ABSTRACT
This conclusion chapter presents some closing thoughts covered in the preceeding chapter of this book. The book explores what motivates Japanese women to pursue professional careers in today's neoliberal economy and how they reconfigure notions of selfhood while doing so. The career women have defined a new archetype in contemporary Japanese society. Women in Japan have many opportunities because nobody is telling them exactly what to do in order to succeed. They have to figure it out themselves and in the near future a clearer trend will emerge, akin to the salaryman archetype. In order to achieve this goal, Japanese corporations and the government should focus on the career development of young women if Japan wants to remain competitive in this globalized world. Career women follow a different trajectory as they try to figure out how to establish their careers. Compared to salarymen, career women do not have a predetermined sense of career self.
