ABSTRACT
In five decades Japan's economy has shifted from a reliance on agriculture to becoming a major service provider. Significant changes in the composition of the workforce accompany these structural changes. As was demonstrated in the previous chapter women have been and remain crucial to Japan's economy. In exploring historical trends in paid employment for women, it emerges that women have always had a presence in paid work but have not been encouraged by either government or business to remain permanently in the paid workforce. Women have had very little choice about their role and position in the labour market having been moved into and out of the labour market to suit the needs of governments and business. In Japan continuity in the social constructions of women exists between the pre-and postwar periods in that ideologically and materially women have consistently borne much of the burden and responsibility for the restructuring of employment in Japan. Focusing on parttime paid work broadens the discussion of the relationship between women and paid work. Part-time work for women represents an extension of the paid work 'career' path women experience within Japan's 'lifetime' employment practices. It illustrates the integrated nature of full-time and part-time work for women in Japan. Part-time work as it is presently constructed in Japan is a strategy created by employers to meet their demand for a cheap source of labour. Part-time work also articulates with the contemporary government focus of decreasing public welfare spending, by shifting the responsibility for welfare provision onto households, particularly women.
