Women’s Experiences of Poverty in Japan: Protection and the State

Abstract

How revolutionary would it be if the reallocation of caring responsibility could be the core agenda of current Japanese politics? What could lead to the actual occurrence of the caring revolution, despite the strong belief in traditional families and the neoliberal emphasis on self-responsibility? This chapter explores these questions by applying Joan Tronto’s conceptualizations regarding caring democracy to the Japanese socio-political situation, especially that of women in Japan. The chapter begins with a short introduction to the history of the Japanese model of social protection as ‘welfare through work.’ Subsequently, it discusses the current arguments regarding the constitutional amendments in Japan, and then closely explores how family ideologies and the social protection system not only worsen conditions for women but also render them invisible. The final section argues that the nongovernmental organization (NGO), Moyai’s, caring activities provide the seedling for a caring democracy and the possibility of escaping the vicious cycle in Japanese society of weakening social protection while strengthening military protection.