RIGHTS-JAPAN: Slowly, Gender Equation Shows Some Shifts

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, May 15 1999 (IPS) - Koichiro Imamura, 66, introduces himself as a “full-time househusband” these days and insists he has no qualms ditching his more than three-decade old title as manager of a medium-sized company.

“I decided to be bluntly open about my new role,” says the grinning, middle-aged man, dressed in baggy blue jeans. “I don’t really mind doing all the things that were once considered my wife’s business.”

Imamura’s situation reveals a startling change in conservative gender roles in this male-dominated society — and a new report compiled by the Labour Ministry on male occupations supports what some social analysts say are major changes underway in Japan.

In surveys carried out between 1985 and 1995, the number of men registering themselves as full-time househusbands on official documents have more than doubled to 506,000. Part-time househusbands in 1995 totaled almost 340,000.

“Statistics of househusbands will only keep rising as Japanese women force their spouses to change,” says Haruki Murase, a well-known commentator on the issue.

“More and more Japanese men are beginning to realise that unless they learn how to handle the vacuum cleaner, they could well be spending their old age without the companionship of their wives,” he adds.

Murase, 55, became an instant media celebrity in the early eighties as Japan’s “first househusband” when he decided to give up his company job and look after his young children.

He says there is a now subtle change in deep-rooted cultural norms that once ruled Japan. “While it is true that younger Japanese men do not do much in terms of housework, there are definitely more older men willing to cook and clean now than fifty years ago,” Murase explains.

“And what’s more, surveys indicate that couples have a better relationship as a result,” he says.

The government survey indicates that the highest number of househusbands were between the ages of 65 and 69 years — 127,380 of them –followed by 95,000 who were in their early seventies.

Reasons for being househusbands ranged from the death of spouses, or having working wives. In many cases in the survey, many men answered that they were satisfied being in charge of cooking and cleaning.

Mitsuko Yamaguchi, head of the women’s group Ichikawa Fusae Memorial Association, traces shifting gender roles to the fact that more women have begun to assert their right to develop as an individual.

“Japanese society is still based on traditional concepts,” she says. “But once the children have left home, there are more women involved in activities outside their home, such as part- time jobs or community work, which means they are just not there to look after their husbands like it was before,” explains Yamaguchi.

Last month, the Prime Minister’s office, using the United Nations Development Programme’s gender index, cited Japan as 38th in the world in terms of female participation in decision- making.

The report pointed out that there were only 24 women holding seats in the 500-seat Lower House in the Japanese parliament. While women comprise a little more than half of the labour force, equal treatment at the work place is still a long way off.

Still, as Imamura’s situation indicates, there are important developments taking place within Japan’s more well-known image as a country that is ranked lower in terms of gender relations.

Many of these strides cannot solely be measured on western terms, such as in the workplace, given Japan’s historically low status of women. But from the Japanse viewpoint, these changes are remarkable.

Social analysts say that Japanese women today, shut out from managerial level in big corporations, have nevertheless managed to acquire for themselves an enviable position in society.

In contrast to their husbands, who are tied to their jobs, housewives, who now have fewer children and are in charge of the household budget, claim free time and economic independence that previous generations could only dream about.

Indeed, Asahi Broadcasting corporation announced at the end of April the results of a survey where close to 70 percent of female respondents chose “woman” rather than “man” when asked to chose what they would like to be if given the chance to be reborn.

“The answer is no surprise,” says Yamaguchi. “Most Japanese women have it easy compared to men especially when it comes to the amount of leisure time they have to enjoy themselves.”

Sociologists also say the new situation is now translating into sowing the seeds for further, if gradual, changes in more equal gender relations.

Indeed, women here are realising they are capable of forcing change. A case in point was the April mayoral election, in which an ordinary housewife was elected and became the first woman mayor in Tokyo.

Murase adds that the bursting of Japan’s economic bubble has helped shifts in gender roles along — more women will now have to work to support the household and as a result will seek full- time careers rather than low paid, part-time jobs.

Says Murase: “When more women are at the helm, only then will we see Japanese society becoming an equal place for men and women.”