A Japanese Woman’s Life Journey through Narration

Abstract

Abstract: This study focuses on a Japanese woman’s life journey. Adopting a narrative inquiry methodology, the participant’s perceptions of marriage, family, work and life value were summarized. As a senior citizen active in her career, the participant reflected on her life’s “reality” which has been shaped and influenced by the political and socioeconomic backgrounds. Although the Japanese government has implemented a series of policies and laws to improve gender equality since the post-war period, according to “The Global Gender Report 2022” by the World Economic Forum, Japan’s gender gap continues to be the lowest among the developed countries, with a ranking of no. 116 among all the 146 countries. The situation calls for the need of having more women’s voices to be heard and reflected. This study will analyze the political and socioeconomic backgrounds, and examine women’s changes from the past to the present as well as the possibilities in the future.

Keywords

Narrative inquiry / Japanese / woman / gender / gender gap

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