Download or read book Social Inequality in Japan written by Sawako Shirahase and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japan was the first Asian country to become a mature industrial society, and throughout the 1970s and the 1980s, was viewed as an ‘all-middle-class society’. However since the 1990s there have been growing doubts as to the real degree of social equality in Japan, particularly in the context of dramatic demographic shifts as the population ages whilst fertility levels continue to fall. This book compares Japan with America, Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Sweden and Taiwan in order to determine whether inequality really is a social problem in Japan. With a focus on impact demographic shifts, Sawako Shirahase examines female labour market participation, income inequality among households with children, the state of the family, generational change, single person households and income distribution among the aged, and asks whether increasing inequality and is uniquely Japanese, or if it is a social problem common across all of the societies included in this study. Crucially, this book shows that Japan is distinctive not in terms of the degree of inequality in the society, but rather, in how acutely inequality is perceived. Further, the data shows that Japan differs from the other countries examined in terms of the gender gap in both the labour market and the family, and in inequality among single-person households – single men and women, including lifelong bachelors and spinsters – and also among single parent households, who pay a heavy price for having deviated from the expected pattern of life in Japan. Drawing on extensive empirical data, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars interested in Japanese culture and society, Japanese studies and social policy more generally.
Download or read book Social Inequality in Post Growth Japan written by David Chiavacci and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2016-09-13 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent decades Japan has changed from a strongly growing, economically successful nation regarded as prime example of social equality and inclusion, to a nation with a stagnating economy, a shrinking population and a very high proportion of elderly people. Within this, new forms of inequality are emerging and deepening, and a new model of Japan as 'gap society' (kakusa shakai) has become common-sense. These new forms of inequality are complex, are caused in different ways by a variety of factors, and require deep-seated reforms in order to remedy them. This book provides a comprehensive overview of inequality in contemporary Japan. It examines inequality in labour and employment, in welfare and family, in education and social mobility, in the urban-rural divide, and concerning immigration, ethnic minorities and gender. The book also considers the widespread anxiety effect of the fear of inequality; and discusses how far these developments in Japan represent a new form of social problem for the wider world.
Download or read book Social Inequality in Japan written by Sawako Shirahase and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japan was the first Asian country to become a mature industrial society, and throughout the 1970s and the 1980s, was viewed as an ‘all-middle-class society’. However since the 1990s there have been growing doubts as to the real degree of social equality in Japan, particularly in the context of dramatic demographic shifts as the population ages whilst fertility levels continue to fall. This book compares Japan with America, Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Sweden and Taiwan in order to determine whether inequality really is a social problem in Japan. With a focus on impact demographic shifts, Sawako Shirahase examines female labour market participation, income inequality among households with children, the state of the family, generational change, single person households and income distribution among the aged, and asks whether increasing inequality and is uniquely Japanese, or if it is a social problem common across all of the societies included in this study. Crucially, this book shows that Japan is distinctive not in terms of the degree of inequality in the society, but rather, in how acutely inequality is perceived. Further, the data shows that Japan differs from the other countries examined in terms of the gender gap in both the labour market and the family, and in inequality among single-person households – single men and women, including lifelong bachelors and spinsters – and also among single parent households, who pay a heavy price for having deviated from the expected pattern of life in Japan. Drawing on extensive empirical data, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars interested in Japanese culture and society, Japanese studies and social policy more generally.
Download or read book Social Inequality in Post Growth Japan written by David Chiavacci and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-09-13 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent decades Japan has changed from a strongly growing, economically successful nation regarded as prime example of social equality and inclusion, to a nation with a stagnating economy, a shrinking population and a very high proportion of elderly people. Within this, new forms of inequality are emerging and deepening, and a new model of Japan as 'gap society' (kakusa shakai) has become common-sense. These new forms of inequality are complex, are caused in different ways by a variety of factors, and require deep-seated reforms in order to remedy them. This book provides a comprehensive overview of inequality in contemporary Japan. It examines inequality in labour and employment, in welfare and family, in education and social mobility, in the urban-rural divide, and concerning immigration, ethnic minorities and gender. The book also considers the widespread anxiety effect of the fear of inequality; and discusses how far these developments in Japan represent a new form of social problem for the wider world.
Download or read book Beyond the Gender Gap in Japan written by Gill Steel and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2019-01-23 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do Japanese women enjoy a high sense of well-being in a context of high inequality? Beyond the Gender Gap in Japan brings together researchers from across the social sciences to investigate this question. The authors analyze women’s values and the lived experiences at home, in the family, at work, in their leisure time, as volunteers, and in politics and policy-making. Their research shows that the state and firms have blurred “the public” and “the private” in postwar Japan, constraining individuals’ lives, and reveals the uneven pace of change in women’s representation in politics. Yet, despite these constraints, the increasing diversification in how people live and how they manage their lives demonstrates that some people are crafting a variety of individual solutions to structural problems. Covering a significant breadth of material, the book presents comprehensive findings that use a variety of research methods—public opinion surveys, in-depth interviews, a life history, and participant observation—and, in doing so, look beyond Japan’s perennially low rankings in gender equality indices to demonstrate the diversity underneath, questioning some of the stereotypical assumptions about women in Japan.
Download or read book Gender Inequalities in the Japanese Workplace and Employment written by Kazuo Yamaguchi and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-06-15 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The in-depth analyses presented in this book have a dual focus: (1) Social mechanisms through which the gender wage gap, gender inequality in the attainment of managerial positions, and gender segregation of occupations are generated in Japan; and (2) Assessments of the effects of firms’ gender-egalitarian personnel policies and work–life balance promotion policies on the gender wage gap and the firms’ productivity. In addition, this work reviews and discusses various economic and sociological theories of gender inequality and gender discrimination and considers their consistencies and inconsistencies with the results of the analysis of Japanese data. Furthermore, the book critically reviews and discusses the historical development of the Japanese employment system by juxtaposing rational and cultural explanations. This book is an English translation by the author of a book he first published in Japanese in 2017. The original Japanese-language edition received two major book awards in Japan. One was The Nikkei Economic Book Culture Award, which is given every year by the Nikkei Newspaper Company and the Japan Economic Research Center to a few best books on economy and society. The other was The Showa University’s Women’s Culture Research Award, which is bestowed annually on a single book of research that promotes gender equality. Kazuo Yamaguchi is the Ralph Lewis Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago.
Download or read book Corporate Social Responsibility and Gender Equality in Japan written by Gabriel Eweje and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-09-03 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines key issues in gender equality and corporate social responsibility in Japan. Legal compliance, the business case and social regulation are examined as driving factors for enhancing gender equality in corporations. In turn, case studies from various contexts, such as the hotel industry, retail and financial services companies add practical insights to the theoretical debate. The role of governments, NGOs and supranational organizations is examined as well. Given its scope, the book will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students, scholars, policymakers and practitioners interested in advancing the gender, CSR and sustainability debates.
Download or read book Shadow Education and Social Inequalities in Japan written by Steve R. Entrich and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-12-07 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines why Japan has one of the highest enrolment rates in cram schools and private tutoring worldwide. It sheds light on the causes of this high dependence on ‘shadow education’ and its implications for social inequalities. The book provides a deep and extensive understanding of the role of this kind of education in Japan. It shows new ways to theoretically and empirically address this issue, and offers a comprehensive perspective on the impact of shadow education on social inequality formation that is based on reliable and convincing empirical analyses. Contrary to earlier studies, the book shows that shadow education does not inevitably result in increasing or persisting inequalities, but also inherits the potential to let students overcome their status-specific disadvantages and contributes to more opportunities in education. Against the background of the continuous expansion and the convergence of shadow education systems across the globe, the findings of this book call for similar works in other national contexts, particularly Western societies without traditional large-scale shadow education markets. The book emphasizes the importance and urgency to deal with the modern excesses of educational expansion and education as an institution, in which the shadow education industry has made itself (seemingly) indispensable.
Download or read book Inequality Amid Affluence written by Junsuke Hara and published by Trans Pacific Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The two leading sociologists of social stratification in Japan argue that most Japanese have attained a level of income in which they no longer suffer from poverty and starvation, a situation in which Japan has achieved an equalization of basic wealth.
Download or read book Deviance and Inequality in Japan written by Robert Stuart Yoder and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores state controls in Japan, focusing on the interrelation of inequality and deviance of youth and migrant groups which leads to crime.
Download or read book Demographic Change and Inequality in Japan written by Sawako Shirahase and published by Apollo Books. This book was released on 2011 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in Japanese in 2006 by University of Tokyo Press as Henkasuru shakai no fubyaodao.
Download or read book Japan s New Inequality written by Yoshimichi Satō and published by Apollo Books. This book was released on 2011 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the collapse of Japan's bubble-economy in the late 1980s, a wide range of neo-liberal reforms were introduced which dramatically affected the nature of the labor market. These reforms expanded and consolidated a two-tier market, widening the gap between those who benefit from the 'company citizenship' of 'regular' (long-term, secure) employment conditions and those who are increasingly disadvantaged by reduced income and security in the peripheral Ã?Â?Ã?Â?non-regular system of casual and short-term employment. The contributions in this volume use the 2005 Social Stratification and Mobility (SSM) survey data to analyze the effects of Japanese labor market reforms on social mobility, social welfare, company 'citizenship, ' incomes, as well as the policy implications for homelessness. (Series: Social Stratification and Inequality) *** "The volume makes a timely contribution in the context of extensive public debate in the media and recent academic works about the widening gap between rich and poor, and about the consequences of that gap for individuals and the society as a whole. The book is a valuable addition to the field and complements recent publications on social inequality . . . [and] is significant in two major ways. The first is that, going beyond quantitative changes in social inequality, it illuminates, and convincingly argues for, qualitative changes in social inequality. This is insightful. It advances our understanding of patterns of inequality, since we have long seen debates on increasing inequality in income and life chances and in terms of the 'working poor' and 'new poverty.' The second significance is the authors' insistence that institutions rather than individual attributes guide social inequality . . . Institutions set boundaries to, and guide, family and individual decision and actions, which have resulted in the qualitative changes in social inequality in the last three decades." - Journal of Japanese Studies, Vol. 40, No. 1, 2014Ã?Â?Ã?Â?
Download or read book The Atlas of Health Inequalities in Japan written by Tomoki Nakaya and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-10-04 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new health atlas of Japan presents a series of maps about the health of the contemporary Japanese population, i.e. detailed maps of health indicators in small areas using cartograms. This is the first comprehensive small-area based health atlas about contemporary Japan using vital statistics from 1995-2014. Each map is supplemented with concise explanations written by leading epidemiologists and health geographers in Japan. The book employs various cutting-edge methods in spatial epidemiology, Bayesian spatial smoothing for the reliable mapping of mortality indices, advanced cartographic transformations using the concept of aerial cartograms, and summary statistics of socioeconomic health inequalities. The atlas highlights geographical aspects of social gradients in health by comparing mortality maps with distribution of deprivation index during the recent long-lasting economic stagnation period of Japan known as the lost decades. This health atlas will be a useful resource for international comparisons between Japan and other advanced countries in terms of health and related socioeconomic disparities between regions. It will be of interest to public health practitioners, administrators, researchers and students working on health geography and public health.
Download or read book Too Few Women at the Top written by Kumiko Nemoto and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-03 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The number of women in positions of power and authority in Japanese companies has remained small despite the increase in the number of educated women and the passage of legislation on gender equality. In Too Few Women at the Top, Kumiko Nemoto draws on theoretical insights regarding Japan’s coordinated capitalism and institutional stasis to challenge claims that the surge in women’s education and employment will logically lead to the decline of gender inequality and eventually improve women’s status in the Japanese workplace. Nemoto’s interviews with diverse groups of workers at three Japanese financial companies and two cosmetics companies in Tokyo reveal the persistence of vertical sex segregation as a cost-saving measure by Japanese companies. Women’s advancement is impeded by customs including seniority pay and promotion, track-based hiring of women, long working hours, and the absence of women leaders. Nemoto contends that an improvement in gender equality in the corporate system will require that Japan fundamentally depart from its postwar methods of business management. Only when the static labor market is revitalized through adoption of new systems of cost savings, employee hiring, and rewards will Japanese women advance in their chosen professions. Comparison with the situation in the United States makes the author’s analysis of the Japanese case relevant for understanding the dynamics of the glass ceiling in U.S. workplaces as well.
Download or read book Education in Contemporary Japan written by Kaori Okano and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1999-04-08 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A balanced introduction to and examination of contemporary Japanese education. While the postwar system of schooling has provided valuable ingredients for economic success, it has been accompanied by unfavourable developments such as excessively competitive exams, stifling uniformity, bullying, and an undervaluing of non-Japanese ethnicity. This book offers up-to-date information and new perspectives on schooling in contemporary Japanese society, and uses detailed ethnographic studies and interviews with students and teachers. It examines the main developments of modern schooling in Japan, from the beginning of the Meiji era up to the present, and includes analysis of the most recent reforms. It develops a new picture of the role that schooling plays for individuals and the wider society. Essential reading for students and educators alike.
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Politics written by Robert J. Pekkanen and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-10-25 with total page 1001 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Book Abstract and Keywords: The study of Japanese politics has flourished over the past several decades. This Handbook provides a state-of-the-field overview for students and researchers of Japanese. The volume also serves to introduce Japanese politics to readers less familiar with Japan. In addition, the volume has a theme of "evaluating Japan's democracy." Taken as a whole, the volume provides a positive evaluation of the state of Japan's democracy. The volume is divided into two parts, roughly corresponding to domestic Japanese politics and Japan's international politics. Within the domestic politics part, there are four distinct sections: "Domestic Political Actors and Institutions," covering the Japanese Constitution, electoral systems, prime minister, Diet, bureaucracy, judiciary, and local government; "Political Parties and Coalitions," covering the Liberal Democratic Party, coalition government, Kōmeitō, and the political opposition; "Policymaking and the Public," covering the policymaking process, public opinion, civil society, and populism; and, "Political Economy and Social Policy," covering industrial, energy, social welfare, agricultural, monetary, and immigration policies, as well as social inequality. In the international relations part, there are four sections: "International Relations Frameworks," covering grand strategy, international organizations, and international status; "International Political Economy," covering trade, finance, foreign direct investment, the environment, economic regionalism, and the linkage between security and economics; "International Security," covering remilitarization, global and regional security multilateralism, nuclear nonproliferation, naval power, space security, and cybersecurity; and, "Foreign Relations" covering Japan's relations with the United States, China, South Korea, ASEAN, India, the European Union, and Russia. Keywords: international relations, comparative politics, democracy, international order, alliances, space security, elections, Liberal Democratic Party, multilateralism, remilitarization, international organizations, populism, civil society, coalitions, political parties, trade, finance monetary policy, foreign direct investment, cybersecurity"--
Download or read book Education and Social Justice in Japan written by Kaori H. Okano and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-09 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an up-to-date critical examination of schooling in Japan by an expert in this field. It focuses on developments in the last two decades, with a particular interest in social justice. Japan has experienced slow economic growth, changed employment practices, population decline, an aging society, and an increasingly multi-ethnic population resulting from migration. It has faced a call to respond to the rhetoric of globalization and to concerns in childhood poverty in the perceived affluence. In education we have seen developments responding to these challenges in national and local educational policies, as well as in school-level practices. What are the most significant developments in schooling of the last two decades? Why have these developments emerged, and how will they affect youth and society as a whole? How can we best interpret social justice implications of these developments in terms of both distributive justice and the politics of difference? To what extent have the shifts advanced the interests of disadvantaged groups? This book shows that, compared to three decades ago, the system of education increasingly acknowledges the need to address student diversity of all kinds, and delivers options that are more varied and flexible. But interest in social justice in education has tended to centre on the distribution of education (who gets how much of schooling), with fewer questions raised about the content of schooling that continues to advantage the already advantaged. Written in a highly accessible style, and aimed at scholars and students in the fields of comparative education, sociology of education and Japanese studies, this book illuminates changing policies and cumulative adjustments in the daily practice of schooling, as well as how various groups in society make sense of these changes.
