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Relationships in Japan:a brief overview of our essay

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Relationships in Japan:a brief overview of our essay

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Our essay speaks firstly of the historical significance of male and female relationships. It explains that at the very beginning of Japan's history, it was a matrilineal society where women had many important parts and places. They were equal to men on the most part until they reached the Heian Era and their economical influence waned. The coming of Confucianism further opened the gap between what roles women were allowed to have and what men did. Slowly but surely though these changes began to be unraveled as ideas from the west came into Japan and things began to change in more modern times. The Japanese word for wife continues to this day to mean "inside house" and husband as "main person." Female children were raised to reflect on these differences, as they were to be obedient, modest, and humble and should have refrained from being too much of a tomboy or hang out with the opposite sex. Today these restrictions are less enforced and the number of opposite sex friendships are on the rise. Another topic touched upon is the two types of marriages that exist still today in Japan; arranged and love marriages. Arranged marriages were often arranged by the families of the perspective bride and groom without a previous meeting of the two people. These marriages benefited the families of those involved, but gave little to no options for the groom and bride. Love marriages are those of which we are more familiar with in the west, where each person gets married according to whom ever pleases them. These are on the rise in recent times in Japan, but yet another option has been increasing also. Staying single has become a very viable option, often for women who are not married, because it helps them focus more on their careers as they were not allowed to do so before. There are still many different issues faced by men and women of Japan, as they face their original Japanese relationship traditions and the newer and ever changing ones that come from the west. Still today though, women are often subjected to the same stereotypes that are present in the west (those of staying at home) as well as men who wish to defy normalcy in Japan and stay home.

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1. Do you think that male and female relationships in Japan will continue to become less strictly enforced? Why or why not?

2. In what visible ways do you see women's roles in Japan changing? Explain.

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Though the Japanese would see our romantic relationships as more open than their own, the Japanese whose views of Western romantic relationships are based purely on what they have seen in movies is not, in reality, a realistic notion. This is especially true because our movies tend to romanticize many aspects and exaggerate to a certain degree.

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It is not uncommon for young Japanese women to resign from the their work positions after marriage, so it is not hard to see where this kind of question comes from, but to ask only the women this questions is simply not appropriate to the work place, which should maintain a professional atmosphere.

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The concept of tekireiki has indeed changed in modern Japan, although there remains a pressure for women to marry before a certain age. The subject of tekireiki is one that is touched upon with care and more consideration in today's society. This is because Tekireiki once had a very negative conotation,and if young women passed tekireiki they were considered urenokori , which indicates unsold products or vegetables.

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http://jkephartjapan.weebly.com/2/post/2013/02/gender-roles-in-japanese-society.html

http://marklsl.tripod.com/Writings/japan.htm

http://davegurtov.hubpages.com

http://family.jrank.org/pages/984/Japan-Gender-Roles.html

http://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1487&context=jiws

http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/2123/2164/1/Lillian%20Mai.pdf

http://open.bu.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/2144/3841/lindholm_etnofoor10_preprint.pdf?sequence=1

http://www.quietmountainessays.org/Inoue.html

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Many Japanese people seem to have an image of relationships in the West that is built purely on what they see in the movies. do they have a realistic view of love and romance in the West?

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In job interviews, it is not uncommon for young Japanese women to be asked if they will quit their position if they get married. Is this kind of question appropriate? Discuss the issue.

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In Japan women were traditionally expected to get married by their mid to late twenties, and tekireiki, or "marriageable age", was very important in Japanese society. Has the concept of tekireiki changed in modern Japan? If so, how?