ABSTRACT
Having talked rather generally about a variety of influences on Japanese life, we come in this chapter (and to some extent in the next) to consider specific possibilities for the mundane business of making a living. In previous chapters the scene has been set with discussions of hierarchy and the influence of education, the importance of securing a good job on graduation from school or university and the reluctance of an increasing number of young people to settle to a long-term career. In the last chapter it was mentioned that marriage is another crucial time for making a definite commitment to a future occupation, and for women, it is a time for important decisions about whether to combine a career with marriage, or to make marriage itself a career. Again, we saw the age of marriage being postponed and an increasing number of people refusing marriage and child-rearing altogether, but we also saw that the possibilities for returning to education have increased.
