Coming to Japan, I knew that I really wanted to dive more deeply into the lives of Japanese women, as well as the feminist movement in the country. However, I struggled to find a specific topic to dive into, as there are many problems Japanese women face today. However, I was eventually able to find one topic that combines feminist activism, Japanese corporate culture, and social and economic issues facing Japan: the struggle of motherhood in the modern nation. Many women are entering the workforce, but the corporate atmosphere in Japan is not conducive to having or raising children while also working hard and advancing a mother's career. Japan's ever-falling birthrate is world-famous and an urgent issue for the aging country, but part of this is due to the fact that women must choose between having children and having a full-time corporate job. Maternity harassment, or "matahara" is a newly-coined term that describes the struggles working women face when they are pregnant or have children. While not as well known as sexual harassment, matahara is a major reason as to why the birthrate is falling, the economy is stagnating, and women are still not treated equally to men in a country with the 3rd largest economy in the world. Through my research, I hope to connect motherhood to the culture, history, and modern economy of Japan.
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Ann EvansMy 3 Weeks in Japan with UW Honors and Waseda University Archives
September 2017
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