The Japanese Family System in Transition

Fülszöveg

The Japanese Family System in Transition
To understand what lies ahead for Japanese families in the 21st century, we must first know how the family has changed in postwar Japan. In this book, originally published in 1994 and updated for the English edition, sociologist Ochiai Emiko challenges conventional views of both the "success" and the "crisis" of the Japanese family.
The key concept of the Postwar Family System is introduced to explain the relative stability and uniformity of family life in Japan from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, together with an analysis of the complex social and demographic processes at work in this structure's formation and continuing decline.
The Japanese Family System in Transition examines the "housewifization" of Japanese women and its abrupt reversal, the growing preference for later marriage, the questioning of gender roles, the pressures imposed on Japa-
nese mothers and children by the nuclear family, the care of the elderly in an aging... Tovább

Fülszöveg

The Japanese Family System in Transition
To understand what lies ahead for Japanese families in the 21st century, we must first know how the family has changed in postwar Japan. In this book, originally published in 1994 and updated for the English edition, sociologist Ochiai Emiko challenges conventional views of both the "success" and the "crisis" of the Japanese family.
The key concept of the Postwar Family System is introduced to explain the relative stability and uniformity of family life in Japan from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, together with an analysis of the complex social and demographic processes at work in this structure's formation and continuing decline.
The Japanese Family System in Transition examines the "housewifization" of Japanese women and its abrupt reversal, the growing preference for later marriage, the questioning of gender roles, the pressures imposed on Japa-
nese mothers and children by the nuclear family, the care of the elderly in an aging society, and the implications of the much-discussed low birthrate and rising divorce rate, among other topics. By shifting the focus from the legacy of the traditional ie system to Japan's experience of the "modern family" common to all modern societies, Professor Ochiai situates the history of the family in Japan within an international context, drawing comparisons with other Asian nations as well as the West.
The author's presentation of a wealth of sociological and demographic research is enlivened with personal asides (and occasional broadsides), illustrations from popular culture, and a unique chapter on the writings of the Japanese women's movement in the early 1970s. In reaching the conclusion that Japan is in transition toward a society whose basic unit is the individual rather than the family. Professor Ochiai raises many thought-provoking questions while offering a solid theoretical framework for the increasingly urgent debate over social policy beyond the year 2000. Vissza