Japanese labor studies: Women and non-standard workers

Abstract

This article provides an overview of Japanese labor studies conducted since the 2000s; it particularly focuses on studies dealing with women’s work and non-standard employment. By reviewing these studies, the article aims to show how the Japanese employment system creates and maintains economic disparities between men and women and between different employment statuses. First, a review of the literature on women’s labor indicates that the Japanese employment system is discriminatory toward women. Specifically, the article finds that Japan’s long-term employment and seniority-based systems are preventing women from developing their careers. Next, the article reviews research on non-standard employment with a focus on disparities between standard and non-standard workers and explains how differences in human resource development policies have created and maintained large discrepancies between employment statuses. Therefore, the study concludes that the established Japanese employment system causes large disparities between men and women, and in employment statuses.