond housewife activism. Asian Anthropology, 17(2), pp.71-84.

This article is reliable because it is updated since 2018, so the information is new enough.

authors, n. (2020). ''Women's health in Japan. - PubMed - NCBI''. [online] Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12222528 [Accessed 18 Jan. 2020].

This cite is from National Center for Biotechnology Information, and they have been researching biomedical and genomic information. Thus, they have enough knowledge to write about women's health in Japan. Moreover, it is updated in 2020, so the information is new enough for me to have a reliable resources.

Omura, M. (2019). Why Can’t I keep my Surname? The Fairness and Welfare of the Japanese Legal System. Feminist Economics, 25(3), pp.171-200.

It has a United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women law so it will be reliable because it is known to almost all of the people in the world. In addition, Omura, M. has studied at university of Cambridge which is a famous university and she has worked at Economics of Gender Bias in Japan, so the information should be very detailed.

Nemoto, K. (2016). Too few women at the top. Ithaca: ILR Press.

The author Nemoto,K has wrote two books, and she has been rewarded in several awards. Moreover, other than books, she has been editing some journals and articles. Thus, what she write is reliable enough for me.

Nytimes.com. (2020). In Japan, More Women Fight to Use Their Own Surnames. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/25/world/asia/japan-women-married-name.html [Accessed 18 Jan. 2020].

It is known as a big newspaper company in the US, so it is reliable sources.

Ermisch, J. and Ogawa, N. (1994). Age at motherhood in Japan. Journal of Population Economics, 7(4), pp.393-420.

The journal of Demographic economics is written by economic analysis to demography, so it will be reliable. Also, Ermisch,J is a Professor of Family Demography, so he will べthoroughly enough to write a good article.