"work is still considered . . . more important for men and . . . identifies the male more than it does the female" (91). This is clearly different than in the United States, where women's work can be seen as at least approaching men's work in terms of social, economic and personal significance.
In the homes, the same division of labor persists, with the woman/wife/mother given the limited responsibilities of "domestic maintenance" and the man given the more honored responsibility of "financial supporter" (91). In the United States, increasingly, the identity of women is found in work outside the home.
The construction of personhood in Japan, then, is divided along gender lines. The woman gains her personhood and identity in terms of her servicing of men, as in, for example, either the role of domestic worker or the role of hostess. The male gains his personhood through his work, especially in relationship to the corporation. Far more than in the United States, the relationship between the worker (primarily the male worker) and the corporation d
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