Young Women and Social Change in Japan: Family and Marriage in a Time of Upheaval. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mirza, Vincent
• Is Part Of: Japanese studies. Volume 36:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 21
• Page End: 37
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: Japan -- Periodicals; 952
• DOI: 10.1080/10371397.2016.1143331
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1037-1397

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This paper focuses on the changing definition of marriage for young women in Tokyo over the last 10 years. Based on fieldwork research conducted in Tokyo, I examine why women are delaying or refusing marriage, arguing that women's decisions can best be understood in relation to work. I discuss how young women negotiate their conception of marriage by articulating their desires for self-realization, a career, and participation in society, within the context of a flexibilization of work and the transformation of family in contemporary Japan.