ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that family-centred policy debates are urgently required in Japan where the rhetoric of work/life balance without explicit reference to the family holds the risk to encourages workplace-centred ways of living. It focuses on the risks to family life and intimate human relationships in Japanese society, the areas of vulnerability, and the goals of social justice. The chapter involves determining the best way to ensure a harmonious relationship between work and family life; encouraging people to marry and have children; and providing support for those who suffer from hardships, including intimate partner violence and poverty. Reconciling work and family life is not simple, especially when there are variations in the gender division of labour between partners. Most families in Japan are dual-income, although women often work part-time. The chapter analyses the changes in family norms in contemporary East Asian societies, where hierarchical and authoritative thinking and behaviour in human relationships can lead to intimate partner violence.
