Role Of Family In Japanese Family

Family has always seemed to play an important role in Japanese society, with each member playing their own important role within this unit. Japanese families used to represent the extended family along with the parents and their children, but now it is more based on the model of the nuclear family, or the salaryman family. This usually includes a mother, father, and their children. Though this family unit may seem similar to the idea of family in the west, the Japanese family has their own issues and problems which lead to many issues in society. One of the most significant contributors to these problems are the heavy societal expectations placed on each member of the family to fulfill a narrow and specific role. Looking at the film “The Family …show more content…
As typical in the salaryman family, the husband and father is expected to work very long hours every week to provide for his family, typically as a white collar worker, or salaryman. He is the head of the family and it is expected to be his job to provide for the family as best he can. This salaryman will often leave for work early, work all throughout the day, and then in many cases spend his evening out socializing with his fellow coworkers and not returning home until late. This causes many problems with his wife and children, as they barely get to see him. The children in many cases do not get to have a good relationship with their father, as they don 't get to spend much quality time with him. The wife can also become distant from her husband and gradually lose interest in their marriage. This leads to many couples divorcing after their children become independent, since they no longer are able to sustain a loving relationship. In “The Family Game” the father, Mr. Numata, acts neglectful and uninvolved in the lives of his wife and children, yet he still has authority over everyone. The expectation for the role in which the Father and Husband should play, therefore leads to a lot of distance between him and his …show more content…
In fact, the expectations for women to stay at home and be dedicated to their families could be a huge contributor to the declining birthrate, which is a very big problem in Japan. The role set up for the mother of the family expects her to stay at home and work tirelessly to take care of the household and her children. She is expected to do all of the cooking and cleaning, as well as taking care of the children and helping them with their academic success. Based on the expectations of society, married women should work as full time housewives, leaving their husbands to provide for the family. This can be seen in “The Family Game”, in which Mrs. Numata is often seen spending all of her time working for her family, with little personal satisfaction, almost like a servant. The problem with these expectations is that many women in Japan today want to pursue their own careers; and because being a housewife and mother doesn 't allow them to easily do this, women simply choose to focus on their careers, and worry about getting married and having children later. Because of this the birthrate in Japan has fallen at an alarming rate, leaving the country struggling to find a way to get the birthrate back up. Unfortunately, the government ends up putting all of the blame on women for this problem, and trying to get them to give up their careers to focus on their families, and thus