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This article examines the obstacles preventing women from entering national-level politics in Japan and reviews research by political scientists and sociologists who use methods associated with anthropology such as participant observation and interviews to investigate the rise of women's political activism at local levels. The article discusses "housewife" activism that has propelled significant numbers of women into political office but relies on associations of women with domestic roles. It argues that in spite of the advantages obtained by the model of housewife activism such as inclusive, caring, and egalitarian politics, we need to move beyond this model and its reliance on the gendered division of labor if we are to obtain greater political participation for women at national levels and for politics to better represent the interests of voters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers how people in Japan create themselves from a range of available identities. Decisions to adopt particular identities are channeled by the institutions of society, historical circumstances, and local contexts. Because selves and societies mutually fashion one another, the ways in which selves construct an identity are commentaries upon transformations in society. The identity of the volunteer (borantia in Japanese) has emerged in Japan in recent decades as an alternative and supplement to mainstream life paths. The article also explores how people living in a middle- to lower-middle-class residential neighborhood integrate the volunteer identity into their life narratives. (Japan, social role, self-identity, gender, life narratives, volunteerism) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The participation of fathers in parenting and care has become a topical issue in public discourse in Japan. The phenomenon is often epitomized in the popular neologism ikumen , defining fathers actively involved in childcare (ikuji) as "cool" men. On the basis of an extended ethnography, the article focuses on a group of men who reject the ostensibly carefree ikumen image and who explicitly and "proactively" (shutaiteki) define themselves as "househusbands." The article explores the interactive and creative process through which this marginal group of men "crafts" their new identities as self-reliant, responsible caretakers of children and the home. I suggest that these men affirm their potentially new masculine identity through relating to—and differentiating themselves from—three symbolic others: the ikumen, the trendy and cool but not really committed new father; the sarariiman , the epitome of Japanese hegemonic masculinity; and the dedicated housewife (sengyō shufu), the symbol of Japanese femininity. Adopting a perspective that does not hesitate to look at the potential of change in gender relations, the article poses crucial questions about the potential househusbands have to undo conventional understandings of masculinity and fathering—and, through this, "undo gender." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]