The Role Of Women In Japan

Throughout time, the role that Women had in the early twentieth century to the present has changed drastically and it has changed for the better. Japanese American Women residing in the United States, has experienced the evolution of their culture, tradition, values and their role in society. However though it seems as if there is no time in this ever so rapid society, they still continue to pass down culture and tradition through each generation. Some key terms that are crucial in order to understand the essay are, Issei, or the first generation, Nisei, the second generation ,and Sansei, known as the third generation.Over time the Women slowly moved away form being the average Homemaker and transforming into a respected and valued member of society.

In a society, gender roles are the roles that are restricted to males or females on the basis of their sexism. Conventionally, in numerous societies including the western society, it is supposed that females are more encouraged at any platform than the males. It is believed that for the development of a society, females should be treated in an encouraged way because encouragement of the females help in the betterment of society. Earlier, it was considered that females should remain at home and they should maintain the household things rather than working outside because outside work is only for the males, but it was a traditional way of treating women, which has been changed now.

The Fifteen-Year War was a time of great turmoil and uncertainty in Japan. Various facets of the country were tested and driven to their limits. During the occupation, race and gender began to evolve in ways that had not exactly be seen before. War had a tremendous impact on every part of the life of a Japanese citizen. Both men and women began to fill roles that were completely novel to them. Race became a part of the definition of who people were. As the war progressed and American troops landed on Japanese soil for occupation, more drastic changes occurred. Economic hardship and rations befell the people of the Land of the Rising Sun. Prostitution began to rear its ugly head and rape transpired. Through memory, research, and vivid

During World War II, approximately 120,000 people of Japanese descent who lived on the Pacific Coast of the US were sent to internment camps after the bombing at Pearl Harbor by Japan on December 7th, 1941. American citizens made up 62% of those who were interned. And even though these American citizens were being unconstitutionally blocked off from the rest of society, the majority of these citizens still declared that they remained forever loyal to America. Some of the recollections left behind by the internees of their experiences at these camps include letters to their loved ones, diaries, pictures, and even full plays. And while living in often cramped, and poorly maintained conditions, the internees still tried to lead normal lives

Women in Japan Women in feudal Japanese society enjoyed more equal status with men. In samurai families, women were allowed to inherit part of the family’s estate. Women could also join Buddhist convents. In addition, they were expected to live up to the values of honor and courage. Often women were trained in the martial arts. In fact, some women became samurai and fought alongside their husbands. Gradually, however, the role of women became more restricted.

Throughout the 1920s, marriage was thought of to be a symbol of love and happiness between a married couple. Along with that came the expectation of starting a family and a new chapter in the couple’s lives. Most marriages that took place were based on romance instead of just marrying just to get money, which was rarely seen. Gender roles had an impact when getting married and starting a family. Living in the 1920’s brought more positive, as well as negative, impacts when it came to restarting the economy. Gender roles in marriage decided who stayed at home to take care of the children along with house duties and who went to work to provide for the family. Throughout these times, gender roles either imposed by society or created within the home, have altered dynamics within the home and society.

Ronald Takaki told his experiences of military men, immigrants, and the government during World War II. The United States was hypocritical having ethnic groups fight for freedom but not treated as equal individuals nor having full access to the “Four Freedoms”. (Takaki, 7) As articulated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 6, 1941, the Four Freedoms are freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Equally important, Ruth Benedict argued that Hitler’s Anti-Semitism required Americans to challenge their own racism. (Takaki, 6) There is no master race, as Hitler argued. Everyone is from one race: the human race. During World War II racism was not only in the service it was also still going on with civilians. As World War II took place, Takaki expressed his feelings about the military men, the immigrants, and the government because the United States was very hypocritical. All of this can be seen in the WWII experiences of Japanese Americans, African-Americans and women.

The Heian court of medieval Japan was a progressive and dynamic society where women commanded a fair amount of power and respect. In many ways it seemed to be the basis of the "rank n file", material culture of today’s society. The social structure of society throughout the court was set up in three different ranks. In chapter two, Genji’s friend, To no Chujo explained the three roles and how they determined the role of women in court. Women of high rank would be the wife of a high ranking elite, thus responsible for raising the future heirs, women of lower rank were concubines and often had better relationships with the man than his wife. did It was this complicated ranking system that led to the abundance of accepted promiscuity, however the two roles kept a bit of stability and normalcy throughout the court.

Women in Western Europe and Japan compare and contrast religiously, politically, and economically. Religiously, women in Western Europe were better off with the advantage of becoming a nun than women in Japan were who lost their role in Buddhist and Shintu rituals. Politically, feminist thinkers were allowing women to have a greater say politically but there were fewer female rulers or regents in Europe. Japan who had female empresses prior to Koken was less inclined to have success. Economically, women in Japan could not inherit land but were able to be in the merchant class, while women in Europe could also inherit land; they were better off and more economically engaged than Japan with the running and working of a craft guild.

With the arrival of the Allied Occupation, the United States of America introduced many reforms to Japanese society. “Equality of the sexes, woman suffrage of 1946, all inequalities in laws was ended and high schools became coed” (Friedman). Since the 1950’s women have sought more individualized means to provide for themselves with a sense of well-being. The most evolving aspect of post modernization has been women’s attitudes toward marriage and the family system. Women have started to wait till later in life to marry and have placed education and or work as top priorities. Once married, however, many women now choice to continue to work especially after they work of child birth. The women’s role in the family is evolving and become more

This paper is a review of the book Japan’s Comfort Women-Sexual slavery and prostitution during WWII and the US occupation by Yuki Tanaka. This book was published in 2002 by Routledge. The book deals with the thousands of Japanese, Korean, Chinese and other Asian and European women who were victims of organized sexual violence and prostitution by means of “comfort stations” setup by the Japanese military during World War II.

As a result, men have more freedom to act as they please, resulting in more economic opportunities in relation to women who traditionally have been given the role of housewives, placing them at an economic disadvantage and unequal opportunities. Likewise, the effects of migration on gender relations influence the change of family dynamics and structure. Women in their home countries often assume greater responsibilities due to the long absences of men who migrate in the search of better life opportunities for their families. In this situation, traditional roles tend to become more flexible, as women become a main decision maker for the family, their authority increased in the household, and are more independent in general.

It is estimated that between one and two hundred thousand female sex slaves were forced to deliver sexual services to Japanese soldiers, both before and during World War II. These women were known as comfort women and the Imperial Conference, which was composed of the emperor, representatives from the armed forces and the main Cabinet ministers, approved their use by Japanese soldiers. (Walkom)

     The Japanese culture has allowed for very little diversity. This started very early in their history. The social controls used to eliminate diversity are the family, the power of gender, the poor treatment of minority groups, the corporate Japanese mentality, and the respect required by people in authority. However, due to globalization and the shrinking of the world, Japanese society is starting to make the change to diversity. The individualistic mentality shared by the new technology driven younger generation is putting pressure on the old Japanese status quo. The transformation is happening very slow, but as the population ages and the old conservatives are being replaced by the new liberals, the old way

Even though we say that women today should have equal rights amongst men, we still associate the word women to household activities than to men; therefore, making it just like the practice during the Anglo-Saxon period. Although, they differ in the way that today, there are already more opportunities for women to do in the society. There also equal treatment when it comes to working, wherein jobs that used to be for men only are now also open to women with potentials. Some survey shows that women of today are already known to have a higher rank than men. Some statistics show that there are also families wherein women work while men stay at home and does all the household works. Which shows that somehow, society did change its treatment towards