The Japanese model of capitalism and the globalization of Japanese production

This chapter explains the development of the Japanese model of capitalism, in order to provide an essential background to understanding women’s role in that model, which will be explored in more depth in Chapter 5. The chapter goes on to show how the globalization of Japanese production has facilitated the changing division of labour firstly in the East Asian region,1 and then globally, and how this is having reciprocal effects upon that model.