DIJ Joint Study Group
Organizers: Barbara Holthus & Susanne Klien

Dear friends and colleagues,
We would like to invite you to our upcoming joint Social Science - History & Humanities study group on Wednesday, 10 October, 6.30pm at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ), Tokyo http://www.dijtokyo.org/access Our presenter will be Dr. Ofra Goldstein-Gidoni (Tel Aviv University) who will give a presentation on "Housewives and Salarymen in Post-bubble Japan: A Changing Gender Contract?"

The 'standard family' consisting of a breadwinner salaryman and a full -time housewife (sengyo shufu) has become one of the major socio-cultur al identifying marks of postwar Japan with its focus on economic growth. My argument is that this pattern could not have developed independently from wh at I refer to as the 'Japanese corporate gender contract.' The allianc e between corporate warriors and full-time housewives has been strongly prom oted by the 'Japanese state', understood in this context as a conglomerate of various agencies, including the corporate sector, the media and the mark et.
The burst of the economic bubble has undoubtedly had an impact on the corporate system and its strength. In my talk I will raise questions about the relationship between corporate changes and possible changes in the social contract between men and women in post-bubble Japan.
Gender contract is usually considered in terms of welfare regimes, social po licies and economic arrangements. By highlighting the'cultural' aspec ts of this so-called contract, I show how the gender contract culturally sha pes the concepts of women and men about their social roles both in the home and in society.
Data for this study was mainly collected through extended fieldwork conducted in a typical middle-class neighborhood in Osaka. On top of over fifty in-depth interviews, tea parties and an active internet forum with the women of the neighborhood, the unique ethnographic inquiry also included an innovative use of e-correspondence between the ethnographer and her interlocutor, which was used as a reflexive ethnographic tool to explore ideas, theories, and personal commitment.

Dr. Ofra Goldstein-Gidoni is the chair of the department of Sociology and Anthropology at Tel Aviv University, where she holds a joint position with the Department of East Asian Studies. Her latest book Housewives of Japan:
An Ethnography of Real Lives and Consumerized Domesticity was recently published by Palgrave Macmillan. She is also the author of Packaged
Japaneseness: Weddings, Business and Brides.

The presentation will be given in English. Admission is free. The DIJ Study Groups are a forum for young scholars and Ph.D. candidates in pertaining fields.
Everybody is welcome to attend, but kindly asked to register with Susanne Klien: klien[at]dijtokyo.org

German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) Jochi Kioizaka Bldg. 2F, 7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
102-0094
Phone: 03-3222-5077 Fax: 03-3222-5420
www.dijtokyo.org