Value Attitudes toward Role Behavior of Women in Two Japanese Villages

Abstract

HE recent accumulation of intensive data on Japanese rural culture has T revealed many regional differences in Japanese values and attitudes.Scholars concerned with Japanese culture are more aware that they must distinguish between what is broadly characteristic of the society as a whole and what is specific to smaller segments. The full range of variation, however, is still far from clear.The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the value of using standardized projective tests, such as the Thematic Apperception Test, in studying intercommunity differences. Specifically, this paper reports results obtained by comparing TAT data from two Japanese communities in what is termed southwestern Japan. One is occupationally concerned with farming, the other with fishing. The over-all results obtained from the two villages are similar in many respects, but they also reveal certain consistent differences in attitudes concerning role behavior in the primary family.

Intimate Disconnections

“…In such historical representations, spouses who worked hard at their separate responsibilities and rarely needed or wanted to verbally communicate with each other were held up as beautiful examples of mature love. Ella (Embree) Wiswell, researching with her husband John in Suye village in the 1930s, heard a group of younger married men comparing romantic love with married love to suggest that the latter was more subtle, stable, and constant (Smith and Wiswell 1982, 179; see also De Vos andWagatsuma 1961, 1210). In contrast to an immature or childish "puppy love, " for instance, Lebra's interlocutors in the 1970s described mature love as occurring between spouses who lived largely separate lives but did so for each other's benefit (see also Smith 1999).…”

Intimate Japan: ethnographies of closeness and conflict

“…In such historical representations, spouses who worked hard at their separate responsibilities and rarely needed or wanted to verbally communicate with each other were held up as beautiful examples of mature love. Ella (Embree) Wiswell, researching with her husband John in Suye village in the 1930s, heard a group of younger married men comparing romantic love with married love to suggest that the latter was more subtle, stable, and constant (Smith and Wiswell 1982, 179; see also De Vos andWagatsuma 1961, 1210). In contrast to an immature or childish "puppy love," for instance, Lebra's interlocutors in the 1970s described mature love as occurring between spouses who lived largely separate lives but did so for each other's benefit.…”

CHAPTER 5. What Can Be Said?

“…In those historical representations, spouses who work hard at their separate responsibilities and rarely need or want to verbally communicate with each other are held up as beautiful examples of mature love. Ella (Embree) Wiswell, researching with her husband John in Suye village in the 1930s, heard a group of younger married men comparing romantic love with married love to suggest that the latter is more subtle, stable, and constant (Smith and Wiswell 1982, 179; see also De Vos andWagatsuma 1961, 1210). In contrast to an immature or childish "puppy love," for instance, Lebra's interlocutors in the 1970s describe mature love as occurring between spouses who live largely separate lives, but do so for the benefit of each other.…”