The Masculinity of the House Husband in Japanese Society: An Analysis of Eight House Husbands’ Life Stories

Abstract

the purpose of this study is to analyze the life stories of eight house husbands as an unusual aspect of Japanese society. through the analysis, this paper discusses the course of becoming a house husband and conflicts that occur along the way. the life stories reveal that the trigger of retirement is a physical/mental illness caused by Japanese-style human resource management. Wives had a signicant influence on the retirement of husbands and the shift to being a house husband of the interviewees. In particular, the wife’s way of accepting the shift to house husband has enormous importance. It affects the husband’s reorganization of his masculinity and lifestyle as a full-time or sidelined house husband. Similarly, interviewees continue to exhibit psychological conflict about being a house husband̶their social position and self-value; a sense of inferiority toward their friends; and having a wife who has a job and is continuously building her own career. Finally, this paper discusses the relation of Japanese-style human resource management and hegemonic masculinity in Japanese society.