jovialchaoscupcake

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Position Statement

When thinking of Japan and how to describe the nation, the word homogeneous comes to many. Within that thought, is the image of the family norm be it the traditional multi-generational family or singular unit of mother, father, and child (ren). One of these factors are expectations that a women will have children after marriage, giving up her career to be stay at home mother while the father serves as the breadwinner. Another is the increase in age when marriage does occur as well as a decrease in ‘permanent’ jobs. Divorce has seen rising numbers in recent years as well as the number of single or unmarried parents. The Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare has enacted several plans which offer different services and benefits to encourage more families to have children. In these campaigns they promote a balance between work and home by offering child care, companies allowing more leave and a tax break that makes it less difficult to have two income sources rather than one. These benefits and plans however, leave out a growing minority, single parents. Support from the government, the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare offer programs to (re)gain employment promoting self-reliance. Monetary support however, has become more limited in who qualifies and how long they can receive this benefit as surveys for welfare do not include demographic information or who is using it, rather how many are using it.  Japan is among the lowest for out of marriage births due to these expectations on the family unit. To be a single parent is outside the norm. Single parents, defined as unmarried, widowed, divorced, and or in a non-legally binding relationship, have not been directly targeted to increase population numbers. Majority of this minority comes in the form of single mothers who face stigma for “depriving” their children of a balanced and affectionate home.

In the case of divorce and widows return to the workforce for a permanent job is difficult. Single mothers find themselves seen as ‘unreliable’ because of their commitment to their child. The result of taking irregular employment and a wage gap means single mothers find themselves at poverty level.

           Traditional culture that shames single parents, a pressing time-demanding work force, and being a minority group all contribute to this lack of support and representation for unmarried parents.

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Tokyo Idol-Field Trip

I saw Tokyo Idols at USF’s McLaren Center on August 29, 2017 at 5:15pm. I went alone and the viewing was open to the public, no charge.

The movie Tokyo Idol, which follows the story of Japan’s Idols and their fan base. Idols are young girls who perform for audiences doing song, dance, tours and meet and greets. The fan base is not limited to only young audiences but also older men who are called Otaku. These otaku are avid followers of these idols going to many of their shows, buying their merchandise, and supporting them by giving monetary gifts and votes in popularity competitions. The film switches between following the idols and otakus. Additionally there is commentary from sociologists, managers, and journalists to give a more well rounded look into this phenomenon. The largest idol run competition has the top eighty girls become stars for the year as they have the most votes out of hundreds of girls. Due to idols popularity, otakus are being seen as more acceptable and mainstream. This hurts the economy and social welfare because these men, young and old, are not contributing to society. These otakus are giving jobs, university, and life savings to support and follow their chosen idol. The consequence of this behavior is that less men are dating, or willing to put in the effort to date when they have the easy and effortless ‘love’ from their idol.

Although aware of idols in Japan, I was unaware of large affect the industry had over the general population. This in depth study highlighted many key points of the negative aspects idol popularity while showing the side of idol, fan, and observer. I also found it interesting that the majority of people who came to the showing, beside students who were required there for a class, was older citizens. I was unaware of other students who may have been there for the information or for curiosity rather than class requirement.

The picture above is a poster for the movie with a description. The visual helps relate to my topic as idols are a contributing factor to declining marriage rates. Although not parents, the idols and fans add a new light to the many aspects of how Japan’s society is changing and the repercussions to family life. There are many expectations placed on women and men on how they present themselves from their interests and hobbies to who they associate with and how they dress. 

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Qualitative

           In more recent administrative changes, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare has been petitioned to be more inclusive in child support and tax breaks for single mothers. Programs for single mothers have existed since the 1950’s but have since shifted their goal to improve single mother’s income in the workforce. A result of these changes has made financial support from the government more exclusive while child care programs and vocational training has increased. A problem with this however, is that although Japan does not have a survey of what the poverty level is, many single mothers are found to have a wage gap in which they are below the average. This data concludes the difference found between other countries and Japan surrounding matters involving single mothers such as government support and services, employment, and stigma.

           There are many factors that contribute to Japan’s declining population, among them are the age of when one has their first child, when a person marries, and balance between work and home. The main focus of much of government efforts are for and to encourage children from married couples. However there are benefits for the minority that makes up of unmarried parents. These efforts seem geared more toward self-reliance through services than monetary support regardless of financial stability as current surveys only look into the amount of people benefiting or on welfare than the situation surrounding the need.

 Recalculation of national surveys and gathered quantitative data were examined in an intensive study are summarizes in Fujiwara Chisa article in a way never before done. Fujiwara, an Associate professor of Iwate University’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, found Japan’s surveys were found lacking in specific and targeted data gathered from single mothers and did not include socio-economic factors as well as education. Fujiwara’s article highlights how marginalized group single mothers are as well as the importance Japan has for the workforce being strong through being self-reliant. 

Single mothers and welfare restructuring, Japans demography, Single moms fighting for kids, Culture of Shame

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Quantitative

           OECD provides a short summary of the birthing trends outside of marriage. In this database, unmarried females qualify if they have never married, are divorced, widowed, or cohabitate without a change in legal status. From this data we can see that Japan is among the ranks of the lowest rate of birth outside of marriage compared to other countries.

           In addition to data from OECD is policy from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare. This source provides a specified view into Japan and its population problems. The total fertility rate; heavily influenced by a number of factors including age and demographic, rapidly fell after post World Wat II’s baby boom and is still recovering. Increasing and decreasing trends are seen throughout their history, ranging from four children per lifetime in 1947to a stark contrast of 1.32, one of the world’s lowest TRF, in 2002. Part of the reason for the declining TFR is that people are having their first marriage later in life, something that drastically interferes with fertility.

As a result of such a low FTR, the MPLW has employed policy to encourage a better balanced life between work and home. These policy changes and plans such as the Angel and Plus One give specific financial benefits to support children of varying ages depending on how many children one has. These policies also encourage workers to take more paid, have men do more at home, and support working females by making it easier to return after taking child leave.

Cherylynn Bassami’s The influence of financial, human and social capital on Japanese men’s and women’s health in single and two-parent family structures is the only examination on the differences on single and two parent families. Dr. Bassami evaluates data from the Nationwide Survey on Families conducted in 1999 in Japan and reviewed only those relevant to the family structure. The lack of results a search for single parents in Japan highlights how this minority is not given much attention and how difficult it is to pinpoint accurate data on this group. Due to the difficulty, I have widen my thesis query to unmarried parent(s) because this terminology better specifies what group I am looking for and their contributions to Japan’s re population efforts.

Sources linked below;

Single and two parent families, Japan’s Demography, Births outside marriage, Child Policy

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What kind of acceptance and support is offered by the government and the public to single parents?

To take a closer look at this question, we need to look into what is offered and known about Japan’s current population.

After the second baby boom of 1964 – 1967, the total fertility rate has declined and remained below the population replacement level. Since 2006 the TFR has shown an increase, however the average age of women having a child has increased as well. Age and marriage are large factors influencing this rate due to the expectations of marriage followed by children. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare has taken actions in an attempt to bolster re population through promoting child leave for working women, increasing the time men do domestic chores, and offering financial support to families, all of which fall under the implemented Angel Plan, New Angel Plan, and Plus One policy.

The government is aiming to influence individuals to marry and have children by way of giving benefits such as ensured leave, monetary child support, and a more balanced lifestyle. What these plans lack however, is any focus on how an individual would receive these benefits. Technically, one may receive these benefits, but there is no overt advertising toward this minority. This may be a result of the number of traditions and societal expectations on how the nuclear family is the norm. To raise a child or conceive a child in a manner different than the standard would be subject to scrutiny simply for the fact that it is different.

Additionally, when searching for single parents in Japan, there is no clear cut statistic. One would have to adapt or broaden the search by looking at the data for unmarried which includes members who may be divorced, widowed, never married, cohabiting, and in a civil relationship. Due to the broad array of people that is included, there is no definite quantity of those raising a child on their own.

When taking these factors into consideration as well as the obscurity in simply finding information about ‘single parents’, it can be concluded that the minority of single parents are capable of receiving support but are not quite accepted as a viable means of encouraging re population. As a result, my topic is shifting from single parents by choice to unmarried parent(s).

Data from sources linked below;

Japan Demography, Live-Birth, Births outside of marriage, Child Policy, 

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J-Pop Summit

On 9/9/2017 I went to the first day of the J-Pop Summit at Fort Mason with my classmates. We were there from 11am - 1pm. The venue was inside with many individual stalls promoting various technology, band merchandise, books, and sake. There was also a main stage in the back of the long hall where many j-pop groups performed, had a Q and A session, or companies promoting their wares. Among the stalls was a free yukata booth, consulate infromation table, Shall We Date gameplay, and many more. Outside of the hall there were ramen and udon food trucks as well as a crepe and tapioca drink truck.

In the center of the venue large white balls swung from the ceiling for people to play with. Just beyond the balls was a display of tapestries, umbrellas, and wooden juts. At every booth and spread throughout the hall were greeters handing out information pamphlets, offering freebies, and directing people to whatever they were seeking out. although there was a good turn out, the hall did not feel packed since there was a lot of free space to move about. A large variety of people attended ranging from families to college students to cosplayers.

I was surprised to see a booth for the consulate, and the free yukata. I had thought the event would only have booths directly related to selling band merchandise, food, technology, and travel tours for Japan. 

Above is the entrance to the Festival

This Shall We Date? booth is a popular game with many spin-off story lines. This is popular around the world with buy able and free versions.

The General Consulate of Japan was represented here and had brochures with information on travel, teaching English in Japan, and other information.

BABYRAIDS was just one of many J-Pop groups that performed at the summit. Merchandise to promote the group was being sold as well as others.

http://www.j-pop.com/ 

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Single parents by choice in Japan, where are they?

Since the bust of Japan’s economy in 1992 there has been a decline in marriage and birth rates in Japan. The economic fall added to the difficulty of finding a partner who satisfied the three averages for marriage desirability. The three averages; looks, education, and income, are important factors in choosing a partner, has been harder to satisfy. The start of the 1970 had the mean age of those having their first marriage also rise. 

With the decrease in permanent jobs and increase in women educated and in the workforce, marriages, and consequently birth rates, have fallen dangerously low. To combat this the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare has scrambled to promote marriage through various programs. What I have found however, is a lack of promotion of single parents, or parents raising children out of wedlock. Why is this group not targeted or promoted? What benefits are offered to them? How are singles viewed when a single, unmarried person, by choice, has a child compared to when one loses a partner?

For the fall semester I will be researching and drawing my own conclusions on why there is so little focus on single parents and having this group aid Japan’s declining population.

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Later Posts

Hi, I’m Ashley.

What I will be posting will be an introduction to my chosen topic followed by;

a #quantitative, a #qualitative, a #photovideo field trip summary of which I will have around three or more, and a #yourstatement position statement. (Really this is just a reminder for me)

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Can my students in FYS Beyond Pokemon find me?   When you find me, follow me AND post something on my tumblr!  Also look for your classmate and start following them.  So you can see what they are posting and learn from one another!