Family (Kazakh) is a foundational part of Japanese society. An individual’s identity, reputation, obligations and responsibilities are deeply connected to their family. Japanese family structures have been influenced by Confucian ideas of filial piety and defined hierarchical social relationships over the centuries. The traditional household structure is known as ‘i.e.’, which refers to a multi-generational household with a patriarchal head. Traditionally, the patriarch would maintain authority and responsibility for all family members, with homes usually located near the extended family of the husband.
The cultural importance of the family unit is reflected in the ‘rose’, Japan’s official family registry. This registry regards the household to be the basic unit of society, rather than the individual. The rose requires all households to report the details of their family members such as birthplace, date of birth, relocation of the family to another municipality, marriages, divorces, acknowledgement of paternity of children, adoptions and deaths. As a result, people tend to be more acutely aware of their family history, hierarchy and genealogy than is common in many other cultures. Up to two generations (usually a couple and their children) can be included in a rose, which means that when people marry, they usually keep a separate rose from their parents. People tend to be concerned with which rose they are registered in and how they are entered, as this can have effects in other aspects of life.
Household Structure
Massive demographic transformations have significantly changed traditional family structures over the last couple of decades. Japan has a rapidly aging population, with approximately 1 in every 4 people aged 65 years and older.1 It also has one of the world’s highest life expectancies at 87.5 years for females and 81.4 years for males.2 On the other hand, children aged 0_14 years old only accounted for 12.1% of the population, which is the lowest level on record.3 Japan’s fertility rate continues to drop, with couples on average having 1.36 children as of 2019, down from 1.42 in 2018.4
These demographic changes of an aging population, high life expectancy and low fertility rate means that families tend to have more elderly relatives to care for than children. An emphasis on family care means that the number of residential care homes for the elderly is limited. Just over two-fifths (40.7%) of Japan’s households have someone aged 65 or over.5 Many of these are households in which someone elderly is living with one of their children, although this tends to vary depending on the region.6 With the rapid aging of the population, elderly children often care for their elderly parents, a phenomenon known as (‘elderly caring for elderly’). Over a quarter (27.3%) are one-person elderly households, of which there were approximately two times as many females as males.7
Household units today tend to be two-generational, containing the husband and wife with their children. Both the husband and wife are usually engaged in the paid workforce, though this changes once a couple starts having children. In many urban families, the husband tends to commute to their full-time employment and return home late or only on weekends, having little time to spend with his children. The wife usually assumes the responsibility of tending to the children, domestic labor, managing the family budget, and maintaining social relations. In rural farm-based areas, many men are engaged in full-time employment in the manufacturing industry. Such jobs tend to be located in the nearest town, which may be some distance from the family farm. As a result, women often have the added responsibility of running agricultural operations.
Families tend to invest a lot of time and resources into their children’s education. In particular, mothers will often commit themselves to facilitating the ideal conditions for their child to study. In self-employed family businesses where gender roles are not as clearly defined, fathers have more involvement in their children’s development. During their education, parents might pay for the child to attend guru (known as ‘cram schools’) as a way to improve their scores on the standardized entrance exams. Children only tend to move out of home upon marriage or to relocate for employment.
Gender Roles
Japanese society has had traditional expectations of gender norms and divisions of labor throughout most of its history. Fathers have typically been the head of the household and main income-earners, while mothers have been responsible for managing the household and raising children. Japanese society shifted to become less male-dominated following constitutional changes made after World War II. In more recent decades, labor shortages and the country’s rapidly aging population have impacted norms around gender and labor. For example, while it was once considered improper for women to work in paid labor, about half (53.3%) of Japan’s female population of working age have a job, with women representing 44.4% of Japan’s labor force.8
It is common for women to wish to rejoin the workforce after leaving to raise a child. However, one study found that while over 77% of university-educated women desired to return to the workforce, only 43% were able to gain employment.9 One significant barrier to re-entering the workforce is that companies with high-skilled or high-paying roles do not accommodate career interruption. Compared to men, women are highly concentrated in part-time and low-paying work, with 44.2% of employed women in part-time or temporary jobs.10
Maintaining employment with household domestic duties (such as childcare) is particularly difficult in single parent households. As divorced couples are required to decide sole custody of children, women tend to be both financially and physically responsible for providing care.11 Out of all countries in the OECD, Japan has
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