Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2019. vi, 275 pp. (Tables, figures.) US$25.00, paper. ISBN 978-0-472-03770-4.
Japan is one of the most economically developed countries in the world and is the only non-Western country that is a member of G8. Despite this economic achievement, the representation of women in politics and corporate management is the lowest among G8 countries and even lower than that of many developing countries. The book, Beyond the Gender Gap in Japan, edited by Gill Steel, examines the complexity of women’s labour and political participation in Japan. A number of studies about Japanese women have provided analysis of the ways they experience gender inequality and how its perpetuation is maintained in Japanese society. The strength of this edited volume is its focus on the change in the representation of women over time and the agency of women in making their life and family lives better despite gender-based constraints. The collection of 14 essays, each highlighting the experiences of a different group of women, showcases diversity in their life choices and responses to the gendered-based constraints in both the corporate world and politics. By doing so, the book gives an intricate and dynamic picture of Japanese women that is different from the static image of women victimized by sexism that is painted by the rankings of the several international gender equality indices such as the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index and the United Nations Development Program’s Gender Inequality Index.
The book consists of four sections, three of which are dedicated to studies of Japanese women’s broader political participation. However, it starts with a section on “how women live (and want to live)” (23). Despite the high level of women’s labour participation, traditional gender expectations that correspond with and reinforce a nuclear family with a breadwinner husband and homemaker wife still severely limit women’s advancement into managerial positions. Womenomic policies meant to increase the number of women in managerial positions have mostly failed because the long-standing corporate custom of long work hours and unwavering dedication to work has never changed (chapter 1). In addition, even if men are willing to accept a new role that includes housework and childcare, most of them continue to embrace the internalized masculine expectation of career success (chapter 2). However, women are actively shaping their lives to promote their own welfare by strategically choosing which activities they engage in during their free time (chapter 3) or even remaining single (chapter 4).
The next three sections are dedicated to women’s broader political participation. Section two focuses on “how and why women participate in politics” (101). It highlights a contradictory influence of traditional gender expectations—particularly motherhood—on women’s political engagement (chapters 5 and 6) and the role of women’s divisions in the Liberal Democratic Party in mobilizing support and influencing public policies (chapter 7). The last chapter in this section discusses the rise of Koike Yuriko, a prominent female politician who was elected governor of Tokyo, and the ways she navigated the masculine national political scene (chapter 8). Section three addresses “how public policy tries to influence private behaviours” (167). It discusses the politics of everyday life used by both women activists and the government for different political interests (chapter 9), the limitations of promoting three-generation households to address the issue of childcare (chapter 10), and the government’s effort to manage gender stigma in the international community (chapter 11). The last section examines the “uneven change in women’s representation” (313). It analyzes the representation of women in local and national politics and their different roles in the government and policy-making. Despite the majority of Japanese citizens accepting political leadership by women, their advancement into national-level elected office has been slow because of a lack of critical resources such as money and an associational support base, women’s primary role as homemaker and caregiver, and masculine work expectations typically observed in corporations. On the other hand, we have seen a substantial increase in the presence of women in local elected offices. Local politics tend to deal with issues that directly affect women and their families and participation allows them to stay in their communities (chapter 12). Even in national-level politics and policy-making, the representation of women in the cabinet, advisory councils, and ministry bureaucracy has also significantly increased since the 1990s. The high level of discretion in appointing ministers, low employment constraints for serving in the councils, and the gender quota required for hiring agency bureaucrats have all led to a higher representation of women compared with national-level elected office (chapter 13). The last essay argues that the national gender quota and the political system with its larger districts will increase the representation of women in national-level elected office.
Overall, this book offers an excellent collection of essays that show the complex and diverse life choices that Japanese women make within their gender-based constraints. Steel argues that changes in corporate customs and structure, the introduction of the national gender quota, and electoral system reforms are necessary for women’s advancement into national politics and higher positions in the corporate world. However, she also notes that Japanese women generally do not demand significant change because they “benefit from the security the system engenders” (17). Is reform possible or even desirable when women themselves do not call for it? This is the question that remains unanswered.
Akiko Yasuike
California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks