The main focus of this thesis is the Japanese gendered and masculinized work culture in relation to the creation of a work-life balance (WLB) for employees in large companies. Specific problems...Show moreThe main focus of this thesis is the Japanese gendered and masculinized work culture in relation to the creation of a work-life balance (WLB) for employees in large companies. Specific problems with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s current ‘Womenomics’ program and possible consequences are looked into. It is argued why instead of focusing on certain targets (e.g, 30% of high positions occupied by women), companies have to innovate their current working environments and establish gender equality in order to eventually be able to create a WLB. This thesis also includes a case study that discusses Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido’s views and strategy in creating a WLB for all employees.Show less
This thesis explores hafu and identity in japan, with an emphasis on the importance of race, relying on Stuart Hall's theories on race. Hafu have become quite popular in Japanese media in recent...Show moreThis thesis explores hafu and identity in japan, with an emphasis on the importance of race, relying on Stuart Hall's theories on race. Hafu have become quite popular in Japanese media in recent years, however are still faced with discrimination in their daily lives. While hafu as a topic has been broadly discussed in available literature, they are too often focused on 'hafu' as a single ethnic identity, and mostly focused on the white hafu, which see the most popularity in media. This thesis attempts a broader approach by focusing on hafu of multiple different backgrounds such as Zainichi Korean and Filipinos, to show hafu experiences and identity formation differ greatly within the group. This approach also shows how race, and how one society views one particular race has a great impact on one’s ethnic identity formation that should always be considered when discussing hafu, rather than taking 'hafu' as one ethnic identity.Show less
Stories such as Madama Butterfly and Memoirs of a Geisha have garnered much attention and have been received with much enthusiasm by the general audience. These stories tend to deal with Asian...Show moreStories such as Madama Butterfly and Memoirs of a Geisha have garnered much attention and have been received with much enthusiasm by the general audience. These stories tend to deal with Asian women as highly sexualised, fetishised and infantilised, mirroring larger processes of power found most evidently in the theory of Orientalism. They integrate both traditional clichés and love stories within the pattern of ‘the West’ portraying ‘the East’, based on the assumption formulated by Karl Marx as: “They cannot represent themselves, they must be represented” (Said 1978, xxv). This paper will focus on how the same process of phrasing and representing can be found in English language news media and how we can understand this through processes of discourse, knowledge and power of which Orientalism provides an important example. The case study which will be used to demonstrate this point will consist of English language news reportage about the presumed massive involvement of Japanese women in an extramarital dating website, Ashley Madison, which has been launched in Japan in 2013. I will try to show how we can identify certain principles and mechanisms of the concept of Orientalism and thereby offer insight into the discursive construct that inform images of women in general, Asian women and also relationships between Japan and other countries. This offers some insight into how unequal power relations, which have their roots in past centuries, continue to thrive today through media representations. The main question answered in this thesis is: “How does reportage on Japanese women in major English language news media reflect the continuing processes of power and knowledge found in Orientalism?”.Show less
This thesis is focused on the foreign reception of visual kei performers. Through an analysis of the concept of masculinity and the online fan community this thesis attempts to grasp the different...Show moreThis thesis is focused on the foreign reception of visual kei performers. Through an analysis of the concept of masculinity and the online fan community this thesis attempts to grasp the different discourses on masculinity that exist within Japan and beyond.Show less
These days, all industrialized countries in the world have some kind of law implemented targeting women's rights on the job market. Yet the wage gap as well as 4other hurdles remain despite these...Show moreThese days, all industrialized countries in the world have some kind of law implemented targeting women's rights on the job market. Yet the wage gap as well as 4other hurdles remain despite these laws. The question is therefore what factors play a role in the fact that Japanese women who are among the best educated in the world, who not only have the Labor Standard Law, but an Equal Employment Opportunity Law as well, must contend with a substantial wage gap and such high unemployment rates? This thesis will consist of two parts aside from the introductory and the closing chapters. The first part will be chapter two, containing a literature review in which the research of several western scholars as well as native Japanese scholars concerning their assessment of the EEOL in Japan will be discussed and evaluated. In addition this part will also discuss the different roles companies and government play with regard to keeping the oppression of women in the labor market as it is, or furthering equal opportunity. In the second part of this thesis, chapter 3, the difficulties that working women, annd specifically working mothers, face in their day to day life will be examined on the basis of interviews conducted by scholars with these working women and mothers.Show less
This thesis discusses rehabilitation for the mentally ill in Japan. Though not completely new to Japan, rehabilitation as a method is only slowly progressing despite several researches that have...Show moreThis thesis discusses rehabilitation for the mentally ill in Japan. Though not completely new to Japan, rehabilitation as a method is only slowly progressing despite several researches that have shown positive results come from rehabilitation. A light is shown on the current situation from the viewpoint of the government, the patients and the family in order to clarify the reason for this slow progress of rehabilitation in Japan.Show less
