English Essay

Tianyi Zhao, Weilun Yang, Aishah  Al qabandi Professor Tripp English 113A 17 March. 2014 Women in Japan What does Japan’s mean? Japan`s mean the “hand of the rising sun”. Also it is referred to as the “hand of the rising sun”. Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it is lies to the east of the sea of Okhotsk in north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. In addition, Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands; The four largest islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku. These four island hold 97 percent of the country`s area. Japan is the tenth largest population country in the world, with more than 126 million people. Tokyo is the capital city of Japan, and it includes many surrounding prefectures, and it is the largest metropolitan area in the world; it includes more than 30 million residents.         While this essay about employee preference between men and women in Japan’s that you should have an idea about Japan’s economy. Japan has the third largest economy in the world by nominal GDP and the fourth largest economy by purchasing power parity. In addition, Japan has occupied the fourth place in the world in export and import. Many of today`s enterprises were founded at time, and Japan emerged as the most developed nation in Asia. From 1960to 1980 has called the Japanese post war economic miracle. Moreover, Japan is the third largest automobile manufacturing country, has the larger electronics goods industry, and it is focuses on high-tech and precision goods. The Kansai region is one of leading industrial clusters and the manufacturing center for the Japanese economy. In fact, Japan possesses 13.7% of the world`s private financial assets and it is the second largest country at approximately 14.6 trillion. Do men really earn more than women in Japan? The estimates of the discriminatory component of the gender gap between 5%and 7% of men and women`s careers progress. In recent years, Japan;s government made several laws to ensure gender equality in the workplace so they opined that men and women should have equal pay if they made the same choices and has the same experience and education. However, this decision does not apply in real life because people in Japan think that Japanese women have only take care about family and children. According to the article “Women in Japan have great influence though that position so that gender roles and gender stratification may be far more complex in Japan than other countries”(Yvonne, Jeanne and Michiasa, 50). In Japan, women and men are equal by law, but women are discriminated against in employment due to their low social status. The article  “Women’s Wages in Japan and the Question of Equal Pay” The author analyses the disparity and how women work in Japan. “The average earning of women workers in Japan are only about half those of men, although the ratio is gradually rising. Thus, by 1972, the arithmetic mean of the total monthly cash earning of woman workers, expressed as a percentage of the corresponding earning of male workers, had risen from 42.8 in 1960 to 50.2. In the case of contractual cash earning only, i.e. excluding special cash payment, the percentage rose from 43.5 in 1960 to 50.8 by 1972. The main factors accounting for the disparity of wage between men and women may be considered under the following headings: 1. Occupational distribution of men and women workers, 2. Hours worked by men and women, 3. Special characteristics of women workers, and 4. Social attitudes to women work.” (59, Women’s Wages in Japan and the Question of Equal Pay). In japan, there is a difference payment between men and women . Women always has a lower payment than men. In Japanese culture,men are seen as better than women in all age. Japanese thinks that women just can only work for family and kids and men should make money to his family. Nowadays, the income differences also happen in japan . Japanese women usually works for a small company and even some of them just has a part-time job, and Japanese women always does not have a stable job, for this reason, women can not get the benefits from companies; most men work for big company and they always has long-term and staple work in a big company, that’s why men get higher income than women. In some Japanese companies, there are still  some jobs that not open for women. It is not only the company’s rule,sometimes, the government also  intervenes and encourages women to work for their family. In the news, the author said: “make up 35 percent of the JWomen apanese work force, but only 6 percent of the managers. Overall, their salaries are slightly less than 50 percent of those paid to men. The government says at least 80 percent of all companies have one or more job categories for which women may not apply..”(New York Times ). In this news, we can see that companies have some job categories that’s not open for women. In japan, men always gets two times the income than women for the same job. It has been a one of the most important problem in Japan. Women can not get the same income as men and women are hard to promote. If the government wants to solve this problem, they have to make a fair rule between men and women in incomes problem. First, women are discriminated against in hiring due to their preference in the workplace. Moreover, Japanese workers often worked longer hours than any other counties. For example, in Japan, the full time workday is ten hours and some of companies do not pay their workers the extra hours that they work. In addition, if women spent most of their times in working,they will not have any time to take care of their families and children. As a result, women work as part time more than full time because that helps them to balance their life and work. According to the article “in one study of civil engineers it was noted that a pregnant woman was removed from a decision making and faced a promotion penalty”(Nemoto, sec3). This is another problem that women faces in the workplace that the government removes women managers if they are pregnant because the government thought that will be affected to the work. However, most women that work and have children are not managers. Japanese women have less chances than men in the work place, Japanese companies choose 1.3% women compared to 99% of men because they believe that women cannot commit to mobility due to family and home life. Nemoto said that “Almost all men with a college degree are hired as career track workers, only a handful of women with the same education are given the same opportunity”(sec5). This is an opportunity that works more for men than women;  they do not give the same chance to women as they give for men. In addition, the long working hours increases young pessimism about women works which they will successfully combine work, personal and family life, so that  women should choose between job and family life. Long working hours and salary reduction decreases are making women more think about their jobs. Finally ,women in Japan have lower wage than men due to the social status and people’s discrimination  about women working. A lot of people in Japan assert that women should stay at home and do some houseworks, although recent years experienced the gradual disintegration of the traditional family structure, women’s social statue is gradually increased, they still earn less salaries than that of male. Marriage plays a pivotal role in the life of a normal female in Japan. Before  getting married,  women have a stable profession and can work overtime if they want, but once they get married, the burden of child custody and domestic affairs cause them to abandon employments. In Japan’s traditional legislation, after  a woman get married, she must obey her husband ,her parents and her son, which called “ the three obediences and the four virtues”. In the article “Women’s Wages in Japan and the Question of Equal Pay” , the author said “ Fundamentally, it is the attitude of society towards women’s work that is responsable for women’s earning being lower than those of men. Traditional notions of the respective roles of women and men and of the “inferiority” of the female sex consciously or unconsciously limit women’s job opportunities, prevent their promotion, and discourage their continuity of service-all of which tend to lower women’s earnings, as well as their status at the place of work” (Takahashi N and Nobuko, 63 ). Men in Japan hold higher salaries than that of woman, even if they have the same job. In the past, people in Japan, especially the elderly, claimed that men are capable of everything and women were just the machines of fertility. Women’s duty was breeding and take care of their husbands. Although these opinions are not solidify any more in the contemporary world, the prejudice of women still exists in Japan’s working area . males also have more chances than women in many aspects of occupation, such as: technology, mechanical, medical treatment and cooking. Also, men enjoy longer professions and it is easier for them to get a job than women. In contrast, because of the strong capacity of men, woman can get married with men and enjoy life with men’s salary. While another phenomenon shows that people consider that women should be domestic and own a dramatic marriage, it is a symbol of a successful woman. In the other side, some people think that social status is not a crucial element of the issue of women’s profession.  Nowadays in Japan, some woman have their own occupations and pay more attention to their business. They don’t want to get married earlier than find a stable job. This kind of female called“leftover lady”. They miss the great time to get married, but they are really independent and strong because they love to make money by themselves. However, the large percent of female in Japan will choose to get married with men and afford the domestic affairs. In the article “Career Journal: In Japan, working women still serve the tea; Growth in numbers hasn't compelled equal status or pay”. It said “Such concerns come as women here rethink their place in society, with statistics showing more of them choosing to forgo traditional lives of marriage and child-rearing. Although younger Japanese men appear to be embracing those changes -- and show a willingness to view women as equals -- the older Japanese men who hold the vast majority of corporate and political power seem far less willing.” The statue of women in Japan, as we know, is extremely menially. Women in Japan need to obey their husband. If they against the men , male have the right to punish female. It is a kind of gender discrimination. This kind of phenomenon still appeared in the contemporary world in Japan. In conclusion, Japan is one of largest population in the world. Also, it has largest economy in the global. In addition, usually men earn more than women, however, if they have same education and experience. Long working hours and salary reduction decreases make women reluctance from their works. Moreover, Japanese women have lower wage than men due to the social status in the workplace. Nowadays, Japanese women try to do their best to get their f rights better than before. Work Cited Nemoto, Kumiko. “Long Working Hours and the Corporate Gender Divide in Japan”.                         Gender,work and organization.20.5 (2013). 512-527.web. New, York T. "Japan Considers  Equal-Employment  Rights For Women." Orlando Sentinel May         19 1985: 0. ProQuest. 1 Apr. 2014 Print. Stedham, Yvonne, Jeanne Yamamura, and Michimasa Satoh. "Gender and salary: a Study of              Accountants in Japan”. Asia Pacific Journal of Human.Resources.44.1 (2006).46- 66.web. Takahashi N and Nobuko “Women’s Wages in Japan and the Question of Equal Pay”                               International Labour Review. March 31,2014 Print.