Japan Flashcards
Meiji Restoration
from a rigidly-feudal system to a country where jobs based industry/commerce replaced the agricultural society. Meiji restoration and the period after the WW2 were periods of rapid modernisation. Modernisation has been skilfully integrated into the structure of Japanese society.
Herbivore men
to describe men who have no interest in getting married/love. A young man who had lost their “manliness”. Surveys of single Japanese men conducted in 2010 found that 61% of men in their 20s and 70% of men in their 30s considered themselves to be herbivores
Salarymen
known for working many hours. Oftentimes, because of his busy work schedule, the salaryman does not have time to raise a family and his work becomes a lifelong commitment. (due to reduced job security/fewer promotions and raises) these salarymen began to have to work even harder to make ends meet. Thus, emerged an air of anxiety and uncertainty in salaryman; it became an undesirable idea to work all one’s life to be the breadwinner of a family
Carnivore women
It is considered that economic empowerment among women and the relative economic decline among men has spurred the spread of carnivorous women. they are becoming more assertive because of the social atmosphere where women can order around men, while the increase in women’s rights is also considered to have had an impact
Hikikomori
disempowered victims of the reaction to globalisation in conformist society/rely on their parents to take care of them (physical/mental isolation)
Womenomics
to close Japan’s gender gap and give women more opportunities to work/only 38 percent of Japanese women returned to part-time or full-time work after having children. It’s normal for full-time, working women, once they get pregnant, to quit and become a full-time housewife. It’s so accepted and common, there’s even a phrase people use, they say, ‘happy retirement.’ In most households, women are responsible for their family budgets and make independent decisions about the education, careers, and life-styles of their families.
Women during Tokugawa Period
Women were subordinate to men/Meiji period: denied legal rights & subject to will of household heads/After World War II: the right to vote (1946)
Gender Roles now
With the rising problems faced by the Japanese economy, there have been changes in the structured patterns of gender in both the family and the workplace. Economic recessions have forced women to enter the workforce to increase the level of income earned for the family. traditional ideas about the responsibilities of men and women obstruct gender equality leading to a declining birth rate
The new technology introduced to Japan through Modernisation
POSITIVES:
- Universities were founded
- National Post System
- Education Systems
NEGATIVES:
- Harsh working conditions for lower class citizens
- General mistrust of Western culture and influences
- Gender roles were stratified even further
