The purpose of this study is to look at the ways in which nihonjinron theory (a theory of Japanese cultural uniqueness) can impact the identities and practices of Japanese women and men. Dealing with some of the most popular and well-researched nihonjinron practices, such as the ie system of family structure, groupism, and status hierarchy, I argue that the notion of cultural uniqueness can have practical implications in everyday life, and can promote feelings of apathy or inevitability.
Of particular importance for this work is the promotion of a hegemonic masculinity promoted by nihonjinron theory through the vision of the Japanese salaried worker, and its impacts at work and at home. These white-collar salaried workers, or sararīman, are seen as uniquely Japanese, and are often cited as the driving force behind Japan’s rapid economic growth in the postwar period. This uniqueness promotes an adherence to certain behaviors that can prove to be detrimental to gender egalitarianism.
In my chapter on media representations of gender in the workplace, I analyze two works in order to see the interactions of gender and cultural uniqueness. The focus here is on working women and their negotiations of gender in an often male-dominated sphere. The pressures of Japan’s traditional family structure can also have an impact on working women and their career choices.
While nihonjinron practices are not themselves problematic, the notion that they are uniquely Japanese and therefore part of a “Japanese character” can encourage an adherence to certain gendered norms. Japanese men and women are of course not without agency, however, and neither nihonjinron theory nor gendered practices remain constant in Japanese society.