The Changing Social Position of Women

KOYAMA
The
changing social position of women i n Japan
unesco
The changing social position of women in Japan
PubIished in 1961 by the United Nutions Educational,Scientificand CuIturaI Organization Place de Fontenoy,Paris-7e Printed by L a Tribune de Gen6ve
@ Unesco 1961 Printed in Switzerland SS (EW)60/D.l4/A
Acknowledgement
This report was prepared at the request of the Department of Social

Sciences of Unesco. The report aims t give a general view, mainly o from the sociological standpoint, of the change i the position of n Japanese women that has been taking place during the past 1 years. 0 An effort has been made to u i i e a wide range of published and tlz unpublished material,both o f c a and unofficial, but a few subjects fiil have had t be omitted because ofthe inadequacy ofthe data available. o The co-operationofwomen w s indispensable i the preparation of a n t i report.Women who take a particular interest i the matters w t hs n ih which it deals were asked t participate and, with their assistance,a o team of collaborators was formed. Their names and the subjects treated by them are a follows: s
Mrs. Kazuko Suehiro,Lecturer, Nihon Womens Athletic College :Family Mrs. Kiyoko Segawa,Lecturer,(OtsumaWomens University :Rural community Mrs. Nobuko Himeura, Extension Worker,Womens and MinorsBureau,Minist y o Labour :Labour r f M .Tadashi Ueno,Graduate student,Tokyo Metropolitan University: Education r Miss Masako Hiramatsu, Graduate student, Tokyo Metropolitan University : Civic activities Mr. Masahiko Tanaka, Staff-researcher,Central Opinion :Research Agency : Publicopinion Mrs. Rr Tanaka :Public opinion ui
These collaborators, according t the subject assigned to each of o them,wrote provisional drafts. These drafts, together w t the data ih collected,were passed to the present author, whose task was, thanks to their excellent work,chiefly one of co-ordination with minor modification and supplementation.Theirfindingswere thus brought together
The changing social position of women i Japan n
i the present form i order to comply with the request of Unesco. n n The author is happy to acknowledge the unselfish co-operationof these collaborators.The translation into English was undertaken by Mr. Hachiro Nakamura,Assistant,InternationalChristian University, and the f n l revision of the English text was carried out by Professor ia J t u c i Masuoka, now a Fulbright professor in Japan,to whom the isih present author owes a special debt of gratitude. Dr. Masuoka gave helpful advice which contributed greatly t the value of the report.In o the collection and listing of relevant sources amongstworks published i the past 1 years, co-operation was given by Mr. Yoshihiro n 0 Sawanishi, Librarian,the National Diet Library. Thanks are due t o Mrs. S t u Tanino, Director of the Womens and Minors Bureau, es Ministry of Labour, and t Professor Shiihei Yamamuro, National o Yokohama University,who gave very useful advice a al stages i the tl n preparation of the report. Since the present author accepted the invitation of Unesco, those named above have held many meetings for discussion and consultation with one another. W e wish also to express our sincere gratitude to the Japanese National Commission for Unesco which,on such occasions, provided al possible f c l t e for the promotion of our work. l aiiis Ti report is the product of the kindness and co-operationof al hs l those named above, but responsibility for the writing of it rests with the present author who made the final selection of data and rewrote the provisional reports i the present form. n
September 1959
TAKASHI KOYAMA
Contents
I.
Introduction .
9 15
11. Institutional changes and redefinition of the position of women . . . . . . . . . . .
. IV. The position of w o m e n i the rural community . . n V. The social position of workingwomen . . . . VI. W o m e n and civic activities . . . . . .
111. The changing position of women i the family n
.
33
76
98
134
145
VII. Conclusion .
I. Introduction
For a period of 300 years,the policy of seclusion of the Tokugawa shogunate functioned surprisingly wl i keeping Japan i a state of el n n nearly complete isolation. Ti long period of lack of contact w t hs ih a i n cultures,peoples and nations provided favourable conditions for le the f l development of Japansfeudal system.It was w t i this f l y ul ihn ul developed feudal system that those patterns of l f peculiar t the ie o Tokugawa era, the halcen bunka, became completely crystallized and came t fashion al aspects of the life-economic, political,social,and o l religious-of the people. Thus,it was i this era of the history of the n Japanese nation that a r g d and i f e i l c a s system was estabii nlxbe ls lished. Within this hierarchical system, samurai (warriors) occupied the highest rank; hyakusha (farmers) the second rank; shokunin ( r i a s the third; and shanin (merchants) t e lowest rank. A the atsn) h s line separating one group from another was manifestly rigid-though the separation i actual practice was not always clear-cut-each c a s n ls developed its own more or less d s i c way of life, and reflected a itnt particular mode of living.Consequently,as the common people were expected i a measure t pattern t e r l v s a t r the samurai culture, n o h i ie f e the samurai-centred norms-particularly the one having to do w t ih the conduct of men and women-came t govern-in varying degrees, o t be sure-the conduct of al people i the society.In fact,t e como l n h mon people were expected, in a measure, to adopt the samuraicentred norms;t e commonerswere not merely willing to acceptthem; h they w r eager to follow them i t e r day-to-dayl v s ee n hi ie. Of particular interest t u is the fact that, of a l the characteristic o s l features ofthe life of the samuraiclass,it was t e norms that governed h
and regulated the relationships between men and women i general, n and between husband and wife in particular,that had come t prevail o among the common people. The degree to which this norm was adopted varied from one c a s t another and, within a s n l class, ls o ige from one section of it t another. Broadly speaking,there was a o marked tendency for the members of the upper layers of al classes to l embrace the sex norms more thoroughly and more readily than members of the lower strata. So widespread and pervasive had this sex norm become throughout Japanese society i the Tokugawa era n that, i the family,the position of kacho (head of the iye or family n grouping) became predominant or superior, w t al the rights and ih l privileges associated with the o f c , and the shufu ( i e and a l fie wf) l other members of the iye occupied subordinate positions. Outside the family,womens a t v t e were e t e r g d y limited o virtually ciiis ihr iil r non-existent. Indeed, beyond the c r l of family lf there was no ice ie place, that is t say,no recognized position for women i the Tokuo n gawa feudal order. To this lowly status, both Buddhism and Confucianism gave strong spiritual and moral backing. Confucianism,i n particular, was accepted by the samurai c a s as providing an adequate ls basis for both ideal and practical norms; its teachings were thus highly valued by al the samurai. I was the norm requiring the segrel t gation of boys from g r s w t the idea of the superiority of men and i l , ih the inferiority of women, that was elaborated into a doctrine and a philosophy oflife. I was this norm,and not Confucianism a a whole, t s that found its way among people of non-samurai classes. Ti norm hs was diffused either d r c l or indirectly through the institution o iety f terakoya (private temple s h o s . col) Not many men were able t attend terakoya,but al those who came o l under the direct influence of terakoya education observed s r c l the tity distinction between men and women i the family and i society at n n large. Others who were either unable t attend terakoya or were not o influenced by Confucian teachings, such as persons of the lower classes or those l v n i the remote countryside, observed the norm iig n of distinction between male and female w t less s r c n s .Particuih tites l r y i t e r work-a-daylife,the common people drew no sharp l n al n hi ie of separation between men and women in the matter of t e r a t v t e hi c i i i s or t e r status. However,among these people as they w r introduced hi ee to elementary education a t r the Meiji era, there w r numerous fe ee instances of the growing distinction made i a t v t e and ideas,and n ciiis
10
Introduction
i ideals taught along the l n of boy-girldifferences. ( h spoint wl n ie Ti il be discussed i d t i i a later s c i n ) n eal n eto. The Meiji Restoration of 1868 came on the eve of the f n l collapse ia of Tokugawa feudalism. The collapse of the feudal system was brought about by the increased strainw t i the system i s l :internal ihn tef contradictions and maladjustments became pronounced towards the middle of the nineteenth century. On the other hand, the Meiji Restoration was itself a significant h s o i event; it was the culminaitrc tion of internal causes a much a of external stimulations.In other s s words, this p l t c l revolution w s stimulated, precipitated, and oiia a accelerated by foreign powers. A is stated i the FiveArticles of the s n Imperial Oath,issued by the Emperor Meiji, it was t e aim of the h Restoration to bring about democraticreform i Japan,and to form a n government resting on public opinion. The practical realization of these broad objectives was to be achieved through the termination of the feudal system and i s institutions. Accordingly, the Restoration t abolished, a l a t i form, the traditional hierarchy of status and t es n established parliamentarianism. In addition,it laid the foundation for a nation-wideeducational system.Therewas,however, no e f r made fot t define the position of women i the new order. The only mention o n made of women was t the effect that they should be i emothers. o ws In view of the lowly position of the Japanese woman i political and n family lf i the days of feudalism, the question of her position, it ie n seems, could hardly be regarded a a major problem. s Even after the crisis of the Restoration was over and the Enlightened Peaceor Meiji reign was wl advanced,al attempts to el l redefine the position of women i Japan proved unsuccessful, since n the attitude of the people was lukewarm. I was true that educational t authorities of the Meiji era spoke of equality between men and women along wt the equality of al c a s s . It was equally true ih l lse that,i t e absence of any major transformation ofthe social structure n h of Japan,other than the formal p l t c l change,no concrete measures oiia of any sort were undertaken i order to bring about sorely needed n substantial changes i those antiquated family ways and other legal n and customary practices that had f r so long placed women f r below o a men i matters of social status. Thus, the traditional position o n f women i Japan remained unchanged.Even i the matter ofproviding n n women with educational opportunities equal to those of men, education beyond the s x h grade was not given serious consideration. In it
11
practice, only i the first six grades was there provision for anything n approaching equal education for boys and g r s beyond that level the il; education given to boys was vastly superior t that provided for girls o and this state of a f i s persisted until 1947. far The Civil Code was first drafted by the Meiji government. A that t t m an attempt was made t give the family a conjugal basis,that is to ie o say,to make its centre the husband and wife. Such a radical departure from the conventional d f n t o of the family met w t very strong eiiin ih opposition.Its opponentsi s s e that,i v e ofthe conditions which nitd n iw then existed i Japan,the new code was unsuitable and unworkable. n Thus, the first attempt t reform the traditional patriarchal family o laws failed. O l with the promulgation of the New Constitution i ny n November 1946 was the conjugal unit made the basis of the family system i Japan. ( h swl be discussed i Chapters I1 and 1 1 ) n T i il n 1. However, w e should not fi to recognize that, even in this e r y al al period of the Meiji era, there were a few courageous persons who advocated theequality of the sexes and a still smaller number who urged women to take practical steps t r a i e their own i h s . o elz rgt Theirs were voicescrying i the wilderness,for the situation was not n ripe for changes i the traditional and iye-bound position of the n women of Japan. (See Chapter 1 1 ) 1. A general election based on universalsuffrage was held in 1925; this election was clearly significant i that women were excluded and n the universal suffragewas for men only. The exclusion of women from voting gave rise t an, o active feminist movement in Japan. Thus, i opposition to such a c e r y one-sidedelection, the movement t n lal o secure womans suffrage was launched and pursued vigorously for a decade by its leaders.However,the movement came to an unexpected end. As early as 1937,Japan was already organizing her e f r t fot o become a war State, and the government took steps to suppress any large-scalesocial movement. In face of the impending national crisis, the feminist movement could take no other course than t dissolve o i s l . (See Chapter V for a detailed discussion.) tef I The e f r on the part of women to secure recognition as an imfot portant sector of the nations economy a s had a rough road before lo it. A w have noted in passing, the transition of Japan from the old s e order t the new was c i f y p l t c l Clearly the process was not o hel oiia. accompanied by the necessary transformation of her economy and of her educational,religious and family institutions.The newJapanwas
12
Introduction
s i l rooted solidly i an economy that was feudalistic,i family life tl n n that was patriarchal, and i religious behaviour that was unchanged. n A that time,that is to say around 1866,a majority of the population t of Japan was still unaffected by industrialization and urbanization. Infact,about 80per cent ofthe working population in those days were farmers and nearly al the working women w r family-farmworkers. l ee Only with the advent of the t x i e industry-a forerunner of truly etl modern industriesi Japan-did there emerge for the first t m a new n ie group of women labourers. According to o f c a s a i t c of 1900, fiil t t s i s women i the t x i e industry numbered 260,000 men 160,000; n etl and the former outnumbered the l t e 1.6times.However,the appearance on atr the industrial scene of this group of female factory workers had very little, i any, e f c on the traditional position of women i Japan. A f fet n s these female workers were recruited from already overcrowded rural areas where wages w r extremely low, and as they were largely ee ignorant,they were s t s i d with poor pay and remained unorganized. aife They l v d i factory dormitories, and worked for a period of a ie n year o two. Their immediate object i working i the factory was r n n t earn enough money either to buy t e r own wedding gowns or o hi t support t e r own families i the country. Any notion such as o hi n that of improving the position of womanhood was entirely alien to them. Another factor which kept the prestige of womens labour a its t lowestebb was the existence ofprostitution. The institution ofprostitution had a long history extending back t feudal Japan; it was reo cognized as a business and was supervised by o f c a s Inthe Meiji era, fiil. e f r s were renewed t regulate and supervise prostitution as a fot o business. The increasei industrialization,urbanization,and universal n military conscription were the significant factors which helped to expand the business. Ti o f c a recognition of the institution of hs f i i l prostitution gave t those engaged i the business a strong incentive o n to extend t e r a t v t e and, i turn, greater inducement was given hi ciiis n to young women t become prostitutes. Ti occupation,sanctioned o hs and recognized as a business by public o f c a s depressed the position fiil, of working women i general. Of course,there was strong opposition n to prostitution and a c l for closer public supervision.In some areas al ofJapan the localprovisional prohibition was still opposed or opposition t prostitution had not been s f i i n l mobilized to eradicate o ufcety this long-standing evil practice u t l just a year ago ( 9 8 . ni 15) 13
W e must not overlook several important factors that have affected, and are now affecting wt greater force, the position of women i ih n Japanesesociety.In the firstplace,both industrializationand urbanization are making their impact f l on the traditional position ofwomen. et These powerful impersonal forces are changing t e balance between h rural and urban population; urban dwellers are on the increase and rural dwellers are decreasing i proportion.In 1 4 , census showed n 9 0 the that only 4 per cent of the total working population of Japan were 2 farm workers. Ti dislocation of the rural population has brought hs about the gradual disorganization of the patriarchal and extended family system i rural villages; and wt this process there has come n ih a new pattern of male and female relationships unknown to the traditional family system. A survey of the history of Japan from the end of the Tokugawa feudalism to the end of World War 1 , a span of 80 years, shows 1 clearly that Japan underwent a wide range of political, economic and social changes. This fact notwithstanding, the social position of the women of Japan has, comparatively speaking, changed little and the process has been slow. The forces that operate to free women from the bondage of feudalistic traditions have not had their f l impact. ul In the past, a l efforts to assert the rights of womanhood encountered l strong opposition from the conservative elements of Japanese society; but a present the strength of these conservative elementsis waning as t women are gaining a voice i the major institutions of s c e y i n oit-n schools,industry,commerce,and government.
1 4
1 . Institutional changes 1
and rede$ait ion o the position o women f f
The position of Japanese women was so deeply entrenched i custom n and so intimately intertwined and enmeshed i the patriarchal family n system that it could not be readily uprooted from its cultural environ.ment. Major social changes w r , e e indeed,necessary before there could be any c i i a change or any substantial modification i their social rtcl n position. The recurrent impact of new and a i n ideas and ideals le through the media of mass communication and through the processes of industrialization,urbanization, and modernization which are the e f c i e mechanism of social change, a series of wars w t foreign fetv ih powers, and the imposition of democratic principles and ideas were the kinds offorces that brought about changes i womens position i n n Japanese society. I this chapter w shall focus our attention c i f y n e hel on the changes that were made i laws and i educational systems. n n A w have indicated i Chapter I,womens efforts to secure their s e n right t vote, to improve t e r s a u within and without the family, o hi t t s and t b t e working conditions i shops and industries were cono etr n cerned wt problems of long standing. However, attempts to solve ih these problems were defeated tm after time by the overwhelming ie opposition of the conservative elements of Japanese society who were successful i manipulating events leading t national crises. The n o strength of such conservative forces could not be successfully overridden by a gradual process of s c a evolution,I took such a tragic oil t national crisis as the l s world war to bring about a sweeping social at change. Thus, the emancipation of women i Japan was attained n institutionally through the unexpected reformation a t r t e second fe h world war. In so f r as the change i the position of women was a n brought about directly by the new law and the new constitution and 15
by the democratization of the educational system, the liberation of Japanese women can be attributed i large measure t compulsion n o from without. The process of the modernization of Japan was i f c not uniform n at throughout al sections of society.In the matter of social attitudes and l ways oflife or culture,Japanesesociety was,and still is,f r from being a homogeneous. There was a significant difference i attitude between n people i the c t e and those i the country, between workers i n iis n n large-scaleindustries and those i small workshops,between intellecn tuals and manual labourers,and between men and women. Thus,the pattern of acceptance of innovation and the degree of adaptation to it as reflected i the improvement of the position of women i society n n showed considerable variation from one group to another. Because of these variations from group t group, legal and other institutional o changes and the e f r s made t implement them uniformly throughout fot o the nation gave rise to serious problems. The contradiction between the old social order and the new made i s l f l . I is, indeed, such tef et t disharmonies and maladjustments that, i a sense, constitute one n phase of the contemporary s c a problems of Japan. Some of these oil social problems wl be considered i l t r chapters i relation to the il n ae n changing position of women i Japan today. n
New laws
The New Constitution of Japan,promulgated on 3 November 1946, guaranteed to al Japanese subjects equality under the law. Article 14 l states : Al people are equal under the law and there shall be no discriminal tion i p l t c l economic or social relations because of race, n oiia, creed,sex,social status or family origin. According to this a t c e al Japanese women are to be treated without ril, l discrimination from men i al phases of l f - o i i a , economic and nl iepltcl social.Again, Article 2 e p i i l states that: 4 xlcty Marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes and it shall be maintained through mutual co-operation,with the equal rights of husband and wf as a basis. ie
n Such a definition of marriage a is contained i Article 24 definitely s

16
Institutional changes and redefinition of the position of women
implies that the conjugal family, centred on the husband and wife, replaces the patriarchalfamily. A the same time, such a definition of t marriage clearly indicates the need for a complete change i those n national ideas which are closely t e up w t the tendency to preserve id ih traditional values. On the basis of the provisions of the New Constitution,there w r ee many c i i a changes i the family, industrial, educational, and rtcl n p l t c l life of the people. In particular, the status of women, a least oiia t i its formal aspects,was affected s g i i a t y by the provisions of the n infcnl New Constitution. W e shall touch only upon the main points in each of these spheres of lf i order to make clear the important changes ie n i the laws that have immediate effects on the traditionalposition of n Japanese women today. Frt to be considered is womens suffrage.A has been pointed out is s b i f y i the Introduction, first constitutionwas promulgated i rel n the n 1889 and the following year the National Diet under the Meiji government met for the first time. However, owing to the insistence of the tradition-bound conservative force, al p l t c l a t v t e of women l oiia ciiis were prohibited and the right of women to vote was not recognized. Thus, women were still l f out of p l t c l l f , and i consequence et o i i a ie n of this there arose, i various quarters,a movement demanding the n emancipation of womanhood. T i movement was championed by hs some of the more progressive women ofthe tm but the general public ie either remained indifferent or showed outright disapproval. Lobbying i the Diet for womens suffrage w s begun but it never came to the n a point of success and the issue was l i aside i the Diet. But, as the ad n nation moved towards military preparation for World War 11, the movement for womens suffrage,like al other social movements,was l suppressed by the government. Al women were given t e responl h s b l t of home-front a t v t e through womens associations and iiiy ciiis tonarigumi (neighbourhood a s c a i n ) Single women, in particular, soitos. were mobilized t work i armament and garment factories;mothers o n w r so busy emphasizing the national significance ofthe war that they ee had no time for any other activity. Only a t r the end of the l s war fe at were women ableto bring about the f n l achievement ofthe movement ia for the emancipation of women which had m t with such d f i u t e . e ifclis Article 44 of the New Constitution states: The qualification of members of both Houses (the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors) and their electors
1 7
shall be fixed by law. However, there shall be no discrimination because of race, creed, sex,social status,family origin, education, property, or income.
n n fiil These qualifications are fixed i detail i the Public O f c a Election Law and they apply equally t both sexes.A this point w s a l posto t e hl pone our discussion on the consequences that the nodiscrimination qualification might have had on the p l t c l status and a t v t e of oiia ciiis women i Japan. (See Chapter V . n I) Next,reference is made t education. In the reformationofthe New o Constitution,a great deal ofattentionwas paid to the democratization of education. Ultimately,it is through education that the idea of sex equality can be diffused throughout society. Inasmuch as learning is the prerequisite to this diffusion, the fundamental reorganization of the educational system was regarded as the first and t e most i h m portant task. The Fundamental L a w of Education was put into e f c fet i 1947 and,i Article 3,the principle of equal education is set forth. n n I reads as follows: t Al people shall be given equal opportunitiesof receiving education l according to their a i i y and they s a l not be subject t educablt, hl o tional discrimination on account of race, creed, sex, social status, economic position, or family origin.
Article 5 recognized co-education: M a n and woman shall respect and co-operate with each other. Co-education shall be recognized.
A has been mentioned i the Introduction Ordinance of Educas n the tion of 1872 embodied the principle of the equal rights of women i n education. However,the forces of conservatism and traditionalism i n education began to dominate the educational policies of the Meiji. In 1891, the policy of the separation of boys from girls i classes for n pupils above the third grade was put into e f c .The instructions ofthe fet Ministry of Education stated: ..Recognizing the necessity of sex . segregation i education as our national custom demands, the policy of n separatingboys from girls i class is hereby adopted , ...Ti policy n hs was clearly the revival of the teaching of Confucius that was emphasized i the days of feudalism. His teaching stressed the point that a n boy and a girl should not sit together a 7 years of age.Inasmuch as t the need t set girls apart from boys a t r the third grade e i t d i the o fe xse n
18
elementary school, co-educationi the middle and higher levels of n education was definitely contrary t the s i i ofthe tm :that women o prt ie should be given a different kind of education was the accepted view of the day. Around 1910 and thereafter, a f w universities admitted e female students.These women were few in number and were regarded as exceptional and queer. In keeping w t the rise i the level of ih n Japanese culture, the number of high schools for girls increased rapidly and, for girls i the middle grade, education became nationn wide. And yet schools for higher education,public or private,for girls were practically neglected. Such was the status of female education prior t the end of the l s world war. In the l g t of this, one of t e o at ih h major tasks of post-war educational reorganization was to establish the kind of educational system which was i accord w t the spirit of n ih democracy. Thus, co-educationwas instituted a al levels and was t l designed t promote mutual understanding and f l e co-operation o ulr between male and female and t further the notion of the equality o of the sexes.T o attain these goals through education was the purpose of the Fundamental Law of Education. N less important than the democratization of education was the o problem of the revision of family laws. Formerly, i Japan, great n emphasiswas placed on the intimate connexion between the State and the family. The family is the buttress of the State was the moral principle inculcated i al subjects. A an ethical principle and value, n l s devotion to the Emperor (chu) and loyalty and devotion to ones own parents (k6) were taught as expressions of one and the same principle. It was on this principle that, i the past, the institution o n f the family was founded,and educational institutions played a critical role i reinforcingthe principle. There were some arguments i favour n n of replacing the patriarchal family system by the conjugal unit, as corresponding to c p t l s i development.These arguments served no aiaitc other purpose than to provide targets for a mighty counter-attackon such a change as being a violation of the goodmorals and manners of the Japanese people. The traditional family system, stubborn as it was i its resistance t change,was given its f n l death-blow by the n o ia post-war democratization. A l a t i form, i not i fact, the colt es n f n lectivity-orientedtraditional patriarchal family system was abolished. In its place, the conjugal family system,which emphasizes the respect due t the rights of individualstogether w t the essential equality of o ih men and women, was set up.
1 9
In 1947, following the announcement of Article 24 of the New Constitution, kinship and inheritance laws were revised almost i n their entirety. The important points i this revision with regard to n the position of women may be summarized as follows: 1. Stipulations concerning the w f ' disqualifications are eliminated; ies the wife is now from the legal standpoint no less q a i i d than the ulfe husband. 2 The adult man and woman, or husband and wife, need no other . consent for marriage or divorce than their own. 3 Judicial causes for divorce apply equally to husband and wife. . 4 Equal right to the inheritance of property is recognized, w t no . ih discrimination on the basis of sex.
In addition to these provisions, the principle of sex equality runs

throughout the specilk d t i s of the new family law: this is indeed eal its most remarkable feature.Nevertheless,it is unlikely that the power and authority once possessed by the patriarch, by parents,or by the husband wl disappear a one stroke of the law. There are substantial il t reasons to expect that, i ve of differences i l v n conditions n iw n iig according t region, occupational classification, age and family o status, a l Japanese people can as yet hardly be expected t conform l o the new laws and regulations i a uniform manner throughout n nation. Cases, not altogether few i number, that have been n bkought before the domestic court reveal the differences i the undern standing of the old and new institutions, and i the attitude towards n them. The new institution was, indeed, a product of an attempt to solve problems which have been pending for many years and it was devised as a hasty solution i a period of post-war turmoil. I left n t some details t be examined more carefully i the l g t of the overall o n ih social change and social conditions. A present the re-examination t of such d t i s is i progress. eal n Finally,i the f e d of labour, the Labour Standards Law of 1947 n il embodied detailed provisions. Article 4 is especially important as it bears on the position of women. I reads: t The employer shall not discriminate as between women and men i the matter of wages. n
"
I
Moreover, the Labour Standards Law took into consideration the physical conditions that are peculiar to women. Further stipulations
20
were provided t protect female workers. Menstruation holidays o (Article 67 of the Labour Standards Law), the prohibition of night work (Article 6) the restriction of perilous or poisonous work 2, (Article 6 ) the prohibition of work i p t (Article 6 ) etc.; and, 3, n is 4, to protect motherhood, a period of leave before and a t r child-birth fe (Article 6) free hours for nursing a child (Article 6) e c ,were the 5, 6, t . subjects of significant provisions of the law. Thus, so f r as the laws a and regulations are concerned,women are given consideration equal to that given to men i their work;women are given an equal opporn tunity to work; and they are given special consideration i order to n meet their particular needs. However, i actual life, the situations n which women workers encounter vary considerably. Depending on their family and social conditions,they face in theirworking l f a situie ation which is f r from the ideal s e i i d i the lawsand regulations. a pcfe n It must be stated here that the sex distinction of former days is now mostly eradicated,a least i law.With this new institution the changes t n i womens traditional status are taking on a new shape. To be sure, n tradition still exerts its power, and the retention of the old way of l f i not r s r c e to a limited area of Japanese society. However, ie s etitd the changes in legal norms, as has been pointed out, together with the renewal of moral norms, are bringing about a far-reachingchange i the national l f .The pressing problem i Japan today is how best n ie n to adjustindividuals and groupst these enforced institutionalchanges. o In other words, the question of how to widen the sphere of womans a t v t e i order t improve her position i accordance w t the s i i ciiis n o n ih prt of equality between men and women which is embodied i the new n laws and i the new educational programmes still remains a crucial n problem.
Improvement of education for women
The Ordinance of Education of 1872 referred to above stated: throughout the nation-peers, shizoku, farmers, craftsmen, merchants, women and children-it is expected that there shall henceforward be no uneducated families i a community and no uneducated n members i a family.Within a b i f space of less than f f y years,that n re it is to say,by 1910,this stated objective of complete literacy i Japan n was v r u l y attained. In that year, nearly a l of the population of ital l primary school age were attending school. For boys, the percentage
2 1
of those attending school w s nearly 99 per cent,and for g r s it was a il, slightly over 97 per cent, showing a s i h difference between boys lgt and g r s But by 1920 this gap was almost closed,and 10 yearsl t r il. ae, there was in fact no difference between the percentages for boys and g r s Since then, g r s have surpassed boys in t e r attendances a il. il hi t primary schools-for 1950 the percentage for boys was 99.62 and for girls it was 99.65.(For d t i s see Table 1) eal, .
TABLE Percentage of primary school age population attending school 1.
(1873 to 1950)
Year
Boys
Grs il
Year
Boys
Grs il
1873 1880 1890 1900 11 90
% 3.0 99 5.2 87 65.14 90.55 98.83
%
1.4 51 2.1 19 31.13 7.3 17 9.8 73 1920 1930 1940 1950
% 99.20 99.52 99.64 99.62
% 98.84 99.50 9.5 96 9.5 96
Womens need ofeducation beyond the primary schoolwas recognized as early a 1899. In that year the Girls High School Ordinance was s promulgated. T i formally established middle-grade education for hs g r s something akin to middle-gradeeducation for boys. The objecil, tive, however, was not t provide girls with education comparable o t that of boys; rather the aim was to make good wives and ws o ie mothersfor people of middle- and upper-classfamilies. It is interesting to note that, prior to the promulgation of the ordinance of 1899,there were already a small number of girls attending middle schools for g r s In 1873,out of the total o 1,779 students il. f receiving middle-grade education, female students numbered only 36 o 2 per cent. Roughly two decades later,that is to say, i 1890, r n the total number of students receiving middle-grade education had increased by tenfold and was 17,175, and of this total 18 per cent were g r s Just around the turn of the century, the total number of il. boys and girls i middle schools was 105,532,and the proportion of n girls for some reason dropped t 11 per cent. Since then, the pero centages of g r s increased from 26 per cent of the t t l of boys and il oa girls receiving middle education i 1910, t 37 per cent i 1920, n o n 43 per cent i 1930, and 4 per c n i 1940 and 1946,a year before n 5 et n the reorganization of the Japanese educational system.(See Table 2) .
22
TABLE Total number and percentage of boy and girl students receiving middle 2 .
education (1873to 1946)
Ya er
No.
Boys
Grs il
Ya er
No.
Boys
Grs il
1873 1880 1890 1900 1910
1779 13364 1 175 7 105532 219203
% 98 97 82 8 9 74
% 2 3 18 11 26
1920 1930 1940 1946
412929
967655
% 63 57
55 55
1524706 2532364
% 37 43 45 45
The decrease i the discrepancy i educational training as between n n men and women is making the i t l e t a level of women not so nelcul different from that of men. One of the findings of a survey conducted on the l t r c of the Japanese people showed striking facts. For the ieay age group 15 to 19 there was hardly any difference between boys and g r s in regard t literacy.The difference between men and women il o began t appear in the succeeding age groups, and it became highly o significant as the age rose. For example, men i the age category n 4 t 44 exceeded women of the same age group by about 1 points; 0o 2 men i the 50 to 54-year-oldage group exceeded women of the same n ages by nearly 25 points; and men i the 60to 64-year-oldage group n exceeded women of the same age group by as many as 50 points. A shown i Diagram 1,for both men and women there was a geners n a tendency for l t r c scores t decrease after the age of30,and this l ieay o trend became more noticeable for persons of 4 and older. However, 0 the decline was far shorter for women than for men,reflecting clearly the f l e f c of differences i educational opportunity as between ul f e t n men and women. When this difference in literacy was compared with the d f e e t a r t o for newspaper reading as between men and ifrnil ai women i t e r respective age groups, w found a close resemblance n hi e between literacy scores and newspaper reading. In the case of newspaper reading,there was no notable difference by sex i the youngest n age group, 15 to 19,while, i people of 60 to 64years of age, 48 per n cent more of men than women read newspapers, as shown i Dian gram 2 . Beyond middle education,education for women was not encouraged either by people i general or by educational authorities. A report of n the Special Council of Education of 1918 stated that i respect of n the higher education of women, the establishment of a womens
23
DJAGRAM 1. Comparison of literacy score by sex and by age
Age group
1. Committee of Research on Literacy (d) e., University Press, 1951.
Literacy o Japanese People, Tokyo f
university system was as yet premature. A n alternative plan, recommended by the council,was t establish an extra higher course i the o n g r s high school. il In 1 4 ,a report of the Council of Education recommended for 90 the first time that the womens university should be founded i n compliance with the university ordinance i order to open the way n for women to receive university education. T i recommendation hs was not put into e f c ,because it was regarded as less urgent i face fet n of the wartime emergency. Since co-education was not approved by custom, nowhere did women find opportunities t receive higher education. By way of o
24
DIAGRAM 2 Percentage of newspaper readers; . comparison of m e n w t w o m e n by age ih
Age group
1. Committee of Research on Literacy (ed.), op. c t i.
exception,there were three women students who were first admitted to the Tohoku Imperial University. Later a f w were admitted to e the Kyushu Imperial University, and to the Tokyo and Hiroshima Universities of Science and Literature. These women were merely tolerated and were left much t themselves; a l a t i one case the o t es n woman was left completely alone. In reminiscence of those days, she remarked: With not a soul to talk to al day long, I sat and listened to a series l of lectures i complete quietness until I went home. A I remained n s s l n i school day a t r day, I often wondered i I had forgotten iet n fe f o ut o f how t speak. I often whispered t myself j s t see i I had not o l s m y a i i y to u t r a sound. ot blt te 25
Although her remark is p r i l y attributable to her personality, it atal was an undeniable fact that i those days men students avoided any n association with women students. Immediately a t r the end of the l s world war,i December 1945, fe at n the Outlinefor the Reform of Womens Educationw s announced a by the government. The educational policy stated therein was to reform the education of women for the purpose of promoting equal opportunity of education, equal level of teaching and mutual respect between both sexes.Subsequently,measures were taken t open the o lectures of u i e s t e and colleges to women, t e t b i h womens nvriis o sals universities,t make the period of education of women equal t that o o of men, etc. Enforcement of the measures i question was expedited i 1946 n n by the report of the United States education mission t Japan. The o report set forth the new fundamental policy to be followed in postwar education in Japan and was therefore significant i regard t n o the higher education of women. The following is an excerpt from the report concerning the education of women:
. ..Women must see that to be goodwives, they must be good; ws ie and to be i emothers, they must be w s . .. .W e recommend that there be established for the next three years beyond the primary l school,a lowersecondary schoolfor al boys and girls, providing fundamentally the same type of curriculum for al . . ., and that l attendance i the lowersecondary schoolbe compulsory for three n years, or u t l the age of sixteen. ...Beyond the lowersecondary ni school,w recommend the establishment of a three-year upper e o l secondary school, free from tuition fees and open t al who desire t attend. Here again, co-education . . . would help t o o establish equality between the sexes. . . . The young men and women of Japan should have freedom of access, on the basis of merit, t al levels of higher studies. o l
The military administration during the period of the occupation of Japan put into effect, very forcibly and i a very short t m ,the n ie recommendation of the commission. A a result,by December 1947, s 99.6per cent of junior high schools and 57.9 per cent of senior high schools were ready t begin co-education.Universities, with a few o exceptions,a s followed s i . lo ut Inasmuch as the above-mentioned new ideal and new form of administration of education were not the outcome of the i l of wl
26
the majority of the people, but w r largely forced upon them from ee above and from outside p l t c l y there were some who claimed oiial, that the new education was i contradictionto the traditional national n virtues. In the course of the discussion of the bl on school education il i 1947, there was one, among the members of the committee, who n voiced his sentiment. H said: Aboveanything else, is not co-educae tion,as prescribed in Article 5 of the FundamentalLaw of Education, premature? In v e of the actual condition of our country, is not iw
co-education a superficial imitation of the West? I would suggest that the committee should be more thoughtful and deliberate in the matter of womens education. In September 1954,the Ministry of Education conducted a systema i survey on the attitudes of students, teachers, and parents i tc n regard t co-education.In this study, 2 1 junior high schools, 207 o 0 full-time senior high schools and 90 part-time senior high schools, ie 498 schools i a l were covered. The findings of this study are .. n l, given i Table 3 below. n
TABLE Attitudes of students, teachers and parents towards co-education 3 .
Category Agree Disagree
Dont know
Junior high school

Pupils Teachers Parents Full-time senior high school Students Teachers Parents Part-time senior high school Students Teachers Parents
22
93
70
8
3
4
18
51
31
42
83
41
72 89 4 3
51 1 0 35
7 7 24
11 5
36
1 7
6
2 1
A shown in this table,it was the teachers who favoured co-education. s The role that the teachers played i effecting the democratization of n the educational system has been v t l and it w s no less so i the ia a n matter of co-education.Especially significant is the fact that as many as 93 per cent of the total number of teachers ofjunior high schools were i favour of co-education,and a slightly lower measure of n agreement (83 per cent) was found among teachers of full-time
27
\
,J
senior high schools. With reference t students attitudes, junior o high school students were least ( 2 per cent) i agreement with co2 n education, but the part-time senior high school students showed the highest measure (72 per cent) of agreement. The lowest percentage of agreement in regard t co-educationthat w s found among o a the junior high school pupils may be interpreted t mean that they o have not as yet formed their own opinion, and thus they were, it seems,influenced by the traditions of the family and the community. T i interpretation is suggested by the rather low percentage of hs agreement expressed by t e parents-only 51 per cent i the group h n of junior high school parents, and only 41 per cent and 43 per cent of parents of full-time and part-timesenior high schools respectively showed t e r agreement. Thanks t the presence of a large number hi o of supporters of co-educationamong the teachers, a fr foundation im was l i for the promotion of the s i i and practice of the new ad prt education. A present, there is no longer any problem of co-education i t n junior high schools or primary schools. However, i senior high n schools there are still educational problems connected with coeducation. In the Guide t prepare the Practical Operation o the o f N e w School System, a pamphlet disseminated by the Ministry of Education i 1947,w f n an indication that the Ministry of Educan e id tion did not take positive action t enforce co-education i senior o n high schools. It should be remembered that the ministry approved co-education on the principle of equal educational opportunities f r o men and women. In the report of the educational commission o f the United States of America, too, the expression or enunciation of this problem lacked definiteness. I was rather moderate as shown i t n the quotation below: Here again, co-education would make possible many financial savings and would help t establish equality between the sexes. o However, separate schools might be used a t i level during the t hs transition stage, provided equal educational opportunity could be guaranteed. Consequently, i senior high schools there are today considerable n local differences in the e t n t which co-education is put into xet o practice. According to t e Researchon the Curriculum of the Senior h High School,carried out by the Ministry of Education i 1957, n
28
private senior high schools are less disposed to adopt co-education (only 15 per c n ) whereas public senior high schools (85.8 per cent) et; are more disposed t adopt the practice of co-education.More than o half (58.7 per cent) of the private senior high schools admit g r s il only,and 26.3 per cent of the private senior high schools admit boys only. (See Table 4 ) .
TABLEDistribution of senior high schools according to mixed or unmixed 4 .
education
Tvoe of education Public Private
Co-education Boys o l ny Grs o l il n y
1 280
53
1491
158
100 0.
% 85.8 36 . 1. 06
- 567 100.0
85 149 333
% 1. 50 26.3 5. 87
TOTAL
So far a public senior high schools are concerned, co-educationis s now a common practice. T i fact notwithstanding, recently some hs educationists have been advocating separate education for g r s on il the ground that the content of education must necessarily take account of the difference i sex. Indeed, there are real problems t n o be solved-for example, what t do with those g r students who o il have no prospect of going to universities but are attending senior high schools that are v r u l y preparatory for the university matricuital lation;and how best t balance quantitativeand qualitative differences o found among boys and girls i some of the senior high schools. n Although co-educationstill r i e some problems,it has remarkably ass improved the education of women. CO-education, together with prolongation of the compulsory education period to nine years-six years of primary school education followed by three years of senior school education, has, for the first time, guaranteed a basic culture of a universal character to al the Japanese people without sex disl crimination. Naturally enough, al g r s who have acquired basic l il culture are, through the equal opportunity for education, showing their a i i y to advance to higher education. blt Table 5 shows the yearly increase i the numbers of boys and girls n attending senior high schools and colleges and universities. In 1950, male students outnumbered female students by roughly 794,000. However,the r t of increase since then has been noticeably ae
29
TABLE Number of boy and girl students in senior high school, college and 5 . universitv shown in indices (1950to 1957)
Year Senior high school students Boys Girls College and university students Boys Girls
19501 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957
100 0. 116 1. 173 1. 124.6 138 2. 143 2. 179 2. 147 3.
100 0. 158 1. 169 2. 140.0 137 4. 193 4. 158.5 173.9
100 0. 123 0. 191 1. 124.0 132.6 177 3. 116 4.
144.3
100.0 191 1. 164 6. 205.9 240.1 264.6 279.1 284.7
1. In 1950 there w r 1,203,749 boy and 733,766 girl students at senior high schools; ee there were 364,642 boy and 40,668 girl students at colleges and universities.
high for g r students-though the numbers have been increasing for il both sexes as the indices show-whereas for a period of eight years, ie from 1950 t 1957,male studentsincreased their number relatively .. o slowly as the indices of 134.7 for senior high school students and 1 4 3for university and college students indicate. For the correspond4. ing period the relative increase for female students w s rapid-the a index is 1 3 9 for seDior high school and 284.7 for university and 7. college students. Ti rapid increase i the number of female students hs n i senior high schoolsand in colleges seems to suggestthat the barrier n i the way of education for women has been removed and the way n is now open for them,equally with men,t pursue the highest studies. o The high educational achievements of women, which were once looked a askance, are beginning to be properly appreciated. t A conspicuous improvement i womens education i Japan is n n expected to bring about changes i other directions.The occupational n advancement of women, which is of particular importance from the standpoint of this status, wl be dealt w t i d t i l t r Here it il i h n e a l ae. wl suffice to note the s a i t c for women graduates of 1957l, with il ttsis reference to their occupational advancement (Table 6 and t e r ) hi distribution by major occupations (Table 7 ) . According to Table 6,the proportion of al female graduates of l junior high schools,senior high schools,and colleges and universities who entered occupational life was 39.7 per cent, 51.2 per cent and
1. Computed from: M n s r of Education, Reports o Fundamental Research on iity f Schools, 1957.
30
TABLE Graduates by sex and later career (1957) 6 .

Career Junior high school M a l e Female
~
Senior high school Male Female
College and university Male Female

~
Studying Working Studying part-time Neither studying nor working Other
% % 49.4 4 . 66 40.2 3 . 91 49 . 1.8 44 1. . 05 1.1 14 .
% 1. 70 6. 23
13 .
1. 59 3.5
% 1. 30 51.2 0.3 31.1 44 .
% % 6.8 4.8 7 . 50.4 69 37 . 10 . 5 1 35.4 . 75 . 84 .
1. Total number of graduates: 1,016,000 male, 982,000 female a junior high schools; t 415,000 male, 316,000 female at senior high schools; 112,000 male, 36,000female a t colleges and universities.
5 . per cent respectively. Slightly more than a half of the graduates 04 of senior high schools and about a half of the college graduates hold occupations. In former days, the women who entered the arena of gainful occupation were predominantly the daughters of poor families, and they were therefore,for the most part, either factory workers or i service. Today, as shown i Table 7 the overwhelming n n , majority of women university and college graduates are engaged i n professional and c e i a work-63.6 per cent of them are i prolrcl n fessional work and 2 . per cent i c e i a work and together they 77 n lrcl
TABLE Graduates by occupation (1957)* 7 .
Occupation Junior high school Male Female Senior high school Male Female College and university Male Female
Agriculture, forestry, fishing Mining,transport Professions Administration Clerks Trade Srie evc Other
% 2. 31 5. 55
- - _
% 20.4 4. 18
1.1 3.8 1. 2 2 98 . 3 7 1. . 34 4.4 4 8 .
% 14.9 3. 23 62 . 0.6 2. 36 15.4 33 . 37 .
% 74 . 75 . 12 . 03 . 54.2 1. 96 61 . 37 .
%
09 . 2.2 38.1 13 . 45.2 72 . 21 . 30 .
%
01 . 1.1 63.6
04 . 2. 79 19 . 17 . 33 .
1. Total number of graduates: 457,000 male, 407,000 female at junior high schools; 264,000 male, 163,000 female at senior high schools; 86,000 male, 18,000 female a colleges and universities. t
31
make up 91.3 per cent. Morally speaking, al legitimate trades are l iw equally honourable but, from the point of v e of social evaluation, professional and c e i a work is held i higher esteem.l Therefore, lrcl n the fact that highly educated women are now engaged i e t e pron ihr fessional or clerical work wl be l k l t modify considerably the il iey o past tendency to b l t l working women and wl contribute towards eite il the enhancement of womens position. Furthermore,since education is highly valued i Japan,women with higher education are beginning n to hold high positions not only i various occupations but a s i n lo n a l other f e d . l ils
1. See: Japan Sociological Society (ed.), Modern Japanese Society : Class Structure, Its Tokyo, 1958.
32
III. T e changing position h

o women in the f m l f aiy
The position ofwomen in the patriarchal family
In discussing the social position of women i Japan we now turn n our attention to the family. The status which women hold and the roles which they play i the family wl be described and analysed n il
with reference t s c a change i general and to the change i the o oil n n structure and function of the Japanese family i particular. The n family is the first group of which any individual has experience, and the status given t women i the family is closely related to the o n status given to them i society a large. n t The position of women i the traditional family i Japan was a n n lowly one under the patriarchal system. In Japan the patriarchal family has a long history going back t ancient times. The patriarchal o family became widespread 4 0 years ago when Japan was unified 0 under the feudal system.The relationship between lords and vassalsthat is t say, the submission of the vassal t his lord and his control o o by the latter-was viewed as analogous t the relationship between o the patriarch and the members of his family,and both relationships were regarded as based on the same ethical principle. T i principle hs was carried over into modern Japan even a t r the collapse of feufe dalism; loyalty to the Emperor was regarded as identical with the virtue of f l a piety towards ones own parents. iil Under the system of the patriarchal family what counted most was the iye as a group. Iye w s more than a group of individuals sharing a a common roof. I was conceived of a a spiritual entity capable of t s perpetuating i s l through generations. Within the iye the patriarch tef was the commander who derived his power and authority from his
33
o f c . Since the position of patriarch i iye was, as a rule, transfie n missible only t the e d s son,the l t e , as a legitimate successor o let atr t the o f c of patriarch,was entitled t the deference of others both o fie o within and without the family. The degree of honour given to the eldest son varied according t the status of his own family i the o n community. The second and subsequent sons were treated d f e e t y ifrnl and were called hiyameshikui (cold-meal e t r or hangers-on beae) cause they were not the ones who were t succeed to the ofice of the o patriarch. In rare cases they inherited the family property. Under the patriarchal system, the position of the woman was d f n t l eiiey inferior to the kucho, oldest son, and other sons and her role was clearly that of submission.T i role was j s i i d and sanctioned by hs utfe the ethics of Buddhism and Confucianism. Side by side with the authority of the patriarch, h s wf had an i ie authority conferred upon her by the patriarch and t i was referred t hs o as housewifes authority.However,unlike the patriarchs authority hich had the fr backing of the law,the housewifesauthorityhad im legal sanction; her authority was based on custom and on the exercised i her management of family consumption.Especially n i samurai society,her husbands authority completely overshadowed n hers and thus there was no problem whatever because the question of her rights never given any serious thought. Among the common was people, however,the wifes role was recognized generally not only i n respect of family consumption but also i regard to its production. n Therefore her authority counted somewhat and constituted a kind of social convention. In consequence, it may be said that common people became more deferent to the authoritative patriarchal concept of the family i the Meiji e a when education spread and when moral n r and legal norms penetrated al parts of Japanese society. l A conjugal family-a nuclear family-of modern times begins with the marital union of a man and a woman, but a patriarchal extended family is perpetuated through successive generations. Except for a newly established branch family,it has neither beginning nor ending i principle. A daughter who marries out is incorporated into the n husbandsfamily.She is a wf t her husband but a the sametime she ie o t is a bride of the family,belonging to the patriarch, the father of her husband. The social norm bids her to be a bride to the father-in-law, rather than a wife t her husband. The service she renders to her o parents-in-law more important than the love of the young couple. is
I.
34
The changing position of women i the family n
Therefore if she f i s t gain the favour of her husbands parents, she al o is very often divorced by them regardless of the love or wl of her il husband. Inthe researchconducted by the Ministry ofLabour i 1955 samples n drawn from women above 2 years of age i al parts of Japan were 0 n l found t consist of 7.9 per cent of family heads, 59.7 per cent of wives o of family heads, 7.5 per cent of brides (.. wives of sons of family ie heads), 13.1 per cent of daughters,8 3 per cent of mothers of family . heads,2.2per cent of s s e s and 1.3 per cent of 0thers.l From the fact itr that 7 5 per cent of al Japanese women above 20 years of age are . l living with the parents of the husband and that the period of the research is r l t v l short, we can infer that a considerably larger eaiey number of Japanese women must be placed i a similar family status n a the beginning of married l f . t ie To give more precise data, the forms of the Japanese family are c a s f e i Table 8 below which is compiled from the census of 1920.2 lsiid n
TABLE Classification of families by form and composition and by rural and 8 .
urban status
All Japan % A. O n e person household 6.0 B. Families of husband and wife only 1. 03 C. Families of husband, wife and unmarried child 43.7 D. Families of husband, wife, married child and/ or grandchild 23 . E Families of husband, wife, parents and/or . grandparents 28 . F. Families of husband, wife, child, and parents 2 . 51 G Families including collateral kindred . 9.8
F o r m of family
Rural
Urban
% 52 . 94 . 42.3
26 . 25 . 27.9 1. 01
% 91 . 1. 43 49.7
1.1
36 . 1. 36 86 .
Forms A, B and C i this table a e variations of the modern nuclear n r family.Added together,the families of these three forms constitute 60 per cent ofal familiesi Japan,5 . per cent ofrural and 73.1 per cent l n 69 of urban families,indicating that the trend toward the nuclear family is stronger i the urban area. Forms D, and F, n E fundamental to the Japanese family i the past,include two or more nuclear families i a n n linear family. Form G is one that is constituted by adding collateral
1. Womens and Minors Bureau, Mnsr of Labour, On the Status of W o m e n , 1955. iity 2. Takashi Koyama, Classificationof Family Forms,in: The Problem and Method o f
Sociology, Tokyo, Yuhikaku, 1959.
35
kindred, such a brothers or s s e s to the above forms, cases which s itr, often occur when the family head is young. Pour forms,from D t G, o each of which is a kind of extended family, constitute altogether 4 per cent of al families,43.1 per cent of rural and 26.9per cent of 0 l urban families,indicating t a a f r larger number of extended families ht a are found in rural areas than i urban areas. n However, the fact that both i rural and i urban areas nuclear n n families constitute more than h l the t t l shows that other forms of af oa family cannot be regarded a the inherent type.These forms are mostly s transient ones that take shape i the course of the c c i change i the n ylc n extended family. Even if t e forms a present are l k the nuclear h t ie family, they wl possibly turn into the form of extended family, il although it is very likely t a the proportion of nuclear families wl ht il increase with further modernistic developments i Japanese culture,as n may be anticipated from urban and rural differences a present. t Among the varieties that take shape i the course of the c c i n ylc change i the family,forms Cy B and G are predominant throughout n F, both urban and rural areas.Families of form B are l k l to be mostly iey branch families established by second and subsequent sons. Unlike Western families,these are not dissolved in one generation but l s at through many generations and undergo c c i change. In order t ylc o show the general tendency of cyclic change i the unilineal family,the n changing forms assumed over a period of 60years,from 1802 t 1861, o by a l the families i a village of the feudal days a e indicated i l n r n Diagram 3.l T i historical picture of the first half of the l s century hs at shows a c c i change very s m l r to that still s e in the traditional ylc iia en family of Japan. Form B i the diagram represents what takes place when a branch n family is established or a son dies. Formally it is the same a the basic s form of the contemporary Western family,but it is very different i n its nature. The basic forms of the extended family are shown i C, n D, and G, the average age of the family head increases as the F and form passes through G-+F-+C+Di this order. Ti is a c c i n hs ylc course i which the change i the basic form of the extended family n n is repeated. In the modern nuclear family,the original form is B,composed of a husband and wf only,and it moves then t C when t e r children a e ie o hi r
1 Takashi Koyama, Cyclic Change of Family, Zye-AnaZysis of its Structure. . Tokyo, Sobunsha, 1959.
36
DIAGRAM 3 Main courses of change i the form of the extended family . n
A A
Family head Wife of family head M a n not family head
= Marriage x Death + Main courses of cyclic change

of basic family form
0 W o m a n not wife of family head
-+ Main courses of cyclic change

o derived family form. f
Figures below each c r l show average years of duration of respective form. ice
37
added and it subsequently turns back t B when the children become o independent of t e r parents. In the case of the extended family, hi however, the married life of a couple very often s a t i the family, trs n which includes l n a ascendants, collateral members such a brothers iel s and sisters of the husband. In the course of a few years,the collateral kin leave the group by marrying out or establishing a branch family, but the parents still remain i the family t live wt t e r e d s son n o ih h i l e t and his wife. Ti s a e l s s on an average for nearly t n years. The hs t t a t e couple now have no family members other than their children, but this is the preparatory stage for the next cycle since very soon they take in a bride for their son. Al of the forms of family lf and its cyclic change,as described in l ie Diagram 3,are naturally derived from the patriarchal extended family system. The position of a woman is affected by the forms which a family assumes i the course of its c c i change. n ylc First,when a woman enters her husbandsfamily by marriage,there already exists a socially sanctioned power structure headed by either her father-in-lawor her husband. A a new member of the group,she s is expected to be subservient t the family head, to abide by family o ways and to labour for the family. Second, as parents, brothers and sisters of her husband live together i the same household, she is n xpected to be devoted and obedient t them. Befla t parents and o iil o endly to brothers was an injunction embodied i the Emperor n Meijis Imperial Rescript on Education. Formerly, this injunction constituted the foundation of national morality and was the essential norm t be observed by a wf in her relationship with members of her o ie husbands family. Third, for a wife in the extended family there are two periods-the period ofa bride and that ofa housewife.During the period following the marriage what counts most is her duty alone and she can claim no rights. After she bears one or more children and becomes acquainted wt the family customs, and the mother-in-law ih attains an advanced age, she can at l s take over the position of the at housewife. She now acquires the right t manage the household. Ti o hs right is accompanied by heavy duties and responsibilities; she is burdened with the management of the household and the rearing of the children as wl as with maintaining friendly and harmonious el relations with relatives and neighbours. Furthermore, i families n of farmers and traditional traders or small-scalemanufacturers, the housewife is called upon t contributeher labour.As this was the case o
ki
38
The changing position of women in the family
w t the wife in the firmly established family system of former days, ih one could hardly imagine a housewife being engaged i an occupation n
or i any social activity outside her family. n Thus,with the bride having no power and the housewifes power being confinedto the household,the social position of women outside t e family rarely called for consideration i the past. More recently, h n there has arisen,c i f y i urban society,a tendency to dissolve the hel n extended family. But the process has not acquired sufficient force t o effect a fundamental reform i the traditional conventions. The postn war family codewas intended t establisha conjugalfamily system,but o t i legalreform,it seems,has not been f l y adopted by the people. In hs ul not a f w instances,contradictions between t e new and the old way of e h family l v n and between the new and the old conceptjon of the family iig are giving rise t complexfamily problems.Because ofbasic differences o between the situation of a couple married according t the old system o and that of a couple married and beginning theirmarried lf under ie the new system-which is founded upon the principle of respect for the individuality and equality of both sexes-there is discordance i t e n h attitudes adopted towards the newly establishednorms.Conflict ofthis type is found among couples with one member from a rural background and another from an urban background. An attempt wl now be made i the following sections to set forth il n existing problems which relate particularly t women and t e r social o hi position. These are problems involving legal actions such as marriage, divorce and inheritance; problems related t the question of fundao mental human rights,such as ones right to make decisions on how to spend ones time and ones family income, how to manage ones health, and how to obtain and maintain individual freedom and expression;and,finally,problems related t the traditional values and o practices ofJapanese society. The New Constitution,as w have already mentioned,set forth the e principle of the equality of both sexes. I s e i i a l recognized mart pcfcly riage as t e basis of the family. Thus, the long-standingtraditional h notion of marriage as c l e t v t oriented and patricentric, has been olciiy replaced,a l a t i form,by the new conception of marriage,namely, t es n as the union of man and woman based on the mutual consent of both sexes.The inherent differences between the old and the new marriage can best be seen when the ideal pattern of each is compared diagrammatically. This contrast i shown i Table 9 s n . 39
TABLE Comparison of the ideal patterns of marriage, new and old 9 .

ltem o ideal patterns f
Old conception of marriage
New conception of marriage
1. Marriage and establishment of a family group.
Marriage i not the basic s condition for establishf ment o iye. Divorce does not disturb the continuity of iye. Marriage for the sake of iye i far more important s than marriage i s l . tef Stress is laid on the stabil t of the iye grouping. iy Marital union serves as a junction between the t o w iyes concerned. The selection i made by s parents or a go-between. The decision i made at the s wl of parents. il
Marriage i the basic cons dition of the family. Divorce means the dissolut o of the family. in Marriage in i s l i i tef s m portant. Stress is laid on the stabil t of the husband and iy wife union. Marital union is the union of t o individuals-husw band and wife.
2 Divorce and dis. solution of the family group.

3 Importanceof . marriage.
4 Stress in married .
lf. ie
5 Meaning of mari. tal union.

6 Selectionof a . spouse.
I is made by oneself. t
I i made at ones own t s wl. il I is an indispensable pre t
requisite to marriage.
7 Decision on the . choiceofaspouse. 8 Association be. fore marriage.

9 Marriage and . love. 1 .Rites concerning 0 marriage.
I is not necessarily a pret

o requisite t marriage.
In principle love i denied. s

Customs are abided by. Familial, authoritarian, compulsory.
In principle love is a requisite to marriage. Customs are not necessarily binding. Individualistic, equalitarian,liberal.
11. General characteristics.
1. Family Research Group,ActualConditions of the Family in the Post-War Period, Japan Sociological Review, No.27-8,1957, p. 127.
How far and in what ways do existing behaviour and practices deviate from these ideal marriage patterns as outlined above? Concerning the choice of onesspouse, w observe frequently that persons who agree e that marriage should be based on the mutual consent of both sexes are confronted by otherswho stillsupport theold notion that for marriage,
40
a son or a daughter should obtain the consent of the parents with w h o m he or shelives. During the public opinion research ont e family h system of the P i e Ministers Office (1956)the question was asked: rm Inregard t the choice of a spouse,which of the two is to be preferred o -choice made by parents or by oneself? The replies are shown i n Table 1 below. 0
TABLE. Opinions on the choice of a spouse 1 0
Respondent Reply
A
%
By sex and age

Male 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60 and over Female 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60 and over
%
79 70 65 6 1 35 74 68 55 50 37 77 62 59 63
% 12 11
11
9 1 9 24 35 49
16 2 1 35 39 41 14 25 30 26
4 16
10 11 1 0 11 22 9 13 11 11
By place of residence Large cities Middle-size and small cities Country district Al Japan l
1. A=Parents choice is better; B=Ones own choice is better; C=Dont know.
Numerous surveys of a similarnaturehave been made and t e r results hi a l show much t e same pattern of replies. In al Japan, there are l h l roughly 26 out of 100 persons who are tradition-boundand t i k that hn the parents choiceof t e r spouses would be better than onesown hi choice,whereas 63 out of 100 persons t i k t e r own choice of spouse hn hi would be b t e thantheir parentschoice.Interms ofd s r c s country etr itit, dwellers are more traditionally oriented (30 per cent) than persons living i middle-size and small cities ( 5 per c n ) but the people in n 2 et,
1. Prime Ministers Office, Research Report on the Family System, 1957.
4 1
large cities are the least tradition-bound(only 1 per c n ) i regard t 4 et n o their choice of spouses.Conversely,a large a proportion a 77 per cent s s of the people of large cities think and feel that onesown choiceis better than the parents choice,but 62 per cent of persons l v n i iig n middle-sizeand small cities and 59 per cent of those i the country feel n the same way i regard t (onesown choiceof spouse.A comparison n o by sex shows not too s g i i a t a difference,although there is good infcn reason t assume that females are more influenced by tradition; the o larger number of dontknowreplies i this group seem t support n o this assumption.A comparison by age and sex also leads one to b l e e eiv that women are, on the whole, more bound by tradition than men. A present a conflict of opinion does exist between the young and the t old and between urban and rural folk,causing serious family discords. What,then, the course of action that a young person would be most is likely t take should his a t t d be found t conflict w t that o his o tiue o ih f parents? According t the study of the Womens and MinorsBureau, o Ministry of Labour,made on womens position i 1955,it was found n that 4 per cent of al female respondents replied,Iaccept m y parents 2 l opinion,27 per cent indicated agreement wt the reply which read ih Daret marry disregarding them (parents)a marriage is l f t ones o s et o own free w l 7 1 per cent replied,Idontknow,and 1 per cent gave il2 > 0 no rep1y.lFrom this survey one may infer how powerful is our national tradition i exerting its influencei the choice of ones spouse. n n When ones spouse is chosen by ones own parents,it i very likely s that the first step toward marriage is, i general, taken through an n introduction by an intermediary. In this case, what is called miai, ( i e a l ,this means seeing each other) is usually prearranged to let ltrly both parties interested i t e marriage see each other formally for the n h first time. For them the m a is the kst chance to see each other i the ii n presence of parents and the go-between.When this m a ends favourii ably, the engagement is announced. A present, what is the ratio of t miai marriages t love marriages ?According t ZlzeL f and Opinions o o ie o Housewives, a study made by the Ministry of Labour i 1955, f n even i large c t e ,love marriages constitute only about 25 per cent and n iis miai marriages a much a 7 per cent of t t l marriages;and i farms s 3 oa n ing and f s i g d s r c s love marriages were only 13 per cent and 1 ihn itit 2 per cent respectively of the total.(See Table 11. )
1. Womens and Minors Bureau, Ministry of Labour, Research on the Position of Women,Tokyo, 1955.
42
TABLE Distribution of marriage by kind and by district 11.

Kind of marriage Large
cities
Farming district
Fishing district
Love marriage Mu marriage ii Other
% 25 73 2
%
13 86 1
%
12 84
1. Womens and Minors Bureau, Ministry of Labour, The L f and Opinions of ie Housewives, 1957.
In al d s r c s the overwhelming majority of marriages are initiated l itit through m a , but a r l t v l higher ratio of love marriages is seen i ii eaiey n large c t e . T i indicates that the modernistic tendency is, i the case iis hs n of marriage also,beginning t develop i urban d s r c s i the posto n itit n war period, as other sources prove. Regarding the desire of a prospective bridegroom to have his own wish observed i t e choice of a bride-to-be,a study made by the n h Family Problems Study Group revealed that men who manifested t e r wl constituted 60 per cent and 80 per cent i urban and rural h i il n areas respectively,whereas, i the case of women, only 7 per cent i n n urban areas considered that the wl of the prospective bride should be il taken i t account i the choice of a bridegroom,and 11 per cent i no n n rural areas. The womans wl was usually not made known directly il t the other party t the marriage but was revealed indirectly through o o the go-between.l Broadly speaking,marriages have been i i i t d chiefly by the wish ntae and design of the parents or the husband. The union between a man and a woman based on the mutual love and wl of both has been il slow i coming. This s a e of a f i s is what one might expect i v e n tt far n iw of the fact that an associationbetween an adolescent boy and g r was il s c a l disapproved. Even now this tendency survives i the formal oily n procedure of marriage, and it is still supported generally. Among young people,however,the old procedure is rapidly succumbingto the new notion of marriage which regards a man and a woman as constituting the basis of marriage. In conjunction with t e change i legal h n and moral norms,reform of actual marriage practices is expected to take place i the near future. A marriage is sanctioned socially a t e n s t h
1 Takashi Koyama (d) Study of the Contemporary Family, Tokyo, Kobundo, 1959. . e.,
43
wedding ceremony, it is recognized and protected l g l y upon its eal registration, as provided by law.An actual marriage,i it is not legally f registered,cannot provide l g l protection for a child o for the posiea r tion of the wife. Nevertheless,there have been many marriages which were not registered during the first peiiod,legal procedures being complied with only a t r a considerable lapse of time. fe In order to show the period elapsing between the wedding ceremony and the registration of the marriage,and the trend i this respect,the n cumulative percentages of marriages according to the period between the ceremony and the registration are quoted from the Population Mobility Statistics of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. 2) (See Table 1 .
TABLE 2 Marriages distributed according to the period from the wedding 1.
ceremony to the legal registration (1947 to 1957)
Period from ceremony to registration Year 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957
%
98 . 7. 17 91.8 9. 51
1 month 1 year 2 years

3 years
96 . 77.0 9. 39 96.2
% 1. 01 7. 30 9. 08 9. 46
% 1. 03 7. 24 9. 10 9. 46
% 1. 29 7. 53 89.5 94.8
% 1. 32 77.0 9. 11 9. 42
%
1. 46 78.7 9. 21 9. 49
%
15.3 7. 99 9. 26 9. 53
% 1. 65 80.8 93.1 9. 57
%
1. 60 8. 14 9. 35 95.9
%
1. 78 82.7 93.7 9. 61
The period is growing shorter,a the table indicates,as a result of the s effort recently made to promote e r i r registration,but only 1 per ale 8 cent complete registration within one month. Registration within one year was about 80 per cent i 1957,but this does not show much i n m provement when compared wt the percentage of 1 years ago. Thereih 0 fore, about 2 per cent of w v s who actually entered upon married 0 ie l f were left without legal protection. T i is more marked i rural ie hs n areas than i urban areas. People o farming families generally think n f that the a i i y t give birth t children,t labour,t become adapted blt o o o o to l f as a member ofthe family,and so on should be t s e before the ie etd marriage is registered. A l a t they are still inclined t postpone t es, o registration u t l anew wf is delivered of a child.In the research of ni ie the Family Problems Study Group conductedi a fringe area ofTokyo n i 1957,30 per cent of non-farmingfamilies were found t have comn o pleted registration w t i 1 days; whereas farming families i the ihn 0 n
44
same area that had done so were only 1 per cent. The proportion of 0 these delays based on past institutions and customs is not mentioned i the s a i t c cited above,and w have no other sources from which n ttsis e to ascertain i.But,as subsidiarydata,facts ascertained i the research t n on unregistered marrjages carried out i Nishijin, a part of Kyoto, n are reproduced i Table 13. n
TABLE Unregistered marriages i Nishijin, Kyoto, according to the reason 13. n
for not registering (1923 and 1948)
~
Reason for not registering
1923
1948
1. Because neither husband nor wife is the head of or heir aiy to the original f m l . 2 Because consent of parent or of the head of the original . family cannot be obtained. 3 Because wife is not yet sure to fit into the family customs. . 4 Because wife is not yet delivered of a child. . 5. Others (including custom and general negligence).
29
13 1 8
19
49
4 1 5 71
1 Tamakichi Nakajima, Concerning Unregistered Husband and Wife, Hogaku . Ronso (The Journal of Law), Vol. X, No. 3, 1923. 2 Toshiro Iio, Actual Conditions of Unregistered Marriage, op. ct, Vol. LVII, . i. No. 3, 1951.
N o strict comparison can be made between the two research findings shown i Table 13 because the tm and the method of research were n ie d f e e t But w can still observe i the table t e difference i tendenifrn. e n h n c e w t i the period covered.The proportion of delay due to idleness is ihn o ignorance is now relatively greater, wie t e proportion of delay r hl h due t conventions has gradually lessened. o What has been said up to t i point shows that,i s i e of a fundahs n pt mental reform of the marriage laws,the actual condition of marriage is sil bound by old customs.In many cases of marriage,the position tl of married women remains r l t v l unchanged. However, there is eaiey growing evidence that the new generation is now following the principles embodied i the new marriage laws. n
Divorce
In the c l e t v t oriented and patricentric traditional family system, olciiy divorce was r l t v l easy and its consequence was f r more tragic for eaiey a women than for men. A marriage was regarded i the past as a means s n
45
for obtaining a successor t the iye, a wf who,because of her own o o ie r her husbandssterility,found herself unable to bear a child or children commonly faced the fate of having to leave the iye and t return t o o her original house. Marriage was also a socially recognized way of procuring and strengthening the family labour force,and therefore a wife who for reasons of ill-healthor unhappiness or both could not work as hard as was expected of her by members of her husbands family had t face the consequence of being sent back. Furthermore, o a wf who for psychological reasons or because of her personality ie failed t gain the personal favour of her in-lawswas sent back to her o original iye. In considering divorce, the mutual affection of the husband and wf and their love for each other w r given hardly any ie ee weight.Reasons for divorce i the past were buttressed w t Confucian n ih ethics,and even today the reasons are taken for granted a just. To be s sure,these reasons are not recognized i law but,i the analysis of the n n trend i divorce, they must be taken into account. A high rate of n divorce i the past was attributable to t e nature of relationships n h characteristic of the patriarchal ,familysystem and t the prevailing o moral norms surrounding the male-female relationship. Under these conditions,the relationship between husband and wf was subject t ie o control by many other individuals, particularly by the patriarch. In view of this fact,the decline i divorce rates over the years implies, n first, the waning of the power of the patriarch and, second,the fact that divorce,as a solution t d f i u t e of the iye, is less resorted t a o iiclis o t present. Before 1900,divorce rates w r evidently high, but they steadily deee clined up t the time of the last world war. The divorce rate for the o year 1885 was 3 per 1 0 0persons, and i 1940 the rate was 0 7per ,0 n . 1 0 0persons (Table 1) ,0 4.
TABLE .Divorce rate per 1,000 persons (1885 to 1955) 1 4
Year Divorce rate Year Divorce rate Year Divorce rate
1885 1890 1895 1900 1905
30 . 27 . 26 . 14 . 13 .
1910 1915 1920 1925 1930
12 . 11 . 1 .o 09 . 0.8
1935 1940 1945 1950 1955
0.7 07 .
-1
1 .o 08 .
1. Not available.
46
There was a s i h increase i the divorce rate ( per 1 0 0 soon after lgt n 1 ,0) the war-reflecting, on t e one hand,the chaotic conditions of Japan h during her recovery and, on t e other hand, the beginning of a new h trend whereby love and the happiness of individuals are being taken account of i divorce. n A present w find divorces which are forced upon the married t e couple from the standpoint of the group or @e, side by side w t ih divorces of a d f e e t nature. In the l t e ,divorce is used as a means ifrn atr t resolvethe marital d f i u t e of individuals,rather than of a group. o ifclis Two typical cases,the first representing the former and the second the l t e kind of divorce,are selected from a group of divorce hearings atr which have been brought to the domestic court for mediation. In the first case, the family A is a typical extended rural family, consisting of six members-husband (age 2) his wf ( 2 his parents, 4, ie 2 ) father ( 5 and mother ( 4 , his sister ( 9 and her child () a l living 6) 6) 2) 7, l under the same roof. The husbands s s e , once married, has come itr back with her own child after her divorce. T i family is that of an hs owner-farmer belonging to t e middle c a s The husband and wife h ls. have been married for two and a h l years.What has been expected af of t e new wife by the other members of the family is that she should h keep herself constantly busy doing housework and work out inthe field, lighten the burden on her parents-in-lawand perform innumerable other chores. Having been brought up in a town nearby,this young wife being inexperienced i farming and being somewhat delicate i n n her physique, findsherself unable t live up t t e role expected ofher. o o h She is therefore regarded as lazy by the other members of the family. Understandably,shecannot s t s a t r l play the part expected ofher. aifcoiy In addition,her sister-in-law being demodori ( s i h l contemptuous a lgty term applied t a divorced woman who has come back to her own o parents home), though somewhat reserved, is always c i i a of her rtcl brotherswife.On the other hand,her father-in-law, is rather mild who and enjoys his lf of semi-retirement,does not wield the patriarchs ie power very e f c i e y However,her mother-in-lawis the harshest i fetvl. n the treatment of her. Her mother-in-law u l expects h r sonswife to fly e take complete charge of al the housework and farm work i order that l n she,as an aged mother,can lead a carefree l f . A her expectations ie s are not f l i l d she finds herself frustrated, and becomes c i i a of ufle, rtcl her sons wife and adopts a h s i e attitude towards her. Under otl these conditions,i s i e of Aslove for his w f ,he is i r t t d by his n pt ie riae
47
/
I
mothers endless criticism and her dissatisfaction directed against his w f .And yet,A being the elder son,his sense of responsibility in the ie matter of family problems overrides his affection for his w f . H ie e decides f n l yto apply for a divorce so a t appease the dissatisfaction ial so i of h s mother and sister. In this first case, if the family i question were separated into two n nuclear families,the divorce would probably not be applied for. A it s is,the family being an extended one,the love and wl oft e couple are il h overshadowed by the dissatisfaction of the mother and sister-in-law. In this case,the group pressure,emanating from iye,forcestheyounger couple into divorce. In contrast,i case B,a divorce was applied for by the wife. The n family now l v s i the c t and is a nuclear one consisting of five ie n iy members i all-husband, wife and three children now i school. n n The husband, 45 years old,was the second son of a farming family. Except for the youngest,al his other brothers are now engaged i l n agriculture i the country.The wife,aged 4 , brought up i a large n 0 was n city, and i her girlhood she was the object of the affection of her n eis family,being the youngestc i d Even now she r l e heavily on others, hl. especially on her eldest brother who runs a b g hospital. Other brothers i and sisters are a l engaged i occupations of the modern type. In the l n course of her 2 years of married l f ,she and her husband worked 0 ie hard during the war and bore together t e various hardships of life. h Today, as their life becomes stable, she s f e s continual anxiety beufr cause of her husbands violent behaviour and his inadequate income since the war. Unable t remain patient any longer,she has started o proceedings f r divorce i the domestic court. A to the husband, o n s he desires the continuation of the marriage and js entering a plea and offering an explanation as an answer t any cause of divorce alleged o by his wife i the court. n I is clear from the opinions ofboth parties and oftheir relativesthat t the underlying d f i u t e are principally due to the differences in their ifclis rural and urban background. An added d f i u t seems to a i e from ifcly rs the fact that the wife herself has a lower standard of living than her relatives.Her situation,which is needy in comparison with theirs,has become unbearable as the general standard of living i Japan has r s n n ie i recent years. n One of the special characteristics of post-wardivorce is the rapidly growing number of s i s i s i u e by women,and understandably the ut ntttd
48
causes of divorce today are different from those found i the framen work of the extended family i the past. The percentage of divorce n s i s brought by the husband and by the wf respectively is shown ut ie below i Table 15. n
TABLE Divorce suits (1952to 1957) 15.
1952 1953 1954 Year 1955 I956 1957
Suits brought by husband Suits brought by w f ie
% 22.8 7. 72
% 2. 44 75.6
% 2. 41 75.9
% 2. 48 7. 52
% 26.8 73.2
% 2. 68 7. 32
1. General Secretariat,Supreme Court,Annual Report of Judicial Statistics, 1952 to 1 5 . 97
That more divorce s i sare brought by wives than by husbands i often ut s interpreted as a sign of a general awakening of women to their own rights. But t i interpretation seems t be premature and to reflecta hs o hasty optimism i view of the fact that divorcees are as yet very often n placed i socially and personally disadvantageous situations. n What,then,are the most prevalent causes of divorce today? There are two ways by which divorce may be l g l y obtained i Japan. On eal n the one hand,there is divorce byconsentand,i this case,the divorce n is registered with the mutual consent of the husband and wife and without any other legal procedure. O n the other hand,there isjudicial divorce.In this case,a t r failuret obtain divorce by mutual consent, fe o one or both parties bring a suit before the Domestic Court. Under the first divorce procedure,there is no means of ascertaining the cause or causes of divorce i s e i i instancesand thereforew cannot discover n pcfc e the trend i regard t causes of divorce. Ti being so, w e can base n o hs inferences only on the causes alleged i court i divorce proceedings. n n These causes in 1952 a compared w t those i 1957 are given i s ih n n Table 16, which shows the percentage distribution of divorce s i s by ut the alleged cause attributed to the husband or wf. ie According to Table 16,unchastityand crueltreatment ( 9 per 4 centi 1952 and 48 per cent in 1957) are the main grounds upon which n wives seek divorce from t e r husbands-these reasons for divorce hi constitute 49 per cent,whereas differenceof character and discord w t parentsin the case of the wife are t e chief grounds upon which ih h husbands seek their divorce (37per cent i 1952,50per cent i 1 5 ) n n 97. 49
TABLE6 Distribution of divorce suits according to the cause attributed 1.

(1952and 1957)
Total number
Unchastity Cruel treatment Desertion Wastefulness Crime Disease Difference of character Discord with parents Economic disruption Others
9348
2770
1 262 0
2 749
% 27 22 7 8 2 2 12 4 7 9
%
16 3 4 2 1 9 32 5 1 27
% 2 9 1 9 7 1 0 2 3 15
% 20 2
3 3
4
7 4
1 11 30 20 2 8
1. General Secretariat, Supreme Court, Annual Report o Judicial Statistics, 1952 and f 1957. 2 Allegation made by wife. . 3 Allegation made by husband. .
These constitute the largest proportion of the causes alleged by the wife and by the husband respectively.Causes that increase i frequency n with t e passage of a few years are the husbandsunchastity alleged by h the wife and the wifes difference o character alleged by the husband. f T i implies,on the one hand,that the wf has become less resigned hs ie t unchastity on the part of her husband and,on the other hand,that o when a wf makes a decisive claim the husband increasingly feels the ie differenceof character. The rapid increase i the number of cases n where discord with the parents-in-law alleged by the husband might is seem t suggest a contrary trend,but this increase is largely a reaction o to the wifes greater insistence on her claims rather than the result of the one-sideddemands made by parents-in-law, w s usually the case as a i the past. T i must therefore be considered a transient trend due to n hs t e impact between the new and old attitudes.However,the fact that a h considerable number of husbands a l g their w f disease as the lee ies cause of divorce suggests that many husbands are e t e s l i h or are ihr efs bound by the old familyconsciousness.A for discord with the parentss in-law,this occurs mostly between a bride and h r husbandsmother e
50
and indicates the obstinate retention of the old family tradition, i n which the bridesposition is ranked low i the family. n In generalthe increase i the number of lawsuitsbrought by women n seems t suggest that they have grown more active i manifesting t e r o n hi own wl and wish t seek the solution of t e r problems through the il o hi use of the domestic court. However,the fact that the main causes of divorce alleged by husbands are still difference of character and discordwith parents strongly suggests that wives still occupy a low position i the family. n Lt us now examine what people say aboutthe circumstances under e which divorce is considered unavoidable. On this point, the Family Problems Study Group, already referred to, obtained the results shown i Table 1 from samples of those living i rural villages and n 7 n others l v n i urban apartment-h0uses.l iig n
TABLE7.Opinions on just grounds for divorce which i regarded as unavoidable 1 s
for spec5c reasons
Grounds Villaners Women Men % Order % Order Apartment dwellers? Men Women % Order % Order
1. A spouse is licentious 2 A spouse loves someone else . 3 One spouse treats the other . cruelly 4 A spouse has a habit of idleness . 5 Couples charactersd f e mark. ifr edly from each other 6 A spouse drinks too heavily . 7 A spouse has a venereal disease . 8 A spousehas a habit ofwasteful. ness 9.Mother or other relatives of a spouse treats the wife (or husband) harshly 1 . A spousedoesnot obtainenough 0 income
4 3
5 9
4 41 I 46
33 51
3 2
58 49
I
3
65 45 68 62 52 50 39 25 16
5
2 6
4 4 3 45 2
7 1 7 6 4 4 9
52 3 9
2 5
I
3
3 8 3 9 3 6 3 7 1 6
6 33
5 38 8 39
42
30 24
4
6 7
8
7 39 9 16
2 1 14
9 IO
9
10
5 10
6 10
1. Respondentsi a rural v l a e n ilg. 2 Respondentsi an urban apartment-house . n area.
1. Takashi Koyama (ed.), op. ct, 1959. i.
5 1
The minimum requisite for the continuance of a marriage varies from person t person and t e ve of u t cause or causesfor divorce o h iw js likewise d f e s from one person t another.In s i e of t i fact,there ifr o pt hs i a consensusof opinion on the just causes for divorce.In the case of s female apartment dwellers these are: () treats t e other cruelly; 1 h ()a spouse is licentious;3 aspouse has a habit of idleness;and 2 () ( ) couples characters d f e markedly. For the female apartment 4 ifr dweller the table indicates that the largest measure of approval of divorce is given i the case offour s e i i reasons.In the case of about n pcfc 50 per cent of male apartment dwellers,the most frequentlysupported reasons are: () licentiousness;() cruelty;() love f r someone else; 1 2 3 o and () character differences. As one might expect, v l a e women 4 ilg d f e from urban women i their opinions onjust grounds for divorce. ifr n For the rural women, the order is as follows: (1) a habit of idleness; () love for someone else; () licentiousness; and ( and 5-equal 2 3 4 frequence) husband has a venereal disease and hehas a habit of wastefulness. Similarly, the u t grounds approved by rural men js d f e s g i i a t y from those approved by apartment dwellers. They ifr infcnl are: () loves someone else;()idleness;() cruelty;and ()licentious1 2 3 4 ness. The l a t important u t causes are: doesnot obtain enough es js income,and harshtreatment.In regard t these,there was no d f e o ifrence between the rural and the urban groups. A a general trend, it is interesting to note that women i urban s n areas show a higher consensus of opinion on the various grounds for divorce than is found i any other group. Ti trend is i accord wt n hs n ih the fact that more divorce s i s are brought before the domestic court ut by urban women than by men. T i may also imply a growing repulhs sion on the part of women towards their subordinate position. Here, w e may point t the fact that such a comment as Is a lbe patientis o hl given more frequently by women wt a rural background than by ih those with an urban background though exact figures for such replies are not cited here. In conclusion,we may say that urban and rural women represent the opposition between the modern and the traditional viewpoint on divorce and that this reveals the existing difference i the position of urban women and rural women of n today.
52
Inheritance
According t the former inheritance l w inheritance meant the suco a, cession t iye, and only the successor t iye legitimately inherited the o o family property a wl as the position or o f c of the patriarch. The s el fie need to maintain the iye group w s the prime consideration.The new a law,on the other hand,does not recognize t e institution of iye, nor h its headship. The new law does not recognize the need t hold together o the family property,which was an e s n i lcondition for the succession seta and continuity of iye. Therefore,a present, the property l f by the t et deceased family head has t be divided equally among the male and o female children.A far as the provisions of the law on inheritance are s concerned, the change as noted above has been made. W e must examine what actual changes have been made i the practical applican tion of the new inheritance law. The new inheritancelaw,based on the principle of equal inheritance, embodied a provision recognizing t e right of a person to give up his h inheritance through registration i the domestic court i the person n f concerned does not want to i h r t Table 1 summarizes the reasons nei. 8 given by men and women for r g s e i g t e r resignation of i h r t eitrn hi neiance i the Domestic Court.The f g r s given are for 1957and concern n iue a total number of 1 7 4 1persons,being 48,954men (33 per cent) and 4,9 97,537women ( 7 per c n ) 6 et.
TABLE Distribution according to the reasons given by men and w o m e n w h o 18. n registered the resignation of inheritance i the Domestic Court (1957)
Reasons
Men
Women
n Property given as a gift i lifetime of family head Living condition is good The property is too small Because of marriage or adoption L t children inherit the property e Let the eldest son (or daughter) inherit the property To avoid too s a l subdivisions of the property ml Other
% 6
23
1 0
3
-2
% 5 20 8
1 4 4
30
32 9 17
6
13
1 General Secretariat,Supreme Court,Annual Report o Judicial Statistics, 1957. . f 2. Too s a l to record. ml
53
T h e changing social position of women i Japan n
The practice according t w i h the eldest son inherits a larger share o hc than t e other brothers and sisters is still accepted by people in general h today. However, the attitude toward t e acceptance of this practice h varies with age (see Table 1 ) but the difference i attitude between 9 n sexes is small,althoughwomen seem to be s i h l more conservativelgty this difference may be due t an error in sampling. o According t the public opinion research on the family system cono ductedby the Prime Ministers Office in 1956,respondents who concurred i the opinion that t e largest share should go t the eldest son n h o o the successori the inheritance constituted the following proportion r n i specific age groups of men and w0men.l n
TABLE. Proportion of men and women w h o agree that the largest share of an 1 9
inheritance should go to the eldest son or successor
Age group
Men
Women
Agegroup
Men
Women
20-29 30-39 40-49
% 44 54 .
62
% 42 55 69
50-59 60
% 69 77
74
78
I is true that the domestic life of most Japanese people cannot be t maintained if the property left is divided into small portions, but the table clearly shows that, i regard to such a practical problem as n inheritance,people still r t i a very strong inclination to the tradiean tional view. O n this problem,too,women seem to support the tradition more than men do.
Role of women in domestic life
In the preceding sections w have examined womans position in e relation to three important matters-marriage, divorce and inheritance. In this section w shall examine more concretely her role i e n
domestic lf. ie
Allocation o t m i the daily life o women.W e shallfirst examine the f ie n f
womans tm budget or the allocation of her tm i everyday life. ie ie n Data for this section are to be found i a report on research on the n time allocation of t e nations daily life conducted by Nihon Hoso h
1. Prime Ministers Office, Research Report on the Family System, 1951.
54
Kyokai of NHK ( h Broadcasting Corporation of Japan) from 1941 te to 1 4 . The research was on a large scale,covering men and women 92l above 1 years of age i the households of salaried workers,factory 6 n workers,r t i e s and farmers.Since there is no other report that can ealr, compare favourably with this, w shall use the findings of NHK. e Table 20 and Diagram 4 give the tm allocation of the daily life of ie Japanese people i terms of occupational work, housework, s l n ef cultivation,and rest, which includes sleep,meals and so forth.
TABLE .Time allocation per day of four classes of people 2 0
Category Occupational work
hrs. mins.
Housework
hrs. mins.
Sleep, Self-cultivation meals, etc.

hrs. mins.
hrs. mins.
Farmers Male Female Retailers Male Female Salaried Male Female Factory Male Female
1 46 0 9
9 5
4 6
1 0
11 11
48 1 4
1
12 1 0 12 11 12 11
15 35
39 10
39 10
1 4
46 26 33 12 3
2 3 51
44
13
8
1 0
2 1
36 35
19 45
2 50
11
144 51
12 11
17
A indicated i this table, i the households of both farmers and s n n r t i e s women and men work very long hours. In the households of ealr salaried and factory workers,women hardly work for income a a l t l, save for a small number of them doing petty jobs a home. A for t s housework,women of salaried and factory-workerhouseholds spend the major part oftheir time at i.Eveni the households offarmersand t n r t i e s women allocate from four t six hours to household work. ealr, o Thus,by adding together the hours allocated to both work and housework,w find that women i the households of al occupationalgroups e n l work longer hours than men, wt the result that women have very ih little time l f for self-cultivation sleep. In particular, farming et 2nd women,whose working hours t t l 13,have markedly reduced hours oa of rest. Mens working hours i any occupation are d r c l associated n iety w t the nature of the work and their hours for housework are pracih
1. Nihon Hoso Kyokai, Research on the Time Allocation o the Nations Daily L f f ie
55
DIAGRAM 4. Time allocation per day of four classes of people

Farmers Retailers
Farmers
Retailers
Salaried workers
Foctory workers Hours of housework Hours of sleep, meals, etc.
Hours of occupational work

Hours of self-cultivation
56
tically negligible. Consequently,their total hours of work are shorter than those of women, allowing men t spend more hours for selfo cultivationand rest than women. The cultural achievement of a person cannot always be equated with the number of hours allocated t self-cultivation, there o but js some reason t think that the heavy load of long work borne by o women,a shown i Table 2 ,deprives them of time for cultural s n 0 atvte ciiis. In the case of farmers and r t i e s there are many women particiealr, pating i occupational work. Their participation is of the nature of n family work,and al of their occupational work is managed by the l family head. The patterns of tm allocation seen i the table remain very much ie n the same even today. Changes, when observed, are due largely t o changes i working hours i response t business fluctuations,t the n n o o lightening of domestic work due t the introduction of e e t i home o lcrc equipment and other modern conveniences i recent times, or t the n o increasing co-operation of young men i the housework. However, n w should not f i t note one striking fact. Since t e last world e al o h war the appreciation of womens work has increased, and there is an increasing number of married women employed outside t e r hi own homes. Recently a study was made of 54 households of teachers-elementary and junior high school-where both husband and wife work outside t e r h0mes.l The findings of this study i regard t t m hi n o ie allocation are shown i Table 2 and Diagram 5 n 1 .
TABLE. Time allocation per day of a school-teacherand his w f 2 1 ie
Day Family member
work for
income
hrs. m n . is
House-
Social intercourse and self-cultivation

hrs. mins.
Sleep, meals, etc.

hrs. mins.
hrs. mins.
Week-day Holiday
Husband Wife Husband
10
Wf ie
31 36 59 4 3
2 2 6
28 40 1 6 22
2 8 4
19 1 23 49
9 9 12 1 2
42 4 3 22 6
1. Nami Inaba, Time Allocation i Daily Life by those who work and do not work n outside the Home, Journal of Domestic Science, Vol. IX,No. 2 1958. ,
57
DIAGRAM allocation per day of a school-teacherand his wife 5 Time .

Husband
Wife
Week-day
Husband
Wife
Holiday
Hours of work for income Hours of social intercourse and self-cultivation
Hours of housework
0 of sleep, meals, etc. Hours
According t t i table,both husband and wife spend a largeportion o hs of their t m i work for income and consequently the t m spent on ie n ie housework is extremely short.Even among this group,a wife is on a week-dayloaded with longer hours of housework than her husband, leaving a shorter t m for social intercourse and self-cultivation. ie UnIike week-days, holidays can be devoted to housework and the tm ie allocated for this purpose is longer, as one might expect. Here w e see that husbands,too,spend more than two hours i housework. n The tendency for men to spend more t m on housework in order t ie o help their w v s is not confined solely t the group where both husie o
58
bands and wives work outside t e home. The trend is also evident i h n the homes of salaried or factory workers whose wives stay a home. t T i is a new trend and marks a significant shift from the position in hs pre-war days. Ti may wl mean that a new idea of mutual help hs el between husband and wife is beginning t grow and t be put into o o practice. Having thus discussed the question of time allocation i t e daily life n h of women, w now turn our attention to t e r role and function i e hi n home life.
Housekeepingrole. The housekeeping roles of women are,indeed,very complicated a these roles vary with the conditionsand structure ofthe s individual home. Here, w s a l examine child education and housee hl work a the most common and b s c roles of women, s ai F r t to what extent is a wife i her housekeeping role given the is, n power of operation, management and decision-makingi her housen hold economy? In order to ascertain the extent t which women do o participate i working out a plan i the household economy, the n n Ministry of Labour conducted research on a national scale and the results were reported in 1955.Table 22 is one of the findings of this study.
TABLE Participation of Japanese women i planning household economy (1955) 22. n
Replies showing extent of participation
All w o m e n
Married w o m e n
Mainly I work out the plan M opinion is always asked y M opinion is sometimes asked y I never make the plan Other
% 42
31
% 46
34 12
14
1 0 3
6 2
Replies w r given by 1,896women aged above 2 . O those married ee 0 f women who answered,46 per cent said MainlyI work out the plan and 18 per cent answered Inever make the plan or M y opinion is sometimes asked.From these f g r s it may be deduced that a coniue siderable number of women who live with t e r parents-in-lawin the hi extended family a t r t e r marriage are not allowed t participate in f e hi o
1. Womens and MinorsBureau, Ministry of Labour, On [theStatus of W o m e n , 1955.
59
the operation of the household economy and thus remain in the helpless position of thebride. In the operation of the household economy, there exists a wide differencei the wifes role a between rural and urban areas,ie as n s .. between farm and non-farm families. According t the study of the o Ministry of Labour, i the homes of medium-scale and small-scale n factory workers,86 per cent of the husbands reported that they hand over al t e r wages to t e r wives, but i the farm families 9 per cent l hi hi n 1 of the husbands control al household expenditure. l A regards the person i charge of household expenditure, the s n investigationby the Family Problems Study Group showed,as appears from Table 23,that there is a significant difference between farm and
TABLE Persons i charge of household expenditure: comparison of farm and 23. n
non-farm families
Person in charge
f Farm Non-farm aiis fmle mle aiis
Person in charge
Farm fmle aiis
Non-farm fmle aiis
I i
I
I
Familyhead Wife
1 4
63
3 82
Family head and his wife Other
23 0
12
3
non-farm families i a fringe area of T0kyo.l From this table w see n e that i non-farmfamiliesthe extent to which the husband sharesi the n n management of household expenditure is much less than i farm n families-3 per cent and 1 per cent respectively. Cases i which 4 n management rests with the wf are far more frequent i non-farm ie n familiesthan i farm families-82 per cent and 63per cent respectively. n The difference which e i t i this respect between farm and non-farm xss n familiesi the same communityis the outcomeofthe d f e e t situation n ifrn of these two groups i regard t the way ofmaking a living;but it may n o also r f e t a differential evaluation of the position of w v s i farm elc ie n and non-farmfamilies. For instance, when children were asked: Who determines the amount spent?and Who g v s you petty cash?,31 per cent of the ie rural children replied, Motherdetermines the amount,and 51 per cent said,Mothergivesthem petty cash,whereas, i urban areas,the n corresponding percentages w r 4 and 65 respectively.2 I may be ee 7 t
1. Takashi Koyama (d) op. ct, 1959. e., i. 2 Yaichi Nakagawa, The Rural H o m e viewed from the Standpoint of Education, . Case Study, No. 1, 1957 (special and enlarged issue).
60
seenfrom these figuresthat theimpressionwhich children i t e r daily n hi l f have of their mother is that she holds the family purse and that ie this impression is strongeri urban areas. n Stated b i f y the wf in the city plays as yet a very small role i rel, ie n earning the cash income, but, i the management of the household n economy,she has f l power and nearly everything is virtually conul trolled by her. Educating role. The educational function of the family is often seen by some as having been already transferred to the school,and the educational function decreases i proportion to the spread of school educan tion. However,t e role of the family i carrying out the educational h n function compares wl with that of the school.The family plays an el indispensable part i the education of children under school age and n i the home training of schoolchildren. This function i performed n s chiefly by the mother. In a family research conducted by the present writer i 1956, 76 per cent of those taking the lead i child training n n were women and 55 per cent ofthose women were m0thers.l Regarding the content of the training, besides the teaching of good manners, which w s mentioned most frequently, warning of wrong dictions a and naughty behaviour, the encouragement of learning and exhortation of compliance with parentsbidding,e c ,were found t be major t. o items ofchild training.The encouragement of learning was especially stressedi urban areas. n Trainingi housekeeping is given at t e school,but the home is still n h the centre for this kind of training and it still has a great influence on children. According t research amongst housewives i 1958 cono n ducted by Mrs. Suehiro,2the mother and the school were the most frequently mentioned agents i teaching the ways of good housen keeping and child-rearing.The findings are given i Table 2 below. n 4 The trend observed i this table showed no variation when examined n in the l g t of occupation ofthe husband,although among respondents ih with higher education the proportion of those who learnedfrom school and books was larger than among other respondents.Since the sample of this research was drawn from those who reached the age of a housewife,their learning was mostly done during the pre-war period
1. From the fl of the writer (unpublished). ie 2 Kazuko Suehiro, Research for the Domestic Science, 1958 (unpublished). .
61
TABLE Proportion of women who learned housekeeping and child-rearing 24.

mainly from mother and from school education
~
Items
From mother
F r o m school education
Items
From F r o m school mother education
Sewing Cooking
37
51
64 35
Child-rearing Mental preparation for the role of housewife
4 3
50
24
18
and accordingly the figures i the above table may wl be taken t n el o denote t e trend o pre-war days. I m s be admitted that today h f t ut opportunitiesfor learning occur more frequently outside the home a s the media of mass communication, such a radio and television, grow s more i f u n i l and a larger number of women are engaged i worknleta n shops and i group a t v t e promoted by women. Attention must be n ciiis called to the f c that home education and training is not accepted a at s unconditionally a it used t be i pre-wardays because it is liable t s o n o cause a c n l c of new and o d i the home due t the changing mode ofit l n o of l f and the difference between the generations. Nevertheless, the ie wife continues t play an important role i home education and o n training.
The wifesrole i housework.Housework represents another important n task which women perform i the family. Formerly,it w s generally n a understood that men have nothing t do with housework. T i l i a o hs a d heavy burden upon women. Since the l s world war, the idea of at democracy, which is penetrating gradually into home life,and technological changes i the form of modern appliances and conveniences, n which are lightening housework, are being diffused and they have contributed t reduce womens burden i housework i both rural and o n n urban areas. But it must not be forgotten that current economic conditions impose upon the housewife a much heavier financial burden that o f e s the gains from technological inventions. fst In relation to the housework of today,w shall first treat opinions e on the question of the husband helping the wife i her housework. In n 1951,the National Opinion Research Institute conducted a survey? One of the questions asked was: Doyou approve or disapprove of a man a s s i g i kitchenwork? answers were a shown i Table 2 . sitn n The s n 5
1. National Public Opinion Research Institute, Research on W o m e n and Youth, 1951.
62
TABLE Opinions concerning a m a n assisting in kitchenwork 25.

Opinion
Mn e
Women
All Jupun
Approve Disapprove It depends on the situation
Dont know
% 31 42 11 16
% 34 46 8 12
% 32 4 5 9 14
According t this finding,nearly half of al Japanese people disapprove o l of a man assisting i kitchenwork.But a s i h l higher percentage of n lgty women than of men approved of the man assisting i kitchenwork, n and the same situation existed i replies of those who disapprove. t n I is a striking fact that only one third (31 per cent for men and 34 per cent for women) of men and women approve of a man helping i n kitchenwork;also more married or older persons disapprove of a man helping i kitchenwork than single or younger persons. n I can be seen from a review of other studies of this kind that the t majority of wives are often unaware of the amount and burdensomen s of t e r work i connexion with housekeeping. Their minds are es hi n preoccupied with the problem of how t escape from poverty. The o survey of the WifesWishes of this Year conducted by The Mainichi i 1953,l asked this question: What do you desire most of your n husband? To this, Japanese wives gave the replies shown i the n following table (Table 2) 6.
TABLE Wifes desires concerning husband 26.
Wifesdesire Percentage
Increase of income Stability of living Abstinence from excessive drinking and smoking Giving up too lavish spending of money Keeping regular time Solution of housing problem Repair of house Co-operation w t wife ih Saving money Other
20 7 15 5 12 9 13
9 3
1 WifesWishes o this Year, The Mainichi, 1953. . f
63
Many wives who replied desired t e r husbands to improve the prehi sentfinancial and livingconditionsoftheir homes.Increasingincome, stable living and savingmoney-these were desired of their husbands by 30 per cent of al women respondents. Next i importance l n were the problems of finding a place t live and keeping the house o constantly i good repair-22 per cent of the women respondents n desired these of t e r husbands. Thus, financial considerations and hi housing conditions formed the subject matter of s i h l over 50 per lgty cent of t e wishes expressed.The remaining half of the r p i s showed h ele that excessive drinking and smoking,lavish spending and failure to keep regular tm (32per centi al were things that wives would wish ie n l) their husbands t do something about. o
Wifs for income.According to the traditional notions ofJapan, work it i absolutely right for a woman t look after domestic a f i s and s o far children, as it is for men t do outdoor work. I is just as undesirable o t for a wife to work outside the home i order to earn a cash income as n it is for her husband t do t e housework. After the l s world war a o h at large number of women entered a variety of occupations.A a result, s the traditional notion of womens role as being exclusively concerned wt housekeeping is changing. ih Womens occupational a t v t e wl be considered i d t i i a c i i i s il n eal n l t r chapter. Here it wl s f i e t examine the attitude of Japanese ae il u f c o people towards married women working outside the home. I w look f e a the survey on women and youth,conducted by the National Public t Opinion Research Institute i 1952,w see that about the same numn e ber of persons have intimated t e r agreement with each of the four hi replies,namely, I approve of her working outside,Idisapprove of her working outside, It depends on the occasion, and I dont know.(See Table 2 . 7)
TABLE Opinions concerning a married w o m a n working outside the h o m e 27.
Opinion
Men
Women
All
%
22 23
%
23 25 25 27
I approve of her working outside I disapprove of her working outside It depends o n the occasion I dont know
25
27 24 24
25
30
1. National Public Opinion Research Institute, Research on W o m e n and Youth, 1952.
64
The changing position of w o m e n i the family n
The traditional notion seems to be definitely crumbling, and the majority of those who approve of married women working outside regard such work as a necessary e i , an evil which has been forced vl upon them by the d f i u t e of present-day lf. The fundamental ifclis ie attitude is still that thewomans place is i the home. On t e other n h hand,a comparison by age showsthat the younger the respondents the larger the extent of approval for women working outside the home. The post-warchange has induced many women t engage i economic o n a t v t e t help to support the family.According to the investigation ciiis o of 1949 by the Ministry of Labour, 40 per cent of women were reported t add one-halfor more to the amount ofthe family income by o doing part-time work, by helping i the family business or by taking n up a regular occupation. There were only 22 per cent who added nothing. A the research was conducted a the t m of the business s t ie depression,a period when any member of the family who could work a al was called upon t supplement the family income,these figures t l o are perhaps not representativeofthe women of today. But one cannot overlook the fact that the wifes economic a t v t e during that period ciiis greatly influenced the r l she plays. oe Womens economic a t v t e are now not restricted to the occupaciiis tional f e d for t e r growing goncern with investments is also a il, hi remarkable trend of recent times. The legal code of pre-war days l i ad down that women were incompetent t deal with property and they o did not take any positive interest i the management of property. Even n when a stockholders name happened to be that of a woman,this did not i most cases represent her ownership nor her own wl;her name n il appeared because her father or husband,who was the real holder,used her name.Today many women study the stock market for themselves, and invest i stocks and make money i preparation for t e r daughn n hi ters marriage or for t e r own use. Large joint-stock companies are hi now issuing periodicals for women investors and the number of copies is increasing rapidly every month. Though t i phenomenon is still hs confined t urban d s r c s such publications indicate the very s g i i o itit, infcant change that has occurred i recent times. n
The wife and freedom
In home l f ,what is the degree of freedom given t a woman who ie o f l i s the role of housewife, mother or wife? A study was made of ufl
65
i
\ ,
residents i Nagoya c t and its vicinity i 1956 to find the reason or n iy n reasons why it is thought t be fortunate o unfortunate t be born a o r o man or a woman, a the case may be. O al male respondents,those s fl who mentioned beingfree a the reason why they think it fortunate s t be born a man made up 63 per cent i the urban area and 55 per o n cent i t e rural area;none of the urban or rural women gave this as a n h reason. Moreover,30 per cent of the urban women and 2 per cent of 7 $he rural women gave because a woman is not free as one of the Teasons why they think it uniortunateto be born a woman? How, then, is the freedom of women expressed i t e r home life? n hi L t us first examine whether or not wives i charge of the family e n expenditure are given money t manage. A report of the Ministry of o Labour on lifeand opinion of the w f y i e shows that 4 per cent ofthe 2 6 urban wives said that money was given t them to manage and 4 per o 1 cent of the rural women reported l k w s .Forty per cent of the urban ieie women and 42 per cent of the rural women answered Not this o question. The difference between Yesand No both urban and for rural areas i not striking. s A regards self-improvement,we learn from t e same report that s h many women (more than 5 per cent) desired to improve themselves 0 but, for various reasons,a majority of them could not afford the t m ie and money. A t the reason,the largest proportion ( 1per cent) of s o 4 them answered: I a m too busy to spare the time, and the second 2 et: largest ( 9 per c n ) I have a small childor Ihave too many children.Womens growing d s r t learn something other than houseeie o keeping denotes t e r awakening to the need for self-improvement.But hi i actual life they are,indeed,occupied wt the household chores and n ih the care of children,and they have little t m l f to enjoy the freedom i e et oft e r own self-improvement. hi Womankeeps the housewas a phrase i common usage and,a this n s expression shows,women have been conlined t the home.Their social o a t v t e outside the home were not considered necessary.Even today, ciiis i theory such a social norm is no longer binding but, i actual fact, n n womens participation i s c a a t v t e is i many instances disliked n oil ciiis n by other members of the family.In Tokyo,47per cent,i e the largest .. proportion of women, when asked, Whatwould your family think i f
1. National Public Opinion Research Institute, Research on the Womens Consciousness o Citizenship, 1951. f 2 Ministry of Labour,Life and Opinion o the Wife. . f
66
you were busy running about on the work of a womens association or an election campaign ?,replied d f n t l tbat their family wouldhate eiiey i I was only 33 per cent who answered that t e r family would t. t hi support itY.l Nevertheless, such organizations as the Parent-Teacher Association and other c v c associations o f r an excellent opportunity ii fe for the development of leadership among women, and contribute much towards changing the traditional view on women. From the aforementioned research on the status of women i n Nagoya c t w learn that when t e question concerning thereason iy e h why it is thoughtfortunatet be born a womanwas asked,30per cent o of urban women and 52 per cent of rural women mentioned the pleasure ofbearing and rearing children.W e note also that 52per cent of the urban women and 1 per cent of the rural women answered, 6 BecauseI lk housework.z These two functions-child-bearingand ie housework-are considered by women themselves to be important i n making womens l f worth w i e and as they regard them as their ie hl, pleasure, they may find their freedom i the home. n
Womens status as observed i the customs o life n f
However great and substantial changes i laws and regulations may n be, the ways and customs of the people do not,for t e r part, change hi e s l i a nation l k Japan. To be sure, changes i law do have an aiy n ie n educational value i modern s c e y Therefore, some important n oit. aspects ofthe customs of Japanese society which have a bearing on the status and position of women must be described and analysed.
Appellation ofthe husband. When a wife speaks of her husband to a third person,she speaks ofh m a shujin ( a t r . Inthe old patriarchal i s mse) family,the husband was, indeed,the master of the iye because the o f c of the headship of the household was assigned t h m whence fie o i; came the appellation,shujin. In the context of present-day Japanese society, a term with such a s c a derivation may sound highly inoil appropriate now that the old family system has,from the legal standpoint, been abolished. Today,i the private letters of women or i n n their contributions to the readers columns of magazines and news1. National Public Opinion Research Institute, Research on the Womens Consciousness o Citizenship, 1951. f 2. Ministry of Labour, op. cit.
67
The changing social position of women in Jaoan
papers, the term my husband instead of shujin is very often intentionally used. But in t e r d i y conversation shujin is still widely used. hi al Although there are other t r si use today t designate the husband, em n o the word shujin i still used very frequently (shujin is used t the extent s o of 50per cent i terms off e u n y . T i practice should not be taken n r q e c ) hs too seriously nor should t e use of this term be taken t show the subh o missive position of the w f .Many wives use it unconsciously a a ie s customary pronoun for husband. Mrs. Suehiro found in her study of the question that there w s no correlation between womens satisfaca tion w t their present position and the use of shujin. ih
Addressing the wife.There are some individualswho pay special attention t the word a husband uses i calling t his wife. One such person o n o argues: Ifhusband and wf do not address each other by t e r first ie hi names,they cannot create a human relationship based on the equality ofthe individuals concerned.A husband who c l s to his wife by using al such a mean word as O ,O (Hey, Hey) is a disgrace. T i is an i i hs example of the feudalism that stands i the way of our democratic n progress.According to Mrs. Suehiros research referred to above,the largest proportion (30 per c n ) of husbands address t e r wives by et hi their given names and 15 per cent say Oi, O . Nowadays, young i couples are creating t e custom of addressing each other by name. h
Equality in meal talcing. In the patriarchal family system,the e i t n xsig patriarch,whether the husbands father or the husband himself,and the eldest son who was to be patriarch i the coming generation,were n served better meals,wie t e wife, daughters and other sons had t be hl h o content w t poor meals. Ifthe husband was fond ofa drink a supper, ih t the wf had to prepare sakeand some eatables,see t the warming of ie o the sake,and wait on hm w i e he leisurely enjoyed his supper.I nice i hl f food was s n as a present from a distant place,it was first offered t et o the s i i of ancestors and then to the patriarchs table. I this proprt f cedure was not conformed to,the wife was reproached. A report by Mrs. Suehiro shows that, today,those wives whose families in their childhood offered nice food first to the father or grandfather make up 4 per cent,as compared with 30 per cent who 9 adhere t this practice a the present t m .On the other hand, those o t ie who grew up i a family where there w s equal sharing of nice food n a with no priority for any s e i i member ofthe family amount t only pcfc o
68
The changing position of.women in the family
1 per cent,whereas a present 38 per cent practise equality i regard 4 t n t meals.In the case of farming families,5 per c n still adhere t the o 0 et o old custom.
Dress ofwife. I has been a long-standing t custom that a woman, when marrying into another family, should be provided with an ample brides outfit,comprising kimonos (Japanese a t r ) and other necestie saries of lf i such a quantity that they could be used throughout her ie n lifetime. A the marriage ceremony,this o t i was displayed t the t uft o parents and relatives of the bridegroom.The quality and quantity of the o t i was one of the conditions according to which the brideuft grooms family and relatives evaluated the bride. Since she was not a member of the bridegroomsfamily by birth,necessaries of lf for her ie own use,i they ran short,had t be supplemented by h r own family. f o e Kimonos, i particular, were regarded as her own personal property n and had to be provided by herself o by her own parents. When the r husband had a new kimono made for h s wife, it s g i i d that her i infe position had been established. I other words, this s g i i d that the n infe bridegrooms family had admitted her as a member of t e family. h Mrs. Suehiro made a study as t who bore the expense when a new o kimono was provided for the wf for the first time a t r marriage. ie fe According to h r study,about 60per cent of wives had a new kimono e provided w t i two years of marriage and for about 80 per cent of ihn these the husband or his family bore the cost.In t e l g t ofthis figure, h ih w see that the bride i no longer regarded as alien to the bridegrooms e s family for as long a period as was formerly the case.That is t say,the o recent trend is that upon marriage she is immediately received as an integral member of the bridegrooms family and her position i his n family is duly recognized.
Relations with other lye.W h e n an iye maintained social relations with other iye, it was expected that the patriarch would represent his family group or iye. Any invitation to his iyes ceremonialfunctions-such as
occasions of coming of age, marriage, funeral services and ancestral worship-was made i the name of the patriarch, and it was the n patriarch who received and entertained the guests. In an obituary notice of the patriarchs death, the name of the heir-generally the e d s son-was entered a t e top of the list of mourners. Though the let t h w f name was also entered,the status of chief mourner was given to ies
69
the eldest son. In relations with other families,the wife often represented her husband,but she w s never permitted to represent the iye. a The role usually allotted t her when guests were invited,w s merely o a to keep busy cooking i the kitchen or t wi on the guests.Only the n o at patriarch or other similarly situated male members of the family received the guests. n What is happening today i regard to such a custom? According to Mrs. Suehiros research, 4 per cent of t e women respondents an9 h swered that it is c i f y the husband who entertainsthe guests on such hel occasions as N e w Years Day,a festivalor a Buddhist service,whereas 28 per cent answered that the wife herself entertains the guests and roughly 1 per cent replied that both husband and wife would do so. 2 A comparison between these respondents and their parents shows that the change between the two generations has been small. When the answers were analysed i accordance with the husbands occupation, n it was found that guests are received by both husband and wf most ie frequently among professional families, and l a t frequently among es farmersfamilies.
Husband and wife going out together. According to the old Japanese
custom,the husband and wf never sat together in the drawing room, ie nor were they seen together i places of recreation or culture. In the n survey by the Ministry of Labour,i which respondents were asked i n f the wife went with her husband t the cinema or other place of amuseo ment, only 3 per centi rural areas answered Yes, 22 per cent of n and Tokyo women answered e contrast,those who replied AbsoY s In . lutely notto the same question amounted t 2 per cent i Tokyo o 1 n and as much as 60 per cent i rural areas.l n
Expression o conjugal affection.In the patriarchal family of the past, f
the focus of married lf w s on the security of the family as a whole, ie a rather than on that of the individual. Here, conjugal affection was overshadowed by the iye. Moreover, as people w r taught t restrain ee o from giving any outward demonstrationoft e r feelingsand affections, hi they were less inclined t express their affection.Accordingly,the idea o ofa husband and wife going out togetherfor recreation became a subject for ridicule.A number of husbands went so far as to imagine that
1 Womens and Minors Bureau, Ministry of Labour, The L f and Opinions o . ie f Housewives, 1957.
70
they could gain personal credit by speaking ill of their wives to others, even though i their own private life they were tender to t e r wives. n hi What changes have occurred i regard t conjugal affection? In n o addition t the reform of laws and regulations and the change i ideas, o n the growing influence of the media of mass communication results i n people i general becoming acquainted wt the customs of other n ih countries and with the manners of the whole world, and this contributes t remove the psychological barriers imposed by society. o Formerly, the affection of husband and wife was not even t be o spoken of i the presence of others. But this is no longer the case. In n t i regard, the survey by the Department of Domestic Science, hs Ochanomizu Womens University, shows that 2 per cent of those 6 questioned do not hesitate i the frank expression of conjugal affection n i public,as compared with 4 per cent who can express such affection n 0 only i nobody sees them.l f
The turn of getting up,going to bed and taking a bath. Where the status of the members of a group is firmly determined by considerations of age and sex, there emerges a pattern of ceremonial behaviour and observance which recognizes differences. n status. In the traditional i Japanese family there were many ofthese ceremonialrelationships and patterns of etiquette prescribing who should go to bed first i the n evening,who should g t up first i the morning, and who should take e n a bath f r t These patterns of etiquette were observed. The wife was is. expected t get up first and not a t r her husband so that she might o fe make herself neat and presentable t him. The saying was that she o must getup early so that he might not catch sight of her dishevelled appearance. She was expected t make preparation for her husband o and other members o the family t begin t e r days work. Likewise, f o hi she could not go t bed e r i r than her husband;i she did, she was o ale f called an idle wife. In taking a bath the proper turn was s r c l tity observed,and the idea of a woman taking a bath before a man was inconceivable. How far have these patterns of etiquette changed? Some studies on this matter have been made, and their findingsmay be summarized as follows. In rural areas rather more than 50 per cent of the wives are regularly the f h t of al the members of the family to rise i t e mornl n h
1 Yoshitomo Ushijima et al., Psychology of Married Life, Tokyo, Makishoten, 1954. .
71
jng, as compared with only 4 t 5 per cent of husbands who get up o f r t The vast majority ofhusbands,or family heads,especiallyi rural is. n areas,go to bed first. In most urban families,this p i r t is not given roiy t any specific member of the family. In the matter of taking a bath, o the majority of husbands enjoy priority i rural areas. n The priorities noted above are, of course, partly influenced by various considerations of convenience aswl as by the complexity of el modern life. Thus,in urban society these traditions are i f c rapidly n at becoming obsolete.
Care o health. The wife who served the other members of the family f wl i the patriarchal family did not hesitate to torture herself by el n
working very hard. She withstood physical pain, she remained patient, and she rarely went t bed even when she was suffering from sickness. o The period of child-birthw s an exception. Even this period was often a cut short,for a bride i that event was praised and was appreciated by n her parents-in-lawas a hard worker. There were,it is said,many rural women who resumed work in the f e d a t r only two or three days ils fe r s . A much was taken for granted as being i accordance with et s n custom, unreasonable demands were made of the wife as wl as of el other members of the family.A wife, especially a bride,who failed t o conform to such customs was blamed most severely. Since the l s world war there has been an organized e f r t correct at fot o any custom that affects the physical well-beingof people.Education i n the care of health i the home has made a great advance with t e n h development of preventive medicine. Nevertheless,the wife is still apt t work too hard with the resultthat her health suffers.Ti is perhaps o hs due, i a measure, t the diEculty encountered i getting other n o n members ofthe family t take up the role hitherto sled by the wife and o also t the wifes sense of moral obligation derived from the old days. o According t a study that bears on this problem, 55 per cent of the o women questioned replied that theydont dare to work when ill; 31 per cent dareto work when ill; and 1 per c n acknowledged that 0 et they have i the past seriously impaired t e r health by working too n hi hard when sick. The reasons why so many wives are careless about their own hedth may be seen from Mrs. Suehiros study. Of 4 per 1 cent (31 per cent plus 1 per cent) of al those wives who dare or have 0 l dared to work when i ill-health, many as 74 per cent stated that n as they did so becauseno one else does the housekeeping,and 22 per
72
cent did so because f e sorry f r other members ofthe family i I a m I el o f i bed. n Now,a t t e number of days mothers stay i bed a t r child-birth, s o h n fe 80 out of 1 0mothers reported that they rest from two to three weeks, 0 but 3 out of 1 0mothers rest only three days.Especially on farms,this 0 lying-inperiod is very short;nearly one-halfof al the respondents rest l for less than one week after child-birth. Generally speaking, the care of health has considerably improved i workshops,but the practice and knowledge of better care of health n has not spread f l y into the home.Greater e f r s should be made to ul fot protect the health of mothers.
Attitude towards the position i the family n
In the circumstances described above,how do wives feel about t e r hi own position i the family? n In the survey of 1955by the Ministry of Labour,70per cent o those f questioned answered,thefurther improvement of womens position i society is necessary,and only 18 per cent replied,theposition as it n now stands is satisfactory. The younger or the more educated the respondents, the higher t e proportion of responses which stated, h improvementis ne~essary.~ In Mrs. Suehirosinvestigation,2 women questioned were asked the about t e r position i two respects, namely, i the family and i hi n n n society.A seen from Table 28,the vast majority held the opinion that s womensposition has to be improved furtheri society.But,i regard n n t the position of women i the family,a considerable number of the o n women questioned said that they are satisfiedwith t e r position as it hi standsnow.
TABLE Womens opinions on t e r position in the family and in society 28. hi
Opinion
In the family % 37 55 8
In
society
Womensposition has to be improved further Womens position as it stands n o w is satisfactory 0ther
% 79 1 4 7
1. Womens and Minors Bureau, Ministry of Labour, O n the Status of W o m e n , 1955. 2. Kazuko Suehiro, Research for the Domestic Science, 1958 (unpublished).
73
By cross-combinationof t e opinions i Table 28,w obtain another h n e distribution as i Table 2 . n 9

TABLE Womens opinions on their position in the family and in society (cross29.
combined)
Opinion Percentage
Womens position has to be improved both i the family n and in society Womens position has to be improved i society but it is n satisfactory in my family I dont know about womens position in society but it is satisfactory in my family Womens position i society is satisfactory, but it has to be n improved in my family Other
49
37
4
1 9
Comparison in the light of the husbands occupational background reveals that the wives of professional and c e i a workers give the lrcl highest rate of those who are s t s i d with t e r present position i aife hi n the family ( 0per cent) and t e wives of agriculturalworkers give the 6 h lowest rate ( 2per c n ) A t womens position in society,the need 4 et. s o for improvement is insisted on by many wives of agriculturalworkers as well as by those of professional and managerial workers. T i may hs be regarded as reflecting the present position of women in contemporary Japanese society. Subjectively,a feeling of satisfaction with the position of women is not always determined by the position a woman holds i her own lf. n ie Under the patriarchal family system with prescribed status,the members of the family of lower status found pleasure i f l i l n t e r n uflig h i assigned roles whatever hardship might be imposed upon them. Accordingly, women, though objectively t e r position was far from hi satisfactory,were able to f n a pleasure i l v n . Now, when people id n iig have become conscious of the equality inherent i the individual, the n person assigned t a lower position often finds his inferior status very o frustrating. According t the survey of the Ministry of Labour, a o wifes satisfaction with her present l f tends t be associated with ie o the followingcircumstances:the husband a s s swt the housework; s i t ih the husband and wife often go out together;the husband esteems her housework highly; the husband and wife enjoy their daily l f ; the ie husband and wife together manage the household economy; the
74
husband and wife both have a good knowledge of the family estate, e c Each of these circumstances is a concrete situation according t t. o which w can accurately assess the position of women i the family. e n Mrs. Suehiro cross-tabulatedthe datayielded by the aforementioned research.In terms of womens consciousness of t e r position i the hi n family and in terms of t e r feeling of satisfactionw t their daily l f , hi ih ie t e data have been cross-combined.(SeeTable 3 . h 0)
TABLE Womens consciousness of their position in the family and the feeling 30.
of happiness in daily l f (cross-combined) ie
Reply
Percentage
M y position in m y family i satisfactory and m y daily l f s ie is happy n s ie M y position i my family i satisfactory and m y daily l f is commonplace M y position i m y family has to be improved but m y daily n l f is happy ie M y position in m y family has to be improved and m y daily l f is commonplace ie
31
32
18
19
The objective position of women and their consciousness of it are t e h subject of the greatest concern i regard to family relations and home n l f . But, as there is a very wide difference between rural and urban ie areas,further consideration i necessary. Therefore, i the following s n chapters,w shall consider rural women and urban working women e separately. W e shall focus our attention on concrete conditions of l v n and their influence on the position of women i these two iig n d f e e t areas. ifrn
75
IV. The position of women

in the rural community
As w e have already pointed out, there is i regard t family lf a n o ie sharp difference between rural and urban communities. Since the rural family i contemporary Japanese society still retains m s of n ot its traditionalcharacter,womens position i the rural area represents n the closest approximation t that of the past. In t i chapter w shall o hs e make an e f r t describe the actual s a e of womens position and fot o tt t ascertain its recent trend. o A already stated a the beginning of this report,Japan was almost s t entirely shut off from the outer world u t l 1859. In this isolated ni Japan,more than two hundred Daimyos and Shyomyos (senior and junior feudal lords) each maintained an almost self-contained clan government within his f e . In the domain of a feudal clan, the if common people were mostly farmers and fishermen-their trades being handed down from generation to generation. An area i which n the people lived was known as a buraku, or a v l a e community and ilg it comprised from a fewto scores of houses. The people of the buraku co-operated w t one another i many phases of community lf. In ih n ie those days, people i v l a e communities constituted roughly 80 per n ilg cent of the t t l population of Japan; the remaining 2 per cent oa 0 were warriors,merchants and craftsmen who lived mostly i scattered n castle-townsor i country towns. n Warriors formed the highest c a s and, according t the status ls o prescribed by the shogunate government, merchants and craftsmen were ranked below farmers but, because of the nature of their trade and because they l v d in the castle-town or the country town, t e r ie hi level of culture and wealth was i general higher than that of farmers. n However,as the farmers produced r c they were the financialcornerie stone of the clan government. Therefore, i the policy of the clan n
76
The position of women in the rural community
government, farmers were of the greatest importance. However, no effort was made to improve the l v n conditions of farmers; rather, iig they w r kept on bare subsistence level or, as was frequently the ee case, on the verge of starvation. In 1859,Japan abolished seclusionism and reopened her doors to the outer world for purposes of trade. Subsequently,wt the f l ih al of the Tokugawa shogunate,clan government was dissolved i 1871. n Over the span of some seventy years, from 1871 t 1940, Japan o emerged from being a society based on agricultureper se to become one based on a c p t l s i economy. This was a period of epochaiaitc making industrial and social upheavals. During t i period, machines hs were introduced and the means of transportation and communication were revolutionized;the movement of people and goods became easy. There was also an unparalleled development of commerce and industry and the proportion of the population living i villages n dropped from 80 per cent to below 50 per cent. In such a radical social change, what transformations have occurred i the mode of n l f of rural women? ie
Changes i production of economic goods n
Japan is surrounded by the sea and,i addition,has a large proportion n of mountainous area. Therefore there are, besides farm villages, sea-shore v l a e and mountain v l a e scattered over the country. ilgs ilgs These villages al have their own unique characteristics. l In sea-shorevillages,fishing is the chief occupation. Even here other forms of production are carried on. In most of these villages, there are plots of land upon which are planted sweet potatoes, barley and vegetables for home use. A a subsidiary to fishing, the farm work s is done by women. An example of women engaged i fishing is t n o be seen i the amas or women d v r . They obtain seaweed or shelln ies f s by diving into the sea, but nearly a l those who s i out to sea ih l al for the purpose of fishing are men. Fishing, whether it is done by a single family or by a group of families,is mens work. Before the men s i out for fishing the women al are busy helping t e r husbands t get ready for sailing; when the hi o fishing boats return, the women a e equally busy with the unloading r of the fish,drying n t and coiling ropes. Sometimes the processing es of the catch is also womens work. When this processing becomes
77
specialized through the division of labour, women become paid labourers employed by the f s dealer. Prior t the establishment of ih o the co-operativesale of f s through the fishermens association,the ih women of the fishermens families used very frequently to peddle their goods. In recent years, the small coastal fisheries have been rapidly declining i size and number. In some instances, however, n the business has developed into off-shorefishing. In other instances, the business has developed into ocean fishing made possible by the mechanization of the fishing vessels. More rapidly than i the case n of farming,the fishing industry has been mechanized and has become a c p t l s i enterprise; a it has become so,the women have been aiaitc s excluded from the fishing business. They are made t stay a home, o t The fact that the success of the fishing industry is dependent upon the existence of a system of efficient transportation and comrnunication, together with equally well-developed channels for the distribution and s l offish,has l d t the development of several large fishing ae e o ports. These ports perform multiple functions connected with the transportation, processing and sale of f s and related products. ih The rise t eminence of these fishing ports is causing the decline of o the little fishing villages scattered along the ocean shores of Japan. Fishing is now a big business with salaried crews on board fishing vessels s i i g t sea and returning to t e r homes once a week or aln o hi once a month, or even once i four or five months. The picture of the n fishing v l a e is no longer a w once knew it when al the members ilgs s e l o a fishermans family worked co-operativelya fishing as the family f t trade. Small-scale fishing by a single family or a group of families still exists but such family trade is disappearing i Japan. Because n of the small capital and reserves available and the small volume of goods for s l , the small fishing business cannot maintain i s l . ae tef Many of the fishing families have been squeezed out of the field of competition, and when this happens some members of the family become l s t fishing a the family trade and become salaried ot o s workers or employees.Very frequently i such a family,it is common n for the husband and sons t be on board a fishing boat while the o daughter is employed i a factory and the wife is doing a part-time n job a home. Even after pooling a l their incomes,the wife is barely t l able t manage her family economy. In b i f fishing is no longer o re, the family trade to be passed on from father t son,and the working o members of the family, who once formed an operational u i for nt
78
.The position of women i the rural community n
fishing,are now dispersed outside the framework of the family group. They are now involved, as individuals, i the huge organization of n production. What has occurred i the mountain villages is very similar to what n has happened i the case of the f s i g v l a e . Japan being a small n ihn ilgs mountainous island, even the steep mountain sides are cultivated, despite great d f i u t e , by the farmers of the mountain village. In ifclis addition t raising staple crops,men are engaged i charcoal burning o n and lumber work. On many occasions,as the men cut down the trees, the women a s s i the carrying and stripping of the felled trees. sit n Here, too, it is mostly women who take charge of the farming and mowing of the rice-plants.The adult men a s s i t l i g the s i and s i t n iln ol i the planting and harvesting ofthe r c .After the harvest is garnered n ie in, the women are entrusted wt the rest. With the help of old ih persons, the women f n s the work of the autumn by harvesting iih beans, red beans, wheat and other crops. By bartering these crops for those of other women, they obtain barely enough v r e i s and aite quantities of food for New YearsDay. The Meiji era accelerated the introduction of capitalistic enterprise into forestry, and, wt the resulting mechanization of transport, it ih was no longer necessary for women t perform the back-breaking o tasksinvolved i work i the forests.Therewas a time when sericulture n n prospered i the mountain villages,and there the sl t x i e industry n ik e t l began and passed through its e r y stages. Later, when motor power al began to be used,the industry moved down to the towns and c t e . iis More recently, wt the advent o chemical t x i e the sl t x i e ih f etls ik e t l industry i the urban areas and sericulturei the mountain areas have n n declined. Only 50 years ago,t e wf who was gainfully employed in h ie the early stage ofthe s l textile industry was known for her Kakadenka ik (petticoat) government,but today only a few remember the prosperity which women enjoyed i the past. A the s l industry declined, the n s ik daughters of families i the mountain v l a e concentrated i c t e to n ilgs n iis become female factory workers or so-calledweaving ladies. The husband and sons also sought work outside the village. The wife alone cultivated the f e d and took care of the aged and the infants w t the il ih help of the money sent by her husband, sons and daughters. Transportation was poor and the standard ofliving was low i the mountain n v l a e but, as i the fishing v l a e ,barter had been practised from ilgs n ilgs much e r i r days.When commerce and industry began t thrive i the ale o n 79
c t e ,the mountain v l a e communities quickly became the sourcefor iis ilg the recruitment of labour power. By comparison w t the f s i g and mountain villages, the farm ih ihn v l a e i general have experienced r l t v l little social change. ilgs n eaiey Throughout a long period of history-at l a t for more than a thoues sand years-agriculture was the chief means of livelihood i Japan, n and contemporary farm familiesthus have a long history behind them. In t e feudal society ofthe past,the land was passed on from father t h o son throughout successivegenerations and was cultivated by thejoint work ofal members ofthe family.A about half of the crop was levied l s as tribute year by year, their self-supportinghousehold was always rather needy.The clan government restricted free planting and the free sale ofcrops i order to prevent the commercialization offarming.The n work was entirely manual and separate farming by a single family was almost impossible. Villagers formed a group of families and together they owned i common a patch of f e d or mountain. From it they n il obtained fuel,fodder,manure and materials for thatching. Together, they used a common stream for irrigation and for drinking purposes; they exchanged t e r labour as a form of mutual help i planting r c , hi n ie mowing weeds, hulling rice and pounding barley; and they borrowed and l n farm implements and cattle. By maintaining a closely knit et system of mutual aid each family was able t procure the necessary o annual harvest. Had the family been isolated from the v l a e comilg munity-an entity i which individual families were integrated-they n could not have maintained their own existence. T i situation is rehs f e t d i the system of s c a relations of the v l a e community.Here lce n oil ilg the families were cumulatively related with one another by marriage, by the lineage of main and branch families,or else by assuming fictitious blood relationships,such as oyabun (pseudo-parents)and kobun (pseudo-child). Solidarity between a l individuals and between al l l family groups was the most important principle governing the s c a oil relations of villagers. Accordingly, people i t e v l a e community n h ilg were members of a t r i o i lgroup, and worshipped a common clan ertra god. They were under an obligation to provide mutual help on the occasions of coming of age,marriage,funerals and ancestral worship and their family life and communitylife were inseparably intertwined into a single whole. Changes i the way of life have c e r y been taking place i the n lal n farming village, although the process has been slower than i the n
mountain v l a e and fishing v l a e . Private ownership of property ilgs ilgs by the farmer was l g l y recognized e r y i the Meiji era.Free entereal al n p i e i agriculture and free trade i products were also instituted,and rs n n this enhanced the independence of the family. However, the influence of the r s n c p t l s i economy w s such as to bring about the coniig aiaitc a centration of farm lands i the hands ofa small number oflandowners, n which resulted i the maldistribution of the ownership of land. The n number oftenant farmersincreased rapidly.The Land Reform of 1 4 , 97 soon a t r the end of the war, was a tragic blow for the once powerful fe landowners.There w s a more or less equal distribution of privately a owned land,and s n e then tenant farmers have gained the status of ic owner farmers. Owner farmers constituted 30 per cent of al farmers l before the war, but after the Land Reform their proportion exceeded 60per cent. Taking into account a s land that was partly owned and lo partly leased, 94 per cent of farmers were included in the group of independent farm operators at that time. According to the census of 1955,the number of farmer households was roughly 4,680,000, which constituted about 30 per cent of al l households whose heads were working. The number of farming women was 7,800,000o about half o the nationsworking women. In r f contrast,the number offarming men w s 7,100,000 only about onea or third of al working men. In the case of working women, 85 per cent l of them are unpaid family workers,as against 60per cent of working men who are workers on their own account. O al farming householdsi Japan,one-thirdown farms ofless than fl n 5,000square metres, and another t i d own farms of less than 10,000 hr square metres. Such small-scalefarming allows only 35 per cent of al l farming households t support al t e r members a the present time o l hi t when the cost of l v n is high. Other farming households supplement iig the income from farming with money sent by other members of the family who are away from home working a unskilled labourers or as s salaried or factory workers. During the l s world war, when increased food production was at urged, al farming women, i the absence of their husbands or sons, l n had t face the hardship of cultivating the land by themselves with the o help of t e r children. Today part-time farming is common. Al hi l capable labour power is now drawn into non-agriculturalenterprises and farming is done by women and feeble old men. The use of chemical fertilizers and agriculturalinsecticides,the progress made i n 81
farming techniques, and the diffusion of agricultural machines which lighten farm labour are al contributing t further the trend towards l o part-time farming.Nowadays, the better-offfarming families operate farms on a larger scale,the worse-offlower c a s farmerscannot mainls tain themselvesby agriculture alone,and one or more members of the family must seek non-agriculturalwork outside the home. On a holiday or i a busy farming season male members of the n family who follow non-agriculturaloccupation are seen participating i farm work. A major portion of the work is still carried on by the n femalemembers of the family.Peoplec l this kind offamily a houseal wife farming family,rather than a part-timefarming family.In such a family,it i the woman who is present a meetings of agricultural cos t operative unions and other associations.There is a growing number of housewives who take the lead i work of the farm,Heavy work on the n part of women is somewhat reduced through the utilization of agricultural machines i the case of the richer farming families. n Another new trend that must be mentioned is seen i the growing n tendency to convert farming enterprises into legal corporations i n which a number of farming families are consolidated as a unit. The advocates of such incorporation are mostly farmers. These farmers i s s that incorporation of this kind would possibly prevent a minute nit subdivision of farm lands, and it is this fragmentation that farmeis fear as a result of the provisions for equal inheritancein the new law. These farmers also contend that incorporation offers the key t the o democratizationof farmers by leading them t abandon esteem for the o iye i favour of a greater respect for individuals as such.In responset n o this demand,the government authorities have recently announced that they are examining a plan for the family corporation system. According to this o f c a plan,the single farm family is the u i of operation, fiil nt and the operator (the family head) holds the family property, but al l members of the family are a i e entitled t it as each is e t t e t his lk o nild o ( r her) own share i i. When any member of the family wishes t o nt o withdraw from farming,he (or s e receives what corresponds t his h) o ( r h r share. These plans-both that of the farmers and the o f c a o e) fiil plan-are still tentative and neither has been t i d out.The e f c s that re fet any such plan would have upon the status of rural farm women remain purely conjectural. A present farming women do not,i practice, benefit by the equal t n distribution of family property prescribed i the new inheritance law. n 82
The value of their labour is not calculated i pecuniary terms so as to n enable them t receive the cash reward for their labour on the farm. o Being unable t earn money,women i the farm family are still ecoo n nomically dependent. From the t m oftheir girlhood t their old age, ie o they are not free from t e pressing need for money for their own use. h The emancipation of rural women cannot be attained until these women themselves become f l y aware of t e r own present position ul hi and t e r futuredestiny. W e are bound t admit that they have to face hi o a great obstacle i the present s a e of farming operations i rural n tt n
Japan. Nevertheless,a brief survey ofthe past and present i regard to the n position of farming women i Japan shows that conditions affecting n rural women have changed considerably i a comparatively short time, n and the change i still i progress.W e may anticipate a brighter future s n for rural women, but a present they are still under the sway o t e t f h conflicting and contradictory norms which are the f u t of sudden ri n social change i Japan.
Change in consumption i rural life n
Associated with the decline of family trade and the growth of larger organizations for production is the changing role of women i regard n t housework and t consumption i family l f . The necessities of life o o n ie were somewhat commercialized already i the pre-Meijiera. U t l the n ni close of the nineteenth century the whole process of dressmaking was i the hands of women. The planting of a f b e crop and the spinning, n ir weaving and sewing were a l done by women. A a result,when Japan l s expanded her t x i e industry i t e first half of this century, a t c e etl n h rils of clothing rapidly became factory products. Today, i rural comn munities where a self-supporting economy has been retained the longest,the farmers clothes,even his working clothes, are a l factory L made. The manual skill of sewing is now almost useless. A for food,the women offormertimes were occupied day and night s w t the endless tasks ofpounding barnyard grass, pounding rice and ih barley i a mortar, and mashing, mixing and boiling grains. Today, n various kinds of food-stuffand food-seasonings-pickled vegetables, bean paste and soya sauce-are no longer prepared a home. They are t produced i the factory and are sold a the shop.Preparation for three n t meals used t consume much of a womans t m ,but today she no o ie
83
The changing social position of women .in Japan
longer has t prepare the lunches for the working members of the o family who travel to and from their work and for her children who go to school. They take t e r lunches a the o f c or workshop or a hi t fie t school. (Schoolchildren are supplied wt their lunch a school under ih t the lunch programme.) In this way,the production and preparation ofthe necessities of life are step by step being taken over by productive organizations outside the home, People of today can hardly imagine the rural lf of a ie century ago, when nothing but s l was bought from the merchant. at Old women i their seventies and eighties, who possess various pron ductive skills which were indispensable i their younger days, are apt n t complain ofyoung womenslack of skills, and ofthe way their work o has been made easier. When both production and consumption lay mostly within the family,careful planning on the part of the wife was necessary i order n t adjustconsumption to the yearsharvest.The planning was always o i terms ofa long-rangehousehold economy,and slightcarelessness in n the handling and utilization ofeveryday food might make it impossible to get through a lean year.The closest attention had t be given to o every d t i in dealing o t material for food.The w f ,on whom t i eal u ie hs grave responsibility was laid,was meticulous i balancing food input n and output,that is to say,production and consumption.A the manas ger of household matters and the operator of housework i general, n she was entitled t kakaza or the housewifes seat on the hearth, an o o f c vested w t unique authority. Ti role was recognized not only fie ih hs by the members of the family but also by the people of the village. In different regions, kakaza was called by various other names, but it always denoted the importanceofthe recognized role ofthe wf i the ie n household economy. One ofthe chiefcharacteristicsofthe traditional family system i the n rural community was that,i s i e of the dominance of the patriarch n pt over al other members of the family, t e housewifes authority was l h greater than one might expect.In the exercise of the power of kakaza she took charge of the supply and distribution of clothes and foods u ft other members of the family. In addition,she paid homage t tf o o gods,to Buddha and to the s i i s of ancestors.Further,she made al prt l arrangements in matters r l t n t social relationshipsw t relatives eaig o ih and villagers, most of which were concerned w t g f s of food. A n ih it able wf was accordingly said t increase the family fortune and to ie o
The position of women i the rural community n
improve intercourse with other v l a e s The success w t which she ilgr. ih managed household a f i swas the standard by which her competence far was judged i the community.When the dipper used for the distribun tion of food was handed over t the new bride by the housewife,it o meant that she had resigned kakaza on the hearth i favour of her n daughter-in-law.From that tm on, the bride took charge and asie sumed f l responsibility for al household matters and was also ul l responsible for maintaining harmonious relations with other v l a e s ilgr. The Cvl Code of the Meiji era did not recognize the competence ii of the wife i household matters. Article 804 reads: In everyday n household matters the wife s a l be regarded as a substitute for her hl husband.Seemingly,the l g s a o intended that the family should be eiltr controlled through the authority of the husband,and saw fit to neglect the spontaneous division of household labour between men and women. The f c that more and more new technical inventions are invading at the home and doing away with female work there does not permit us t draw any hasty conclusion t the effect that women of today are o o exempted from dealing with household matters. On the contrary,the burden borne by rural women seems to be in no way reduced. Owing to the r s n standard of l v n and also the fact that women are exiig iig pected t play a greater part i production, women on the farm are o n forced t spend much longer hours both on productive labour and on o household matters than are women i other occupations. These long n hours of work reduce the t m l f for their own self-cultivationand i e et for rest. These long hours of hard work by women have been taken for granted as a matter of long-standingcustom on the farm where there was a great need for womens labour. There is, however, a growing demand for the proper evaluation of womenswork i the household. n T i wl contribute towards bringing about a reconsideration of their h s il heavy burden.
Patterns o rural family relations f Patriarchal system and marriage.
As has already been stated, the family was the unit of production and consumption.Among samurai (warriors) who ruled over people of other classes i the feudal society n of Japan,the family system was patriarchal,the heirship was conferred upon the eldest son only, and women entered into the family of the
85
husband by marriage. Ti type of family relationship tended t hs o prevail among the common people, but with this fundamental difference, namely, that the samurai family received a fief, whereas the peasant family was forced t be s r c l self-supporting. o tity Among farm families the farm was operated by manual labour,and the succession to the headship was not always reserved t the eldest son. Sometimes o the eldest daughter or the youngestson was made the successor.There was also a practice of marriageby v s t n In this form of marriage, iiig. the husband visited his wf in the house of her parents for a period o ie f severalyears a t rtheir marriage.In another form,when the eldest son fe brought h s wife home,the parents evacuated the house and went to i l v i another dwelling with t e r other childrenwho were unmarried. ie n hi Thus, according t the customs observed i d f e e t villages, the o n ifrn family system was made up of d f e e t types which varied according ifrn to conditions prevailing i the localcommunitiesand which underwent n changes i d f e e t periods of history. n ifrn I was the Meiji government that, through the institution of the t census registration, acknowledged the headship of the patriarch and thereby delimited the unit which was based on p t i i e l descent,the arlna members of the unit being reckoned i the order of the patriarch,his n parents, w f , children, grandsons and great-grandsons. The law ie provided that the continuity of the family was t be preserved by o means of the eldest son being the sole heir and succeeding to the headship as wl as the ownership ofal the family property.P l t c l y el l oiial the family unit was best adapted to the purpose of ruling and controlling the Japanesepeople by holding family heads responsible for al l family matters.With the spread ofnation-wideeducation,people were inculcated w t the idea ofthe patriarchal family wherein the status of ih women was low. I was only after the Meiji era that marriage customs and practices t i villages became more and more lk those of the upper class and of n ie urban people. Until then, that is t say, until the end of the l s o at century, there were a number of v l a e where marriage customs that ilgs had prevailed among the upper c a s i the dynasty ofthe tenth century ls n w r retained.But today the marriage customs in most of the villages ee are no longer archaic, although they do not completely conform t o the new customs found i the cities of Japan. Rural marriages show n rather thevarious steps i a series ofchanges ranging from the archaic n to the modern marriage.
86
T e position of women i the rural community h n
Owing t the fact that people of the pre-Meiji era lived i closely o n knit small communities, a mate was generally selected according to the young mans wish and was chosen from his own community,the selection being based on common interests. O n not a f w occasions, e t e parents did no more than give t e r formalconsent.Since economic h hi considerations were of the greatest importance t the well-being of o the family,an additional young member of the family,whether man or woman, represented a valuable strengthening of the labour force available, and the wl of the young man was accordingly recognized. il What puzzles the contemporary mind is the custom of the v s t n iiig marriage mentioned above. Ti requires an explanation. After a hs young man and woman started actual married l f , several years ie elapsed before the bride moved into the husbands dwelling. During t i period the husband visited his wife and the children born of t e r hs hi union were reared by the bridesfamily.On this point an informant,a native of a v l a e where this custom was retained u t l recent times, ilg ni explained that the bride did not move into her husbands house u t l ni the housewifes authority which was vested i her husbands mother n was transferred to her. The period of v s t n was a transitional period iiig before the bride became the housewife. In this village, upon t e h brides entry,the husbands mother retired to another house w t the ih second and younger sons. Ti may wl be not the sole explanation hs el of t i custom; it is i one sense a picture of the transition from hs n the matrilocal to the patrilocal type of marriage. I may readily be t imagined that, i a society where such a type of marriage was pren valent, the position of women a d s i c from that of men was very s itnt different from what it is i the s c e y of today. n oit After the Meiji era, the t r i o i l limits of everyday l f were ertra ie extendedand c a s differentiation assumed a manifest form.The patrils local type of marriage became common among families OP the lower c a s Families of high rank i the v l a e began t take the ls. n ilg o lead i receiving brides from distant places. In the case of t e patrin h local marriage and i the case where t e bride came from a distant n h place, the opinion of the go-between and the mature judgement of the parents came to be regarded as of t e first importance, and h consequently the wl of the betrothed was a secondary consideration. il In fact,the consent of the betrothed i regard t the chosen spouse n o was asked of them only l t r by the go-between and t e parents. ae h Marriage came t be based on the mutual consent of the parents of o 87
the young man and those of the woman. The Cvl Code of the Meiji ii era prescribed i e f c that,though marriage is e f c e by the conn fet fetd tract between the two p r i s concerned, the parental consent is ate required before a marriage can be registered;i addition the signan tures of the two go-betweensw r also recorded. The idea underlying ee this provision was that marriage based on the free wl of the parties il concerned was barbarous and incompatible wt c v l z d culture. ih i i i e Should marriage by free wl occur,it was to be regarded as a breach il of good custom and morals, and should be prohibited. What was required of a bride entering the husbands family was that she should be firmly resolved t sever her relationship wt her own relatives o ih at least symbolically,to worship the ancestral s i i of the husbands prt family, and t give birth t children worthy of perpetuating the o o family lineage.I is not d f i u tt imagine how the patrilocal marriage t ifcl o i Japan and the consequent role allotted t the wife lowered the n o position of women i the family i the past. n n Traditional custom and traditional ideologies surrounding family l f , as described i Chapter 1 1 still influence people i rural areas. ie n 1, n In the country,women over 4 years old,even now, are imbued wt 0 ih the idea of self-depreciation. the eyes of the progressive women In of today, it is this attitude of obedience and devotion t t e r role, o hi i which Japanese women have been trained in the patriarchal family n system together w t al the restrictions and binding obligations ih l imposed upon them (this is one aspect that is often extolled by foreigners as graceful) that,i the context of the society of today, n lowers and debases the status of Japanese women within and without the family. Today, patrilocal marriage has disappeared l g l y According t eal. o the new form of marriage based on the principle of sex equality as prescribed i the new Civil Code,a husband and wf are to establish n ie a new family of their own, independent of the family of either the husband or the wf. The couple may, i they so desire,take on the ie f surname o either side by mutual consent. In fact,for a young couple f on a farm t establish a new home in accordance w t their own o ih wishes is extremely d f i u t because of the smallness of t e r parents ifcl hi land holding. In the case of many farm families of today,patrilocal marriages are still the rule.On the farm,many brides and bridegrooms are s i l l v n i the framework of the extended family system. For tl i i g n those youths who remaini the village,the iye is stillan indestructible n
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fortress of traditionalism,and the day when the new ideas of marriage wl penetrate into the minds of al rural people seems still far away. il l
Labour and economic position of rural women
I is a common practice for women on the farm who are engaged t

i agriculture to remain unpaid family workers,before and after their n marriage. In the past, a richer farmer kept several female servants as well as male servants. Female servants were needed because the planting of rice was customarily done by women and because they were indispensable for the cultivation of the rice f e d . Men were ils regarded as best f t e for the heavy work, and i the same way itd n women were believed to be fit t do the lighter work requiring o minute care and attention. Therefore, a t r men had finished with fe t e heavy work and long after they had left the fields,women very h often remained t take care of the t i l s Ti meant that women o r f e . hs had to work much longer-in f c twice as long as men on the at average-and they constituted indeed an indispensable agricultural labour force. A seen already, an increasing number of women are s taking an active lead i the operation of farms, thus giving rise to n what is called the housewife fam-ngfamily. Unlike the operation of t e small household trade or industry, h which is becoming less and less a family undertaking,t e operation h of the family farm is essentially the work of the family as a unit. The farm land is the most important source of family income. The land belongs t the family and al available members of the family are o l mobilized for farm work and the income derived from t e r labour hi is used for t e support of a l members of the family. These are the h l simple characteristicsthat are still retained i the economy ofthe farm n family, and from this w see that the operation of t e farm and the e h economy ofthe household are c o e y interlinkedwith the family itself. lsl The north-easternregion of Japan is climatically unfit for intensive agriculture. The land of the region yields two scanty crops and the introduction of commercialized farming is slow i taking place. A its n s agriculture is less commercialized,the average income of t e region h is very low, and as large a proportion as 80 per cent of the women s a t t e r farm work a an e r y age, between 1 and 20 years. The t r hi t al 4 average age a which women begin t work i the f e d has been t o n il r s n . For example,the youngest women workers ( 0 to 3 ) started iig 2 4
89
farm work a the average age of 16;the middle age group of women t (35 to 59) a the average age of 15;and the oldest group ( 0years old t 6 and over) began farm work a the early age of 1 . Today, women t 4 begin farm work after they are grown up. The average age ofmarriage too has risen-for the youngest group, the average age a marriage t was 20,for the middle group, 19, and for the oldest group, 18 years. Cultivation with the use of oxen, the pushing of hand-mowers, the carrying of bundles ofrice-straware heavy tasks even for men. A man cannot do too much of this heavy work a t r the age of 45 or 50.I fe f he has a son who is over 15 years old, he generally hands over these heavy tasks one by one. When his oldest son comes of age ( 0 years 3 or s) the farming of the paddy-field is handed over to him, and the o, father in turn takes up l g t r work such as attending to the familys ihe vegetable garden. Womans most active age is up t 4 ,she hands o 0 over her household responsibilities and a s her farm work t the lo o eldest sons bride about the age of 45. The farm family cannot maintain the smooth operation of the farm unless there i a continuous flow of human labour. T i problem s hs is particularly pressing i a region where the climate and the s i n ol are not favourable for intensive farming.Even for those farmers who are better situated, additional human labour is always needed for maintaining co-operationwith other families. I Co-operationthrough the exchange oflabour is absolutely essential and this takes the form ofp i (mutual exchange of labour) and temagari (borrowing helping h n s . A t e busiest seasons of the year or ad) t h during the planting and harvesting of rice, this means that a family should have an extra hand available capable of doing the whole of one mans work who can be assigned for the task of communal cooperation. Thus, i the replacement of a worker by a new member f of the family is not forthcoming or i the succession t the i e is f o y threatened or interrupted, the second or third, or even the l s son at who is ordinarily expected t leave the family ( r even i some o o n instances a daughter who is expected to marry out of the family) has to lill the gap i the interrupted succession.Even i there is no more n f land available for reclamation in order that a son may set up his branch family and even though the family has no immediate prospect of being able to compensate hm for his s c i i e the farm familyi arfc, whose first consideration is t meet the threatened c i i in the family o rss economy and i the i e r s r s t this kind of practical solution i n y-eot o n
90
order t prevent any interruption i the c c i succession of labour. o n ylc Since a shortage or a lack of labour is a menace to the continuation of their existence, the problem involved i ensuring the easy and n smooth provision of supplementary human labour is always a c i i a rtcl one for farm families.I is i this way that the manual operation of a t n small-scalefarm is intertwined with the v l a e community,the family ilg group, inter-familyrelations, ancestor worship, and respect for the family lineage. The problem of the second or third or subsequent son or any other member of the family,who was compelled t sacrifice part of his or o her career i life in order to preserve the continuity of the iye but is n now faced w t the situation of being ejected from the farm family ih constitutesa serious socialproblem i therural community.A daughter n who did not marry a her marriageable age because she had t work t o as a supplementary labourer is apt t be treated as a nuisance after o her younger brothers grow up. In the family system where the male l n is respected, a woman is regarded a a dependant and her i ie s n dependence is not recognized. A one having no bearing on the s continuity of t e iye, she has no place i the family. However hard h n she may work, she cannot become independent because h r labour e is not paid for i cash. n When a family has no sons and the e d s daughtersbridegroom let becomes an adopted heir, the nominal headship rests with h m i. Formally, he may exercise the power of the patriarch, but the real power is i the hand of his wf by v r u of her being a descendant of n ie ite the family by blood. A this situation is recognized by others i the s n community,her opinion i matters of negotiation is listened to and n she plays an active role i social relations and displays considerable n atvt. ciiy The most d f i u t problem to solve i inter-familyrelationships is ifcl n that which involves the bride and her mother-in-law.T i is not hs peculiar to the farm family, but on the farm the problem assumes especially great proportions and is rendered d f i u t by the nature of ifcl the extended family.In the case of the farm family,the problem is a l l the more serious because it is connected with the cyclic succession of labour and w t the system under which the eldest son, the brides ih husband,is t e s l heir. h oe The housework of today includes many related tasks, and among these are the preparation of meals, cleaning t e house and keeping h
91
it neat and orderly inside,the carrying of water for drinking and for washing and the sewing and mending of clothes,and there are many other invisible tasks as Japanese women say, connected wt the ih housework. In the country,the transporting of buckets full of fresh water from the stream t the house for washing clothes and for the o daily hot bath is heavy work, and this task is apt to be given t the o bride.In other words,as long as her mother-in-law still i charge of is n the housework,she is expected to perform outdoor tasks of al kinds. l In choosing a groom, a bride therefore always prefers one w t an ih older mother. A for the mother-in-law, wants t preserve and s she o retain the housewifes authority until al her sons and daughters either l become independent or marry out of the family. Since t i authority hs is associated with the housework,she does not want to transfer kakaza t the new bride. By contrast with the present t m , o i e when money plays an important part and the authority of the housewife is no longer substantial,i the past when cash was extremely scarce and the housen hold economy required the minutest supervision, her authority was n indeed very substantial. Her role i the distribution of clothes and food t the patriarch and other members of the family was absolute, o and others respected her authority, which was f l y recognized not ul only within the house but also outside. For instance, when the old housewife has not a yet transferred her authority to the younger s housewife or to her sons wf and the younger couples daughter is ie betrothed, it is the grandmother or the older housewife who escorts the granddaughter on her way t the marriage ceremony. o Once the aged housewife transfers the care of the household t the o bride, she can no longer a t as freely as before. When her married c granddaughter v s t her and she wants t give her even one or two iis o quarts of beans or red beans as a g f to her granddaughtershusband it or parents-in-law, has to ask the permission of the bride.Thus,the she relationshipbetween the mother-in-law the bride not only involves and the sharing of household duties and responsibilities but is a s marked lo by dominance on the part of the one and submission on that of the other by virtue ofthe possession ofthehousewifesauthority.However poor a family may be, both the aged wf and the young wf know ie ie very wl the status and r l of the one i relation t the other,and el oe n o they act accordingly so as t maintain an orderly relationship. Once o t i orderly relationship is impaired, it becomes a source of tension hs between the two.
92
T e position of women in the rural community h
Criticism has often been directed a the fact that the grandmothers t and not the mothers of schoolchildren are present a the meeting of t the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)i rural communities. Fromn the standpoint of the farm families, the attendance of t e grandh mothers is taken f r granted because the mothers are needed i the o n f e d for doing the farm work. Especially during the busy season ils everyone capable of active labour is indispensable.The grandmother, on the other hand,stays a home doing the housework or tending the t babies, and sometimes acts as a l a s n o f c r for the family. It was i i o fie therefore a matter of course that the older persons should be present a the meeting ofthe PTA. A a r s l of the growing criticism against t s eut this practice, more mothers are now present a the meeting. t I rural areas of Japan,one often sees an old woman with bent back n looking after her grandchildren or preparing their meal. She has worked very hard al through her lf and, even a her advanced age, l ie t she feels uneasy at the idea of relaxing because the younger members of her family are hard a work i the f e d al day long.She knows t n ils l wl what hard labour is required of every member of the family to el keep the farm work i step w t the seasonalchanges.Notwithstanding n ih her inability to work hard because of her age, she is anxious to play her part. She is said t be afraid of becoming a useless and disabled o member ofthefamily,a state ofmiod so characteristic ofa rural person i her decliningyears.Another worry that haunts her is the probability n that she wl s f e a long i l e s before death and wl thus become a il u f r lns il burden on the family.One often hears from the l p of an old person, is Ihope to die suddenly. A decrepitperson on the farm is an unhappy individualbecause there is no adequateprovision for repose i the case n of those who have r t r d from a t v work.In these circumstances,an eie cie old woman in particular is apt t work too hard for her age for fear o ofplacing too great a burden on the family economy. According t the research on ruralwomen conducted by the Ministry o of Labour,the household comprising three generations-the parents, the children and the grandchildren-accounts for 50 per cent of a l l rural households. Though the law relating t the family has changed o and has made the nuclear family the lawful unit,i the existing condin tions of rurallf the rural family finds it d f i u t to a t r practical and . ie ifcl le concrete family relationships according t the new definition. For the o t m being, therefore,rural people cannot help but preserve the form ie of the extended family. There are,indeed,many families that are, i n
93
outward appearance a l a t nuclear families,but they reflect transit es, tional rather than substantial change i the form of family organizan tion. In fact, it is very l k l that these apparently nuclear families iey wl come to adopt the characteristic features of extended families. il The Family Problems Study Group found that the parents of farm families who desire their sons t l v with them a t r they are married o ie fe accountfor above 70per cent,and the proportion ofpersons who want t l v with t e r sons and grandchildren a t r they grow old amount o ie hi fe to 80per cent i ruraland rural fringe areas.l In practice farmers s e n em still to adopt traditional attitudes and they find their sense of security i the complicated pattern of family relations. U t l recent times, n ni whenever the question arose of how t improve the status of rural o farm women,the future seemed rather unpromising.Discussion of the problem showed that womens grievances and dissatisfactions related t the actual conditions surrounding them and t the persistence of o o the traditional way of life. However, women are today beginning t o reconsider their grievances and dissatisfactions.I has been said quite t recently that women are not complaining of the gloomy side of rural life as much as they used t do. In fact, women today are a t v l o ciey making their aspirationsknown and they themselvestake the i i i t v ntaie i e f r s to overcome various d f i u t e that lie i t e r way. They n fot ifclis n hi form thelife improvementgroup,a group a t v t promoted by the ciiy Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Some proclaim their desire that young brides, the housewife and the aged should be provided w t ih some money for t e r own use. T i i perhaps a reasonable demand hi hs s on the part of those who wish t ensure an economic basis for indivio dual freedom,instead ofbeing guaranteed only a minimum ofsecurity by the family group.Others-young wives-reported that because they were worried about t e r helpless mother-in-law hi who was no longer i n charge of household a f i s they had arranged for her to rear poultry far, and obtain some money f r her own use by s l i g eggs. Fortunate o eln indeed are those old women who have such daughters-in-law; others are t u y miserable for they are not provided with any money a a l i rl t l, n spite of the fact that they have worked hard without receiving any payment a l through t e r active lives. For the helpless aged, the l hi National Pension Plan is being brought into force by the Japanese Government.
1. Takashi Koyama (d) Study of the Contemporary Family, Tokyo, Kobunda, 1959. e.,
94
T h e position of w o m e n in the rural community
The distribution of inherited property constitutes another problem related t the newly established family system.According t the report o o on the governmental public opinion survey ( 9 6 ; 66 per cent of 15) farming people, when asked whether it was preferable for farm land t be inherited exclusively by a single member of the family or by a l o l members equally, stated that they preferred single inheritance. A s regards the women's share i the inheritance,57 per cent agreed that n when her husband is dead, the wife should have her share i the n inheritance. A a matter offact,however,farmers who have long been s accustomed to the practice of primogeniture do not f l y support the ul idea of giving women an economic b s s by allowing them t possess ai o property.
Young and old i the farm family n
A family which is composed of several generations cannot avoid the

c n l c that a i e out of the difference of age between the various ofit rss members of the family.In their youth,the aged members were subject t the discipline ofmanual labour and ofbeing self-supportingu t l it o ni became part of their personality. They may have been stunned to witness the faGade of the feudalistic v l a e community crumbling ilg before them as a consequence of the Land Reform, but now they sit by the hearth and they miss the old family relationships that were regulated i so orderly a fashion. The young members of the family n who have been educated i democracy are radical advocates of the n new idea and resist the traditional way of l f that still persists and ie c n l c s with the new one. Although l v n together under one roof, ofit iig the young and the old members of the family represent the new and the old generation respectively i the society of Japan. Each of these n generations has its own ideas and its own way of lf and these are ie almost incompatible w t those of the other generations. In the case ih of the old, t e r worldly wisdom and agricultural technique were hi acquired i the family,that is t say,they w r passed down from their n o ee parents,whereas the young members ofthe family acquired them from a society that was moving towards democracy. Thus,the gulf between the knowledge and the way of thinking-and the system of valuesof these two groups of members of one family is too great t be o
1. Prime Minister's Office, Research Report on the Family System, 1957.
95
spanned, and this causes frequent troubles i the family. Moreover, n some young members of families are very s i e u even when such ptfl trouble arises and i many instances the authority of the mother-inn law is overridden through the spitefulness of her daughter-in-law. However,many ruralwomen who have been accustomedt submission o t the power of t e r husbands are now reconsidering t e r position o hi hi and realize the importance of making an e f r t construct a better fot o lf without destroying the peace of t e r families.They have awakened ie hi to the dignity of the individual to such an extent that they cannot now understand the irrational mode oflf i the past. They are al the more ie n l enthusiastic in womens group a t v t e . In this respect it is said that ciiis men lag behind women because the farmer has now grown somewhat weary of the e f r t put the new idea into practice. Nylonhosiery fot o and women have got strongrecently-a phrase i vogue-is applicable n t the rural area too. A explained hereunder,women neither g v up o s ie the struggle nor complain passively any longer,but are beginning to make an e f r to construct a bright family life. fot
Awakening t society o
The v l a e i the Edo era was an almost completely closed community ilg n -legally, economically and spiritually. In t i circumscribed area, hs however, women had various opportunities t participate i social o n a t v t e through t e r work for the community. In running errands ciiis hi for the village, giving assistance i treading out barley plants,helping n i thatching,participating i the celebrationofmourning and i annual n n n f s i a s and holding intimate intercourse w t members of k6, or a etvl, ih sub-group of buruku, as a neighbourhood association, women were always i close contact with other v l a e s and unconsciously t i d t n ilgr re o be good v l a e s Since t e r lives were circumscribed by iye or burulcu, ilgr. hi they had no relations wt and no knowledge of society outside the ih v l a e But within the v l a e they were f l y acquainted with al the ilg. ilg ul l family and social relations of other v l a e s ilgr. In the present century,some women have had greater opportunities for coming into contact wt other cultures through the development ih of the t x i e and associated industries. But most women who were etl engaged i agriculture were still confined within the v l a e community. n ilg Today, however, even i they stay i the home they can always f n maintain a l a t an indirect contact with outer society owing t the t es o
96
development of mass communication media, such as newspapers, magazines,radio and television.Nevertheless,the criticism is still heard that rural women today are apt to confine themselveswithin the small area of the village,being occupied with farm work and with the household,and that,therefore,their vision of society a large is still limited. t Apart from this criticism, the social and economic changes that have taken place since the war-especially the Land Reform and the legal abolition ofthe old family system-have altered the social structure ofthe v l a e community and have destroyed the framework ofthe ilg iye. Women of the younger generation, i particular, are no longer n s t s i d w t the s l - a r f c of their mothers and grandmothers. aife ih efsciie They are now preoccupied w t the construction of a better daily lf ih ie in which their individuality can be best developed. They are now discovering the s l that has been buried i the family group or i the ef n n v l a e community.Women are said to be conservativein general but, ilg so f r a young women of today are concerned, they are becoming a s more progressive than men. According t the inquiry into the value o system of rural people conducted by the Japanese National Commission for Unesco,l adult women are more conservative than adult men i regard to the perpetuation of the iye, respect f r the ranks i n o n the family group, the practice of single inheritance, the support of aged parents by t e eldest son alone and the freedom of the bride h i the matter o shopping and going out. But,i the group of young n f n people,women are d f n t l more progressive than men. When they eiiey see the machines that have been introduced one after the other into farm work,they feel that the hard labour on all-fourswhich they did i the past i unbearable. They keenly f e the necessity for working n s el out methods of housework because this is a matter of immediate concern t them. In this regard the group a t v t e of women are very o ciiis promising for progressive women participate i them with enthusiasm n i t e r wish t reduce the labour of housework and to rationalize n hi o d i y lf. With this incentive, women may i future extend their a l ie n a t v t e into the outside world. ciiis
1. Japanese National Commission for Unesco, Research on the Value Conscioumess

o Rural Youth, 1958. f
97
V. T e social position h
o working women f
I is not necessary to go far back into the history of Japan t trace the t o migration of rural women t the cities i search of employment. The o n position of some of these women has undergone a change that has no parallel among women i the rural areas. Nowadays women working n i the cities are not drawn exclusively from the industrial reserve of the n rural areas. Reflecting the complex conditions of the post-warperiod -from the social,economic and other standpoints-the composition of the mass of female workers is far from simple-the change is often very great, The working of the forces affecting women workers is bewildering. L t us first attempt an analysis of the position of women e i employment by tracing the stages of t e r exodus from the home to n hi occupations outside.
The exodus of women t work outside the home o Capitalistic production in Japan is considered by many t have begun o a the turn of the century. Prior t this, spinning factories had been t o founded by the government around 1870 t a s s those shizoku (exo sit warriors) who had l s t e r means of livelihood owing t the aboliot hi o tion of feudal government. According t the record of 1873,the numo ber of women working in those factories was 4 4 In addition,there 0. was an advent of women workers; women teachers i 1875,women n doctors and nurses i 1885, stenographers in 1889, and telephone n operators i 1889. These women received privileged treatment a pern s sons in o f c a services. I was after 1900 that women workers were fiil t t be seen i banks and other u o f c a kms. o n nfiil World War I gave an unprecedented impetus t Japans economic o 98
The social position of working women
growth and the rapid development ofvarious industries began to draw largenumbers of women into various f e d of employment.According ils to the census of 1920,4million, or 4 per cent of al working women, 0 l were engaged i gainful employment. In those days, the difference n between menswages and those of women was very great-a womans wage was roughly one-thirdthat ofa man. Nurses,telephone operators and even women teachers-who were then regarded as the highest class of working women-were paid a rates far below those to which t their qualifications and training entitled them. People i general kept n away from these working women because they thought they were not l k l t g t married even a t r they had reached the age of marriage iey o e fe nor w r they l k I to act i a womanIy way. People called them ee iey n shokugyofujid, or occupation women, which was a collective term applied t al working women. The term also suggested an attitude of o l contempt. What seems to have lowered the prestige of a l working l women i those days was the fact that about 60t 7 per cent of them n o 0 were female factory workers i the cotton-spinning industry. They n had received l t l or no education and they worked for a very low ite wage. n After 1927, heavy industry began to develop i Japan and,with it, the number of male factory workers increased and they soon outnumbered female workers. There were always some women who were qualified as competent mechanics and their employment was not confined t the t x i e industry. In 1940, female mechanics numbered o etl 1 0 0 0as against 820,000 2,0, female cotton-millhands. Soon after Japan waged war againstthe United States of America and her a l e ,women lis were mobilized t work i the ordnance factories.Taking the place of o n men, who were mobilized i ever greater numbers to bear arms, n women f l e important roles and demonstrated t e r a i i i s in a l ild hi blte l f e d oflabour. ils In 1945,immediately after the termination of the war, many of the important big c t e of Japan were i a s a e of complete ruin. With iis n tt many houses burnt down and the food situation p t f l women who iiu, were released from their duties i factories returned home. But now n these women had to undertake long t i s t obtain food for their husrp o bands and children. T i was a burden heavier than they had experihs enced before and during the war. Their clothing that had barely escaped being destroyed by fire was nearly al used up i an exchange l n for food-stuff. the meantime, prices increased day by day, During In
99
the two years following the war, a surge of inflation caused the price index to rise more than 15 tms as high as it was before; but i the ie n same period wages rose only about 1 times as high. T i substantial 2 hs decrease in r a wages endangered the economy of the household as el t e wage covered only 60per cent ofthe necessary cost ofliving, h In these circumstances of the post-warperiod, women whose husbands, fathers or sons had been k l e i battle or had not yet been ild n repatriated and women whose families had been bombed out or were no longer paid the soldierspension because of its suspension a t r the fe war were al i a sorry plight. Added t this was the dissolution of l n o the zaibatsu ( i financialcombines) and the f l ofpeers because ofthe bg al abolition of the peerage. Consequently women, irrespective of their social standing,family origin and c a s background, were al obliged ls l to dash into the labour market t seek any kind of job that would o enable them t eke out a scanty existence. Thus,the Japanese family o was being harassed by poverty not only during the war but also a t r fe the war. A a result, the Japanese family system was deprived of its s economic foundation. These are the most important and most immediate ofthe social and economic factors that resulted i the huge inflow of women into many n f e d of employment.W e may here mention another importantfactor, ils namely the working womans picture of herself. Whatever were the motives that led any particular woman t enter employment a t r the o fe war, she had an a r of composure instead of the pathetic resolution of i her pre-war days. With the self-reliancewhich she had acquired e r i r ale during the war she derived pleasure from earning an income with her own labour. Another,and perhaps more powerful,impetus towardschangingthe ve on women held by people in general, and especially by women iw themselves,lay i the successivelegal reforms. These were as follows: n i 1945 womens freedom t join a p l t c l party was restored, and n o oiia womens suffrage and e i i i i y for both Chambers of the Diet were lgblt introduced i 1946;the equality of the two sexes was established by n the New Constitution;and equal pay for equal work was prescribed for men and women alike and the protection of women was provided for i the Labour Standards Law. Whilst women themselves were still n struck with admiration a these reforms,the government set up the t Ministry ofLabourfor the improvement and protection ofalworkers, l with, as an integral part, the Womens and Minors Bureau. The
100
crucial role which the Womens and Minors Bureau is now playing i support of working women cannot be too strongly emphasized. n Nowadays there are very f w g r s who spend the period between e il leaving school and marriage i practising the skillsrequired of an ideal n bride,as did most of t e girls of the middle and upper classes of preh war days.Only a f w are contemptuous ofwomen working outside the e home and no woman is ashamed of working outside the home. Irrespective of their positions and circumstances,g r s are proud of making il t e r living by t e r own efforts.Associated with this sense of awakenhi hi ing, there is an increasing number of married women who earn a livelihood together with their husbands-though, no doubt,this i i s n part due t the f c that the mans incomei not s f i i n to maintain o at s ufcet the standard ofliving to which the married couple now aspire. W o m e n are apt to stay a work even after they are married. t Here w must remark i passing that there are still various factors e n checking the new trend followed by working women. They are the influence of traditionalism, social and economic conflicts, and the stagnation of p l t c . Many obstacles have still t be overcome and oiis o many problems remain to be solved.
A brief sketch of the female working population

Of al women aged above 14,those who are classed as i the labour l n f r e i e engaged i work other than housekeeping-number about oc-.. n 18 million, or 54.5 per cent of al women of 1 years and over. The l 4 corresponding number and proportion i the case of the male labour n force are 26 million and 8 . per cent respectively. Thus,comparison 39
TABLE Percentage of m l and female workers of all persons above 1 years 31. ae 4
of age (1947to 1957)
Year Male Female Year Male Female
1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952
% 8. 39 8. 39 8. 36 8. 32 83.2 8. 33
~
% 4. 51 47.4 5. 09 4. 93 48.8 4. 99
1953 1954 1955 1956 1957
% 8. 46 83.7 8. 39 8. 36 8. 39
%
53.1 53.3 5. 50 5.. 46 !54.5
1 Ministry of Labour, Annual Report of Labour Statistics, 1 4 to 1 5 . . 98 97

-
11 0
shows that tbe male labour force exceeds the female labour force by a large percentage.However,closer examination shows that the proportion of women who work has gradually increased from 45.1 per cent i 1 4 to 54.5per cent i 1957 (see Table 31 and Diagram 6 T i n 97 n ) hs . increase of 1 per cent represents a significant trend i regard t the 0 n o proportion of women who work.
DIAGRAM 6 Percentage of male and female workers of all persons above 1 years . 4 of age (1947 to 1957)
100
90
ao
70 60
30 20
10
1 Ministry of Labour, Annual Report of Labour Statistics, 1948 to 1957. .
Another significantfeature is that the increase i the proportion of n n working women is associated with a relative decrease i the pro-
102
The social position of working w o m e n
portion of farming women. A shown i Table 32 and Diagram 7, s n agricultural female workers ( 1 7 per c n ) outnumbered non-agri6. et cultural (38.3 per c n ) in 1948. Ten years l t r the corresponding et ae figureswere 47per cent for the former and 53 per cent for the latter. The position w s thus reversed. a
TABLE . Yearly change i percentage ratio of agricultural to non-agricultural 3 2 n
female workers (1948 t 1957) o
year
Agriculfural Nonand factory agricultural
Year
Agricultural Nonand factory agricultural
1948 1949 1950 15 91 1952
% 6. 17 6. 48 6. 23 5. 64 5. 50
% 38.3 35.1 3. 78 43.6 45.0
1953 1954 1955 1956 1957
% 5. 41 51.8 5. 09 4. 87 4. 70
% 45.9 48.2 4. 91 51.3 53.0
1 Ministry of Labour, Annual Report of Labour Statistics, 1948 to 1957. .
The non-agriculturaloccupations into which working women enter are very varied. The census of 1950showsthat there are no occupations
i which female workers are not found, other than 13 minor groups n of occupation which the law forbids women t enter, for instance, o the coal-mining group. By contrast, i 1930,i 52 minor groups of n n occupation there w r no female workers. ee L t us compare the difference between 1950 and 1955 in terms of e the distribution of male and female workers by major occupational groups (Table 3) A comparison of these two figures shows a signifi3. cant decrease i the number of workers i the primary extractive n n industries. T i is especially the case wt female workers in these hs ih industries. In al other occupations, on the contrary, there were l r l t v increases. Though, among these other groups, male and eaie female workers i mines and quarries and male c e i a and related n lrcl workers show a s i h decrease,this does not a f c the general trend lgt fet marked by such relative decrease. Next to farming, the largest percentage of working women are factory workers. Other large groups consist of those women working a s l s ladies and clerks i department or other r t i stores and those s ae n eal engaged i service i hotels, restaurants and private houses. I is n n t also t be noted that,whereas the percentage of those i c e i a and o n lrcl 103
DIAGRAM 7. Yearly change in percentage ratio of agricultural to non-agricultural female workers (1948 to 1957)
related works i private o i government o f c s shows a r l t v n r n fie eaie decrease in the case of men, there is an increase of 1 per cent i the n case of women. The majority i the group of c e i a and related n lrcl workers are common clerks, but accountants and typists have been increasing i t i group. For the l s 30 years,female workers i this n hs at n group have increased up t about twenty tms the original number. o ie Amongst female factory workers, t x i e workers constitute the laretl gest group, i e about one-third,and they number roughly 7 0 0 0 .. 6,0. Women c a s f e as s l s workers comprise two-thirds,or 1,100,000, lsiid ae of the total number of women employed i shops. Most female n 104
TABLE Distribution of male and female workers by major groups of occupation 33.
(1950and 1955)
Occupational group Male 1950
1955
Female
1950
1955
Total number of workers Professional and technicalworkers Managers and officials Clerical and related workers Sales workers Farmers, lumbermen, fisherm e n and related workers Workers i mine and quarry n occupations Workers in transport operating occupations Craftsmen, production process workers and labourers Service workers
21 870 367 2 893 686 13 755 423 15 368 265 5 % 50 . 30 . 99 . 8.5 3. 97 17 .

20 .
% 56 . 33 . 94 . 10.7 3. 30 14 . 34 . 2. 90 4.2
%
36 . 01 . 6.5 82 . 6. 08 03 .
00 .
% 39 . 02 . 75 . 1. 08 5. 18
0.2
02 .
27.5 27 .
1. 40 63 .
1. 62 94 .
1. Statistics Bureau, Prime Ministers Office, 1950 Population Census of Japan, Vol. 5, P r 2; I955 Population Census of Japan, Vol. 3, Part 2 at .
workers i service are waitresses and housemaids, but the number n o the latter has dropped to about half of what it was i pre-wardays. f n Women workers who are c a s f e as professional and technical lsiid workers account for about 4 per cent of al female workers, and the l t t l number is only about 600,000.The greatest proportion of oa them are school-teachers and the smallest are technical experts. O f al technical experts,numbering 350,000, l women amount t only a o little above 1 0 0 Reviewing a1 these figures of female workers i ,0. 1 n each group of occupations, one may conclude that women are now engaged i the kind of occupation that does not require special phyn s c l strength and highly specialized technical s i l . W e can hope ia kls f o the recent development of womens higher education that rm women wl growingly acquire specialized technical knowledge and il hold positions commensurate wt this knowledge i the future. ih n A a result of the post-warlegal reform,women are now entitled to s occupy public office, but the number of women holding such o f c , fie and especially managerial positions, is yet very small. Of about
105
100,000 government workers i managerial positions, women account n for a mere 1,000 or 1 per cent. The total number of persons in manag r a positions i private companies is about 330,000;women comeil n p i e s i h l less than 4 per cent or s i h l above 12,000i number. rs lgty lgty n These women i managerial positions are c i f y i small businesses n hel n and trades. For the tm being we cannot hope for a rapid increase ie i the number of women holding such positions. In this regard,too, n however, w may anticipate a rather promising future as a r s l of e eut the improvement i women's education and the progress they have n made i the f e d of occupation. n il L t us now consider the position of women i work and the way e n it has changed i comparisonw t that ofmen.In terms ofthe position n ih i work, al workers are divided into three classes: self-employed n l workers wt or without paid employees,wage and salary workers, ih and unpaid family workers. The distribution of al Japanese workers l i 1955 according t this classification is shown i Table 34. n o n
TABLE Distribution of male and female workers by their position in work 34.
(1955)
Sex Total number Self-employed or paid employees Wage and workers Unpaid famiIy workers
Female Male
1 368 265 5 2 893 086 3
% 11.7 3. 18
% 3. 32 5. 39
55.1 1. 43
1. Statistics Bureau, Prime Minister's Office, 1955 Population Census o Japan, Vol. 3, f Part 2 .
A shown i the above table, the majority of the unpaid family s n

workers are women. But, i the case of men, the wage and salary n workers account for more than half. The next largest percentage of male workers are the self-employed and they account for nearly 32 per cent. A for unpaid male family workers, the proportion is only s 1 per cent. Amongst female workers, the self-employed amount 4 only t less than 1 per cent while wage and salary workers constitute o 2 33 per cent, the proportion next highest t that of the unpaid family o workers. The distribution of working women according t the position held o has a s undergone change as can be seen from Table 35 which lo
106
shows the annual change i the number of workers expressed by n indices for a period of 1 years from 1948 to 1 5 . A regards the 0 97 s changing position of women i work, the largest gain over the years n is shown by wage-earning and salaried workers, the next largest being i the self-employed.Unpaid family workers show the smallest n change and i this case the trend remains indeterminate. A for the n s trend amongstmaleworkers,theincreaseislargesti the group ofwagen earning and salaried workers and the changes i the groups of both n the self-employed and the unpaid family workers is almost negligible.
TABLE Annual shift of the number of male and female workers classiiied by 35. the position of the work (1948 to 1957) Male Female
Year
A
100 104 103 102 103 104 103 106 106 105
A
100 125 129 125 128 134 138 152 157 169
B
100 98 104 122 128 134 11 4 153 168 183
1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957
100 100 102 108 112 116 118 124 134
144
100 108 106 11 0 103 112 109 116 107 103
100 110 104 101 105 115 115 116 113 10 1
1. Shown by indices with the figure for 1948 as 100. 2 A=self-employed workers; B= wage-earning and salaried workers; C=unpaid . family workers.
In s i e of these incipient changes i the occupational position of pt n working women, it is clear that the majority of them are still i the n group of unpaid family workers.A stated above,the greater propors tion ofthe women i this group are engaged i farming,and a characn n teristic feature i that the monthly t t l number of those so engaged is s oa subject t the seasonal changes i farming.In the two busiest farming o n seasons,one extending from May t July and the other from October o to November,the number of farmingwomen rises to its peak,whereas it drops to the minimum i January and February, i e the slackest n .. farming season, or sags down i August and September, the season n intervening between the two peaks. The maximum number employed i June exceeds the minimum employed i January by as much as n n 60per cent.
17 0
The range of seasonal fluctuations i the number of women workers n employed i agriculture becomes clearer when t i group is compared n hs with the group of non-agriculturalfemale workers, as i Diagram 8 n . In making this diagram,monthly fluctuations in the numbers ( n 1957) i o unpaid family workers i agriculture and forestry and of wagef n earning and salaried workers i work other than agriculture and n forestry, both female,are converted into indices based on the average number throughout the year which is taken as 1 0 0.
DIAGRAM 8 Monthly changes i number of workers in work other than agriculture . n
and forestry shown in indices (1957)
108
Unpaid family worker i agriculture and forestry (female) n Wage-earning and salaried worker in work other than agriculture and forestry (female)
Note: Indices are based on the average number throughout the year, which is
taken as 100.
As seen in this chart,the monthly changeis not large i the case of n the women workers i agriculture and forestry. The slight sagging i n n Juneand October is due i part t women turning t farming.Contrary n o o to t i is the s i h r s n i winter and e r y spring-the two slack hs lgt iig n al seasons of farming-for during these seasons the surplus labour force is discharged into the labour market. There is a close p r l e between the seasonal change i the number aall n of people engaged i farming and the number of hours of work. n During the busiest farming season, farmers work on an average 49 hours per week, but they work only half as long (26 hours per week) during the slack season.A for the workers i occupations other than s n agriculture and forestry,the average t m a work is 48.4 hours per ie t week and remains almost constant. This figure remains unchanged throughout the year. Farming requires e a t c t i the supply of lsiiy n labour and t i is furnished by women working as unpaid family hs workers. One characteristic of women who work as employees outside the home is that the vast majority of them are young,under the age of 25, and unmarried. In the survey o 1936, ie i pre-wardays,the average f .. n age of workers was 2 years (30 years for m n , but i 1949 the average 1 e) n rose t 23.8(32.5 for men) and i 1954 it reached 25.4years (32.3 for o n men), showing a remarkable rise as compared with the change i the n average age of male w0rkers.l The number of female workers who remain i the same job even a t r marriage is increasing,for i 1948 n fe n married female workers accounted for only 9 per cent of al female l workers, whereas i 1957 their proportion rose t 17 per cent. (See n o Table 3 . 6)
TABLE Proportion of married female workers to all female workers 36.
o (1948 t 1957)
Year Percentage Year Percentage Year Percentage
1948 1950 1953
90 . 90 . 1. 09
1954 1955 1956
1. 42 15.0 1. 62
1957
1. 74
As for the period during which workers remain i the same job, n
s a i t c of 1945 give 3.6 years as the average i the case of female ttsis n
1. Ministry of Labour, Annual Report of Labour Statistics.
,
109
workers, which is j s half ofthe average for male workers. But i this ut n case also the period has recently been growing longer. A the statistical data show,the practice of women working outside s the home is now recognized as being i the trend of the day-and this n trend has become very much more marked since the l s world war. at When the war ended and men were released from war duties and returned to t e r former jobs,many of the women who had gained hi experience and had held certainjobskept on working.To those already working therewas added anothergroup ofwomen who were compelled t work outside the home i order t earn a part or the whole of the o n o income required t support t e r families.T i was because the income o hi hs earned by one man was insufficientt maintain t e household economy o h i post-war days. Thus, the number of women working outside the n home grew even larger. According t a survey of 1948 covering o 1 7 4female clerks and workers, employed i o f c s i Tokyo on a ,2 n fie n permanent basis, the reasons which they gave for working were as shown i Table 3 . n 7
TABLE Reasons given for working by female workers 37.
Reason
Percentage
To support the family To supplement family income To gain money for m y o w n use Both to supplement the family income and to gain money for my own use To have a knowledge of society To render service to society through m y work
Other
16 38 16
1 4 5 3
6 2
No reason
The largest proportion ( 8 per c n ) of respondents answered,tosup3 et plement the income of m y family,and the second l r e t gave the ags serious answer, tosupport a l m y family.I the main, the reasons l n amounted mostly t the statement,m y husbandsincome alone is not o enough Whatever their reasons may be, the fact that women have . entered a variety of occupational f e d is of great importance i ils n modifying womens views on work.
1. National Public Opinion Research Institute, W o m e n and Work, 1948.
110
The social aosition of working women
Working conditions of employed w o m e n
According t the survey of 1956 on the composition and work of the o mass of employees,of those women who had not been i employment n for more than one year a the t m of the survey,5 per c n were found t ie et to have been self-employed, 4 per cent were unpaid family workers 1 and as many a 74 per cent were i other forms of employment. Such s n a high proportion of labour turnover among working women is a t i trbuted t such reasons as that () their tasks are unskilled and subsio a diary i nature;( ) women do not have t support al their families; n b o l () they do not have a high morale i their work; and ( ) as a group, c n d women are the l s hired and the first to be f r d ,that is to say, at ie they constitute a marginal labour force. The mobile and unsteady character offemaleworkers is evidentfrom the s a i t c ofunemployttsis ment. In 1959 unemployed workers numbered 280,000 i the case of n men and 250,000i the case of women, and these figures,when conn verted into a r l t v index by using the unemploymentfiguresfor 1948 eaie as the basis,turn out t be 175 for men and 278 for women. For the o year 1955,a depressionyeari post-warJapan,theunemploymentindex n computed by the same method was 2 4 for men and 322 for women. 4 The present high rate of unemployment among female workers is related t the low wages of working women. In s i e of the principle o pt of equal remuneration for work of equal value and the categorical denial of sex discrimination embodied i the Labour Standards Law, n the ratio ofmenswages t womensis 6to 4a present. This difference o t between the sexes i the wage s a e is, of course,affected by the level n cl and scale of the industrial enterprise,the kind of work, the status of the worker,the level of his education,his age, and length of service. The difference i the wages paid to the two sexes is i part the result n n of the traditional notion which assumes and takes for granted that awomans work is i the home. n Since the beginning of the Meiji era, womens wages have always been f r below those ofmen-generally about one-halfor one-thirdof a a mans wage. In the cotton-spinningindustry ( n the t e t e ) the i wnis, average pay of women was less than one-halfthe mens wage. Subsequently,i the munitions industry,the discrepancy i wages between n n men and women was considerably reduced. Employers as a body treated men as s i l d workers and women as unskilled cheap labour. kle T i differencei the wage scales ofmen and women was considered as hs n
111
reasonable even by the women themselves. That was the s a e of a f i s tt far before and during the l s world war. at After the war ended,a series ofl g l and social changes,such as the ea reform of the family system,the provision o equal opportunities i f n education,the abolition of discrimination between men and women i n the matter of wages prescribed i the Labour Standards Law, the n provisions of the Labour Union Law, the development of labour movement, e c , combined with a proper assessment of the value of t. female labour during the war, l d t a considerable improvement i e o n the position of working women. Consequently, i a comparison of n wages during and after the war,women show by f r a higher ratio of a increase than men. A regards the absolute amount of wages, a large s number of women are concentrated i the lower wage categ0ries.lIn n 1950, discrepancy between mensand womens wages was smallest. the Since then,it has once more grown larger, as shown i Table 38. n
\ I
3 wages of male and female workers 1I TABLE8. Monthlyratio between them (1948to 1957) in regular employment and the
Yeur
Male
yen
Monthly wage Female

yen
Proportion o womens f to mens wages
x
4. 30 4. 50 46.5 4. 62 4. 49
1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957
W o m e n , 1959.
6 133 9 980 11 143 14 051 1 782 6 1 560 9 20 825 2 895 1 23 954 2 688 5
2640 4 488 5 184 6 496 7 533 8 617 9 252 9 567 1 160 0 1 638 0
4. 41 4. 44
43.7 42.4 41.4
1. Ministry of Labour, Monthly Labour Sfutisfics,1948 to 1 5 ;Present Conditions o 97 f 1 A chiefreasons,we may frt mention the high rate of turnover i the femalelabour . s is n ot force. M s of the young, unmarried workers soon quit the job before obtaining s i lin the work,with newcomers taking over t e r positions. Another reason is the kl hi
existing system f r determining the amount of the wage,i which age,the number o n of dependants or members of the family, e c , are important factors to be taken t. into consideration.Added to thesereasons is the changingb s s of wages. Formerly ai the basis ofthe wages was the cost of living;whereasrecentlyit has been determined by the workers status i the establishment,special allowances given for s e i i n pcfc responsiblejobs or positions,making up a larger part of the t t l wages. This leads oa t r l t v l lower wages for women,because they do not s a long i one employo eaiey ty n ment and therefore are not given responsiblepositions.
12 1
The social position of working w o m e n
In 1957 the discrepancy (41.4per c n ) between womens and mens et wages is seen to have been greatest.Viewed differently,the discrepancy has grown larger by 51 per cent i the seven years from 1950t 1957. . n o The change i the wage and i the proportion of womens wages t n n o mens has been caused by various factors already alluded to. The discrepancy therefore does not always r f e t t e application of the elc h principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value. Moreover, sex discrimination i determining the amountoft e wage is not excepn h tional a present i the case ofmany newly employed men and women, t n though they are assigned work of equal value. According to a survey of starting wages and salariesmade i 1958 by the ManagersAssocian tion of Kanto District,i respect of newly employed persons, 4 per n 1 cent of establishments even now give discriminatory starting wages and salaries to university graduates, 3 . per cent to graduates of 48 senior high schools and 2 . per cent t graduates of junior high 95 o schoo1s.l It is only among government workers that there is at present almost no discriminatory treatment. A review of t e major classifications of h industry shows that workers i transportation,communication and n related public services s f e the l a t degree of sex discrimination i ufr es n the matter of wages, and second t them come workers i finance, o n insurance and real estate;the proportion of womens wages to mens being 58 per cent and 48 per cent respectively i these cases. The n largest degree of discrepancy between the wages of men and women is found i the building and manufacturing industries. Comparison on n the b s s of the detailed classification of industry shows that i ai n tobacco manufacturing female workers are treated,i the matter of n wages, almost on an equality wt male workers whereas i t x i e ih n etl production the sex d f e e t a in wages was greatest-a womanswage ifrnil being only 39 per cent of a m a n k 2Tobacco manufacturing is a government enterprise and t x i e production a private enterprise, but the etl discrepancy is attributable not only t this difference but also to the o fact that in the former the average age offemaleworkers is the highest and t e r services range over the longest period,whereas the contrary hi i true i the latter case. s n
-~
1. Managers Association of Kanto District,Research on the Starting W a g e and Salary

of the Newly Employed, 1958. 2 Ministry of Labour, Annual Report o Labour Statistics, 1957. . f
113

.A s for the discrepancy in wages and salaries between men and women who do c e i a and related work,Table 39 showsthe difference lrcl by age groups. The discrepancy i small i the group of those under s n 18 years old,but it grows larger as the age advances. I is largest i the t n age groups between 35 and 60,b t in the group of those over 60years u of age it again grows smaller.This implies that length of service on the one hand and the level of education on the other are related to d f e ifr ences i wages as between men and women. n
TABLE . Monthly wage and salary of male and female clerical workers and 3 9
the ratio between them, compared by age groups (1957)
Age group Monthly wage and salary Male Female
yen
yen
Proportion of womens
to mens wages and salaries
18 18-20 20-25 25-30 30-35 35-40

40-50 50-60 60
5 739 851 0 12 240 1 755 7 2 084 3 27 313 2 109 9 27 427 18 154
5 249 7 159 9 366 12 981 1 532 4 1 726 4 15 831 15 193 12 565
% 9. 14 8. 19 7. 65 7. 31 6. 29 5. 39 5. 44 5. 54 6. 89
1. Computed from:Ministry of Labour, Annual Report of Labour Statistics, 1957.
I is unnecessary to say that i Japan the longer ones service, the t n higher the wage or salary one receives.Ti is also the case with female hs workers,as shown i Table 4 .The discrepancy i wages between men n 0 n
and women becomes smaller the longer women stay i one service. n With the exception of women workers whose length of service is less than six months, the r l t v position of womens wages becomes eaie better as the length of service increases.I may safely be assumed that, t even in the case of female workers, a higher value is placed on t e r hi work the longer they stay i one service. n By comparing Tables 3 and 4 , e can see that t e widening wage 9 0w h differential between male and female is associated with age and with length of service.The difference i thewage is smallestfor the youngest n group of workers and it g t larger during the workers productive es period and oncemore becomes smallerwhen t e worker passes the age h
114
TABLE. Monthly wage and salary of male and female workers and the ratio 4 0 between them, compared by length of service (1957)
Length of service (in years) Monthly wage and salary Male ~~~~l~
yen yen
Proportion o womens f to mens wa.qes and salaries
Less than 05 . 051 .1-2 2-3 3-5

5-10 10-15 15-20 20 and over
1 613 0
1 652 2 13 054 13 948 15 794 20 134 24 677 2 892 9 3 459 6
6 723 7 133 7 695 8 514 9 708 12474 16 431 20 352 25 805
% 6. 33 5. 63 5. 89 6 .O 1 6. 15 61.7 6. 66 6. 81 7. 08
u 1 Computed from: M r try of Labour, Annual Report of L a p r Statistics, 1957. . i
of 60.T i means that a t r 60or 63, age ofretirementfrom active hs fe the dutiesi Japan,both men and women are paid as temporary employees n wt a definite decrease i wages or salary. ih n The workers school career also affects the amount and rate of increase of the wage or salary.In the past,the school career of women did not go beyond the level of middle school education and this was one reason for reducing t e r average pay as compared with that of hi men. Recently an ever-increasing number of women are receiving higher educationand this may eventually lead t a rise i t e r average o n hi pay i the future but,i this connexion,it must be borne i mind that n n n chances of getting a job are not abundant i the case of women with n higher education. In the interest of those women, the traditional customs and ideas concerning working women must be changed and appropriate measures must be taken to ensure that hours of work, the nature of the work assigned to them and other circumstancesare suitable for women. A for working hours,women used to work about ten hours a day s before the war. Since the enforcement of the Labour Standards Law a t r the war, womensworking hours have now been reduced t 8 as fe o against 8.4 hours for men, though they vary somewhat from one industry t another. Working hours are comparatively longer i the o n wholesale and r t i trade and i manufacturing. In particular, i eal n n t x i e production,printing and publishing,which are a l c a s f e as etl l lsiid
115
manufacturing industries,the hours are the longest of al Comparal. t v l shorter hours a e worked i finance and insurance.The hours of iey r n work are shortest i tobacco manufactures, though this is c a s f e n lsiid a a manufacturing industry.A comparison between clerical workers s and labourers shows that the l t e have longer working hours than the atr former. The number of days of work per month has been increasing recently for both men and women, amounting t 2 . days for women and o 36 2 . days for men. The Labour Standards Law prescribes that a least 43 t one days leave shall be given each week, but this provision is not always complied w t i the case ofwholesale and r t i shop workers. ih n eal The total number of women working i wholesale and retail shops n i 2 7 0 0 but only a quarter of al these shops give periodical leave s 7,0, l t t e r employees by closing the shop by arrangement w t neigho hi ih bouring shops or by other means. The proportion of shops doing this is, however,gradually increasing.
Protection of working women
The principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value has been applied to working women,but this does not mean that they should be given a false equality t the neglect ofphysical characteristicsand other o conditionspeculiar t women. In pre-wardays there were already legal o provisions for the protection of working women, but they were very deficient. In spinning mills, which achieved a remarkable development a t r the turn of the century,80 per cent of al workers w r women. fe l ee The bad working conditions and cruel treatment typical of those days w r described i the Shokko Jijyo (Conditions of Workmen), and the ee n Joko Aishi (Sad Stories of Female Factory Workers), which aroused criticism and blame on the part of intellectuals and the public in general. The Factory Law was f n l y enacted i 1916, and subseial n quently the Mining Industry Law and the Shop A t embodied some c provisions for the protection of women i employment.In comparison n w t the protection afforded to working women by the l w of other ih as countries,these protective measures i Japan were far below the stann dard level,and even these were almost wholly abolished during thewar. Impelled by the demand that arose a t r the confusion of thought fe and economics of the post-war period i Japan and by the recomn mendation of the Allied Powers,the Japanese Government l i down ad
116
labour standards and i 1948 passed the Labour Standards Law as a n constituent law of the New Constitution. T i law is based on the hs international labour conventions and on the Labour Charter drawn up by the International Labour Conference,f x n minimum standards iig for working conditions or al workers.In regard to working women l this law took into consideration the following points : 1. Working women are the mothers or prospective mothers ofthe next generation of the Japanese people. 2 Owing t their special physical characteristics, they are more . o exposed t the harmful e f c s of labour than are men. o fet 3.Women have to bear a twofold burden of work-in the place of work and i the home. n 4 Women are likely t be given worse working conditions than men . o and it is d f i u t for them to improve these conditionsby themselves. ifcl 5 I is wrong to discriminate between men and women. .t To protect women from the disadvantages which the modern Zaisserfaire economy would otherwise impose upon them,special provisions were embodied i this law. Working women were for the first time n protected and guaranteed a proper position by law. Based upon the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value, the Labour Standards Law pays due attention t t e special physical characo h t r s i s of women and to the protection of motherhood.A present, eitc t however,the purpose of t i law has not yet been f l y grasped by the hs ul people, and violations of its provisions are often reported,especially i small establishmentswith less than 1 0employees.But the number n 0 o violations i decreasing year by year. By comparison w t the f s ih figures for 1 4 ,the first year of the enforcement of the Labour 99 Standards Law, the number of violations fl t 4 per cent (11,571 el o 0 cases) i 1957. n A regards violation ofthe principle of equal remuneration for work s of equal value,there were 450casesi 1949, n whereas i 1957therewere n only 3 cases or 7 per cent. The majority of the violations of various 0 provisions of this law i 1 4 related to working hours and holidays n 99 and these constituted 78 per cent of al violations,but the proportion l decreased to 2 per cent i 1957. On t e other hand,there has been a 7 n h remarkable increase in the proportion of violations of the prohibition ofnightwork forwomen.Violationsrelating t the giving ofmenstruao tion leave and to the restriction on placing women i perilous or harmn fulwork have diminished notably.Failuresto provide working women
117
with accommodation for nursing t e r infants were much fewer or hi almost non-existent i 1957. n The average number of menstruation leaves per woman was one to two a year i 1948, but it has increased t f v a year i 1957. The n o ie n larger the establishment,the greater the number of women who take leave,for women constitute 75per cent,45 per cent and 32 per cent of the s a f i establishments with above 500, 100 to 499 and less than tf n 99 employees respectively. These figures show that the smaller the scale of the establishment,the less complete is the protection ofworking women. What is the position with regard to the protection of motherhood? A stated already, the proportion of married women s who work is increasing annually. The proportion of married women employed varies inversely with the scale of the establishment,for the proportion of married women t al women working i establishments o l n of less than 99,with 1 0 t 499 and with more than 500 employees is 0 o 22 per cent, 17.7 per cent and 1 per cent respectively. Recently the 4 number of married working women has been gradually increasing i n establishments with more than 500 employees. A for the attitude of s other women, they are to some extent dubious about the work of married women, because the l t e are apt t be absent,t come late atr o o and leave e r i r leaving a portion of t e r work to be done by other ale hi women who are unmarried. Moreover, they fear that irregular attendance ofmarried women a work may be regarded as a defect ofworking t women i general and may be c i i i e accordingly.Ti is one of the n rtczd hs existing problems arising out of incomplete adjustment of occupational l f t home lf. ie o ie More d f i u t problems a i e in regard t child-birthand the care of ifcl rs o children i the case of women workers. In 1957, working women n who were delivered of a child were about 2 per cent of al women l and 12.2 per cent of al working women. T i shows the trend towards l hs a decrease brought about by t e recent diffusion of planned parenth hood. Nevertheless,there is a large number of women who leave t e r hi job by reason of pregnancy or child-birth. 1957, 38.3 per c n of In et women wlio became pregnant l f t e r job, but the proportion of et h i women who do so is decreasing. In this case, too, the smaller the establishment,the larger the number of those who leave because of pregnancy. A for leave before and a t r child-birth, s fe Article 5 of the Labour Standards Law stipulates that it is the duty of the employer to give six weeks leave before child-birtha the request of t e emt h
118
ployee and six weeks leave a t r child-birth whether the employee fe concerned requests it or not. Actually the length of the leave given t o such employees is a present, on an average, 3 . days before childt 24 birth and 4 . days a t r child-birth,and the period i gradually 54 fe s growing longer each year. The longer leave actually taken after birth is due t the need for nursing a new-bornbaby. Ti fact, combined o hs wt the larger number of pregnant women who leave t e r jobs, ih hi reveals the d f i u t of adjusting occupational life t child care. The ifcly o women who retain their job even after child-birth are, i the n main, those who have a mother or other relatives to look after t e r hi babies. According t a survey ofthe Ministry ofLabour,77per cent ofworko ing women who have an infant stated that the child is cared for by other members of the family.A social f c l t e for the care of babies s aiiis are still poor i Japan, working mothers, when there are no other n members of the family to take care of t e r child, have no other hi alternative than to leave their job. According t the survey of the o Ministry of Labour conducted i Tokyo, 74 per cent of t e women n h questioned answered,Il f the job because I was married, and 7per et cent answered, Because a child was born.l When they were asked, Doyou think it preferable for a working woman to keep on h r job e a t r a child is born?, as many as 54.per cent of the respondents, fe though they live in so highly urbanized a place as Tokyo, answered, Shehad better leave the job. T i high proportion implies that the hs respondents are not only still influenced by the old notion but also realize the d f i u t of nursing a baby. N o w once a woman leaves her ifcly job,it is d f n t l impossible for her to resumeit unless she has some eiiey particularly valuable s i l or rare special knowledge.In Japan,where kl there is a surplus of workers,jt is very comprehensible that the employer should welcome new and low-wagedfemale workers instead of taking back women who have left their jobs. T i is one of the obhs stacles that stand i the way of the improvement of the occupational n position of women. There is no provision i the law concerning wages to cover the n period of leave for child-birthbut the child-birthallowance is paid i n accordancew t t e Health Insurance Law.In practice,there are some ih h establishments i which employed women are given paid child-birth n
1 Womens and Minors Bureau, Ministry of Labour,The Lifeand Opinions of House. wives, 1957.
119
leave under a labour agreement.But such establishments account for less than half of al establishments,though their number is gradually l increasing as the proportion of married women grows higher. I is feared that hard or protracted labour on the part of a pregnant t woman may lead to an abnormal birth. Therefore,i order to protect n pregnant working women, the Labour Standards Law,i addition t n o granting child-birthleave,provides for their transfer t l g t r work o ihe a their request.Those who asked the employer for such a transfer act counted for about 1 per cent of pregnant working women, and the 2 proportion of such women is increasing each year. They are usually transferred from physical labour to c e i a work, from standing t lrcl o sedentary work, from day and night shifts to day shifts only. Such cases are frequent especially i the building and manufacturing n industries. For nursing an infant, women are e t t e t ask for a least 30 nild o t minutes leave,t i e a day, according t the provisions of the Labour wc o Standards Law but, i practice, the number of women who ask for n such tm o f for feeding their baby is decreasing each year. ie f In this way, the legal protection of motherhood i the case o n f working women is being put into practice, but what is badly needed today are f c l t e for breast-feedingand nursing annexed to the site aiiis of the place of work. Establishments that provide f c l t e exclusively aiiis for breast-feeding account for only 0 4per cent, and, adding those . which have a rest-roomor a dispensary used as a breast-feedingroom, together, the proportion amounted only to 22 per cent i 1955. n Nearly half the large-scaleestablishments provide such f c l t e , but aiiis the smaller the establishment,the smaller the number of this kind of fclt. aiiy Establishments providing f c l t e for nursing account for only aiiis 3 per cent even i exclusive and combined f c l t e are added together. f aiiis A for nurseries not associated with the establishments,these number s 9,350i al Japan and the children they care for amount to a total of nl 650,000, but, as they are unevenly distributed, they do not always meet the needs of the working mother. This being the s a e of a f i s i regard to the protection of the tt far n working mother, it is very d f i u t for working women who are ifcl delivered of a child to stay a work. If they do so, they must be t prepared for a series of hardships. Day i and day out they ale disn tressed by psychological and physical strains.Attention must therefore
120
be directed to the various dangers and sacrifices a the cost of which t the improvement oft e position ofworking women is achieved.I may h t be very d f i u t for the time being t solve the problem of an overifcl o crowded industrial reserve army,but what w must do a present is a e t t least t work out means of increasing the f c l t e for the protection o aiiis
of motherhood so that womens culture and experience may be given proper recognition i t e r work. n hi
Women and the labour union
A shown above,working women have many problems to be solved. s What e f r s are they making through the labour movement i order fot n to protect or improve their position? The female factory workers who were, i practice, the main strength of the cotton t x i e industry, n etl the herald of Japanese modernized industries,did not organize themselves i labour unions though they exceeded male factory workers i n n number. Even a t r World War I, when trade unionism i Japan fe n achieved rapid development,female union members constituted only 1 per cent of al female workers.In 1946, Labour Union Law was l the enforced and the Japanese workersright to organize was recognized legally for the first time. On account of this, female union members promptly increased i number and i 1 4 they accounted for 51 per n n 99 cent of al female workers, but i 1950 their proportion dropped to l n 30 per cent. Thus,the number ofwomen i the labour union is indeed large,but n t e r a t v t e i the union and their understanding oflabour problems hi ciiis n may be said t be somewhat unsatisfactory. o First,let us consider t e r position as members of the s a f and as hi tf members of the executive committee of the union. A labour problem peculiar t women is not only t e r own problem but is also one which o hi a f c s the union as a whole. For its solution the co-operationis fet required of other members ofthe union who are men. On that account, women,i they are not t s f e disadvantages i t e r working condif o ufr n hi tions,must e e t members of the s a f of their own sex to the decisionlc tf making or executive organ of t e union. A survey of labour unions i h n 1952 showsthat female members of unions who were elected to senior posts,suchas chairman,vice-chairman, secretary-general treasurer, and numbered two per 1 0 0female members,whereas,i the case of male ,0 n members,25 per 1,OOO hold such positions. Twelve per 1 0 0 , 0 female
121
members,as against 4 per 1 0 0male members,are elected members 9 ,0 of the executive committee. The ratio of womens staff-membership, however, has been decreasing yearly until in 1957 no women were found i the position of senior s a f member. I i not rare now t n tf t s o find a union which has no woman as a member of the executive committee. Generally, women still occupy a low position in the labour union and they are not f l y conscious of their own problems as workul ing women. Second, what steps are taken by the unions t animate womens o activities?In 1957 unit labour unions i al parts of Japan were asked nl about union a t v t e . In regard t womens a t v t e ,it was found ciiis o ciiis that 318 ( 2per cent) out of 3 4unit unions whose replieswere avail8 4 able have a special section for women,and that 207 ( 5 per cent) have 6 a woman as chief of this section i order that womens special claims n may be wl reflected i union a t v t e . The aim of such a section i, el n ciiis s according t the answers received,first, to enlighten female members o by giving labour education, and further to improve their health and daily lf and t promote co-operationwith other unions and social ie o organs. Third,what is the content of this education and how is it imparted i practice ? Womens sections,whose activities centre around labour n education, undertake group activities such as reading groups, the establishment of a union school,the opening of a labour university or participation i the lectures ofsuch a university,e c ,depending on the n t. circumstancesof each unit union.In some of these a t v t e ,however, ciiis women do not receive due consideration and this causes dissatisfaction on the part of female members. In other a t v t e ,members develop ciiis their interestsi learning,sewing,the tea ceremony and flower arrangen ment as a preparation for married l f t the exclusion of other forms ie o of general culture. These female workers are generally less c i i a l rtcly minded and poor i the expression of their own thought; i perhaps n this s one reason for the small number ofmembers amongst women workers. Fourth, next to education a the aim of the a t v t e of womens s ciiis sections comes the promotion of womens welfare. This is achieved by establishing or requesting the employer to establish f c l t e for aiiis breast-feedingand nursing and other f c l t e for the protection of aiiis motherhood. In addition,some womens sections endeavour t i s a l o ntl a washroom, a s a l that sells various necessaries, and other welfare tl fclte. aiiis
1 22
Fgth, as for other activities and services, womens sections are making an e f r t solve problems peculiar to female workers by fot o giving advice when consulted on individual problems,by hearing and s t l n grievances and j other ways.The main problems that womens etig n sectionsare attempting t solve are those concerned with recruitment, o wages,promotion,age-limits,the retirement of women and discriminatory treatment of women. Sixth,many other miscellaneous problems have been solved through the efforts of the womens sectionsof many unions. These include,for example, the proper assessment of the work involved i serving tea n and i other chores performed by women and t e transfer of women n h workers who are dismissed when they pass the age of youth,as is the case with women bus-conductors. Thus, womens position i work has been considerably improved n and protected through the a t v t e of the labour unions. Though the ciiis femalelabour forceas a whole is still i s f i i n l aware ofthe importnufcety ance of union a t v t e , several individual unions are step by step ciiis solving problems concerning working women. T i wl eventually h s il contribute to the solution of more important problems through the collective e f r s of al workers. fot l
Some other problems of working women
In the light oft e foregoing sections i which w have examined recent h n e trends i regard t the position of working women, i the main by n o n reviewing s a i t c l data,it wl perhaps be admitted without hesitation ttsia il
that the working conditions of these women have been step by step bettered and that t e r position has accordingly improved. On the hi other hand, however, owing to defects and conflicts i the social, n economic and other conditions prevailing i Japan a the present time, n t t e r road is not free of obstacles, as we have already seen. These hi obstacles are especially serious i the case of such groups ofwomen as n wives who have t work outside the home,widows or widowed mothers o who have t s f e hardships, needy wives who barely manage to o ufr maintain existence by doing work a home and prostitutes who have t just been emancipated from slavery but are apt t f l back into o al their former condition. The problems connected with these particular groups of women c l for no less attentive examination than the al problems of women as a whole ofwhich they form part.Without such
123
examination w cannot r a l expect to achieve the f l e t possible e ely uls improvementofthe position ofwomen. Problems of the husband and wife both working outside the home
I is a noteworthy fact that,i recent days, an increasing number of t n

women keep t the samejob a t r their marriage. Evidence for this is o fe seen i the fact that, during the l s 1 years,the number of married n at 0 working women has doubled.T i state of a f i s may be regarded a hs far s the inevitable result of the d f i u t e occasioned, from the point of ifclis view ofthe household economy,by the diminishingincome ofthe head of the household and the trend towards the nuclear family. On the other hand, however,it is associated with the decline of the old conception ofthewifes rolei the family according t which housekeeping n o or help i the family trade is the only role she was expected to fill. In n the readerscolumn of a certain newspaper,a recent contribution by a woman says; It is not impossible to live on m y husbands income alone,but if I also a m a work outside t e house,w need not worry t h e about money, or put up wt a small room,but can live i a modern ih n apartment house with some amount of margin i the household n economy.Ti contribution represents perhaps the attitude that is hs common t many young wives who are working outside the home. o The development of a capitalistic economy and the consequent raising of the national standard of l v n and of the level of consumption may iig lead a larger number of couples t earn t e r bread jointly. o hi What is the change i the position and role of the wife that takes n place i these circumstances? Hitherto,housework has been regarded n as unworthy of a man and the Japanese family has disapproved of the husband doing t e housework. But today,if t e r wives have to work h hi outside the home,many husbands help with the cleaning and cooking. According t the survey of the Ministry of Labour,only 24 per cent o of husbands of such wives do not a s s with the h0usework.l It seems sit that i the majority of these homes, the husband and wife a s s each n sit other and share the housework between them. However, it must be noted with such couples,there is a danger of family discord because the wife is very often over-fatiguedand the help the one expects of the other may not be forthcoming.
1 Womens and Minors Bureau, Ministry of Labour, The L f and Opinions o House. Ie f wives, 1957.
A survey conducted by the National Public Opinion Research Institute i 1952 gave the following indications of the reasons for n approval or disapproval of the wife working outside the home. (See Table 4 . 1)
TABLE Reasons for and against a married w o m a n working outside the h o m e 41.
Reason Male Female
%
For Because of the improvement ofthe social position of w o m e n Because of the economic independence of the w o m a n Because of the supplement t the family income o Because of the help to the family trade Against Because of the need to care for children Because of the housework Because of worry about possible family discord Because others may think ill of her
%
30 9 55
24 6 62 8
6
16 53 28
11
52 29 8
A this table shows,some approve of a married woman working outs

side the home because she not only supplements the family income but helps i the improvement of womens social position and i ensuring n n t e r economicindependence.Other disapprove ofher working outside hi because she has t bring up her c i d or do the housework or because o hl she may become a source of family discord.Thus, a present,there is t still a considerable weight of opinion against the wf working outie s d .It is characteristic ofwomen that more women than men approve ie of her working outside because this helps i the improvement of won mens social position or helps towards t e r economic independence; hi whereas more men than women approve of her working because she supplementsthe family income.The f c that there are some men who at disapprove of a woman working because she i thought ill of by other s people implies they are still possessed of the old notion concerning woiking women,though such a notion wl in the long run fade away. il I is noteworthy that about 30 per cent of both men and women think t that a wife having work outside the home is a source offamily discord. Their opinion reveals a crucial problem concerning such doubleincome families,but this problem cannot be solved without the ration1. National Public Opinion Research Institute, Research on W o m e n and Youth, 1952.
125
alization of family lf and the adjustment of the roles to be played by ie the husband and the wf respectively. ie In a survey ofthe National Public Opinion Research Instituteon the occupational lf of women i 1954; wives working outside the home ie n w r asked: T a n you do both occupational work and housework well, ee or do you have to be slack about either of them?The answer most frequently given,ie j 35 per cent of the cases,was, Ia m slack about .. n the occupational work, and 7 per cent said, Ia m slack both i the n outside work and i the housework. Al together, i the opinion of n l n 65 per cent of the wives questioned there was incompatibility between occupational work and housework. Some of those questioned i this n survey remarked, Iwant t leave the occupational work. A for the o s reason, 58 per cent,or the highest proportion, of them said,It i very s d f i u t t do both the occupational work and the housework, ifcl o whereas 1 per cent answered,Iwant t switch m y job and another 9 o 1 per cent said, Theincome from m y occupational work is small. 9 Seeing that the majority of them complain of the incompatibility of occupational work and housework, one can c e r y realize how great lal a burden is imposed upon those working w v s by the housework. ie A already stated,Japanese people i general are against the huss n band assisting with the housework. When this opinion is acted upon i the home lf ofthe double-incomefamily,the result is that the wife n ie is over-fatigued;or one ofthe parties f i s to play the part expected by al the other,thereby finally bringing about conflicts between them. The working of the wife outside the home must be based on a rationalized family lf and on the adjustment of the duties to be performed by ie husband and wife respectively,Otherwisetherewl often resultpsychoil logical or physiological l s that wl largely o f e any economic gain. os il fst
The problem of homework. Work of the nature of making,processing and repairing,which is given out by manufacturers or middlemen t o be done in the home of the worker is undertaken by some groups of wives as t e r important r l because the remuneration they receive hi oe contributes something towards the household economy. Such homework, which i mostly simple handwork, provides an indispensable s subsidiary means of livelihood especially i the case of a large number n of urban families.According t the survey on the household economy o
1. National Public Opinion Research Institute, Research Reports on the Occupational Life of Working W o m e n , 1954.
16 2
of the urban area, such work is undertaken by 2 per cent of a l 4 l workers families. In the case of families whose chief breadwinner has l s his job or ot cannot work owing t sickness,such homework is not merely a subo sidiary means of livelihood but the sole means. These families are mostly i extremely needy circumstances and receive the public assistn ance provided for by law. Nearly al of those who do such work as a l sole means of l v n are women,mostly wives. The work usually takes iig the form of Western or Japanese dressmaking,knitting,the making or processing oftoys and paper goods,or bookbinding.Since for al work l of this type the wage paid is very low and the work continues for long hours, the health of the worker is l a l to suffer. Frequently these ibe workers cannot leave t e r homes because they have t take care of hi o infantsor invalids;they can do only simple work because they have no skills or experience and as,because they are so conked to t e r homes, hi they have no wide s c a contacts,they are apt t be contented with a oil o very small rate ofremuneration.They are al the more a a disadvantage l t owing t these conditions. o A for those who do homework as a subsidiary means of livelihood, s t e r standard of living more or less approximates to that of workers hi i general. Since the war, the economic condition of Japan has been n pressing on the household economy.In order to remove the pressure, the wives of factory workers and of government and other salaried workers have increasingly begun t do homework as a means of obo taining subsidiary income when they are free of housekeeping,though i pre-wardays only needy wives did t i .It is indeed one of the social n hs problems that a large number of workers families need subsidiary income from the homework of the w v s but,viewed from the standie, point of the national economy of Japan,the product of t e r work is hi not negligible. A present,the totalnumber ofhomeworkers exceeds 1,500,000 t and they produce more than 7 0 kinds of commodities such as clothing, 0 personal effects, sundries,toys, stationery, e c It may be said that t. almost al the necessities of life pass through their hands. A t f c a l riiil flowersand gloves,which are a s made by them,are exported and lo bring i foreign currency to the amount of about $15 million and n about $9 million respectively. Other products such as clothing, sundries,toys,e c , are a s to be counted as important exp0rts.l t. lo
1. Ministry of Finance, Customs Clearance Statistics, 1957.
127
The changing social position
0% women
i Japan n
The manufacturers who originally give out the work are nearly al l medium- or small-scaleestablishments;but when employees of subcontract factories or of the middlemen who d r c l give out the work iety and the homeworkers are a l added together, the number of people l working under one original manufacturer is very large. For instance, there is a certain fr manufacturing gloves that hires only employees im d r c l i its own factory,but workers i its subcontract factories and iety n n related homeworkers t t l up t 1 , 0 . oa o 0 0 0 Because homeworkers are n t o i direct connexion with the original manufacturers but only with subn contract factories or middlemen,the exploitation by the intermediary f l s hardly on them. Some middlemen squeeze 50 per cent out of the al processing fees. A already mentioned,needy groups of homeworkers have i their s n homes infants or invalids t take care of and they are obliged t cono o fine themselves to their homes. O n account of this, they have so f w e social contacts that they have no chance of comparing t e r wages hi with those of others or of discovering how inadequately they are remunerated. Moreover,they have no opportunities for making cont c with other homeworkers. They are therefore l a l t accept at ibe o arbitrary terms of work proposed by middlemen and t be content o with meagre wages. Another reason why t e r labour is cheap is that, hi since they have no special skills o experience, t e r tasks are so r hi simple that everybodycan do them. According to the survey o homeworkers i Tokyo conducted by the f n Ministry of Labour i 1958,85 per cent of these workers are women; n 75 per cent of these women are housewives and 13 per cent of these housewives are householders. Many of them are i their t i t e or n hris forties; the average age of the women being 4 .For 7 per cent of 0 0 these women, the monthly income from the homework amounts t o less than $8 per head, an amount which is not enough t procure o essential food-stuff. Because t e r remuneration is s small,homeworkers include a high hi o proportion of recipients of national assistance allowances. Though the proportion of such recipients among workers i general is 0 7per n . cent,it is 1 . per cent among homeworkers,which is even higher than 02 the proportion (8 per c n ) among day labourers who are usually et c a s f e as low-incomeearners. I view of the conditions attaching lsiid n to homework,the checking of exploitation by intermediaries and the provision of better protection by social security planning are indispen-
128
The social Dosition of workinn women
sable t ensure the relief of female homeworkers who receive meagre o wages and whose health is endangered through long hours ofwork and who are yet barely able t support t e r families. This is one of the o hi s e i i problems that affectthe social position of Japanese women. pcfc Problems of the war widow and widowed mother N o less serious than the problem of homework i the problem cons cerning war widows and especially widowed mothers. The population census of Japan i 1955 shows that women who had been bereaved of n t e r husbands numbered 5 2 0 0 0 that i about a quarter oftheir hi , 7 , 0and n cases the husbands had been k l e i the war.The cases ofthe greatest ild n d s r s are those ofwidowed mothers whose children have not reached ites working age. The Ministry of Welfare estimates the number of such mothers,including those who are divorced,a 1,150,000. t In the d f i u t economic conditions of Japan i post-war days, it ifcl n has been by no means easy for these widows and widowed mothers to support themselves. Around 1950,when Japan concluded the peace treaty, measures for the protection of war widows and widowed mothers and t e r children began t be worked out. To extend a hi o helping hand t them,theLaw for relieving dependants of those killed o or injured i the war,and surviving families ofthe war dead,e c was n t. promulgated. T i was of great assistance to war widows. Subsehs quently, the Law concerning the welfare fund loans for widowed mothers and t e r childrenwas promulgated.The aim of this law was hi t lend funds t widowed mothers for such purposes as opening a new o o business,making clothes for taking up new employment, learning skills wt a view to finding employment,providing subsistence,repairing ih the house or sending children t school.In this way widowed mothers, o too,became l g l y e t t e t r l e , eal nild o eif These measures did indeed give some reliefto those whose lives were hard. However,i regard to their occupation,which counts most from n the point of view of their existence,no f l security has been obtained. ul Widowed mothers include 25 per cent who are farmers,25 per cent who are regular workers and 25 per cent who are day labourers, domestic service workers and homeworkers.The proportion of regular workers is much lower and the proportion of day labourers,domestic service workers and homeworkers is higher than amongst workers i n general. Their income is small for t e r age, more than half of them hi 129
earning less than $28 monthly per head,and about 1 per cent of 4 widowed mothers are unable t meet t e r household expenses. o hi According t the age distribution of widowed mothers,the largest o proportion of them are aged from 4 t 49,the second largest from 30 0o to 39,whereas those who are 20 to 29 years old constitute the smallest proportion. (See Table 42.)
TABLE Distribution of widowed mothers by age (1957) 42.
Age Percentage Age Perccntnge Age Percentage
20-29
30-39
~~
42 .
3. 07
40-49
50-59
4. 76 1. 36
60
39 .
1. M n s r of Labour, Present Conditions of Women, 1959. iity
Taking into consideration womens age of marriage and the age a t which they bear t e r first child,it seems natural that fewer widowed hj mothers are i the younger age group, but on the other hand it must n not be overlooked that this is partly due t t e r good fortunei being o hi n exempt from loss oft e r husband i t e war.A for widowed mothers hi n h s aged from 30 to 49,most of them seem unlikely t marry again because o of t e r affection for t e r children. However,not a few of them lead hi hi hard lives because they are still influenced by the old notion ofmarriage according t which, once a woman is married,she should never have a o second husband whatever may become of the f r t The deprivation is. imposed upon widows of s e i i age groups becomes evident,i we pcfc f trace the changes from one period to another i the proportion of n widows t a l women of a s e i i age group by means of a diagram o l pcfc compiledfrom census data ranging from 1920t 1955.(See Diagram 9 ) o . Though the proportion of widows i each age group was constant n before the war, it g e higher i 1950, soon a t r the end of the war. rw n fe In 1955, however, the population of Japan recovered its s a i i y tblt, except i the groups of those from 30 t 44 years old which still indin o cated a trend of r l t v increase. Taking into consideration the fact eaie that,since they are almost past the marriageable age,t e r proportion hi wl remain high, w may conclude that the problem of the widows il e and widowed mothers wl remain for long years ahead. The governil ment did extend assistance t them,but t i does not mean that their o hs problems are solved completely. The scars of war may remain for
10 3
m social position e
group (1920 t 1955) o
100
of wdrking women
DIAQRAM 9. Change in the proportion of widows to a l women of a specific age l

Yeurs
of age
80 90
75-79
80
70-74
70
60
65-69
60-64 40
55-59 30
50-54
2 c
45-49
40-44
1c
35-39
30-34
C
N 0
c"
v) h N
m 0
l n c m .
25-29 20-24
0
L ?
VI
0 '
0 '
Year
231
ever i t e r case.The only hope for them lies i the widowsassocian hi n tion which was recently established a a nation-wide organization. s Perhaps this wl give them encouragement and teach them how t l v . il o ie
Prevention oj pros&iiuiioiz
il
I
,1
The problem of prostitution has been hotly debated. The year 1958 was memorable i the history of Japanese women, for the age-old n practice of prostitution which was condemned as contrary t human o dignity and as debasing women was then for the first tm legally ie abolished and appropriate measures were taken to protect the women concerned and t set them on the way t a new l f . o o ie Licensed prostitution was condemned by sow-eleading thinkers of the Me$ era,especially Clxistians,who supported a movement for its abolition,but t e r aims were not realized.After t e war,the Supreme hi h Commander of the Allied Powers issued a memorandum c l j g for aln the abolition oflicensed prostitution,and in response t it the Japanese o Government promulgated an imperial ordinance providing for the punishment of anyone who forced a woman into prostitution. In fact,however, prostitution spread instead of disappearing,especially because of the number of foreign soldiers stationed i Japan. S i c n ile this had a harmful effect upon education and upon the customs of the Japanese people,the practice became the subject ofvery severe general censure. The Council on Womens and Minors Problems f n l y ial condemned prostitution as having a debasing effect on the position o f women and made a recommendation t the government urging its o prevention. For its part,the government took up the serious study of the question, instituted inquiries into e i t n conditions and set out xsig to devisemeans ofprevention. Subsequently,the bl for the prevention il ofprostitutionwas presented to t e National Diet and passed unanimh ously i 1958.In this way, the prohibition of prostitution,a problem n that had existed for many years,was a l s dealt with by legislation. t at More than 100,000 prostitutes i more than 1,600 places such as n prosperous sections of urban areas,pleasure resorts, hot-bathresorts and base camps of the Allied Forces were now compelled t disperse. o According t the survey on the present condition of prostitutes o carried out by the Ministry of Labour i 1956 and 1957,72 per cent n of them are i t e r twenties and 2 per cent i their t i t e . Their n hi 1 n hris level of education is very low for 20 per cent have not completed the 132
compulsory education ofthe primary school or thejunior high school. Comparing t i with the rate of 99 per cent for school attendance i hs n the case of al schoolchildren in Japan,we see that they have been in l unfortmate circumstances.A regards the reason for t e r becoming s hi prostitutes, 82 per cent of them mentioned economic reas0ns.l The Metropolitan Police Board also reports that of al prostitutes apprcl hended i 1957,90 per cent had been brought up i extremely needy n n families. There are some who have degenerated because of family discord o because oft e r own character,but for most of them prostir hi tution was a means of livelihood. Regarding the result of the enforcement of the laws for preventing prostitution, the Ministry of Health and Welfare reports that, by March 1958,about 50 per cent of al prostitutes had returned t t e r l o hi native place wis about 20per cent had obtained jobs amd more than hlt 10 per cent had n;arried2 However, not a few of those who have returned home or have married are i a precarious condition for the n futureholds no promise for them.A for those vrho have obtainedjobs, s they are now mostly in service i restaurants,tea-housesor cabarets, n 2nd not al are gainfully employed. If they are left as they are now, l they may again f l . a l back into their former condition.In order t make o the Prostitution Prevention Law, which has just come into force,r a l ely effective, w e must devise better measures for the protection of these women and for the solutionof the problems that a i e But it must first rs. be recogoized that the basic cause of prostitution is poverty. The cooperation of people i general is a s t be hoped for. n lo o In the l g t of what has been said so far concerning the position of ih working women, it is seen that the conditions under which needy people e i t are especially t the disadvantage of women. Since the xs o pasition of women i general is improving,the position of these needy n women wl also eventually become far better than it is a present. il t Moreover, i adequate measures are taken t resolve the concrete f o problems these women face a present, they wl i turn contribute t il n much t the improvement of the social position of women i general. o n
1, Ministry of Labour, Prostitutes ; the Reason for their Fall and the Present State o f their Renewed Life, 1958. 2 Ministry of Health and Welfare, White Paper on Welfare Programmes, 1959. .
133
vr.
Women and civic activities
In the preceding chapters we have examined the present condition of rural and urban women and have stressed particularly the disadvantages suffered by some of them. Generally speaking,however,the changing social situation since the termination of the war has been very favourablet women.I is true that,before the war,the movement o t for the liberation o women from their position of i f r o i y had f neirt already made some progress, side by side with the development of modern industry i Japan,but the effective cause that rapidly brought n about the liberation of women was the democratic reform of the legal, educational and other systems of Japan a t r the war. However, we fe must not overlook the fxt that i women were t rest content with the f o existing improvement i conditions which has been brought about n mainly by external forces and i they failed to make an e f r f fot themselves, the improvement of t e r position would remain illusory. hi The real improvement of t e r position depends so much on their hi awareness of t e r own situation and on the social a t v t e i which hi ciiis n they themselves engage that, i this l s chapter of the report, we n at intend to examine the positive e f r s that have been made by women fot themselves since the war. In this connexion, l t us first examine the e organized a t v t e of women. ciiis Womensorganization
The movement initiated by women themselves for the improvement of their position dates back to the tm soon after World War I Although ie . the liberal and democraticidea was introduced from abroad just when the Meiji Restoration had succeeded i abolishing the feudal system, n
134
it remained a subject of mere speculation or discussion for certain progressive intellectuals,and women, i particular,who had been acn customed t the age-longlife of submissionfound it d f i u t to accept. o ifcl Later,sporadic claims for freedom were made by a very small group of women, but the Japanese Government gradually became more reactionary and conservative i character and their claims had no n appreciable e f c .World War I brought unprecedented prosperity to fet the capitalistic industries of Japan which participated i the war and n produced munitions for the Western countries.A the same t m the t ie idea of democracy and socialism spread very rapidly. Under these influences there came into being the Shinfujin Kyokai (NewWomens Association) which promoted the movement for the emancipation of women through the e f r s of women themselves.Though this associafot tion w s very soon obliged t close down because of the illness of a o senior o f c r ,discord among them and lack of funds,it nevertheless fies prompted the rise of other similarorganizations based on democracy or socialism and active women eventually put forward the claim for womens suffrage. Apart from t i movement, a nation-wide organization of women hs had been established under the recommendation and guidance of administrative o f c a s of the Japanese Government.A local unit o fiil f the organization was formed i every administrative area of Japan. n Its aim was to improve the culture of women and educate them i n household management, but, in addition, it served as a pro-governmental organ supported by the nationalistic a t v t e of Japanese ciiis women. On these lines, the Aikoku Fujin Kai (Womens Patriotic Society) was organized i 1901, n and the Dai-nihon Rengo Fujin Kai (Great Japanese Federation of Womens Associations) i 1930,both n on a nation-widebasis. During the l s war, the Kokubo Fujin Kai at (National Defence Womens Society) was established w t the object ih of bringing al Japanese women together for the reinforcement of the l national defence,and the two womens organizationsmentioned above were incorporated i this society when the war entered upon i s c i i a n t rtcl stage. When the war was ended, this nation-wideorganization based on the nationalistic a t v t e of local women was liquidated because ciiis ofits character,and women seemed t abandon collective a t v t e for o ciiis somet m ; the democratic reform ofJapan that followedgradually i e but inspired women to launch a new organized a t v t w t the object of c i i y ih bringing about an awareness oft e r situation and the improvementof hi
135
their position. A n w agency was called for to take the place of the e former nation-wide womens organization i maintaining contact wt n ih the various local a t v t e undertaken by women for the betterment of ciiis their life i local communities and the improvementoftheir position i n n those communities. Accordingly there was established i 1952 the n Zenkoku Chiiki Fujin Pantai Renraku Kyogikai (National Liaison Council ofLocalWomens Organizations). The unitory local organization oft i councilis constitutedby the women o a bumku, a sub-unit hs f of an administrative village, i the case of rural areas, and by the n women of an elementary school d s r c in the case of urban areas. In itit 1958,this grew to be the largest womens organization,comprising more than 18,000 unitary local organizations. Its general goal i , s needless t say, the advancement of the culture of women and the o improvement of their position, but, as a means of implementing its purpose, it is POW vigorously striving t oppose the revival of the old o family system proposed by some reactionary p l t c l leaders and t oiia o further the movement for the prevention of prostitution. In exclusively rural areas, the Agricultural Co-operative Union which was set up a t r the war as a nation-wideorganization for the fe improvement of the economic and social position of farmers, is gradually forminglocal unions which comprisewomenssections and, i 1951,these womens sections constituted the ZenkokuNokyo Fujin n Soshiki Kyogikai (National Womens Organization Council o the f Agricultural Co-operativeUnion). Besides this womensorganization, on a t r i o i l basis, particular groups of women have established ertra organizations aimed a serving their special interests such as the t Widows Organization,the Association of Housewives of the Labour Union, etc. Besides these there are the Njhon Fujin Yukensha Domei (Japanese W o m e n Voters League), an organization of working women whose purpose is to promote the p l t c l a t v t e of women,and the Shufu oiia ciiis Rengokai (Housewives Federation), which works for the improvement and rationalization of domestic l f ,both being newly founded ie but very aetive organizations.Among others there are organizatj ons based on religious a f l a i n such as the Nihon Kiristokyo Fujin fiitos Kyofukai (Japanese Womens Christian Temperance Union), the Nihon Kiristokyo Joshi Seinenkai(YoungWomens ChristianAssociation of Japan), and the Zenkoku Tomonokai (National Friendship Association). These organizations w r established i pre-war days ee n
136
.~ ___.
___
Women and civic activities __
and s i l continue their a t v t e for the advancement of the culture of tl ciiis women and the improvement of t e r l v s The c& organizations, hi ie. If with the year in which they were established,the number of their units or branches and their membership are shown i Table 4 . n 3
TABLE Womens organizations (1958) 43.
N a m e of organizatiori Year o Niimber Of f Total establishmembermen organizations s @
2; ;
Zenkoku Chiiki Fujin Dantai Renraku Kyogikai (National Liaison Council of Local Womens Organizations) ZenkokuNokyo Fujin Soshiki Kyogikai (National Womens Organization Council of the A r gi cultural Co-operative Union) Zenkoku Mibojin Dantai Kyogi Kai (National Widows Organization Council) Nihon Kiristokyo Fujin Kyofukai (Japanese Womens Christian Temperance Union) Nihon Kiristokyo Joshi Seinenkai (Young Womens Christian Association o Japan) f Zenkoku Tomonokai (National Friendship Association) Nihon Fujin Yukensha Domei (Japanese Women VotersLeague) Shufu Rengokai (Housewives Federation) Fujin Minshu Kurabu (Womens Democratic Club) Nihon Daigaku Fujin Kyokai (Japanese Association of University Women)
1952 1951
18 229 8 953
6 401 654
3 437 897
5 468 1923
126
1 037 442 7 000 12 000

13 700
99 1930 1945 1948 156 4 1 187 70 29
5 000 indefinite
3 500
1938
1 500
There are other organizations also, such as the Seikyo Fujin-bu (Parent-TeacherAssociation, the Rodo-Kumiai Shufu Kai (Womens Section of the Co-operative Association), the Joshi Seinen-dan (HousewivesAssociation of the Labour Union), the Young Womens Organizations,e c ,and the proportion of women who are members of t. one or other of these organizations amounts t 63 per cent of al o l Japanese women according t the survey of the Ministry of Labour. o Membership of a l these organizations, especially the local organizal tions, is increasing year by year. What must be stressed here is the role played by the Parent-Teacher. Association which was organized t o 137
take the place of the former ParentsAssociation i every elementary n and junior high school based on the new idea of education,for,wis hlt promoting the participation of mothers i education, it serves as an n agency for the social training of women. Membership alone i not a criterion for assessing the value of s womens organizations. In the case of local organizations,there are not a f w women who have not even glanced a the written regulations e t ofthe organization and still are members merely becauseother women of the neighbourhood are members. In order t inspire positive group o a t v t e i the case of such women,the organization of small groups ciiis n for discussion and instruction has recently been recommended.In the period immediately after the war,the activities of womens organizations mostly took the form of lectures given to audiences on such themes as democracy,thenewly acquired position ofwomen,new family relationships,etc.,for the purpose of enlightening women i n general. Such a t v t e have recently been replaced by small group ciiis meetings so that women can t l intimately wt one another on the ak ih problems they face i everyday life, thereby coming into closer n associationwt one another, ih learningthelifeexperience and thought of others as a help i renewing t e r own lives or i reconsidering t e r n hi n hi own attitude and behaviour i the past. n A present,womens organizations are developing great activity in t every f e d of Japanese s c e y p l t c l economic, social, cultural il oit-oiia, and so on. The concrete problems they are endeavouring t solve by o their vigorous action are,as regards problems of d i y life,the control al of the price of rice, transport charges, the cost of e e t i i y public lcrct, bath charges, e c , as regards social problems, the prevention of t. prostitution ; and, as regards internationalproblems, the prohibition of atomic and hydrogen bombs. As for problems connected wt ih prostitution,they have succeeded i bringing about the enforcementof n the Prostitution Prevention Law and the institution of protection f c l t e for the women concerned. They are still continuing t e r aiiis hi efforts to deal w t the after-effectsof the above measures. ih In this way, the organized activities of women have now developed into an influential social force,and they play a very important part i n moulding public opinion. These a t v t e are not confined w t i the ciiis ihn frontiers of Japan, for they are beginning to be concerned w t interih national questions.The Japanese National Womens Commission was recently established as a non-governmental organization under the
138
patronage o the United Nations and theAsiatic Womens Conference f of Young Womens Christian Associations and the Pan-Pacific and South-EastAsiatic Womens Conference have m t These may tend e. greatly t broaden the outlook of women i t e future. o n h In regard t the advantages that are gained through participation i o n womensorganizations,the women concerned s a e that:() they have tt a broadened the c r l of t e r acquaintances; ( ) friendly relationshave ice hi b become closer; () they are now able to associate with any kind of c people; ( ) they are now able t a s s t e value of the opinions of d o ses h others; and so forth. They al approve of organized a t v t e for l ciiis women, for these are contributing much towards increasing the s l ef reliance and sociability of women. On the other hand,however,any unreasoned optimism concerning their a t v t e seems t be premature as yet. The local womens ciiis o organizations are especially i f u n i l and have the largest membernleta ship,but, as already stated,there are i fact many members of these n organizations who participate i them merely as a means of associatn ing with t e r neighbours. According to a survey on reasons for hi participating i the local womens organization,only 42per cent ofthe n respondents participate actively i the organization of their own wl, n il whereas 34 per cent regard t e r membership as a means of associating hi w t their neighbours. ih Another problem connected wt womens organizations is that of ih a f l a i n t a p l t c l party. It might be regarded a natural that,as fiito o oiia s womensorganizations gain influence and power over society at large, they should become more closely a f l a e with one or other of the fiitd political parties. However, such a f l a i n which introduces into the fiito organization the conflicting views of political parties should not be agreed t without due consideration.In regard t the running of a o o woman candidate for the Diet by treating the organization she represents a a safe constituency,opinions are equally divided. The local s womens organization which is intended for al women should be l neutral i the matter of p l t c l a f l a i n since its purpose is to n oiia fiito, secure the co-operationof al sections of society i solving any probl n lems ofthe community,whether they have a political aspect o not and r thereby t benefit al women i the community.However,the very fact o l n that the question of the p l t c l amation of womens organizations oiia has become a matter for argument is evidence of their remarkable development.
139
Political interests of women and their holding of public ofice
In the past,women speaking on p l t c were frowned on by people i oiis n general. Such general attitudes have changed radically since women were enfranchised after the war. According to the Public Opinion Survey on the Social Concern o Women conducted by the Ministry of f Labour in 1955,the question:Doyou think you are disliked when you talk on p l t c 1 was answered Yesby 14 per cent of the respondents oiis and No as many as 7 per cent. by 5 There have been seven elections for members of the House of Representatives and four f r members of the House of Councillors o since women were given the vote i 1946 for the election of members n of the House of Representatives. A each election,the proportion of t women voters t al enfranchised women was higher than i the o l n preceding election,as showni Table 44,and the differenceas between n men and women i regard t the proportion of voting i growing n o s smaller.
TABLE .Proportion of voters to al enfranchised i the election of members 4 4 l n
of the Diet, compared by sex
Year Election o members of the f House o Representatives f Men W o m e n Difference Election of members o the f House of Councillors Men W o m e n Difference
1946 1947 1949 1950 1952 1953 1955 1956 1958
78.5 74.9 80.7 8. 05 78.4 79.9 79.8
67.0 61.6 67.9 72.8

7. 04
% 11.5 13.3
12.8
68.4 78.2
5. 40 6. 67 58.9 57.7
1. 44
11.5
72.1 74.4
7.7 8.0 78 . 56 .
67.8 66.9
89 .
9.2
Source : Election Division, Local Autonomy Agency.
In the election of representatives i 1946, the proportion of the n electorate which voted constituted 78.5 per cent i the case of men n and 67 per cent i that of women, the difference between the proporn tions for men and women being 11.5 per cent; whereas i 1958 the n proportions w r 79.8 per cent for men and 7 . per cent for women, ee 44
140
the difference diminishing to 5.6 per cent. This showsthe ever-growing concern of women w t p l t c l i s e .A similar trend is to be seen i ih o i i a s u s n regard t the election of councillorsfor,a the tm of the first election o t ie i 1 4 , proportions were 68.4per cent for men and 54per centfor n 9 7 the women, the difference being 1 . per cent,whereas i the election of 44 n 1958 the corresponding percentages were 66.9 per cent and 57.7 per cent respectively,the difference being 9.2 per cent. In local elections, such as the election of prefectural governors, members ofprefectural assemblies,mayors, town and v l a e headmen, ilg and members of c t , town and village assemblies, people feel more iy keenly the importance of the b l o a the level of local autonomy alt s comes closer t them and the difference i the proportion of votes by o n sex becomes smaller. A regards the exercise of the voters own wl and judgement i s il n choosing candidates,t e vast majority of men r l on t e r own wl h ey hi il and judgement a against about a third of the women who do l k s ie wise, and those who r l on the opinions of others account for only ey about 2 per cent i the case ofmen whereas,i the case of women, the n n proportion rises t more than 1 per cent. Thus,while the increase i o 0 n the proportion of votes cast may imply an ever-growing concern of women wt p l t c l issues,there still remain the problems connected ih o i i a with the fact that,i many cases,the vote is not based on the voters n own free judgement. Thus f r w have considered how women u i i e their right to vote a e tlz and w s a l now turn our attention t the women who are elected t e hl o o seats.A Table 45 shows,when women,for the firstt m , s i e voted for the election ofrepresentativesto the D e , women candidates who were i tthe elected numbered as many as 39,constituting 8.4 per cent of al those l elected. The higher proportion ofwomen elected a the bst election, as comt pared with those elected a l t r elections,may be attributed to the fact t ae that voters were undetermined a t the value of women members, for s o i t e second election the numberfellheavily and has recently remained n h constantly about ten. In the election of members of t e House of h Councillors, 11 women were e e t d i 1947,but t e r number is lce n hi gradually increasing and they now t t l 15.A present,26 women i al oa t nl have seats i one or other of the two Houses,this representing 3.7per n cent of al members of the Diet. l
11 4
TABLE Number of women elected to both'Housesof the Diet and their propor45.
tion to all seats
Year House of Representatives W o m e n elected Proportion House of Councillors W o m e n elected Proportion
1946 1947 1949 1950 1952 1953 1955 1956 1958
3 9 15 12 9 9 8 11
% 84 . 32 . 25 .
%
11
12
40 .
48 .
60 .
60 .
19 . 21 . 17 .
15 15
24 .
Source : Election Division, Local Autonomy Agency.
A for local elections, a considerable number of women are elected s to public a f c s i local government.A the fistlocal election i 1949, fie n t n a total of 798 women were elected members of prefectural,city,town and v l a e assemblies.3n 1957,because the number of seats on local ilg assemblies had been cut down, t e r total decreased t 466,but the hi o proportion of women elected is slowly increasing.The large number of seats held by women i prefectural assemblies is especially noteworthy. n In the local election of 1957,they held 154 seats,double the number held a the previous election. t By appointment or commission, too, an ever-growingnumber of women have been holding public o f c s Women members of the prefie. fectural boards of education numbered 2 (11 per c n oft t l i 1948 3 e t oa) n whereas t e r number increased t 33 (15 per cent of t t l i 1958. hi o oa) n T i o f c was f l e by election i 1948, and later it was f l e by hs fie ild n ild appointment,but the proportion of women members has nevertheless continued to increase.A for members ofc t ,town and v l a e boards s iy ilg of education,their total number has decreased greatly because of the amalgamations of towns and v l a e that have been carried out on a ilgs national scale and of the change from election t appointment i the o n method of f l i g the post. The survey by the Ministry of Education iln i 1958,however, shows that in the whole of Japan there are 1 0 6 n ,7 women members ofthese boards ( . per cent ofih totalmembership) 79 te and that the proportion of women members has been increasing.
142
W o m e n and civic activities
A the duties assigned to the Board ofEducation include the establishs ment of new schools, school administration,the provision of school f c l t e ,t e selection of textbooks,the appointment and dismissal of aiiis h school-teachers and other matters relating to education, science and culture,the ofice ofmember of the board is regarded as one for which women are b t e f t e . etr itd In the Domestic Court, which deals w t complex and delicate ih family relationships, t e participation of women is, as a matter of h course,considered very important. Therefore,many women are commissioned t the post of mediator and consultant. They numbered o 5,022 i 1957, showing a rapid increase when compared with 1,345 n women in 1948. The number of women worlung as public and child welfare commissioners increased from 22,325i 1948 t 25,850in1957. n o They account for 21.5 per cent of the t t l number of commissioners. oa In addition, 303 women (4.8 per cent) are Civic Liberties Commissioners,43 women ( . per cent) are members of the Eugenics Protec97 tion Committee,4 women ( . per c n ) are members of t e Employ7 66 et h ment Security Committee. The number of women o f c r i these fies n cases is not high, but the positions are very important t women i o n general and the proportion of women has been growing year by year. In the case of the Agricultural Association i al the prefectures of n l Japan, however, only one woman was elected as a member i 1951. n In 1957,when there were, i a l 1,170members, not a single woman n l, was elected. T i perhaps reflects the attitude of rural women today, hs since they are still buried i tradition i their view of the position of n n the unpaid family worker in spite of the important part played by such workers i farming. A for the o f c of town and village n s fie headman, seven women were e e t d i 1952, breaking al previous lce n l records, but there is only one woman i office today. T i shows n hs that it is d f i u t for women to secure appointment.There are many ifcl other women who,i competitionwithmen,have made a distinguished n dtbut i the public or professional f e d of Japanese society as is seen n il from the following figures: 1946. About t i t women were appointed to the principalship of hry public elementary and junior high schools; 65 women were appointed as policewomen by the Metropolitan Police Board. 1947. A woman was appointed a chief of the Childrens Section of s the Ministry of Health and Welfare-the first woman section chief i a government o f c . A woman was appointed as director of the n fie
143
Womens and Minors Bureau i the Ministry of Labour. Two n n other women were appointed as section chiefs i the Ministry of Labour. 1948. A woman held the o f c of parliamentary Vice-Minister of fie Justice. A woman was appointed as a member of the National Public Security Commission.Four women were appointed as labour standards inspectors;24 women were appointed as prison o f c r . fies 1949. The first woman section chief of the Japan Broadcasting Corporation was appointed; 30 women passed the examination for appointments i the National Public Service; 1 women were n 4 employed as first woman senior clerk by the Central Telephone Office ofTokyo.A woman became an assistantjudge.A woman was appointedpublic procurator. 1950. A woman passed the diplomatic service examination. For the first time a woman was c r i i d as a public accountant. etfe 1953. For the first time a woman received the degree of doctor of literature. 1954.A woman was appointed as an assistantprofessor i the Faculty n of Law of Kyoto University. For the first tm a woman architect ie received an A-classlicence. 1956. The first woman judge was appointed. Thus, unlike the state of a f i s i pre-war days,leading women have, far n ever since the end ofthe l s war,been laboriously paving the way that at wl open up the new field.Perhaps there may be a period of t i l and il ra error i f e d that are new t women, but t e r greater culture and n ils o hi their accumulation of social experience wl help ever greater numbers il o women t gain even better positions. Doubtless, this will, i turn, f o n contribute much to a f l e recognition of the socialimportance of the ulr place attributed to women i general. n
144
VII. Conclusion
Womensanswers in the public opinion survey
The social position of Japanese women has changed notably since the end ofthe war.I is establishedby law,is founded upon the educational t system and is protected by measures of social policy. Thus, so far as public measures are concerned,women are apparently provided with every means of safeguard. But when w look into their private lives, e we findthat many women are suffering from the e i e f c s of the last vl fet war,w i s othersare so preoccupied w t maintaining a bare existence hlt ih that they pay no attention to matters with which they are not directly concerned. The l g l system, indeed,has undergone radical reform, ea but is poorly equipped for overcoming t e force of social inertia. The h old,whose personalities had already become o s f e before the war, siid cannot be expected t readjustthemselvesrapidly t the radicalchange o o that has occurred in their circumstances.Moreover,so long as the phys c lconditionssurroundingthe life ofwomen today remainas they are, ia it is i the main hopeless to expect any new change i t e r attitudes. n n hi Generally speaking,however,there is perhaps no one who wl deny il that the position ofwomen has improved since the war. That this is so is confirmed by the answers given by women from time to time i n public opinion surveys.When the Ministry of Labour conducted an opinion survey on the position of women i 1949, the vast majority n ( 0 per cent) of women respondents answered that theposition of 7 women has improved a little, and 1 per cent replied that theposition 4 of women has improved considerably.Added together these replies show that 84 per c n admitted that the position of women had et improved;1 per cent of those who replied said, Ido not t i k the 2 hn
145
position of women has improved,but these replies,which seem t be o o a personal Character and t be influenced by special circumstances, f o are ofthe kind that any opinion surveyis apt t provoke. o As to their feelings towards their present position, it is clear that women do not f e fully s t s i d In the similar survey conducted by el aife. the Ministry of Labour in 1955,as stated already,only I8 per cent of those questioned answered that Womensposition as it now stands is satisfactory,a against 70 per cent who answered that Furtherims provement is necessaryand,as might be expected,the better educated the respondents, the higher the proportion of those who answered it must be furtherimproved.The survey revealed also that a higherproportion of farming women than of otherwomen answered,Itmust be further improved.T i impliesthat farming women are i the worst hs n situation though,on the otherhand,it might be interpreted a showing s their growing awareness of the situation. From the findings of the survey mentioned above w learn that e women are not s t s i d wt their position a it stands now,though a i f e ih s they admit that it has improved. What, then, are the factors that impede further improvement, and what are the prerequisites t the o amelioration of their position? In the above-mentioned survey of 1949 by the Ministry of Labour, the question, Whatis the factor impeding the improvement of womens position? was answered a s showni Table 46 below. n
TABLE Distribution of answers 46.
Impeding factors Percentage
Persisting feudalism and feudalistic customs Lack of understanding shown to w o m e n by m e n and by people in general Unrationalized character of housekeeping Passiveness and unawareness of their own situation on the part of w o m e n Instability of economic affairs n L o w level of the education women received i the past Eis of the political or social structure vl Lack of facilities for social education Lack of economic self-relianceon the part of w o m e n Too many children
Source: Ministry of Labour, On the Position o W o m e n , 1949. f
42
35 30,
,
27 14 9 2 1 0 0
146
Conclusion
According t this table, the s x main factors which are considered o i t impede the improvement of womens position are: Persistingfeuo dalism and feudalistic customs, Lack of understanding shown to women by men and by people i general,Unrationalizedcharacter n ofhousekeeping,Passiveness unawareness of their own situation and on the part ofwomen,Instabilityofeconomic a f i s ,and Lowlevel far of the education women received i the past.I there are factors that n f are really obstacles t the improvement of the position ofwomen,they o must,as a matter of course,be eliminated first of al i the desired end l f is t be achieved,and we learned of six such factors from the above o findings.In order t confirm the r l a i i y of these findings,reference o eiblt may be made t the survey of 1955 by the Ministry of Labour and t o o the investigation conducted by Mrs. Suehiro i 1958,both of which n inquired what women consider to be the prerequisites for the improvement of their position. Their lindings are compared i Table 4 . n 7
TABLE Distribution of mereauisites mentioned i womens answers 47. n
Prerequisites for the improvement o womensposition f
1955
19W -
Understanding of and co-operationwith women on the part of m e n Awareness of their situation and desire for improvement on the part of women Breaking down of irrational customs that have persisted as a matter of tradition Rationalization of domestic l f ie Raising of educational level of w o m e n Economic independence of w o m e n Economic security Organized social activities of w o m e n Reform of political and social structure
%
31
30
55
47
30 30 14 14 16 5
1 9 1 7 1 7 20 11 15 6
1. Percentage distribution of answers w s calculated by dividing the number of answers a to each question by the total number of respondents. 2 Based on the survey of the Ministry of Labour. . 3 Based on the research of Mrs.Suehiro. .
The two findings quoted in t i table cannot be s r c l compared, hs tity because i the two surveys different methods were used and different n persons were interviewed, but, so f r as the order of importance a attached t any s e i i prerequisite is concerned, w see a close o pcfc e similarity between them. W e see a s that what is stressed by this lo
147
similarity i the affirmative form corresponds point by point t what n o were stressed in the negative form as impeding factors i the survey of n 1 4 by the Ministry of Labour. 99 To draw a conclusion from al the findings quoted above,it may be l noted that, of the two largest groups of women, one stresses as a prerequisite to the improvement of womens position the need for understanding of women and co-operationwith women on the part of men wis the other stresses the need for the awareness of their hlt own situation and a desire for the improvement of their position on the part ofwomen. The two second largest groups are those ofwomen who want eitherthe breaking down ofirrationalcustoms or the rationalization of domestic l f ,though some portion of these answers may ie perhaps be duplicated. Coming next are women who mention the raising of the educational l v l of women, w i h shows that women ee hc are expecting much from education and are concerned about education. Two other groups of women desire either the economic independence ofwomen or economic stability.There may again be overlapping i the replies i the case of women belonging to the two groups n n simultaneously.A for the desire for economic independence,perhaps s this points to womens resistance to the extended family system which still persists. Lastly, there are some who stress the importance of the joint a t v t e of women and who place t e r hope i the organization ciiis hi n of women. The above conclusion i , of i s l , indicative o the direction that s tef f must be taken and of the method that must be adopted to achieve the solution of pending problems concerningwomen. But t i conclusion hs is a general one. The study of case by case reveals that the actual solution of the problems involves,i addition t the factors indicated n o by the general conclusion,many other factors that are concerned wt ih complicated human relationships and social circumstances so that, since these various factors are intermingled i the problems that a i e n rs one a t r another,t e r solution c l s for c i i a treatment. fe hi al lncl Summary of p o l m concerning women rbes
A the ha1 summary of this report on the changing social position of s

women i Japan a t r the war,the following points may be noted: n fe 1. Basically,the institutionalreform based on the principle of equality between men and women has defined the new position of Japanese
148
Conclusion
women. Ti reform is bringing about changes i the attitudes and hs n behaviour of the Japanese people, and these changes are affecting the position ofwomen. 2 The reform of the educational system,in particular, is exercising a . strong influence on the younger generations;these young people are adopting new views on the relationship between men and women. 3. In the family,the position of the wife is improving.For the solution of family discords a growing number of women resort to the Domestic Court. In regard to other problems, too, there are now many women who t y actively t f n means for solving them. r o id 4 The farm family is stillinfluenced by tradition,but young women i . n rural communities are beginning t take the lead i modifying the o n old customs governing family and community l f . ie 5 The f e d of occupation is expanding for women, and their occupa. il tional position is improving in conjunction with the improvement i t e level of their educational attainments. With the improven h ment i t e r education, women are participating actively i social n hi n a t v t e . These are the brighter s d s of the changing position of ciiis ie women. O n the other hand,however,w are compelled to recognize that there e are many problems which,being related to the bask conditions of lf ie that underlie the position of women, still remain to be solved. The main problems of this nature are a follows: s In theory a least, the principle of sex equality is supported by an t ever-increasingnumber of people;in practice,however,people are slow t implement this principle i the sectors o life that matter o n f most to women.In her role a a wf or as a bride a woman suffers s ie many handicaps. She finds herself bound by the e i t n form of xsig family organization, that is t say,by the old attitudes that have o developed out of the extended family. A many aspects of living conditions persist unchanged at the s present t m , is d f i u t t alter the traditionally bound role of i e it ifcl o women. Many women are still i disadvantageousconditions.Ti n hs is especially the case with women i rural communities. A memn s bers ofthe farm family which depends on thelabour of its members, they are made t do heavy work and to work for long hours. o In the field of labour,there are laws and regulations that prescribe equal treatment for men and women workers.In practice,however, complete compliance w t these laws is d f i u t especially i smallih ifcl, n
149
and medium-scale enterprises. W o m e n workers are sil as i the tl, n past, unable to free themselves from discriminatory treatment. 4 Owing to their poverty, many women of broken or needy families . are compelled to work for low wages. Measures of social protection are not f l y or adequately developed so as to meet their pressing ul financial needs. These, in short, m e b i f summary statements on the position of re women i Japan. In attempting to survey such a large problem as the n position of women i Japanese society,with such a long history,i so n n short a report as this many d t i s must be left untouched. Moreover, eal the social conditions i which women actually l v are dynamic and n ie complex and thus a sweeping generalizationis sometimes unavoidable. Womens way of lf varies from one segment of society t anotherie o an assessment of the present position of women may wl d f e from el i f r one person to another,and from one observer t another. For this o reason it is wl to see how women of today v e their own position el iw from various standpoints. The remaining portion of this chapter touches b i f y on this crucial problem, a b i in summary form. rel let Young women are fortunate because, having been brought up under the reformed social system,a new education and a new culture have become integral parts of t e r l v s and personalities. The older h i ie generation have absorbed into the very core of t e r personality what hi they acquired w i e they were young from tradition and ancient hl customs. They are unable, i practice, t transform their system of n o values i a short period of time. Understandably enough, clashes of n ideas and of attitudes take place more frequently between people of different generations than between people who have the same system o values. f The reform of t e legal system was intended t cover the whole h o territory of Japan throughoutboth urban and rural areas,but the way i which the reform was accepted differs from place to place,especially n as between urban and rural areas. When the reformed system is applied,a sharp contrast is very frequently t be seen between women of o the urban areas, who are i the main self-oriented,and those of the n rural areas, who are c l e t v l oriented.The contrast is not attributolciey able merely t differences i ideology. What must be taken into o n account is the difference i fundamental conditions of lf as between n ie rural people whose lives are bound by the land and by ties of blood and urban people who are related to one another functionally i the n
150
Conclusion
arena of modern industry. Another typical difference as between one region and another is that which is found t exist between women of o farmersfamilies i a rural area and women of the families of wagen earning and salaried workers in an urban area, the former working as unpaid family workers and the l t e doing housekeeping. Any atr discussion of the position of women that f i sto take account of these al differences between generations or as between regions may prove to as be nothing but an abstract theory of the position of women. Neither men who have been deprived of t e r position of authority nor women hi who have found t e r new-fledgedfreedom have as yet discovered how hi t adapt themselves so as to conform to the new ideas and the new o system,for some men have unreasonablyl s their self-confidence ot and some women show t e r pleasure in t e r emancipation by imitating hi hi what men did i the days when they exercised authority.The 1 years n 0 that have passed since the end of the war have, indeed,enabled men and women more or less to work out b t e relationships between etr themselves and to regain a sense of values but it may take some years yet before these relationships are d f n t l established. eiiey The prerequisites for the improvement of womens position already nzentioned, such a womens awareness of their own situation,mens s understanding of women, the rationalization of domestic l f , the ie breaking down of feudalistic customs,the raising ofthe level of education,economic s a i i y the organized a t v t e of women are really tblt, ciiis valid, but the tm has passed when only theoretical discussion or ie enlightenment is required. I is t m w had worked out concrete t ie e means of solution for the actual problems that confront us i various n social circumstances. The principle of equality between the sexes has been firmly established i theory, and the reform of the legal and n educational systems has laid the foundation for the implementationof this principle. However,i order t make the reform really effective n o and t prevent f i t o s that may a i e i the implementation of the o rcin rs n reform,we must examine the concrete problems that confront us i n the home,the factory and the o f c and i public and private human fie n relationships,and w must make an e f r t solve them one by one. e fot o One of these concrete problems confronts women who do not leave t e r work even a t r their marriage. The number of such women i hi fe s increasingbecause the improvementofwomenseducation has opened up for them a new v e of married life and vocation. However, t e iw h conditions of work outside the home are not as yet so reformed as
151
to allow them to work as they did before their marriage. A for the s problem of married l f , attention must be paid to the f c that a ie at heavier burden i borne by the wife than by the husband. Though the s principle of equality between the sexes has indeed been established, the wife cannot be relieved of such a burden so long as the form of the extended family is preserved. Outstanding among other concrete problems that require immediate solution are more particularly those relating t handicapped women of needy families and female workers o i medium- and small-scale enterprises who are treated wt disn ih crimination because of their sex. Viewed separately, each of these problems may be one that a f c s so small a proportion of women that fet it does not deserve wide social attention. Some persons might regard them as t i l n matters concerning common people. However, i w rfig f e investigate each such problem concretely and p r i t i our e f r s t ess n fot o find solutions,w may expedite the far-reachingdiffusionof the new e ideas and their application i the f l e t possible measure. n uls
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The Changing Social Position of Women

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KOYAMA

The changing social position of women in Japan

@ Unesco 1961 Printed in Switzerland SS (EW)60/D.l4/A

This report was prepared at the request of the Department of Social

The changing social position of women i Japan n

11. Institutional changes and redefinition of the position of women . . . . . . . . . . .

The changing social position of women i Japan n

The changing social position of women i Japan n

The changing social position of women in Japan

The changing social position of women in Japan

n Such a definition of marriage a is contained i Article 24 definitely s

Institutional changes and redefinition of the position of women

The changing social position of women i Japan n

Institutional changes and redefinition of the position of women

The changing social position of women i Japan n

In addition to these provisions, the principle of sex equality runs

Institutional changes and redefinition of the position of women

The changing social position of women in Japan

1873 1880 1890 1900 11 90

% 3.0 99 5.2 87 65.14 90.55 98.83

% 99.20 99.52 99.64 99.62

% 98.84 99.50 9.5 96 9.5 96

Institutional changes and redefinition of the position of women

1873 1880 1890 1900 1910

1779 13364 1 175 7 105532 219203

1920 1930 1940 1946

The changing social position of women i Japan n

DJAGRAM 1. Comparison of literacy score by sex and by age

1. Committee of Research on Literacy (d) e., University Press, 1951.

Literacy o Japanese People, Tokyo f

Institutional changes and redefinition of the position of women

DIAGRAM 2 Percentage of newspaper readers; . comparison of m e n w t w o m e n by age ih

1. Committee of Research on Literacy (ed.), op. c t i.

The changing social position of women in Japan

Institutional changes and redefinition of the position of women

Junior high school

The changing social position of women i Japan n

Institutional changes and redefinition of the position of women

Co-education Boys o l ny Grs o l il n y

The changing social position of women in Japan

19501 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957

100 0. 116 1. 173 1. 124.6 138 2. 143 2. 179 2. 147 3.

100 0. 158 1. 169 2. 140.0 137 4. 193 4. 158.5 173.9

100 0. 123 0. 191 1. 124.0 132.6 177 3. 116 4.

100.0 191 1. 164 6. 205.9 240.1 264.6 279.1 284.7

Institutional changes and redefinition of the position of women

TABLE Graduates by sex and later career (1957) 6 .

Senior high school Male Female

College and university Male Female

Studying Working Studying part-time Neither studying nor working Other

% % 49.4 4 . 66 40.2 3 . 91 49 . 1.8 44 1. . 05 1.1 14 .

% 1. 30 51.2 0.3 31.1 44 .

% % 6.8 4.8 7 . 50.4 69 37 . 10 . 5 1 35.4 . 75 . 84 .

1.1 3.8 1. 2 2 98 . 3 7 1. . 34 4.4 4 8 .

% 14.9 3. 23 62 . 0.6 2. 36 15.4 33 . 37 .

The changing social position of women in Japan

III. T e changing position h

The position ofwomen in the patriarchal family

The changing social position of women in Japan

The changing position of women i the family n

The changing social position of women in Japan

The changing position of women i the family n

DIAGRAM 3 Main courses of change i the form of the extended family . n