ABSTRACT
The rapid economic growth of Japan in much of the second half of the twentieth century only served to widen the gap in wages and employment conditions of women workers compared to their male counterparts. While women’s participation rate in the labour force increased significantly over this period this was due to the rapid growth in the manufacturing and service sectors. Yet, unlike their male colleagues who enjoyed lifetime employment, seniority promotion and on-the-job training, women workers occupied a peripheral position in the labour market. The male-dominated nature of enterprise unions served to reinforce these practices.
