1st Edition

The Changing Japanese Family

Edited By Marcus Rebick, Ayumi Takenaka Copyright 2006
    234 Pages 21 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    234 Pages 21 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The Japanese family is shifting in fundamental ways, specifically in terms of attitudes towards family and societal relationships, and also the role of the family in society. Changing Japanese Family explores these significant changes which include an ageing population, delayed marriages, a fallen birth rate, which has fallen below the level needed for replacement, and a decline in three-generational households and family businesses.

    The authors investigate these changes and the effects of them on Japanese society, whilst also setting the study in the context of wider economic and social changes in Japan. They offer interesting comparisons with international societies, especially with Southern Europe, where similar changes to the family and its role are occuring. This fascinating text is essential reading for those with an enthusiasm in Japanese studies but will also engage those with a concern in Japanese culture and society, as well as appealing to a readership with a wider interest in the sociology of the family.

    Part 1: Introduction  1. The Changing Japanese Family  Part 2: The Demographic Transition  2. Demographics of the Japanese Family: Entering Uncharted Territory  3. Japanese Youth’s Attitudes Towards Marriage and Child-Rearing  4. Strong in Tradition and yet Innovative: The Puzzles of the Italian Family  Part 3: The Shifting Gender Balance  5. Changes in the Workplace and their Impact on the Family  6. The Emergence of "Nurturing Fathers": Discourses and Practices of Fatherhood in Contemporary Japan  7. Changing Language, Gender and Family Relations in Japan  Part 4: Shifts in the Boundaries of the Family  8. Mother-Rearing: The Social World of Mothers in a Japanese Suburb  9. Policing the Japanese Family: Child Abuse, Domestic Violence and the Changing Role of the State  10. Changing Families and Policy Responses to an Ageing Japanese Society  11. Different Paths to Welfare: Family Transformations, the Production of Welfare, and Future Prospects for Social Care in Italy and Japan

    Biography

    Marcus Rebick is University Lecturer in the Japanese Economy at Oxford University and a fellow of St. Antony’s College. His research interests include labour economics, the Japanese economy, the economics of ageing and the economics of higher education.

    Ayumi Takenaka is Assistant Professor of sociology at Bryn Mawr College and Research Associate of the Population Studies Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Her areas of research interest are international migration, ethnic and racial relations, social inequality and comparative Japanese studies.

    'This rare collection of excellent essays is a worthy addition to the literature, full of insights and well-documented findings and perspectives. Scholars and other interested readers, policy makers, and students will find much useful material in it.' - Merry I. White, Journal of Japanese Studies, Volume 33