The evolution of the family institution in post-war Japan: problems and prospects

The article analyses the influence of national and cultural traditions and features of civilisational development on the conditions and tendency of transformation of the family institution in Japan in the post-war period. Japan, as most of the countries of East Asia, is subject to an intensification of the process of Westernisation, which leads to qualitative changes in the traditional model of the institution of the family. The article presents a comparative analysis of changes in gender roles in modern Japanese society at different stages of its formation. The reasons for the transformation of the “ie” family structure, where a man was at the head and dominated over a woman, have been investigated. As a result, it has been noted that the process of nuclearisation of the Japanese family, which began in the post-war period, continues to be characterised by a gender-asymmetric division of labour, which indicates the significant influence of traditional cultural values and preserves the problem of gender inequality in modern Japan.