Rapid economic development and the growth of civil society in Asia in recent years have changed the theoretical framework for research on Japan. It is now possible to do away with frameworks that assume Japanese ""uniqueness"" and that limit the field of comparison to Japan, Europe, and North America. Instead, we can now study Japanese society within the broader totality of modern Asian society, and modern Japan in comparison with both the West and with Asia. This collaborative research group aims to use this newer, broader approach to study issues of family and gender in modern and contemporary Japan and Asia. One of our guiding theoretical principles is the theory that it was the onset of modernity that first transformed women into housewives. “Housewifization” theory has been part of the basic framework for research on gender and the family in Europe, North America, and Japan for some time. However, with the great variety of societies and traditional gender roles that exist in this part of the world, is the concept adequate for describing circumstances in Asia? In addition, at the same time contemporary Asia is undergoing rapid modernization, it is also being exposed to globalization. Is globalization bringing to the evolution of family and gender in Asia different conditions than those that were experienced in Europe, North America, and Japan? This collaborative research group, composed of specialists in various fields including sociology, history, literature, and anthropology, will conduct broad-ranging interdisciplinary research from a historical perspective encompassing all of modern history, and from a geographical perspective encompassing all parts of Asia that lie east of India. Research will focus on a variety of topics. Concerning historical change, we will investigate the different regions of Asia from a comparative perspective concerning such topics as: the naturalization of Western ideologies of the modern family in various Asian regions; the birth of the ""new woman"" the spread into Asia of the ideal, as re-construed in modern Japan, of the modern woman as ""good wife, wise mother""and the role played by housekeepers. Concerning contemporary conditions, drawing on on-site investigations being conducted by the various members, we will explore such issues as the changes in social networks supporting the family; the effects of globalization; current trends in the employment of foreign housekeepers; the increase in cross-border marriages; the successes and failures of so-called ""Asian-style welfare state"" policies; and the changing forms and meanings of the zealous pursuit of education. Finally, through these various investigations, taking our cue from phenomena such as backlashes against modernization in the ideologies of ""maternalism"" and ""familism"" the invention of tradition; and the role played by the""family-nation"" ideal and the nation-state, we hope to consider the validity of speaking of uniquely ""Asian"" patterns.

代表者	落合　恵美子	京都大学大学院文学研究科国際日本文化研究センター・教授客員教授
Organizer	井上　章一	国際日本文化研究センター・教授
Team Researcher	安里　和晃	大阪大学外国語学部・非常勤講師
〃	粟屋　利江	東京外国語大学外国語学部・教授
〃	石井　正子	大阪大学グローバルコラボレーションセンター・特任准教授
〃	石田　あゆう	桃山学院大学社会学部・講師
〃	上野　加代子	徳島大学総合科学部・教授
〃	奥井　亜紗子	神戸大学発達科学部・非常勤講師
〃	押川　文子	京都大学地域研究統合情報センター・教授
〃	嘉本　伊都子	京都女子大学現代社会学部・准教授
〃	金　貞任	東京福祉大学・准教授
〃	小林　和美	大阪教育大学教育学部・准教授
〃	小山　静子	京都大学大学院人間･環境学研究科・教授
〃	鈴木　伸枝	長崎ウエスレヤン大学現代社会学部・教授
〃	瀬地山　角	東京大学大学院総合文化研究科・准教授
〃	タンタン・アウン	名古屋大学大学院経済学研究科・研究員
〃	長坂　格	新潟国際情報大学情報文化学部・准教授
〃	中谷　文美	岡山大学大学院社会文化科学研究科・准教授
〃	朴　宣美	筑波大学大学院人文社会科学研究科・講師
〃	橋本　泰子	四国学院大学社会学部・教授
〃	姫岡　とし子	筑波大学大学院人文社会科学研究科・教授
〃	藤田　道代	大手前大学社会文化学部・教授
〃	宮坂　靖子	奈良女子大学大学院人間文化研究科・准教授
〃	Myint　San	愛知学院大学総合政策研究科・研究員
〃	大和　礼子	関西大学社会学部・教授
〃	山根　真理	愛知教育大学教育学部・教授
〃	山本　理子	京都大学大学院文学研究科・博士課程
〃	井波　律子	国際日本文化研究センター・教授
〃	パトリシア　フィスター	国際日本文化研究センター・教授
〃	劉　建輝	国際日本文化研究センター・准教授