WAPPP Happenings

"Changing Roles of Japanese Women"

by Akiko Yamanaka
November 18, 1998, WAPPP Weekly Study Group November 18, 1998, WAPPP Weekly Study Group I was elected to the Japanese parliament in October 1996, under the reformed electoral system. This new system replaced multi-seat constituencies with 300 single seat and 200 proportional seat representation. At present there are 24 female members of the House of Representatives out of 500, only 4.8 percent. 15.3 percent of the Communist Party, 10 percent of Heiwa (Komei), 3.3 percent of the Democratic Party and only 1.8 percent of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party are female.

It is striking that the number of women in Japan's parliament is less now than in the very first parliament election under the new Constitution in 1947. At that time 39 women, 8.4 percent of a total of 466 members, were elected. There is stronger representation in the House of Councilors, with 43 female members out of 252, or 17.0 percent. Japan ranks a disappointing 125th among nations in the number of women in Parliament.

Still, women such as Takako Doi are helping to change the face of politics. Ms. Doi was the first woman to head a major political party in Japan, and in 1993, she became the first woman speaker of the House of Representatives. Slowly a woman in parliament is becoming a more familiar idea.

The marriage of the Crown Prince Naruhito to Princess Masako, a Harvard educated diplomat much adored by the Japanese people, also has encouraged Japanese society's acceptance of successful, well-educated women.

Though the equal rights of women were written in the constitution in 1947, reality is far from the written law. Perhaps this can best be understood by looking back at Japanese traditions that, though they have evolved, still strongly influence Japanese society.

The image of the traditional Japanese woman is: staying at home taking care of her children, her husband and her husband's parents and being obedient to her parents when she is young, to her husband when she is married and to her children when she is aged. Therefore, it is said that a woman has no home in three dimensions, that is to say, a woman cannot feel free to have time by herself throughout her life. The ideal wife is not happy as an individual.

It used to be said that if you have three daughters you would be bankrupted, because a bride had to contribute all the furniture, housekeeping equipment and all household linens and related items when she was married. Days ahead of the wedding, there was a ceremony of carrying these things into the bridegroom's house accompanied with either her father or her elder brother and displaying them for days so that everybody who comes to celebrate the wedding can see and appreciate them.

This tradition was alive until only 20 years ago. Usually a married couple will live together with the bridegroom's family, and therefore the family will use all the housekeeping equipment. In many cases the things brought by the bride are actually unnecessary.

It is a big waste of money and effort. In the large cities people do not follow these ancient customs anymore. In some rural areas, however, people still follow traditional customs even if a marriage is considered an individual issue by law.

EDUCATION AND THE WORKING ENVIRONMENT
In today's Japan, at first glance many discrepancies between Japanese men and women may be difficult to see. In 1996 the rate of 18 year-old female students in higher education reached 48.3 percent, while the rate for male students was 44.2 percent. The rate of students in higher education has kept increasing slightly year by year. However, this does not mean that the females have the same education as the males. In 1997, 65.3 percent of university graduates were male and 79.9 percent of masters/doctorate level graduates were male. So we see that most of the female students are not in four-year universities but in two-year junior colleges. This means that most women are engaged in the work of assisting others. Even now the expectation for females is different from that of males.

The same thing could be seen in the labor force. Of the age of 40-54, the male labor force is 42 percent and female labor force is 58 percent, while the average rate of total male labor for all age groups combined is 59.3 percent and that of female is 40.7 percent. In these figures we see the most active age of the female work force is from the 40s to the early 50s, in numbers significantly above the average. Many women of 40-54 are engaged in temporary part time jobs with low wages and without insurance. This is partly because they have more time and partly because the cost is extremely high to enable their children to get a higher education. Roughly speaking it costs $200,000 to bring up one child to the university level in Japan.

Then what kind of value do women have regarding jobs? According to the survey done by the Prime Minister's office, when asked " Are you ready to work at any time if there is a good opportunity?" only 29.8 percent of Japanese women answer "yes". This contrasts sharply with western countries where, for example, 59.7 percent of American women, 52.5 percent of British women, 37.4 percent of French women answered "yes" to the very same question.

On the other hand, the response is reversed when women are asked the question, " Do you work after your children have grown up?" To this question, 47.2 percent of Japanese women, whereas only 40.7 percent of French, 39.2 percent of British, 31.1 percent of German and 26.6 percent of American women answered "yes", respectively.

Not only job opportunities, but also values regarding jobs are quite different from culture to culture.

What could be the most difficult issue for working mothers in Japan? When asked " Do you have enough time for housekeeping chores?" 30.7 percent of Japanese women announce "no", whereas only 15 percent of French, 12 percent of American, 6.6 percent of German and 4.9 percent of British women answered "no".

When asked " Are you mentally and physically exhausted?" 22.8 percent of Japanese women answered "yes", whereas only 14.4 percent of French, 12.0 percent of American, 9.4 percent of British and 9.3 percent of German women answered "Yes".

When asked " Do you have adequate help with childcare?" 20.4 percent of Japanese women answered "no", whereas only 11.5 percent of French women, 5.5 percent of German, 4.3 percent of American and 1.0 percent of British women answered "No". Much of the response depends on the quality of housekeeping aids.

For example, a variety of prepared frozen foods and easy to use cooking equipment are widely available in the USA and UK: on the other hand, four-burner stoves, ovens, dishwashers, large freezers and disposers are not readily available in ordinary Japanese houses, though Japan produces world class household electric equipment. This keeps Japanese women busy with housekeeping, including cooking.

The environment for working women still needs great improvement in Japan. Social pressure suggests that the children whose mothers work should be regarded as pitiful, unlucky children. These mothers are castigated for not taking adequate responsibility for their children, and yet often need to work to ensure their children a good education.

FULLTIME WIVES
Then how about the full time mother? Are they satisfied and happy? Here are interesting figures. Nearly 70 percent of housewives have the responsibility of domestic budgets in Japan. That means they manage the monthly salaries and even bonuses that are usually earned by their husbands. Their husbands get monthly allowances such as lunch or leisure expenses from their wives.

One Slovenian woman said, "The most impressive characteristics of Japanese women are at first that they have a distinguished sense of thrift and secondly they have distinguished skills in making long term plans for life. They are efficient at handling educational money for their children, paying loans for the house, and dressing all the family in good looking clothes in spite of their husband's relatively low salary. They are also good at planning for unseen expenses of circumstance in the family over the next twenty years time."

A Finnish woman said, " While the children are young, Japanese mothers are busy taking care of them at home and at outdoor playgrounds. But once the children enter elementary school, no mother seems to be at home in the daytime, not because they work, but because they take tennis lessons, English conversation classes at the community center or enjoy lunch with friends. They look so alive and happy and are well dressed."

The life of a full time housewife, however, is not a bed of roses. According to the survey of the Prime Minister's office, the question " Do full time housewives have any trouble or not?" shows that 67.6 percent of Japanese wives have trouble, compared with 48.8 percent of French, 46.9 percent of British, 39.6 percent of American and 38.9 percent of German women.

The definition of trouble is quite different between Japan and the West. More than 40 percent of Japanese worry about the narrowing confinement of their lives - without social life - nearly 30 percent worry about money, and more than 20 percent worry about difficulty of handling domestic finances in the expensive society. For Western countries, the definition of trouble is diverse, but British, French and German show that boring housekeeping work is their top concern, while Americans complain about domestic financial problems. If you also consider the fact that Japanese couples share fewer activities together after marriage, it is quite understandable that these isolated wives have more stress compared with those who share more responsibilities and activities together, as is more common in the West.

The Prime Minister's survey also asked the question, " Are we enjoying childcare?" The response to this question shows only 19.8 percent of Japanese mothers enjoy childcare, while 70.9 percent of British, 49.8 percent of Americans enjoy childcare. Japanese mothers feel that they have to do their best to bring up the children. To bring up children is to bring up the next generation so that they can support the future Japanese nation.

The concept of duty and responsibility is so heavy that Japanese mothers cannot enjoy simple relations and being together with their children. This pressure influences the children's mental condition and leads them to be more competitive and selfish, losing the traditional Japanese virtues such as sharing with others, being kind to others, showing deep sympathy for others, as well as creativity and originality. Mothers encourage the children to work hard, to get good grades and to enter "good" universities. Fathers would complain to mothers if the children do not succeed. So, happy looking Japanese full time wives are far from being stress free and mentally stable. FAMILY SITUATION
In a big city like Tokyo you cannot buy a house downtown because it is too expensive. Therefore the average commuting time is 1.5-2 hours one way. When the father goes to work at 6:00 or 6:30, the children are still in their beds and when he comes back home around 11:00 p.m. after dinner or drinking with his boss or colleagues, the children are already in bed. Sometimes the father and the children meet only on Sundays and of course they don't have the opportunity to dine together every day and have natural daily conversation. This frequently causes a serious problem of lack of communication between the father and the child.

Not only between them but also quite often between the husband and the wife. Since the husband and wife do not have opportunities to share many things together and conversations are limited to essential topics.

This lack of communication among the family causes a lot of problems in Japanese society. The divorce rate is increasing, though the number itself is still small. Women seek divorce, because they find nothing in common with their husbands and yet are expected to serve them all day long. Retired men's common feeling is that they have worked for their whole lives to support the family and have been very patient in the office, and now they expect care from their family all day.

The value gap is deep between men and women after some thirty years of different lives. The women now have many friends, hobbies and places to go in the community and want to enjoy themselves free from serving family. On the other hand, the men don't have close friends except the people in their office, don't know anyone or have anywhere to go in the community, and don't know how to operate the washing machine. Japanese families are not as close as before. They live together, but they fail to respect one another and enjoy being together.

The above elements may lead you to be pessimistic about the future of Japanese society. However, we have seen some changes since 1985 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Law was passed. Now all the universities are open to women. For example, the National Mercantile Marine College, Tokyo University of Fisheries and even the National Defense Academy now accept women. A favorable response also could be seen in companies hiring more women to a wider range of jobs. Female stockbrokers, female marine captains and female jockeys are becoming visible.

At the same time, the number of male employees at nursery schools, for example, has been increasing since 1980. Fertility rates become lower and lower and people are marrying later, indicating expanded work opportunities and increased scope of choice for women. Marriage rates have been fairly steady, though divorce rates are increasing slowly, especially those initiated by middle-aged women. All of this shows a continued desire for marriage as well as education, and empowerment to leave an unwanted marriage.

Although I sit on the Foreign Affairs Committee, in 1997 I was asked to participate in the Labor Committee's deliberations on reform of the 1985 Equal Employment Opportunity Law. I wanted to draw attention to the fact that the reforms were 20 years behind international standards.

In particular, the Japanese definition of equality left over from the past, namely, that doing the same things is equality, has been at the root of our inability to move forward. In 1975 Scandinavian countries introduced legislation prohibiting the gender-based division of labor and cleared the path for wide scale reforms in 1979. In 1975 Britain also prohibited sexual discrimination and established an Equality committee. In 1982 Canada adopted a Charter to ensure equality.

These countries also took such practical measures as improving daycare facilities to ease the burden on working families. These countries are now well on their way to ensuring equality, both legislatively and socially.

Improvement of Japan's equal rights legislation was necessary. The previous law did not contain penalties for violations and was inadequate in many areas, especially as to discrimination of women in recruitment, hiring and promotion, areas in which women received the most differential treatment. We are hopeful that the Equal Employment Opportunity Law reforms of 1997 will further enhance equal opportunity for Japanese women in the workplace.

Economic pressures are leading to inevitable reform of the seniority wage system and lifetime employment system. If these are also changed, it should create a more flexible-working environment for everyone, and one especially beneficial to women.

I should say, however, that I was not satisfied with the 1997 reform bill because I felt it was still too vague and failed to clarify many issues essential to the principle of equality. It still does not provide for an upper limit on weekly working hours, including overtime work. Also, it does not improve the position of part time workers in areas such as wage levels, insurance and other benefits.

It goes without saying that Japanese women now have more choices in their lives than at any other time through history. Japanese society is changing slowly but steadily. Despite the relatively slow pace of change, the changes that have taken place have instilled in women a sense of self-reliance. The choices demanded may not be a mirror reflection of their Western counterparts but will of course reflect Japanese culture.

Ms. Sadako Ogata, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, of whom we are all proud, is a wonderful example of Japanese women: kind, modest, determined, strong willed, broad minded and yet charming.

In order to produce women more like her, ultimately our legislation must respect women's desires and create opportunities for our young people to balance family life and career choices in a social system and infrastructure where equality really is a reality.

Thank you.