Perfectly Japanese Making Families in an Era of Upheaval Review

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Apr 30, 2018 Richard rated information technology liked it

White noted, equally have other authors similar Sharon Siever (run across below), that the 'Family' with its patriarchal caput and its 'skilful married woman/wise mother' backing the male parent up and caring for the children was largely a cosmos by the Meiji leaders every bit a necessary land sponsored project if Nihon was to ward off colonial subjegation by the West. Its goal was to join the club of other Royal powers like England, Germany, and the USA by condign a 'rich nation/strong army.' Subsequently the defeat of WWII the Japan White noted, as take other authors similar Sharon Siever (see below), that the 'Family' with its patriarchal caput and its 'practiced married woman/wise mother' backing the father up and caring for the children was largely a creation by the Meiji leaders as a necessary state sponsored project if Japan was to ward off colonial subjegation by the West. Its goal was to join the club of other Regal powers similar England, Germany, and the USA by becoming a 'rich nation/potent regular army.' Later on the defeat of WWII the Japanese authorities, at the behest of the Occupying Americans, extolled a 'more than autonomous, egalitarian' family, per White. But the stay-at-abode wife was and so seen as the 'professional manager' of the household and the children while the begetter was the 'corporate warrior' working very long hours and barely seeing, let lone engaging with, the children. She and so argued that economic necessity arising out of the increasing consumerism of the 1970'south and 'fourscore'due south led to women delaying matrimony and the decline of the nascency charge per unit past the late 1980'southward to 1.54. The recession of the 1990'southward farther entrenched these dynamics despite attempts by the regime to exhort women out of their 'selfishness' and to live up to Japan'south 'cute family traditions.'

White's bones premise is that families in Nihon have never fit these idealized notions. In descriptive, non-academic, largely quite readable prose she provides thumbnail sketches of families living in a wide array of times and places to prove her bespeak. Challenge that this book is based on 'my research' she does not articulate who her subjects were, how she obtained data from them, etc. She besides fails to conspicuously annotation exactly how and where she arrived at some of her impressions.

For example, are so many crumbling men/grandfathers, raised post WWII where their mothers and wives took intendance of them, really so willing to practice the grocery shopping or other chores around the firm in order to help out their wives? White opines that middle aged couples are 'ashamed' to take their aging parents live in some kind of residential facility. Where are the information to support these claims? I personally know of ii families in contempo years who were quite willing to and happy with the placement of their aging mothers living with dementia into residential care facilities.

White, correctly in my opinion, noted in 2002 when this book was published that during the 1990'southward the government had been long on criticism and exhortation to try to get families 'to mend their ways' just short on actual, let lonely effective, policy making that might make it more likely and easier for women to marry sooner and to have more than children. In fact, she described how the regime gave women mixed messages about this. On the one hand, it encouraged women to engage in consumerism in order to boost the economy. On the other, information technology then criticized them for being 'selfish' and risking the health and welfare of their children by working. And it did aught to ensure women fabricated salaries equal to men.

Unfortunately, these processes take continued to be the example in the last few years with so called Abenomics, Womennomics, and Equal Pay for Equal Work policies offered by Prime number Mininster Abe. Careful analyses by pundits at Japan Focus, for example, has shown that these proposals are largely sweet sounding marketing ploys that lack any real substance. Ie, Abe has not tried to change longstanding, absolutely circuitous, and entrenched economic and social dynamics. In fact, if anything Abe wants to pb the state dorsum to its glorious pre-war by when information technology was 'a beautiful nation.' Meanwhile, the demographic fourth dimension flop continues to tick, tick, tick.

For those who want more in-depth assay of a smaller number of women struggling with these issues where the research methodology and conclusions are more than clearly articulated I recommend the following 2 books: Susan Hall Vogel'southward The Japanese Family unit in Transition or Susan D Holloway's Women and family in Contemporary Japan . For those who want some more historical perspective on women in Japanese society Flowers in Salt past Sharon Sievers or Isami's House past Gail Bernstein are both highly informative and more than clearly articulated than White'south book.

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Apr 04, 2014 Craig rated it it was ok

For a book published by an academic press, probably coulda been more academic....

Showtime one-half was somewhat interesting, second half felt like a retread of the first, and the last chapter was a glorified blog post of random Japanese things she tried to attach "family" to.

For a volume published by an bookish press, probably coulda been more bookish....

First half was somewhat interesting, second half felt like a retread of the first, and the last chapter was a glorified web log post of random Japanese things she tried to attach "family" to.

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