1. Sandy Cash
Mailbox 108
The accounts of ikigai help explain Japan’s economic success. Most of the men’s ikigai is
their job, to the point where it is more important than their own family. Based on these
accounts, one can see the gender roles in Japan. The man is suppose to work, and provide for
his family, where the woman is suppose to stay at home, and take care of her husband and
family.
Men’s ikigai is most of the time their job, in fact one many says, “…my ikigai has been the
companies I’ve worked for; they’ve been more important to me than my family.” A high
school teacher says, “Young people today overwhelmingly value being with their families.
They calmly say, ‘My child’s sick. I’ll take the day off.’” Nobody ever did that when I was
young!” Lastly, a bank worker said, “In Japan, if a man says his child rather than his work is
his ikigai, he’ll be considered a sissy.”
From these accounts, one can see the gender roles in Japan. One man said, “In Japan women
are discriminated against in the workplace…” Also, the men in Japan also seem to think that
the wife should know what her husband wants right away, and she should send him off to
work. Also, since the husband has to be subservient to his boss, when he comes home he
wants to boss around his wife and children. Lastly, the Japanese men do not like it when a
wife works, for then she can be overbearing, since she has her own money.
These accounts, help to show that since a man’s kigai, is based on their job this is why Japan
has economic success. It has come to the point where they do not have time for their family,
nor is it as important as their job, maybe why they have a higher suicide rate. Also, these
accounts show the gender roles in Japan; the wife having to obey her husband, since he wants
to be the boss once he comes home from work.