When most people think about Japan they come up with two opposing images. One image reflects the busy day life of this island; filled with salary man and companies. While the second image features an explosion of colorful LED lights and clubs that are common within the nightlife. Today in present day, Japan has evolved and flourished to become one of the top growing economies and industries in the world. Making Japan a prime and excellent area for jobs to prosper. One of these modern jobs that have flourished is the Hostess lifestyle. Known in modern society as the elegant young women who entertain men, this lifestyle can be traced to many other types of jobs residing in Japan. While a subtler job career opposing the hostess lifestyle are the Office Ladies. Known as the office flowers of a company, these women are the ones that make Japanese companies run like a well-oiled machine. With these two different career paths in hand, one can see how each reflects the polar opposite images of Japan; the day life and the nightlife. By studying their history, the way female gender roles play apart in each, and the ways Giri, Ninjo, and Communitas interact with them, one is able to see the importance of these careers within Japanese society.
In order to see how important these two different worlds are within Japanese society we must first look at their backgrounds to understand them. The first one to talk about is the hostess clubs. Hostess clubs in general belong to the general category of mizu shobai, meaning water business, because of their use of alcohol. In Anne Allison book, Nightwork: Sexuality, Pleasure, and Corporate Masculinity in a Tokyo Hostess Club, she describes the differences between hostess clubs and other businesses runni...
... middle of paper ...
...panies. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 1998. Print.
Friedman, Seth. "The Changing Roles of Women in Japanese Society." Fusion Gol, Dec. 1992. Article.
Masako Murakami Osako. “Dilemmas of Japanese Professional Women.” Social Problems. University of California Press. 26.1 (1978): 15-25. Article.
Yamada, Yuichi. 1960. Biru no naka no kodoku na BG (Lonely BGs in the building). Nihon 3: 70-74. Print.
Dar, Alyse. Japan. Singapore: APA Publications, 2009. Print.
Kaplan and Dubro. Prologue and Chapter 1, “The Honorable Outlaws,” in Yakuza: Japan’s Criminal Underworld, pp, 3-27. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. Print.
Sato, Ikuya. Kamikaze Biker: Parody and Anomie in Affluent Japan, Chapter 3: "Drama and Dramatization: Bosozoku as Saturday Night Hero" and Chapter 4: "The Birth of the Yankee." University of Chicago,1998. Print.
Some were as young as fourteen while some were mothers who were forced to leave their child behind in Japan, but for these women the sacrifice will be worth it once they get to San Francisco. Yet, the women desired a better life separate from their past, but brought things that represent their culture desiring to continue the Buddha traditions in America; such as, their kimonos, calligraphy brushes, rice paper, tiny brass Buddha, fox god, dolls from their childhood, paper fans, and etc. (Otsuka, 2011, p. 9) A part of them wanted a better life full of respect, not only toward males but also toward them, and away from the fields, but wanted to continue the old traditions from their home land. These hopes of a grand new life was shattered when the boat arrived to America for none of the husbands were recognizable to any of the women. The pictures were false personas of a life that didn’t really exist for these men, and the men were twenty years older than their picture. All their hopes were destroyed that some wanted to go home even before getting off the boat, while others kept their chins up holding onto their hope that maybe something good will come from this marriage and walked off the boat (Otsuka, 2011, p.
Fallows, James. "After Centuries of Japanese Isoation, a Fateful Meeting of East and West." {Smithsonian} July 1994: 20-33.
Tanaka, Toshiyuki. Japan's Comfort Women: Sexual Slavery and Prostitution during World War II and the US Occupation. London: Routledge, 2002. Print.
Known for her work as a historian and rather outspoken political activist, Yamakawa Kikue was also the author of her book titled Women of the Mito Domain (p. xix). At the time she was writing this work, Yamakawa was under the surveillance of the Japanese government as the result of her and her husband’s work for the socialist and feminist movements in Japan (p. xx-xxi). But despite the restrictions she was undoubtedly required to abide by in order to produce this book, her work contains an air of commentary on the past and present political, social, and economic issues that had been plaguing the nation (p. xxi). This work is a piece that comments on the significance of women’s roles in history through the example of Yamakawa’s own family and
Ogawa, D. (1993) The Japanese of Los Angeles. Journal of Asian and African Studies, v19, pp.142-3.
The notion of yakuza’s existence; one of the world’s most well-known organized crime syndicates, is very obvious and well-aware inside the Japanese society both in the olden and present day. They are very well perceived by the public. Yakuza’s confirmation of existence can be seen on several circumstances; for instance, yakuza magazine and video games, their participation in annual Sanja matsuri and the headquarters around the big cities.
Mathews, Gordon. 1996. What Makes Life Worth Living? How Japanese and Americans Make Sense of Their Worlds.Berkeley: University of California Press.
Japanese society has many beliefs and rituals and women are always secluded from many aspects of ritual life. Women are also forbidden to enter in sacred places although these prohibitions are vanishing. The modern society has defined all social roles in terms of hierarchy such as domination of men over women it is common virtually in all setting that women be subordinated to male as household heads (Countries and their Culture 2014:14). Despite the legal changes on the principle of family structure regarding education and labor equity, there ...
his Essay will analyse, introduce, and discuss the terms Hegemonic Masculinity and Emphasized femininity, if it still applies in modern times and the use of these concepts to comprehend the role of the man and female in Eastern Asia, in relation to post-war Japan. In order to present a clear and linear argument I will divide this essay into three parts: In the first part I will define the term hegemonic masculinity, the common traits and the influence that it has in society; the essay will continue then in explaining and outlining the term emphasized femininity. The second part will analyse the impact of the notions of hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity in relation to post war Japan has. The last part will briefly identify some
But as Dalby goes on to note, the geisha culture is marked by the "primacy of sisterhood", and represents a kind of counterpart to the bonds of brotherhood in such fraternal Japanese cultures as business corporations and company unions. The modern geisha's services are beyond the means of the average Japanese man today, but the geisha continues to represent a cultural ideal: the ideal of the witty, educated woman who can talk frankly with a man about life, sex, art, politics, or anything else his wife cannot.
The political, economic, and religious roles of women in Japan and Western Europe provide evidence of similar and different characteristics. Politically, there were numerous female empresses in Japan while in Western Europe, women could rule as solitarily rulers and regents. Economically, women in both locations could be involved in the merchant class and work with necessities but women in Western Europe were better all around and could inherit land while Japanese women could not. Religiously, there have been religious role models in Japan and Europe but given the opportunity to become a nun; women in Europe had a better religious life. Collectively, women in Western Europe could be considered better than those in Japan regarding religious rights, political roles, and economic engagement.
A young girl growing up in 21st century America has a much better chance of achieving a high-paying, high-prestige, management level job than most all of her predecessors in the early, middle and late 20th century. Despite this, however, women who have such a position, depending on the field of course, are likely to find themselves as the token woman among men, which puts her in a tricky position (Conley 311). A woman that asserts herself in a way seen as “masculine” would likely be negatively received by her male counterparts, making her job harder than it would be without such pressures (Conley 311). Should the woman fail at coping with this and fail at some aspect of her job, it becomes ammunition for her aggrieved male coworkers who see this as justification that women cannot handle such positions (Conley 311).
Abe, Aya K. "Poverty and Social Exclusion of Women in Japan." Japanese Journal of Social Security Policy 9.1 (2012): n. pag. Ipss.go.jp. Web. 5 Jan. 2014.
Japan is a large island off to the east of China it is a great country that has a rich culture. The Japanese religion is based off of two main beliefs, the belief in Shinto and Buddhism many Japanese people believe consider themselves both. The Japanese people were known to be around as early as 4,500 B.C. They have constructed their government style to a constitutional monarchy where they do in fact have an emperor, but he has limited power within the country. The main power of the country is held by the Prime Minister of Japan. Japan is made up of many islands that extend along the Pacific coast of Asia. The land area is made up of a lot of forest and mountainous area that cannot be used for agricultural, industrial or residential use. Japan also has one of the largest and growing economies in the world. They are growing every day and it is all because the people of Japan work very hard in order for their economy to flourish as it has.
In the context of the aforementioned facts, the hotel and the consumer industry can viewed as a major source of employment for both men and women. The contribution of both men and women in the society has increased as they are not treated with low expectations in whatever the profession they choose to step in. According to Laff (2006), the women positions in the senior management in the banking industry showed an increase of 63 % during the p...