Dear SSJ Forum members,

The March 2011 issue of Social Science Japan is now available online. The PDF file of this as well as past issues can be downloaded at the following URL: http://newslet.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/.
The theme of SSJ 44 is "Gender". Please see the issue's Introduction and Contents below.

Introduction

A quarter century has passed since Japan ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and enacted the Equal Employment Opportunity Law. It is also more than ten years since the Basic Law for a Gender-equal Society took effect. There are, however, various unsolved gender-related issues in many aspects of Japanese society such as employment, social security and work-life balance. In addition, gender is the one of the topics which have attracted much attention from researchers and students across the globe who are interested in contemporary Japanese society.

To date, ISS has affiliated with several experts in gender-related studies in a variety of disciplines, and has been a partner in Tohoku University’s Global COE program, “Gender Equality and Multicultural Conviviality in the Age of Globalization.” This issue of the Social Science Japan Newsletter focuses on gender in contemporary Japanese society. First, Mari Osawa discusses how poverty in Japanese society is affected by the government’s redistribution policies and its conceptions of gender. Secondly, Yuichiro Mizumachi summarises problems concerning employment non-discrimination legislation in Japan. Hiroki Sato argues for the necessity of providing work-life balance support to give women more opportunities in their workplaces. Makiko Fuwa then presents an international comparative study on women’s work patterns—in and out of the home—during and after child rearing. Finally Kana Takamatsu draws our attention to the relationships between nations’ gender relations and the foreign developmental assistance activities of their governments.

In the “Research Report” section, Tomonobu Hayashi presents his path to becoming an expert researcher in constitutional law, and Hiroyuki Hoshiro discusses his current research interest in the integration of history and theory in the area of international relations.

In addition to presenting abstracts of the ISS Contemporary Japan Group (CJG) and recently published books written by members of our research staff at the ISS, we feature a new section detailing ISS research activities, “Focus on ISS.” The first installment covers the activities of the ISS Branch of the Global COE Program.

Contents of SSJ 44

Gender

"It is the Government That Has Bigger Problems— Gender Issues in Japanese Society" Osawa Mari

"Issue Brief: Employment Non-Discrimination Legislation in Japan" Mizumachi Yuichiro

"Supporting Work-Life Balance and Expanding the Playing Field for Women" Sato Hiroki

"Effect of Child-related Intermittent Employment on the Division of Housework in Japan, Sweden and the United States" Fuwa Makiko

"Development Assistance Policy and Gender Equality"
Takamatsu Kana

ISS Research Reports

"In the Twilight of the Postwar Constitution"
Hayashi Tomonobu

"History and Theory in International Relations:
Is Integration Possible?" Hoshiro Hiroyuki

Questions and Answers with Visiting Professor Margarita Estévez-Abe

Kuniko Ishiguro
Managing Editor
Social Science Japan