ABSTRACT
During the postwar period, Japan's state-guided capitalism has been able to downplay class tensions by the careful cultivation of the myth. The postwar Japanese constitution, as a type of contract between the governed and government, is embedded with examples of how liberalist ideologies have been envisioned. In Japan, as in other parts of the industrialized world, much of the elite's bureaucratic power rests on its ability to segment and categorize social groupings and individuals, assigning them identities. The impact of such bureaucratic operations is not insignificant. The sexual division of labor has become accepted as a natural feature of the socioeconomic landscape, with women relegated to the domestic sphere, whereas men are positioned in society's public realm. These are idealized identities, since most women do work outside the home in some capacity. Such ideologized definitions are linked to other gendered dichotomies, such as the feminized inner, hidden spaces of homemaking versus masculinized outer, exposed areas of full-time occupation.
