The Impact of Cultural Values on the Modern Japanese Family Essay Example

ties. The hierarchy of the family structure was based on the leadership by the most active and able-bodied malesfootnoteRef:3.

In this case, it is the father or the eldest son who had the final say in the decisions involving all the members in the family structure. Once in a while, the ‘ie.’ families were obliged by the traditional Japanese cultures to look for close family members in the leadership for the family creating the ‘stem’ system of a family. 3: Foner, Nancy. "The immigrant family: Cultural legacies and cultural changes." International migration review (1997): 961-974.

The Structure of the ‘ie’ Family

In the traditional family structure, the size of the family’s often changed due to the deaths, births as well as the marriage of daughter into or outside the family structure. The ‘ie’ consisted of a category of selected family members who were expected to keep the family structure and the cycle going and activefootnoteRef:4.

After the father retires as the family head, the eldest sons were assumed to take responsibility for the family taking all the burdens and being firmly in charge. Up to the WW2, the family provided the hierarchical structure of the family with the non-disabled and the eldest at the apex. The rest of the hierarchy was based on sex and age reflecting the status of the members of the family. In maximizing the welfare of the family, the head of the i.e., had to control everything that was under their roof ensuring that the family systems were still running. 4: Goode, William J. "World revolution and family patterns." (2005).

Family relations in Japan reflected collectivist nature in the society where all the members

of the family played varying roles. The expectations were high for every member to work towards the betterment of the family as a whole rather than individuals in the traditional family structure. The roles of women in the family were however not much magnified as they were required to remain at home raising the children as well dealing with other home chores. However, after the WW2, there were drastic changes in the structure of the family with the roles of the various family members changedfootnoteRef:5.

5: Heine, Steven J., ShinobuKitayama, Darrin R. Lehman, ToshitakeTakata, Eugene Ide, Cecilia Leung, and Hisaya Matsumoto. "Divergent consequences of success and failure in japan and north america: an investigation of self-improving motivations and malleable selves." Journal of personality and social psychology 81, no. 4 (2001): 599.

Post-war Family Set-up after WW2

After the WW2, a new family ideology was established in Japan based on equal rights for the empowerment for the women. This was coupled with equal inheritance for by all the children as well as free choices by the spouses regarding education and carrier.

Starting from the early 1960’s, most marriages in Japan changed from the traditional arrangements by the parents and the community to mutual attraction of the respective couplesfootnoteRef:6. Although the cultural negotiations are still done by the family members or the community, the parties involved in the courtship, that is, the bride and the groom must be satisfied with the relationship for the negotiations to kick off. Under the ‘ie’ system, nonsuccesor households were setting up their households leaving the minority households with three generations at a time. Between 1970 and 1983, three generation households fell proportionally by

3% in the between the two periods while the two generation households with a couple and children increased by 1% within the same periodfootnoteRef:7. On the side of couple-only households, the greatest change has been recorded over the years as more and more Japanese families resort not to bearing kids due to the government policy as well as the hard economic times.

6: Kim, Youna. "Female individualization?Transnational mobility and media consumption of Asian women." In Women and the Media in Asia, pp. 31-52. Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2012. 7: Lee, Kristen Schultz, and Hiroshi Ono.

"Specialization and happiness in marriage: A US–Ja comparison." Social Science Research 37, no. 4 (2008): 1216-1234. In the 1980’s, public opinion surveys confirmed that most of the Japanese families were shifting away from the three-generation ‘ie’ family model to a two-generation model. Various respondents were of the view that the first son played a little role in the continuation of the household and therefore the cultural practices of adopting sons to ensure continuity of the family were slowly becoming infamous in Japan. According to official statistics, the Japanese concept of the family has continued to align itself to the USA from 1990 onwards although on a smaller margin compared to other Asian countries such as China which have almost entirely adopted the USA westernized family system. Divorce rates have been increasing though slowly over the years.

For instance, in 1990, the divorce rate in Japan was reported to be at 1.5% for 1000 marriages, and this was considered far below the international standardsfootnoteRef:8 . However, rigid gender roles remained at the helm of the family responsibilities in line with the Japanese cultural family values.

8: Rindfuss, Ronald R., Minja Kim Choe, Larry L. Bumpass, and Noriko O. Tsuya. "Social networks and family change in Japan." American Sociological Review 69, no.

6 (2004): 838-861.

Primogeniture

This was a traditional Japanese family system which provided that most of the entire family should be passed to the eldest son. This includes the entire estate of the family, financial assets, the social roles and the occupation which was a distinct feature of the Japanese family systemfootnoteRef:9. However, the kinship is not unique to Japan but widely accepted and practiced by hundreds of nations in the western world as well. The primogeniture system has been in practice in Japan since time immemorial. However, in the last decade or so, the system has raised concerns over the inequality it creates over the girl child who may not be able to inherit wealth from the parents because they are not of the male gender.

Nevertheless, the system is still fully operational in Japanese families in the contemporary world. 9: Rosenberger, Nancy Ross. Gambling with virtue: Japanese women and the search for self in a changing nation.University of Hawaii Press, 2001. Traditionally, Japanese families with more than one son will typically send the second son to the growing cities to find employment in the industries and start a new life. This has been labeled as the cornerstone of the industrial revolution in Japan. The ability of the Japanese traditional family system of sending other kids to school without eroding the stability of the rural life has enabled Japan to undergo industrialization with small social breakdown over the years.

Culturally, the Japanese marriage system was organized in a way that the

firstborn son was the only one who is supposed to inherit the family property leaving the question; what happens to the remaining questions? In the case of daughters as it is today, the family organizes for marriage in another family so that their daughter would be incorporated into another family and continues with her lifefootnoteRef:10. This is also true for the majority of other Asian countries in that the traditional kinship organization organizes kinship marriages for the children of the same generation. 10: Shwalb, David W., and Barbara J. Shwalb. Japanese Childrearing: Two Generations of Scholarship.

Guilford Press, Maple Press Distribution Center, I-83 Industrial Park, PO Box 15100, York, PA 17405, 1996. On the other hand, a family may be having three sons, for instance, leaving a question of what happens to the two sons once the first son has inherited the family powers and property. In essence, the Japan family kinship system argues that just as the daughters, the sons too can be married as grooms to other families and start their life there. This is a unique marriage culture that makes Japanese kinship system different from other countries around the globe.

Roles in the Family

In the Japanese family system, the roles of the father, mother and the children have a firm root and bearing from the traditional cultures that have been in place in Japan for centuries now. In many Japanese families, the father regularly goes out for work and spends long hours at the workplace.

These roots back into the post-war era whereby Japan adopted an industrious working policy for all the workersfootnoteRef:11. However, many families own businesses located in the same buildings

with the families and therefore there is little separation between the family and the man’s place of work. On the other hand, the there is a high probability that there will be a significant separation between fathers and their families in the case where men work far from home and for long hours as required by the Japanese work policy. This has often created dynamism in the change of the family roles as most of the fathers are more often than not absent from their wives and children.

11: Wrzus, Cornelia, Martha Hänel, Jenny Wagner, and Franz J.Neyer. "Social network changes and life events across the life span: A meta-analysis." Psychological bulletin 139, no. 1 (2013): 53. The fact that majority of Japanese fathers in the urban set up are always away for work leaves the mothers with the responsibility of raising the kids, guarding the family and managing the family finances.

The fact that fathers are absent from their children’s lives has created an enormous psychological problem for the young kids who lack father figures on the families. However, the Japanese cultural values on the discipline of the children are quite strict, and therefore mothers are left with a hard responsibility of nurturing their kids in the absence of fathers working for long hours in the industrial sector. Research has shown that in Japan, the traditional family expectations, norms, and cultures are resisting the pressures from shifts in the educational system, human resources and consumption as well as the increasing desire for more chances in the professional fields. The general resistance from the traditional norms on the various aspects of the marriage is likely to change

the family behavior.

According to Rosenberger (2001) individuals usually see innovative behaviors by the families as the remedies facing the traditional family set up in Japan. As argued earlier, the significant changes in Japan have been combined creating conditions for swift shifts in the family structure. Amongst the factors that are bringing change in the family set up in Japan include a high demand for highly-trained employees in the labor market, jobs that are aligned to childbearing, improved educational levels, as well as other job prospects for the female gender in the Japanese society.

Conclusion

The use of childcare in Japan has brought a few dynamics in the roles of women in the marriage.

Despite the increase in the number of preschool slots in daycare centers, Japan has experienced an increased number of children waiting to join the pre-elementary school system. This is a clear indication that women in the Japanese marriage are now busy working with their counterparts, that is, husbands, creating a change in the traditional roles of women and men in marriage. On the other hand, the government has encouraged women to work in the formal sectors rather than being housewives as it was the case in the traditional Japanese marriage set up. Although there is still evidence of women discrimination in the offering of job opportunities, women have shown a great desire to be part of the formal labor force in Japan. Further, the childcare systems have facilitated the women in combining their traditional mother roles and work without much inconvenience.

However, with the new child care systems of raising kids, another problem is created whereby children spend long hours in the absence of

both parents unlike before when it was only the father who was absent due to long hours at the job.

Bibliography

1. Brewster, Karin L., and Ronald R. Rindfuss. "Fertility and women's employment in industrialized nations." Annual review of sociology 26 (2000): 271-296.
2. Foner, Nancy. "The immigrant family: Cultural legacies and cultural changes." International migration review (1997): 961-974. Goode, William J. "World revolution and family patterns." (2005).
3. Heine, Steven J., ShinobuKitayama, Darrin R. Lehman, ToshitakeTakata, Eugene Ide, Cecilia Leung, and Hisaya Matsumoto. "Divergent consequences of success and failure in japan and north america: an investigation of self-improving motivations and malleable selves."
4. Journal of personality and social psychology 81, no. 4 (2001): 599.
5. Kim, Youna.

   "Female individualization?Transnational mobility and media consumption of Asian women." In Women and the Media in Asia, pp. 31-52. Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2012.

6. Lee, Kristen Schultz, and Hiroshi Ono. "Specialization and happiness in marriage: A US–Japan comparison." Social Science Research 37, no. 4 (2008): 1216-1234.
7. Rindfuss, Ronald R., Minja Kim Choe, Larry L.

   Bumpass, and Noriko O. Tsuya. "Social networks and family change in Japan." American

8. Sociological Review 69, no. 6 (2004): 838-861.
9. Rosenberger, Nancy Ross.

   Gambling with virtue: Japanese women and the search for self in a changing nation.University of Hawaii Press, 2001.

10. Shwalb, David W., and Barbara J. Shwalb. Japanese Childrearing: Two Generations of Scholarship. Guilford Press, Maple Press Distribution
11. Center, I-83 Industrial Park, PO Box 15100, York, PA 17405, 1996.
12. Wrzus, Cornelia, Martha Hänel, Jenny Wagner, and Franz J.Neyer. "Social network changes and life events across the life span: A meta-analysis." Psychological bulletin 139, no. 1 (2013): 53.