Commentary / Japan Nov 29, 2017
Gender equality and the mass media
by Toko Shirakawa
Mass media in this country remains a male-dominated community and its understanding of gender equality is far too insufficient.
National / Social Issues Dec 27, 2016
Modern Japanese men dogged by stoic salaryman stereotype
by Mizuho Aoki
During the Showa Era (1926-1989), men were the mainstay of families, working for 40 or so years until retirement to better the lives of their wives and children. They were expected to be tough, stoic and competitive. Such masculine norms may sound increasingly outdated today, ...
Language Sep 29, 2014
'Nihon danshi’ continue to look on as stockings get stronger
by Kaori Shoji
Just so you know, it's a bad time to be male in Japan. Even my brothers say the supermacho, sports-obsessed, chauvinist faux-samurai kanchigai (勘違い, have it all wrong). They say that society is so hard on men that if they were given the choice ...
Books / Reviews Aug 10, 2013
Three versions of the 'good wife' in Japan
by David Cozy
Once upon a time, not so long ago, it was unusual for a Japanese woman to aspire to be anything other than a "good wife and wise mother"— an aspiration so predominant that the Japanese for it, ryosai kenbo, is a set phrase in ...