STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY Department of Asian, Middle Eastern and Turkish Studies

Do Women Shine at Work? : Gender Roles in Japan’s Bestseller Films 1998-2018

Bachelor Thesis in Japanese Language and Culture Spring 2019

Author: Sandra Helander Supervisor: Dr. Ewa Machotka Sammanfattning Denna avhandling undersöker könsrollerna på arbetsplatsen i de utvalda japanska bästsäljande filmerna som producerades under de senaste tre decennierna, vilket upplevde införandet av politiska åtgärder som avser att förbättra jämställdheten på arbetsplatsen. Studien hävdar att trots de samhälleliga och politiska förändringarna i Japan under de senaste trettio åren har bästsäljande filmer behållit traditionella könsrollsskildringar. Förklaringen kan vara att det är mycket lättare att ändra regler och lagstiftningar än uppfattningen om könsroller, som länge har existerat i samhället.

Abstract This thesis examines the gender roles in the workplace featured in the selected Japanese best- seller films produced in the last three decades, which saw the introduction of policies aimed at improving gender equality in the workplace. The study argues that despite societal and political changes in Japan in the last thirty years bestseller films have perpetuated traditional portrayal of gender roles. The explanation could be that it is much easier to change rules and legislations, than the perception on gender roles, which have existed in the society for a long time.

Keywords Gender Roles, Japan, Gender Traits, Bestseller films, Japanese Cinema, Womenomics, Equal Employment Opportunity Law, Women in the Workforce

Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Ewa Machotka for all her valuable input, advice and encouragement. I would also like to thank the department of Asian, Middle Eastern and Turkish studies for their assistance.

Conventions In this essay all written names will be written in the order First Name - Last Name. All Japanese words and concepts will be italicized, and as plural is not used in the Japanese language no differentiation will be made between singular and plural words. The traditional and modified version of the Hepburn romanization system will be used for the romanization of Japanese. Long vowels are written with macrons, ā, ī, ū, ē and ō. Unless otherwise stated, all Japanese text is translated by me.

Table of Contents 1. Introduction ...... 5 2. Literature Review ...... 9 2.1 What is Gender? ...... 9 2.2 Gender Studies and Media ...... 10 2.3 Gender and Media in Japan ...... 14 2.4 Women and Workplaces in Japan ...... 16 3. Research Method and Material ...... 20 3.1 Method ...... 20 3.2 Material ...... 23 4. Analysis of Gender Roles ...... 26 4.1 Films from 1998 ...... 26 4.2 Films from 2008 ...... 30 4.3 Films from 2018 ...... 34 5. Results of Analysis ...... 40 6. Discussion ...... 42 7. Conclusions ...... 44 8. Bibliography ...... 46 9. Appendix ...... 51 Table 3.1 – Age and Employment of Characters in 1998 ...... 51 Table 3.2 – Age and Employment of Characters in 2008 ...... 51 Table 3.3 – Age and Employment of Characters in 2018 ...... 52 Table 4.1 – The “Feminine” Traits of Characters in 1998 ...... 53 Table 4.2 – The “Masculine” Traits of Characters in 1998 ...... 54 Table 5.1 – The “Feminine” Traits of Characters in 2008 ...... 55 Table 5.2 – The “Masculine” Traits of Characters in 2008 ...... 56 Table 6.1 – The “Feminine” Traits of Male Characters in 2018 ...... 57 Table 6.2 – The “Feminine” Traits of Female Characters in 2018 ...... 58 Table 6.3 – The “Masculine” Traits of Male Characters in 2018 ...... 59 Table 6.4 – The “Masculine” Traits of Female Characters in 2018 ...... 60

1. Introduction In 2013 Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzō Abe announced Womenomics, a set of measures aimed at the promotion of economic empowerment for women expected to boost Japanese workforce and economy. This initiative was launched as a response to the serious labour crisis the country faces, which poses a major threat to the future of the Japanese economy. However, Womenomics also brought attention once again to the roles of women in the Japanese society and the changing attitudes towards gender structure in the society.1 One way to see gender is as a social construction, and separating it from a person’s sex.2 This is why gender identities are complex; while one’s sex could be female the gender identity could be different.3 The implementation of a gender identity, the act of behaving in a certain way because of one’s sex and expectations, creates gender roles. These roles are not fixed and vary with time and place.4 In the last years the media consumption in the world has risen exceptionally quickly. In today’s modern societies each week numerous hours are spent on television, smartphones, magazines and other publications. Films are part of this structure scheme and aimed at a broad audience. Not surprisingly, gender roles in films have been investigated with the development of the feminist film theory in the 1970s5 after the discontent over the sex-stereotypes in media,6 with the main approach being psychoanalysis.7 These stereotypes showed men as strong and intelligent and women as beautiful, emotional and timid.8 Scholars observe similar tendencies in Japanese films, which depict males as strong and women as weak,9 prefer male characters to female characters, whose youth was of the most value to their character.10 These characteristics are commonly

1 Emma Dalton, “Womenomics, ‘Equality’ and Abe’s Neo-liberal Strategy to Make Japanese Women Shine,” Social Science Japan Journal 20, no. 1, (2017): 96- 98, 102. 2 Cynthia Carter and Linda Steiner, eds. Critical Readings: Media and Gender. (Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2004), 3. 3 Robert J. Stoller, Sex and Gender: The Development of Masculinity and Femininity, (London: Karnac Books, 1984), 10. 4 Chantal Cornut-Gentille D’arcy and José Ángel García Landa, Gender, I-deology Essays on Theory, Fiction and Film (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1996), 16. 5 Rosemarie Buikema and Iris van der Tuin, Doing Gender in Media, Art and Culture (London: Routledge, 2009), 179-180. 6 Carter and Steiner, Critical Readings: Media and Gender, 2. 7 Buikema and Tuin, Doing Gender in Media, Art and Culture, 179-180. 8 Carter and Steiner, Critical Readings: Media and Gender, 13. 9 David R Rolandelli, “Gender Role Portrayal Analysis of Children’s Programming in Japan,” Human Relations 44, no. 12 (1991): 1273. 10 Atsuko Nishibeppu 西別府厚子 and Sumiko Iwao 岩男壽美子, Terebidorma no shakaishinrigakuteki kenkyū: naiyōbunseki wo chūshintoshite テレビドラマの社会心理学的 研究：内容分析を中心として[Social Psychology

explained in relation to the dominant Japanese family model consisting of two genus-specific heterosexual roles: the male wageworker and female housewife.11 But the question is if these traditional gendered stereotypes perpetuated by films have changed in the last few decades, especially in the context of the recent social, legislative and political transformations in Japan?12 For example, 1997 saw the first revision of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law that was passed 1986 to improve the employment conditions for women. The initial bill was considered inadequate by many Japanese feminists13 and has since then been revised twice. The first revision in 1997 addressed discrimination in all stages of employment such as recruiting, hiring, job placement, and promotion. The second revision of this law in 2006 targeted sexual harassment at work. The revision forced the employers to implement harassment prevention measures, and recognized sexual harassment against male workers.14 And 2013 Abe Shinzō announced Womenomics. Have these legislations had an impact on Japanese popular cinema? In response to the goals of “Creating a Society in which All Women Shine”15 this study investigates gender roles in the workplace featured in Japanese best-seller films created in 1998, 2008 and 2018, which roughly corresponds to the dates of the aforementioned pro-women legislations issued by the government. Unavoidable as our media-saturated society is, it is also inevitable that our encounters with media will in some way affect us. Media shows us ‘how the world works’ with different scenarios,16 but also what is considered ‘socially acceptable’.17 Media is also able to convey messages, on values and ways of life, effectively through multi-sensory means.18 It is therefore a common way to convey messages pertaining to gender roles, either by

research on TV dramas: Focused on content analysis], Musashi Kōgyōdaigaku Kankyō Jōhōgakubū Kiyō 武蔵工業 大学環境情報学部紀要 Musashi Institute of Technology: Journal of Environmental and Information Studies, no.7, 2006): 83-85. 11 Linus Hagström and Pia Moberg, Japan Nu: Strömmningar och Perspektiv [Japan Now: Currents and Perspectives] (Stockholm: Carlsson Bokförlag, 2015), 54. 12 Carter and Steiner, Critical Readings: Media and Gender, 13. 13 Barbara Molony, “Japan’s 1986 Equal Employment Opportunity Law and the Changing Discourse on Gender,” Signs 20, no.2 (1995): 274-276. 14 Stephanie Assmann, “Gender Equality in Japan: The Equal Employment Opportunity Law Revisited,” The Asia- Pacific Journal | Japan Focus 12, no.45-2 (2004): 6. 15 Dalton, “Womenomics, ‘Equality’ and Abe’s Neo-liberal Strategy to Make Japanese Women Shine,” 96-98, 102. 16 David Gauntlett, Media, Gender and Identity (London: Routledge, 2008), 2. 17 Carter and Steiner, Critical Readings: Media and Gender, 1. 18 Jackie Hogan,“The Construction of Gendered national identities in television advertisement of Japan and Australia,” SAGE Publications 21, (1999): 749.

maintaining the current status or promoting a different one.19 Hence, it is important to consider what gender roles are perpetuated in the films watched by a large audiences and if these portrayals change in time. The aim of this thesis is to investigate how gender roles are presented in the best-selling Japanese films in the last three decades and to answer these three research questions:

1. How have gender relationships in the workplaces been portrayed in Japanese best-selling films produced in the last three decades? 2. What gender traits are used in these films to characterize women and men? 3. Is it possible to observe changes in gender characterization of characters in time, namely between 1998 and 2018?

In this thesis nine films are examined. The films are introduced in Chapter 3. The films are chosen because of their popularity in Japan during the specific years 1998, 2008 and 2018, which is assessed on the basis of their box office income in Japan. The films are selected from the ranking presented at the Japanese website Nendai Ryūkō,20 a page that ranks diverse products ranging from music and literature to cars and food.21 To analyse the films this study traced selected gender traits. This same method has been used in several gender studies, for example those by David R. Rolandelli,22 Dawn Elizabeth England, Lara Descartes & Melissa A. Collier- Meek23 and Teresa L. Thompson and Eugenia Zerbinos.24 The selected characteristics are presented through a table of gender traits constructed by Yūko Itō25 and England, Descartes and Collier-Meek.26 This method is chosen after its frequent use in

19 Shinichi Saito, “Television and the Cultivation of Gender-Role Attitudes in Japan: Does Television Contribute to the Maintenance of the Status Quo?” Journal of Communication 57, (2007): 516. 20 Nendai Ryūkō 年代流行 [Popular Period] Nendai Ryūkō 年代流行 [Popular Period], “Nendai Ryūkō Home page” Accessed May 20, 2019, https://nendai- ryuukou.com/ 21 “Nendai Ryūkō Home page.” 22 Rolandelli, “Gender Role Portrayal Analysis of Children’s Programming in Japan,” 1273. 23 Dawn Elizabeth England and Lara Descartes and Melissa A. Collier-Meek, “Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princess,” Sex Roles 64 (2011): 558-560. 24 Theresa L Thompson and Eugenia Zerbinos, ”Gender Roles in Animated Cartoons: Has the Picture Changed in 20 Years?” Sex Roles 32, nos.9/10 (1995): 660. 25 Yūko Itō 伊藤裕子, “Seiyakuwari no hyōka ni kansuru kenkyū 性役割の評価に関する研究” (Evaluation of Sex-roles as a Function of Sex and Role Expectation). Kyōikushinrigaku Kenkyū 教育心理学研究 Japanese Journal of Educational Psychology 26, no.1 (1978): 2. 26 England and Descartes and Collier-Meek “Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princess,” 558-560.

other studies that analyse the portrayal of gender roles, and because it provides one with the ability to analyse a wide range of characteristics. The hypothesis of this study is that the characters in all of the films will be portrayed with traditional gender stereotypes and that perhaps a slight change can be seen in 2018’s films, towards more modern gender portrayals. It would be quite natural to assume that earlier Japanese films will perpetuate traditional gender roles but harder to estimate beforehand if the situation changes in the later films and to what extent? This thesis aims to improve an understanding of the relationships between film, gender and society at large. Due to a limited scope of this thesis the study cannot investigate all complexities related to gender roles in Japanese films, but it aims to shed the light on gender relationships at workplaces presented in nine Japanese best-selling films during the last three decades. Currently there is limited research done on gender in workplaces in Japanese films, even though it is a particular point of interest for Womenomics to promote the female workforce.

2. Literature Review 2.1 What is Gender? The word gender has been used since the 14th century as a grammatical term to refer to classes of noun, designated as masculine, feminine or neuter in some languages.27 Cynthia Carter and Linda Steiner write in Critical Readings: Media and Gender that there is a distinction between gender and sex. Sex is based on the biological difference of female and male,28 and consists of a set of anatomical characteristics.29 Contrarily, gender is a term that has psychological or cultural connotations.30 It is the social construction of sexual difference, and not a ‘natural’ certainty.31 The concept of gender is in practice not free from a consideration of sexual anatomy, official sex, sexual preference and more.32 Consequently, gender cannot be simply determined by the biological sex and neither is it a universal consistent definition.33 Robert J. Stoller explains in Sex and Gender: The Development of Masculinity and Femininity that the proper terms for sex are ‘male’ and ‘female’, whereas it is ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ for gender. This is where gender identity comes in. Gender identity is developed with the knowledge, either unconsciously or not, that one belongs to one sex. The complexity of gender identity is later formed; one could for example be male but see oneself as an effeminate man.34 Chantal Cornut-Gentille D’arcy and José Ángel García Landa writes in Gender, I-deology Essays on Theory, Fiction and Film that this identity is not constructed only on basis of biological sex, but also on gender roles.35 D’arcy and Landa observe:

A gender role is the behavioural implementation of gender identity: what an individual does because he or she is a man or a woman, both spontaneously and in order to secure a clear gender identity, acting in the way people of the same sex is expected to act.36

27 “Gender,” In Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2019, Accessed May 25, 2019, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/gender. 28 Carter and Steiner, Critical Readings: Media and Gender, 3. 29 D’arcy and Landa, Gender, I-deology Essays on Theory, Fiction and Film, 14. 30 Stoller, Sex and Gender: The Development of Masculinity and Femininity, 9. 31 Carter and Steiner, Critical Readings: Media and Gender, 3. 32 D’arcy and Landa, Gender, I-deology Essays on Theory, Fiction and Film, 15. 33 Carter and Steiner, Critical Readings: Media and Gender, 3. 34 Stoller, Sex and Gender: The Development of Masculinity and Femininity, 9-10. 35 D’arcy and Landa, Gender, I-deology Essays on Theory, Fiction and Film, 16. 36 Ibid.

Every culture has a unique set of behaviours that are expected from women and men, generic stereotypes, which they express through a variety of means consisting mainly of literature and art. Gender roles are not fixed and are subject to changes, similar to how the role of men and women are in constant evolution throughout history.37 This thesis will examine the gender roles seen in films by the apparent gender traits of the characters. The subject of gender and sex is a lot more complex and cannot be covered merely by the gender traits. Acknowledging the complexity and construction of gender identity is the first step into understanding how characters are created in regards to sex and cultural gender.

2.2 Gender Studies and Media Women’s studies, as it was called in the past, commenced almost forty years ago when the first scholars were entrusted to come up with a new line of teaching and research into the subject. Since then there has been a generous amount of research done into media, particularly media and gender.38 Carter and Steiner write that what led to the start of gender studies was a discontent of media misrepresenting individuals because of sex. In the 1860s feminists in the United Kingdom and United States, the so-called ‘New Women’, who fought for women to have greater social, educational, political and economic rights, were both ignored and mocked in papers and magazines.39 It was during the ‘second wave’ of women’s movement in the 1960s that the methodical research into media images of women in the world prospered. Feminists were concerned that media messages made adults and children believe that dichotomized and hierarchical sex-role stereotypes were normal. Therefore scholars that examined media portrayal of women wanted to use the empirical evidence to present the existence of sexism and explain the scarcity of women in public work positions.40 Carter and Steiner explain that the media is vital in the procedure to gain public ‘consent’, but that media neither mirror nor reflect reality. By its own nature the media images appear as reality. Carter and Steiner observe that “[…] media

37 D’arcy and Landa, Gender, I-deology Essays on Theory, Fiction and Film, 16. 38 Buikema and Tuin, Doing Gender in Media, Art and Culture, 4. 39 Carter and Steiner, Critical Readings: Media and Gender, 1-2. 40 Ibid, 2.

images dissemble the extent to which they are aligned with the interest of powerful groups in society.”41 In the 1970s the feminist film theory developed under the influence of the women’s movement with the central subjects as class, gender and ethnicity. At the time film studies began establishing themselves in the academia the focus lay in how ‘meaning’ was acquired rather than the content.42 The media, as well as the institutions and audience, has undergone several changes during the years, partly due to feminists’ combating. One important development, which has become a central focus of media studies research, is the 1970s distinction between sex and gender.43 Recent years have also seen a change in the academia and the focus is now on the sensory and affective experience of watching films.44 In the 1970s psychoanalysis became the main approach adopted to explain a series of diverse concepts, from how cinema functioned as an apparatus, the nature of the screen spectator45 and to the captivation of film.46 Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis has impacted on film theory and many of his ideas has been used by theorists, with the most important contributions perhaps being his accounts on the unconscious, subjectivity, Oedipus complex and the sexuality of film. Freud deeply influenced the surrealist film theorists of the pre-1970, but after the 1970’s Jean- Louis Baudry, Christian Metz, and Laura Mulvey came to the front.47 Laura Mulvey writes in Visual and Other Pleasures that the psychoanalytic theory can be used as a political weapon to demonstrate how the form of film has been structured by the unconscious of patriarchal society.48 Mulvey observes:

[…] the function of the woman in forming the patriarchal unconscious is twofold: she firstly symbolises the castration threat by her real lack of a penis and secondly thereby raises her child into the symbolic. Once this has been achieved, her meaning is at end.49

41 Ibid. 42 Buikema and Tuin, Doing Gender in Media, Art and Culture, 179-180 43 Carter and Steiner, Critical Readings: Media and Gender, 3. 44 Buikema and Tuin, Doing Gender in Media, Art and Culture, 179-180. 45 John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson, eds., The Oxford Guide to Film Studies (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 77. 46 Buikema and Tuin, Doing Gender in Media, Art and Culture, 179-180. 47 Hill and Gibson, The Oxford Guide to Film Studies, 78. 48 Laura Mulvey, Visual and Other Pleasures (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989), 14. 49 Mulvey, Visual and Other Pleasures, 14.

In the book Ways of Seeing John Berger also mentions women’s position in the art of Western Culture. Berger states that “men act and women appear” not merely in antique paintings but likewise in more recent advertisement. In other words ‘men look and women are looked at’.50 Mulvey also studied men’s and women’s position. She analysed Hollywood films and as well European films, and discerned that the camera films from the point of view of a male character. Mulvey said that this camera composition demanded of the viewer to take the position of a male.51 One of the pleasures cinema offer is scopophilia (pleasure in looking).52 Freud connected scopophilia to eroticism, more specifically narcissism, exhibitionism, instinct, erotogenic zones and childhood.53 Mulvey writes that cinema goes further than providing pleasurable looking, and that it develops scopophilia in a narcissistic aspect. 54 The matter of scopophilia is a lot more complicated, but the point that Mulvey made was that while cinema is pleasurable in form the content can be threatening.55 The focus for the conventions of mainstream films is on the human form, the body and face of the human and the relationship between the human form and its surroundings. Mulvey likens cinema to a child with a mirror, who joyously sees the recognition of themselves in the mirror image as a more complete version. It is a battle of image and self- image. Mulvey writes that the cinema has structures of fascination strong enough to allow temporary loss of ego while simultaneously reinforcing it.56 Other film theorists, including Christian Metz, also compare cinema to a mirror and connects it to the ego. Metz writes that there is only one thing that is never reflected in the mirror, the spectator’s body, and that in a certain emplacement the mirror becomes clear glass.57 Rosemarie Buikema and Iris van der Tuin analyses the changes in today’s cinema in Doing Gender in Media, Art and Culture. The classic voyeuristic look has become less frequent, with the spectator’s point of view becoming more neutral, not demanding the viewer to take the position of a the male viewer. The voyeuristic gaze has also extended to the male body. The

50 John Berger, Ways of Seeing (London: Penguin Books, 1972), 47, 135. 51 Mulvey, Visual and Other Pleasures, 20. 52 Ibid, 16. 53 Sigmund Freud, The Essentials of Psycho-Analysis (London: Vintage, 2005), 208, 210, 311. 54 Mulvey, Visual and Other Pleasures, 18. 55 Ibid, 17-19. 56 Ibid, 18. 57 Christian Metz, The Imaginary Signifier (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1982), 45.

physical appearance, for both genders, is expected to meet conventional beauty standards.58 Media has also become increasingly sexualized. It is a subject widely debated by many academics, Ariel Levy Pamela Paul, Carol Platt, and Meenakshi Gigi Durham. Feona Attwood addresses the increasing sexualisation of media. She writes that sexualisation refers to the preoccupation with sexual values, practices and identities in the contemporary society. Popular media is overpopulated by sexualized images of women bodies, naked or scantily clad. Attwood however, argues that though this it is true, many discussions and interpretations on the subject have omitted all the other ways women are represented.59 The image of the woman and the man in Western media is made with the idea that they are fundamentally and ‘naturally’ different, Carter and Steiner observe. These stereotypes of masculinity and femininity, contraries to one another, create film characters where different attributes are valued because of the gender. In many films the most valued attribute of a man is his physical expertise, and characters are often shown as muscled, tough and aggressive. Intelligence is not as highly valued as strength. Intelligence and physical proficiency are not sought-out attributes for women, unlike the attributes beautiful, emotional and timid. The modern media of the twentieth century, divided women into two categories: the good girls (pretty, nurturing, selfless, quiet and sensitive) and the ‘evil’ girls (selfish, stubborn, assertive and sexual).60 However, though gendered stereotypes remain to be the norm, it has begun to yield to anarchical feminine gendered identities.61 Over the last decades cinema has gone through changes, it is no longer a monolithic system based on large capital investment. The technological advances have made it possible for an alternative cinema to develop. Cinematic production can now be both artisanal and capitalist.62 Sexism exists outside of media. Carter and Steiner write that it is an issue that media have contributed to by (re)enforcing sexist norms and that it cannot be solved by merely changing the portrayal of women in media. However, media is also capable of bringing attention to harmful material.63 Raymond W. Preiss et al. writes in Mass Media Effects Research: Advances Through Meta-Analysis that mass media has always drawn scrutiny, comments and controversy. One of

58 Buikema and Tuin, Doing Gender in Media, Art and Culture, 182-183. 59 Feona Attwood, “Researching Media Sexualization”, Sex Roles 61 (2009): 288-289. 60 Carter and Steiner, Critical Readings: Media and Gender, 12. 61 Ibid, 13. 62 Mulvey, Visual and Other Pleasures, 15. 63 Carter and Steiner, Critical Readings: Media and Gender, 4.

the reasons is that it operates in the public sphere. He observes that even with all the discussions about the positive and negative effects of mass communication, the reality is different and recites Ben H. Bagdikian.64 Bagdikian discusses the monopoly of media in The media Monopoly, explaining that the large conglomerate corporations work to keep their money and make profits, resulting in a constricted competition and highly duplicate content in media.65 The extent of the effect of media is widely questioned. Preiss explains that prior meta-analysis has shown media effects to be moderate, but more recent studies have found it to have both stronger and lesser impact. The measurement of media effects is difficult. Preiss ends the discussion by arguing that most studies focus on linear assumptions and methods, subsequently also underestimating the media effects.66 Carter and Steiner argue that the importance is not to reverse the roles of women and men or to bring in strong and intelligent female characters. The importance is to investigate and critique media forms, institutions and production practices to demonstrate how media contribute, or challenge, the structural (re)-production of gender inequalities.67 Nowadays, in the modern Western democracies women and men mostly have equal rights, with a few exceptions in certain laws, and are also thought to be equal, as observed by David Gauntlett in Media, Gender and Identity.68 However, Gauntlett focuses only on modern Western democracies. As gender is a social and cultural construction it is necessary to look beyond Western societies.

2.3 Gender and Media in Japan Gender roles are not uniform and each and every culture has their own unique set of behaviours for women and men,69 Japan is not an exception. Tamae K. Prindle in her book Women in Japanese Cinema mentions the several ways women in Japanese cinema are culturally coded into roles, as mothers, wives, prostitutes, girls and the individual human being that is the woman.70 Prindle also states that maternal love is a prominent part of Japanese cinema, and that several

64 Raymond W. Preiss et al. eds., Mass Media Effects Research: Advances Through Meta-Analysis, (London: Routledge, 2006), 467-469. 65 Ben H. Bagdikian, The Media Monopoly (Boston: Beacon Press, 2000), 5-6. 66 Preiss et al., Mass Media Effects Research: Advances Through Meta-Analysis, 470-471. 67 Carter and Steiner, Critical Readings: Media and Gender, 14. 68 Gauntlett, Media, Gender and Identity, 3. 69 D’arcy and Landa, Gender, I-deology Essays on Theory, Fiction and Film, 16. 70 Tamae K. Prindle, Women in Japanese Cinema, (Portland: Merwin Asia, 2016).

Japanese psychoanalysts see mother complex as a Japanese trait.71 Linus Hagström and Pia Moberg write in Japan Now: Currents and Perspectives that the post- war dominant family form in Japan is based on a dyad consisting of two genus-specific heterosexual roles: the male role of a sararīman and the female role of sengyō shufu.72 Hagström and Moberg explain that the relationship between man and woman in a family is based on a clear division of labour, which for the man means primarily taking on the role of the family provider, while the woman primarily engages in the work of managing the household and the children.73 Prindle further investigates the husband-wife roles by discussing the psychoanalytic concept of sexuality factoring in the husband-wife relationship in films.74 Previous studies conducted on Japanese media on the portrayal of gender roles predominantly conclude former existing beliefs that Japanese media favours traditional gender roles and that a difference exists in the depiction of gender in Japanese media. Sumiko Iwao analyses the content of drama programmes during a prolonged period, from 1977 to 1994. Iwao’s extensive research revealed that men cast in programmes outnumbered women every year. In each year about 30% of the characters were female and about 70% male. The number of women increased notably after 1994 to a number around 38 %. After examining the characters’ age, Iwao remarked that youth was of significant value for women. The dominant age of characters varied depending on gender, however generally women were young adults (20-29 years old) and men middle-aged (30-59 years old). Iwao is not the only researcher with similar results.75 Michael Prieler, Florian Kohlbacher, Shigeru Hagiwara and Akie Arima conducted a study on the representation of older people in Japanese TV commercials, where 2,984 commercials were studied on the years 1997 and 2007. The study revealed that older people were underrepresented, especially older females, and the results are congruent with previous research. Males were overrepresented in all most all age groups, except for two age ranges 0-14 and 15-34. It was in the age group 15-34 that the largest difference was observed, with the percentage of male and female characters being 30.3% to 50.6%, men and women respectively. They also noticed that the number of older females decreased from 1997 to 2007, yet older people appearing in Japanese

71 Ibid, 5. 72 Hagström and Moberg, [Japan Now: Currents and Perspectives], 54. sararīman サラリーマン (Salaryman), sengyō shufu 専業主婦 (Housewife). 73 Hagström and Moberg, [Japan Now: Currents and Perspectives], 54. 74 Prindle, Women in Japanese Cinema, 72. 75 Nishibeppu and Iwao, [Social Psychology research on TV dramas: Focused on content analysis], 83-85.

TV commercials have increased.76 David R. Rolandelli examined gender portrayal in the media consumed by Japanese children.77 From a select sample of programs, 279 characters were analysed. The results of the study discovered that children’s television programming was highly characterised by sex. A clear overrepresentation of males existed, with them more often being depicted in professional occupations than females. Males and females were also recognized with having different descriptive attributes. Males were associated with “powerful, older, likeable, mature” individuals, while females individuals were characterised as “relatively weak, younger, less mature”.78 Rolandelli mentions that in regard to power it was positively related to the male dimension, while it was negatively related to the females, as females were portrayed more deferential.79 Research on gender in Japanese media has been done, but gender portrayal in association to workplaces has been studied far less. Good knowledge of the current situation in Japanese workplaces is of importance.

2.4 Women and Workplaces in Japan The Statistic Bureau of Japan conducts statistical surveys of Japan. The surveys made on employment status, household income and life style is of interest to this thesis. The overall everyday life of a resident can be understood by studying the statistics. In some respects women and men were not that different in their daily use of time. Almost the same amount of time was spent on sleep, rest and relaxation, social life and on media.80 The deviances in daily use of time for the sexes are to be found in work, housework, personal care and hobbies. Men spend more time on hobbies and less on housework than women. An increase of men doing housework can be noticed, yet their daily use of time is severely scarce, compared to women. Outside of housework, women also spend more time on caring or nursing, childcare and shopping than men.

76 Michael Prieler et al, “How Older People are Represented in Japanese TV Commercials: A Content Analysis,” Keio Communication Review no. 31 (2009): 7-8. 77 Rolandelli, “Gender Role Portrayal Analysis of Children’s Programming in Japan,” 1273. 78 Rolandelli, “Gender Role Portrayal Analysis of Children’s Programming in Japan,” 1273. 79 Ibid, 1291. 80 Statistic Bureau of Japan, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Summary of Results (QuestionnaireA-Time Use), Tōkyō: Statistic Bureau of Japan, Accessed May 25, 2019, https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/shakai/2016/pdf/timeuse-a2016.pdf.

A large gap in working hours exists between men and women, with men working more than women. The difference has declined somewhat. In 1996 the average male Japanese employee spent 7.24 hours working, while the average Japanese female employee spent 5.39 hours. The working hours observed in 2016 was 6.49 and 4.47, male and female respectively.81 The divergence is also in number of employees by sex and the form of employment. More males are employed, and more than the double the amount of them have regular work compared to women. Women can be seen outclassing men in non-regular work, like in part-time work. There has been a small increase of women into the workforce since 1997. In 2017 around 32.5 million men and 26.7 million women, ages 15 and over, were employed.82 Since the 1980s Japan’s population has been declining.83 Simultaneously the country has an aging population, like most of the world longevity is increasing.84 The people compromising the workforce will most likely continue to decline, considering the Statistics Bureau, MIC, is expecting Japan’s population to continue to decline and age.85 This is the reason that it is important for women to contribute to the workforce. Several legislations have been implemented to improve the working conditions for women in Japan. In 1986 the Equal Employment Opportunity Law (EEOL) passed to improve the employment conditions for women. Many feminists considered the bill inadequate and argued that it neglected the motherhood protection. The bill also mentioned very sparsely workplace discrimination.86 In the first revision in 1997 the EEOL addressed earlier concerns and targeted discrimination in all stages of employment such as recruiting, hiring, job placement, and promotion. The following revision of the bill in 2006 aimed at bringing an end to sexual harassment at work and the new policies imposed duties upon the employers to take prevention measures. The new revision also recognized sexual harassment against male workers.87 Stephanie Assman argues that the EEOL has significant problems and as such remains a powerful tool for

81 Ibid. 82 Statistic Bureau of Japan, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, 2017 Employment Status Survey Summary of Results, Tōkyō: Statistic Bureau of Japan, Accessed May 25, 2019, https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/shugyou/pdf/sum2017.pdf. 83 Statistic Bureau of Japan, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, “Statistical Handbook of Japan 2018,” Accessed May 25, 2019, http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/handbook/c0117.html#c02. 84 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, “World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision, Key Findings and Advance,” (2017): 7. Accessed May 25, 2019, https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2017_KeyFindings.pdf. 85 “Statistical Handbook of Japan 2018.” 86 Molony, “Japan’s 1986 Equal Employment Opportunity Law and the Changing Discourse on Gender,” 274-276. 87 Assmann, “Gender Equality in Japan: The Equal Employment Opportunity Law Revisited,” 6.

implementing gender equality only on paper. It acts like a guideline for private companies, rather than a policy enforced by law, since there are no penalties imposed when the guideline is not obeyed.88 One of the more recent policies on work and women is the 2013 Womenomics movement by Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. Womenomics enforced several policies to promote economic empowerment for women in hopes of encouraging women to work and at the same time rectifying the serious labour crisis and the economy. Abe’s Womenomics plan was to increase the number of women in the workforce and in leadership positions in a wide range of sector, and lastly focused on how to facilitate women’s ability to stay in the workforce.89 The organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ranks Japan amongst the lowest in many employment indicators of gender inequality, for example in gender pay gap and female share of seats in parliament and managers. According to the OECD rapport from 2017 the workingwomen in Japan face an uphill battle in advancing their careers.90 Young women in Japan are more likely to have a university degree and be better educated than young Japanese men. Yet, these young women are less likely to be employed than men and those who do work will usually earn considerably less than their male counterparts.91 Sumiko Iwao wrote in The Japanese Woman that the main issue for women is equality. She observes that in Japan the issue has not received the same amount of attention as in other countries. She suggests that this is due to the fact that Japan is very homogeneous. Unlike the United States, a melting pot of ethnic groups, where a strong emphasis on equality and equal opportunity is required to keep the peace in the society.92 In a new study released in November 2018 by Women Political Leaders and Kantar Public, which surveyed some 1,000 adults from each of the G7 countries, only 24% of people in Japan said that they would feel very comfortable having a woman as the CEO of a major company. Japan had the lowest score, with Canada, United Kingdom and Unites States receiving scores around 55 % for this question.93

88 Ibid, 7, 16. 89 Dalton, “Womenomics, ‘Equality’ and Abe’s Neo-liberal Strategy to Make Japanese Women Shine,” 96-98, 102. 90 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, “The pursuit of Gender Equality: An Uphill Battle - How does JAPAN Compare?” (2017), Accessed May 25, 2019, http://www.oecd.org/japan/Gender2017-JPN-en.pdf. 91 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, “Japan Policy Brief: Inequality,” (2015), Accessed May 25, 2019, https://www.oecd.org/policy-briefs/japan--greater-gender-equality-for-more-inclusive-growth.pdf. 92 Sumiko Iwao 岩男壽美子, The Japanese Woman (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993), 2. 93 Women Leaders Global Forum, “The Reykjavik Index for Leadership,” (2018): 4, 17, 19-21, Accessed May 25,

Tamotsu Nagata in his report on the promotion of women in Japan investigated the reason why women are not advancing in the work force. He noticed that there were several explanations. Many women had occupations that had no possibilities of advancement and others quit before they had the chance to advance. There was also a third explanation, which was that women did not want to advance because of the lack of role models.94 To summarise the actual data on the workplace situation in Japan, it is evident that there is a significant gender inequality and that traditional perceptions on gender roles exists.

2019. https://womenleaders.global/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Report_DIGITAL.pdf. 94 Tamotsu Nagata 永田有, ”Nihon no Josei no Katsuyaku Sokushin ni tsuite 日本の女性の活躍促進について” [Regarding the active promotion of Japan’s women], Kaigai Rōdō Jōhō 海外労働情報 [Overseas Labour Information] 16 (2016), 57-58.

3. Research Method and Material 3.1 Method This thesis investigates qualitatively how men and women are represented in nine best-seller films in Japan, in the aftermath of three legislative reforms aimed at enhancing gender equality at workplaces in Japan. Gender roles and the employment situations are examined in the selected films, produced in the years 1998, 2008 and 2018. It is of interest whether the films have obvious stereotypes about gender and work and if a change in portrayal of gender roles can be found with time. I use a content analysis approach to the research material. Several studies on Japanese media have been conducted. Many centred on the gender roles either in television, commercials or children programmes. This research discusses the portrayal of gender roles in popular films, with a focus on the work aspect and gender traits. I investigate what kind of work environment appears in these films and what kind of picture the Japanese films portray of men and women that work. The years 1998, 2008 and 2018 are chosen with consideration of the dates of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law and Womenomics. The Equal Employment Opportunity Law that was passed in 1986 was revised twice in 1997 and in 2006,95 while Womenomics was launched in 2013. 96 These years saw the introduction of policies aimed at improving gender equality at work and it potentially affected the society and media. There is also a greater chance to observe change in a 10-year-period. I examine the following nine films: • Odoru daisōsasen 踊る大捜査線 Bayside Shakedown (1998) • Fuyajō 不夜城 Sleepless Town (1998) • Mosura 2 Kaitei no daikessen モスラ２ 海底の大決戦 Rebirth of Mothra II (1997) • Hana yori dango fainaru 花より男子ファイナル Boys over Flowers Final (2008) • Yōgisha X no kenshin 容疑者Xの献身 Suspect X’s Dedication (2008) • Aibō – Gekijōban - Zettaizetsumei! 42.195km Tōkyō biggu shitimarason 相棒-劇場版- 絶体絶命！42.195km 東京ビッグシティマラソン Partners – Stalemate! 42.195km Tokyo Big City Marathon (2008)

95 Assmann, “Gender Equality in Japan: The Equal Employment Opportunity Law Revisited,” 6. 96 Dalton, “Womenomics, ‘Equality’ and Abe’s Neo-liberal Strategy to Make Japanese Women Shine,” 96-98.

• Gekijōban kōdo・Burū dokutāheri kinkyū kyūmei 劇場版コード・ブルー ドクターヘリ緊急救命 Code Blue Emergency Saving (2018) • Manbiki kazoku 万引き家族 Shoplifters (2018) • Gintama 2 Okite wa yaburu tame ni koso aru 銀魂2 掟は破るためにこそある Gintama 2 – Rules are made to be broken (2018)

The main character(s) are coded in relation to sex, age, occupation and gender characteristics, and to investigate the gender roles a table with gender traits is used. This method allows me to quantitatively gather information on the depiction of certain behaviours by characters and their connection to gender. Several studies have used gender traits to examine media, like films. I am following the approach applied by David R. Rolandelli,97 Dawn Elizabeth England, Lara Descartes & Melissa A. Collier-Meek98 and Teresa L. Thompson and Eugenia Zerbinos.99 Due to the limited scope of this thesis, I am unable to present and explain all the scenes that are used to characterize the characters. I will demonstrate as extensively as possible in Chapter 5, Analysis of Gender Roles, by describing the personalities of characters, while illustrating some of the actions that determine the outcome of the resulting tables. There are several problems with the method used in this thesis. It is currently not possible for me to examine a large quantity of films without further narrowing down the focus. In some cases the analysis will be subjective, as I have to characterize depicted people myself, for example what constitutes as a strong or reliable character. My sex, gender and cultural background also factors into the evaluation and influences the investigation. One important element to the films, which is not further investigated here, is the subject of who made the films. One way to investigate this is by analysing the background and character of the filmmakers. This is a psychoanalytic approach, called the nosographic approach.100 This approach is not used, since personal information about the directors and producers is not readily available and beyond the scope of this thesis. The film tables below include the names of

97 Rolandelli, “Gender Role Portrayal Analysis of Children’s Programming in Japan,” 1273. 98 England and Descartes and Collier-Meek “Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princess,” 558-560. 99 Thompson and Zerbinos, ”Gender Roles in Animated Cartoons: Has the Picture Changed in 20 Years?,” 660. 100 Metz, The Imaginary Signifier, 25.

directors and producers. Out of the 69 people, both directors and producers, only around 10% are female.101 The year 1998 also have no women on the list. All film directors are men. The impact of only one gender controlling the production cannot be confirmed. It is however something to have in mind when considering the portrayal of gender roles in the films. Character coding: Age. Characters are divided into five categories: child (ages 0-11), adolescent (ages 11-18), young adult (ages 18-30), middle-aged (30-60) and elderly (over 60 years old). Sometimes an in- between indication is given. The age classification is based on Atsuko Nishibeppu’s and Sumiko Iwao’s analysis in the Social Psychology research on TV dramas: Focused on content analysis.102 Gender Traits. Characters are not all uniform; some traits are conveyed more often depending on the gender. To examine whether male and female characters are characterised by sex, a coded characteristic table is constructed. The table is constructed following previous research codes on gender behaviour done by Yūko Itō103 and Dawn Elizabeth England, Lara Descartes and Melissa A. Collier-Meek.104 Itō’s gender traits are used as a base of the table. Itō’s study focused on investigating how Japanese sex-roles as traits were evaluated on the four different dimensions of desirability; personal, social, men and women. Itō divided a table into three categories: masculinity, humanity and femininity. The humanity category is discarded when constructing the table.105 A few attributes from England, Descartes and Collier-Meek gender attributes are added to Itō’s table. England et al. examined the gender role depictions of the prince and princess characters in Disney films with a focus on their behavioural characteristics and climactic outcomes in the films.106 Their table coded the characteristics of the prince and princess characters in the Disney princess films.

101 This analysis completely relies on the Internet Movie Database, IMDb, to have provided correctly the director and producer information. Internet Movie Database, “IMDb Home page,” Accessed May 20, 2019, https://www.IMDb.com. 102 Nishibeppu and Iwao, [Social Psychology research on TV dramas: Focused on content analysis], 84. 103 Itō, (Evaluation of Sex-roles as a Function of Sex and Role Expectation). 2. 104 England and Descartes and Collier-Meek, “Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princess”, 558-560. 105 Itō, (Evaluation of sex-roles as a function of sex and role expectation), 2. 106 England and Descartes and Collier-Meek, “Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princess”, 558-560.

Table 1. Feminine and Masculine Traits.

Feminine traits Masculine traits Physically weak Physically strong Gets rescued Performs rescue Concerned with self-appearance Concerned with other’s appearance107 Shows emotion Unemotional Seeks expertise Gives expertise Cute Handsome Sexy Bold Elegant Adventurous Timid Assertive - (Decisive) Nurturing, helpful Dependable or reliable Submissive A leader Troublesome Active Victim Perpetrator Intelligent X

Occupation. The specific employment each character had is hard to discern at times. A broad term for the employment is used at those times, for example doctor instead of surgeon or nurse. It is therefore not a precise coding in the table Scoring and coding procedure. If difficulties arose when scoring any of the gender traits or/and a decision of the existence of an attribute could not be made it is marked as “absent” (with a scoring of 1). A score of 5 would suggest that the person endeavours the attribute to the fullest, while a 3 would suggest that the attribute does not stand out and is average. In the analysis below I will only mention the gender trait in the description if it receives a score higher than 3.

107 This trait was not mentioned by Itō or England and Descartes and Collier-Meek, but was added to see as an opposite to the trait [Concerned with self-appearance].

3.2 Material The material for the analysis will consist of the top trending Japanese films. Trending is used to define them, but they are selected based on the distribution income. The ranking is taken from the page Nendai Ryūkō,108 a page that ranks Japanese items from music and literature to cars and food.109 In this thesis three films will be chosen from three different time periods with a 10-year- gap, 1998, 2008 and 2018. In total there will be nine films. There will be no differentiation between genres, since the results would be catered to that genre and not the overall Japanese films. To categorize the genre of the films I used the Internet page IMDb.110 The English film titles are also mostly taken from the page IMDb, except for the films Partners –Stalemate! 42.195km Tokyo Big City Marathon, Suspect X’s Dedication and Code Blue Emergency Saving, which English titles did not exist or was not fully translated from Japanese to English.111

108 Nendai Ryūkō 年代流行 [Popular Period] Nendai Ryūkō 年代流行 [Popular Period], “Nendai Ryūkō Home page,” Accessed May 20, 2019, https://nendai- ryuukou.com/. 109 “Nendai Ryūkō Home page” 110 Internet Movie Database, “IMDb Home page,” Accessed May 20, 2019, https://www. IMDb.com. 111 Internet Movie Database, “Odoru daisosasen,” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210199/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1, ”Fuyajō,” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169929/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1, “Mosura 2: Kaitei no daikessen,” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133104/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1, “Hana yori dango: Fainaru,” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1160539/?ref_=nv_sr_4?ref_=nv_sr_4, “Yōgisha X no kenshin,” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1160629/?ref_=nv_sr_2?ref_=nv_sr_2, “Aibō: the Movie: Zettai zetsumei! 42.195km Tōkyō Big City Marathon,” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1045766/, “Code Blue the Movie,” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7731512/?ref_=nv_sr_4?ref_=nv_sr_4, “Shoplifters,” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8075192/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1, “Gintama 2: Okite wa yaburu tame ni koso aru,” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7639528/?ref_=nv_sr_4?ref_=nv_sr_4, All webpage titles are in order after the film list and were accessed May 20, 2019.

Table 2. Investigated Films by Year and Genre.

Film Year Genre

Bayside Shakedown 1998 Action, Comedy, Crime and Mystery Sleepless Town 1998 Crime, Drama

Rebirth of Mothra II 1997 Fantasy, Sci-Fi Boys over Flowers Final 2008 Drama

Suspect X’s Dedication 2008 Crime, Drama, Mystery Partners – Stalemate! 2008 Drama 42.195km Tokyo Big City Marathon Code Blue Emergency Saving 2018 Drama Shoplifters 2018 Crime, Drama

Gintama 2 – Rules are made 2018 Action, Adventure, Comedy and Sci-fi to be broken

4. Analysis of gender roles This chapter goes through the previously mentioned films from 1998, 2008 to 2018 and includes general information on the films. Please refer to the appendix for the gender traits results.

4.1 Films from 1998 Bayside Shakedown /踊る大捜査線/Odoru Daisōsasen112 113 Release date: 1998.10.31 Length: 119min Box office revenue: 50.0 Billion Yen Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime and Mystery Director: Katsuyuki Motohiro Assistant Director: Eiichiro Hasumi Writer: Ryōichi Kimizuka Producer: Chikahiro Andō, Tōru Horibe, Hirotsugu Usui, Chihiro Kameyama Other Producers (line & associate): Eiichiro Hada, Takashi Ishihara, Ichirō Takai Cast: Yūji Oda, Toshirō Yanagiba, Eri Fukatsu, Miki Mizuno et al. Storyline: Shunsaku Aoshima is a police detective working at the Bayside Precinct. The hierarchy and red tape that plague the system constantly frustrate him. One day in Bayside Precinct, a series of events turns the small station upside down. A corpse is found in the river and then the Police Commissioner is kidnapped, leading to the Metropolitan Police Department to take over the investigation, which is led by Aoshimas friend. Aoshima wants in on the investigation but is not allowed, and in the meantime investigates a morbid web page with his colleagues.

This police film has only one main character, Shunsaku Aoshima. Aoshima is a very well liked person. He is constantly asked by colleagues to help with matters and incredibly busy. He does not feel worried about superiors and confronts them easily if he feels something is amiss. One can see his indifference for hierarchy several times, for example the time he disregards the superior’s order to wait for reinforcement or the time he walks up to the special unit chief, hands in his pockets, and asks him quite impolitely why someone is being questioned. He is also

112 “Odoru daisosasen,” All information except box office revenue is taken from this page. 113 Nendai Ryūkō 年代流行 [Popular Period], “1990 Nendai Eiga (hōga) ranking/ nendai ryūkō 1990 年代映画 （ 邦画）ランキング／年代流行” [1990's Movie (Japanese Movie) Ranking / Popular Period], Accessed May 20, 2019, https://nendai-ryuukou.com/1990/movie1.html.

observant; the first person to notice possessions missing from the office and to find the missing officer. He is very brave at the risk of his one life; he volunteers to handle the ransom with the kidnapper, approaches a person with a gun while everyone else hides and confronts the perpetrators without backup. He scores high as victim because he is stabbed, trying to catch the perpetrators. To summarize the male traits that Aoshima excels in with a score higher than three are [a leader], [assertive], [bold], [performs rescue], [gives expertise], [adventurous], [handsome] and [dependable/reliable]. The only female trait he scores high in is [victim]. Shunsaku Aoshima works in a male dominated sphere, almost the entire police force consists of men, and especially the executive section has no women. Women in the police are few and many have subordinate positions. Every time an officer comes and asks Aoshima for help or gives him an update on a case, it is almost without exception a female colleague.

Sleepless Town/ 不夜城/ Fuyajō114

Release date: 1998.06.27 Length: 122min Box office revenue: 11.0 Billion Yen115 Genre: Drama Director: Chi-Ngai Lee Writer: Chi-Ngai Lee, Hisashi Nozawa (screenplay), Seishū Hase (novel) Executive Producer: Tsuguhiko Kadokawa Producer: Masato Hara Cast: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Mirai Yamamoto, Kippei Shīna, Sihung Lung et al. Storyline: Kabukichō is a forgotten world. A place where people of different tongues and races meet, where they fight against each other to gain money, power and territory. In this place rival faction of gangs from Shanghai, Beijing and Taiwan reside. One day the left-hand man of one of the bosses turn up dead, and Kenichi Ryū is given three days to find the killer. There is no guarantee of Ryū’s life. Three days is enough time for a dangerous love story to unfold between Ryū and the girlfriend of the alleged murderer.

114 ”Fuyajō,” All information except box office revenue is taken from this page. 115 [1990's Movie (Japanese Movie) Ranking / Popular Period].

Kenichi Ryū, the main character of the gangster film, works as a dealer of stolen goods in the red-light district. Unfortunate matter leads Ryū to struggle to survive and take care of another person’s girlfriend. Ryū is recommended to leave Japan because of the danger, but he rejects the idea and endeavours to solve it even with the short time limit. Ryū is greeted enthusiastically at many stores he visits. He is also emotionally controlled, even when meeting dangerous mobster bosses that are surrounded by their men or when dealing with the sexual advances of females. In many cases he continues smiling. He resided in dangerous environments, which undoubtedly explains many of the male traits he has: [physically strong], [performs rescue], [bold], [assertive], [gives expertise], [a leader], [perpetrator], [intelligent], [handsome] and [dependable/reliable]. Ryū does not score higher than three on any female trait. In Kenichi Ryū’s world of gangsters, men are bosses or underlings while the women are their wives/girlfriends or red-light hostesses/prostitutes. Kenichi Ryū rarely interacts with females, except for the “at the moment of idle and not working” female side character, which later becomes his romantic interest. There are therefore few presentations of the work situation for females. The ones shown are often stereotypical. On the other hand, men are limited to the form of occupation, and even then being a gangster is not exactly a conventional job.

Rebirth of Mothra II /モスラ２ 海底の大決戦 / Mosura 2 Kaitei no daikessen116

Release date: 1997.12.13 Length: 100min Box office revenue: 10.5 Billion Yen117 Genre: Fantasy and Sci-fi Director: Kunio Miyoshi Writer: Masumi Suetani, Tomoyuki Tanaka (creator: original concept) Executive Producer: Shogō Tomiyama Producer: Hiroaki Kitayama Cast: Hikari Mitsushima, Masaki Ōtake, Shimada Maganao al.

116 “Mosura 2: Kaitei no daikessen,” All information except box office revenue is taken from this page. 117 [1990's Movie (Japanese Movie) Ranking / Popular Period].

Storyline: On Ishigaki Island numerous alien creatures similar to starfish arise and attack humans. The seas around the world will perish if these strange creatures further increases in numbers. Three elementary students save an alien from the clutches of an evil sorceress and with the help of two priestesses, bring it to the lost underwater city to save the world. At the same time an immense battle is being fought between two large alien creatures.

The main characters in the film are three elementary students, Shiori Uranai, Kōhei Toguchi and Yōji Miyagi, who get involved in an immense alien conflict. The first impression of the kids is of victim and perpetrators. Uranai is in this case the victim, but she is very brave and retaliates when the boys Toguchi or Miyagi try something, like disturbing her in class with an insect. Uranai is a stubborn character and does not give up easily, for example she tries to protect the alien she found from the abductors several times. She is sure of herself and also encouraging when in front of danger, when the boys question their ability to save the world Uranai tells the priestesses that they can do it. Toguchi and Miyagi are troublemakers. They bully Uranai and disrespect authorities. Uranai is the opposite; she listens to the teachers and her mother. At first appearance the two boys do not appear as clever as Uranai, but afterwards later in the film are helpful with their advices. For example Miyagi explains the dangers of the ocean currents, which the other children are clueless about. Both of them are protective of Uranai and brave, and in spite of the danger to their lives the two of them help the abductors. Toguchi is also forgiving, and he asks the priestesses to pardon the abductors. Uranai scores high in the female traits [gets rescued], [nurturing/helpful], [victim], and in the male traits [intelligent] and [assertive]. Toguchi scores high in the female traits [gets rescued], [victim] and in the male traits [performs rescue], [gives expertise], [bold], [adventurous], [assertive], [dependable or reliable], [active] and [perpetrator]. Miyagi scores high in the female traits [gets rescued], [victim] and in the male traits [performs rescue], [gives expertise] [bold], [adventurous], [assertive], [dependable or reliable], [active] and [perpetrator]. The main characters are young students and not at an age where they are allowed to work. At the same time the film focuses more on the supernatural aspect of the story than the work

environment of any characters. No conclusions can be drawn from the rare work scenes in the film. 4.2 Films from 2008

Boys over Flowers Final /花より男子ファイナル/Hana yori dango fainaru118

Release date: 2008.06.28 119 Length: 131min Box office revenue: 77.5 Billion Yen

Genre: Drama

Director: Yasuharu Ishii Writer: Takayuki Takuma (screenplay), Yōko Kamio (comic book “Boys over Flowers” & characters) Executive Producer: Kazuya Hamana Producer: Shinichi Miki, Mika Nakamura, Katsuaki Setoguchi Cast: Mao Inoue, Jun Matsumoto, Shun Oguri, Shōta Matsuda, Tsuyoshi Abe et al. Storyline: Tsukushi Makino and Tsukasa Dōmyōji have decided to marry. Dōmyōji announces to the whole world that he will marry in the spring of next year and Makino receives a treasured tiara, which has been handed down from generation to generation, as a bride. The tiara is stolen and while the search for the tiara undertakes they start to wonder whether a marriage is really the correct choice. Three close friends are crucial to helping them determine if they are ready to make a lifetime commitment to each other.

Tsukushi Makino and Dōmyōji Tsukasa is couple that are the same age but with very different social status. Dōmyōji is part of a rich family and is the president of a company. His fiancé, Makino, comes from a modest middle class family and is studying to be lawyer. Often Dōmyōji’s and his friends’ wealth surprises her. Makino is many times disoriented with the situations that being together with Dōmyōji bring her, which makes her somewhat dependent on him to help her, like fancy casinos and large sums of money. Makino criticizes her fiancé’s actions and words, but she is very patient while he is a wild. For example she has had to hold him back from fighting with an acquaintance. Dōmyōji is confident, to the level that he calls himself “the

118 “Hana yori dango: Fainaru,” All information except box office revenue is taken from this page. 119 Nendai Ryūkō 年代流行 [Popular Period], “2000 Nendai Eiga (hōga) ranking/ nendai ryūkō 2000 年代 映画（ 邦画）ランキング／年代流行” [2000's Movie (Japanese Movie) Ranking / Popular Period], Accessed May 20, 2019, https://nendai-ryuukou.com/2000/movie1.html.

almighty/godlike me” when justifying some of his actions or beliefs. He cares about Makino and promises to protect her, but worries frequently that she will leave him for someone else. He accuses her of cheating, when she only talks with another man. Dōmyōji starts fights with others quite easily and is often rude. This is nothing new for his friends who often joke about it. Both characters are very strong, for example Dōmyōji is able to fight off a thief and Makino a bear. The female traits Makino excelled in are [gets rescued], [concerned with self-appearance], [shows emotion], [victim] and [submissive]. The male traits are [intelligent], [physically strong], [gives expertise], [bold] and [assertive.] The only female trait Dōmyōji excelled in is [shows emotion]. Instead, he has many male traits [physically strong], [gives expertise], [performs rescue], [assertive], [concerned with other’s self- appearance], [bold], [dependable or reliable], [a leader] and [active]. In this film work is relatively gendered, men are depicted as office workers, guards, drivers and directors, and women as TV reporters, flight and casino attendants. There is also an obvious power difference between the two main characters. Dōmyōji is already a CEO while Makino is still studying. At the same time the friends of the two main characters are represented differently. Dōmyōji’s male friends are powerful and leaders in their own way, while Makino’s friends are largely unimportant to the story and seems to be focused on the romance aspect of their lives.

Suspect X’s Dedication /容疑者 X の献身 / Yōgisha X no kenshin120

Release date: 2008.10.04 Length: 128min Box office revenue: 49.2 Billion Yen121

Genre: Crime, Drama and Mystery Director: Hiroshi Nishitani Writer: Yasushi Fukuda (screenplay) Keigo Higashino (serial story "Yōgisha X no kenshin") Executive Producer: Yoshirō Hosono, Kenji Shimizu Producer: Chihiro Kameyama, Yoshihiro Suzuki, Hitotsugu Usui Cast: Masaharu Fukuyama, Kō Shibasaki, Kazuki Kitamura, Yasuko Matsuyuki et al.

Storyline: The body of a male has been discovered, strangled to death. Assigned to the case are the local precinct detective, Kaoru Utsumi, and her ex-colleague from the headquarters. It turns

120 “Yōgisha X no kenshin.” All information except box office revenue is taken from this page. 121 [2000's Movie (Japanese Movie) Ranking / Popular Period].

out that the neighbour of the victim’s ex-wife is an old friend of the brilliant physicist, Manabu Yukawa, a.k.a “Detective Galileo.” He is a person, whom Yukawa personally considers a true genius. Utsumi brings Yukawa to help with the case and a battle of wits commences.

The genius Manabu Yukawa and the detective Kaoru Utsumi are working together to solve a murder. Kaoru Utsumi is a righteous person. She wants to catch the right perpetrator, even if it takes more time and power. She asks to interview the neighbour, even when most leads points towards the ex-wife. Utsumi is often following the leads of others, for example her police partner holds the questioning with the wife and her boss orders her to serve coffee. Utsumi acknowledges Yukawa as a genius and relies on him to help her with the case, even if he is not in the police. Manabu Yukawa is a physicist and teacher that is on the lookout for challenges. He wishes for the police to leave him alone but when they bring him interesting cases he gets involved. He is not a person that shows fear; even with the knowledge that his friend might be the perpetrator he goes hiking in the dangerous mountains with him. The female traits Utsumi excelled in are [shows emotion], [seeks expertise], [elegant] and [submissive]. I found no male traits over a score of three. The only female trait Yukawa excelled in is [shows emotion]. He has more male traits [gives expertise], [bold], [adventurous], [assertive], [dependable or reliable], [a leader], [handsome] and [active]. Utsumi works in male dominated police department, all her colleagues are male and the same goes for the superiors of the department. The film does not delve into Yukawa’s teaching job, rather his work as a physicist, where most of his assistants are male. In general there are few females shown in a work position in the film. There are two male side-characters that work as a teacher and detective, while the only other female character of substantial importance works in a diner.

Partners – Stalemate! 42.195km Tokyo Big City Marathon / 相棒-劇場版- 絶体絶命！ 42.195km 東京ビッグシティマラソン/

Aibō – Gekijōban - Zettaizetsumei! 42.195km Tōkyō biggu shitimarason122 Release date: 2008.05.01 Length: 117min Box office revenue: 44.4 Billion Yen123

Genre: Crime, Drama and Thriller

Director: Akiyoshi Kimata (as Seiji Izumi) Writer: Masashi Todayama (screenplay) Executive Producer: Masao Kimiwada Producer: Junichi Katsuki, Motohiro Matsumoto, Atsū Nishihira, Megumi Ueda

Cast: Yasufumi Terawaki, Yutaka Mizutani, Sawa Suzuki et al. Storyline: Mysterious murders occur in a succession, and Ukyō Sugimoto and Kaoru Kameyama discover that the series of incidents are serial murders by the same offender from the mysterious symbols left on the scene. Eventually, as the investigation department gets stuck, Sugimoto and Kameyama succeed in finding the next target. It is an unprecedented large-scale terror plan.

The film has two male main characters, Ukyō Sugushita and Kaoru Kameyama. The characters are quite the opposites of each other, but both are very righteous people. Sugushita is intelligent, polite and has an introverted personality. His detective partner Kameyama is on the other hand friendly, talkative, vigorous and rather rash. For example in one scene Sugushita is polite when greeting their co-worker while Kameyama is friendly, afterwards Sugushita continues watching the news report and Kameyama moves away to discuss other things with their co-worker. Kameyama lets Sugushita take the lead most of the time and listens to other’s opinions. Often Kameyama asks Sugushita to explain what their next action should be. However, when it is time for a fight or strenuous action Sugushita is in the rear with Kameyama handling all the work.

122 “Aibō: the Movie: Zettai zetsumei! 42.195km Tōkyō Big City Marathon, ” All information except box office revenue is taken from this page. 123 [2000's Movie (Japanese Movie) Ranking / Popular Period].

Kameyama is the only person who had female trait and it is [seeks expertise]. Both of the characters are [bold], [performs rescue], [assertive], [handsome] and [dependable or reliable]. However Sugushita is [a leader] and [gives expertise], while Kameyama is [active], [physically strong] and [adventurous]. Like previous analysed police films, the work environment in the police department is heavily gendered. Sugushita and Kameyama are the only people in their special task force and have their own office. If there is an assigned mission or complications with a current one has happened, they visit their male superiors and consult. Outside work is also gendered and few instances show females working. 4.3 Films from 2018 Code Blue Emergency Saving /

劇場版コード・ブルー ドクターヘリ緊急救命/ Gekijōban kōdo・Burū dokutāheri kinkyū kyūmei124

Release date: 2018.07.27 Length: 127min Box office revenue: 91.9 Billion Yen125

Genre: Drama

Director: Masaki Nishiura Writer: Naoko Adachi Producer: Jun Matsumoto, Hiroki Wakamatsu, Morio Amagi

Cast: Tomohisa Yamashita, Yui Aragaki, Erika Toda, Manami Higa, Yōsuke Asari et al. Storyline: Large-scale accidents occur continually and the “Doctor Helicopter” team go out and face these emergencies. Kōsaku Aizawa is back from America temporarily and returns to the team, consisting of Megumi Shiraishi, Mihoko Hiyama, Haruka Saejima and Kazū Fuikawa. Together as a team they take on patients.

124 “Code Blue the Movie,” All information except box office revenue is taken from this page. 125 Nendai Ryūkō 年代流行 [Popular Period], “2018 Nendai Eiga (hōga) ranking/ nendai ryūkō 2018 年代映画 （ 邦画）ランキング／年代流行” [2018's Movie (Japanese Movie) Ranking / Popular Period], Accessed May 20, 2019, https://nendai-ryuukou.com/2018/movie1.html.

This medical drama has five main characters. The characters are not only occupied with saving the life of patients, but also with struggles in their own personal life. The three female characters, Megumi Shiraishi, Mihoko Hiyama and Haruka Saejima, are friends. Shirashi is a motivated person and a person often consulted with. Shiraishi is a leader. She holds speeches and is in charge of patients. All three women are very serious about work and cares deeply about their patients, for example they listen to one patient’s story and support them in their desire to marry. This also leads them to be emotionally affected when the patient’s situation becomes more critical. Saejima is affected the most, as the nurse taking care of the patient. She is not strict about rules, and for example overlooks that the visiting time is over for the patient. Compared to Saejima, Hiyama handles matters more confidently with a composed manner. The two male characters are very different from each other. Kōsaku Aizawa is a loner and not very emotional, while Kazū Fuikawa is very friendly and joyful. Aizawa is somewhat unapproachable for other colleagues, he says things how they are and does not hold back in correcting people. In his free time he studies to improve his skills. Fuikawa is getting married soon, and he concentrates on wedding matters during work, talking to friends about it and discussing the dress with his fiancé. He convinces Shiraishi to help him make a wedding video. Shiraishi’s traits are [shows emotion], [nurturing], [elegant] and then [performs rescue], [gives expertise], [assertive], [dependable or reliable], [a leader], respectively female and male. Hiyama has one female trait [elegant] and the rest male traits [performs rescue], [gives expertise], [assertive] and [bold]. Saejima’s traits are, from female to male, [shows emotion], [nurturing], [elegant] and then [performs rescue], [gives expertise], [assertive]. Aizawa has the female trait [gets rescued] and the male traits [performs rescue], [physically strong], [gives expertise], [assertive], [intelligent], [unemotional], [bold], [assertive], [a leader], [handsome] and [dependable or reliable]. Fuikawa has the female trait [shows emotion] and the male traits [performs rescue], [gives expertise], [bold], [assertive] and [a leader]. This film explores the work setting of a hospital in Japan. Overall there is a very balanced ratio of female and male doctor/nurses, maybe slightly more male surgeons than females and the opposite with nurses. The superiors are male, as in the previous analysed films. Something of small notice is the gendered hospital uniform. Several female employees of the hospital wear

uniforms with pink or accents or all pink, sometimes with purple, while only one male employee is seen wearing pink.

Shoplifters / 万引き家族 / Manbiki kazoku126 Release date: 2018.07.28 Length: 115min Box office revenue: 45.0 Billion Yen127

Genre: Crime and Drama

Director: Hirokazu Koreeda Writer: Hirokazu Koreeda Executive Producer: Takashi Ishihara, Yasuhito Nakae, Tom Yoda Producer: Hirokazu Koreeda, Kaoru Matsuzaki, Akihiko Yose, Hijiri Taguchi Other producers: Megumi Banse, Yū Kumagai, Satomi Odake, Megumi Ōsawa

Cast: Lily Franky, Sakura Andō, Jyō Kairi, Miyu Sasaki et al. Storyline: A Japanese couple stuck with part-time jobs and with inadequate incomes, avail themselves of the profits of shoplifting to make ends meet. They are not alone in this behaviour, also involving their son. The unusual routine, however, changes from carefree life to something more dramatic, as the couple open their doors to a mistreated young girl.

The main four characters are part of a poor but happy family. The family relies not only on the salaries of Osamu and Nobuyo Shibata, but also on shoplifting which everyone undertake even the new kidnapped member Yuri. Nobuyo Shibata is a laundry worker that steals at work without remorse. Nobuyo makes most of the important decisions in the family and is usually the voice of reason. Osamu might suggest different actions, but always follows her. At first Nobuyo appears uncaring towards Yuri, but she warms up with time. In the beginning she wants to return Yuri to her home, but after witnessing the fight Yuri’s parents had she changes her mind. Yuri is a mistreated child and very detached in the beginning of the film. She becomes more and more expressive throughout the film. She seeks out Shōta to socialize and he takes care of her, showing Yuri how to steal and his secret hangout. Shōta ends up taking care of Yuri a lot, even if he seems

126 “Shoplifters,” All information except box office revenue is taken from this page. 127 [2018's Movie (Japanese Movie) Ranking / Popular Period].

quite indifferent to her in the beginning. Osamu Shibata, the husband, is very caring towards the children. He teaches the children how to steal and would rather not work if he could, he is happy that he got hurt at work thinking he would get insurance coverage. Yuri has the female traits [gets rescued], [seeks expertise], [timid], [submissive], [victim] and the male trait [unemotional]. Nobuyo has the female traits [nurturing], [shows emotion] and the many male traits [gives expertise], [performs rescue], [assertive], [intelligent], [adventurous], [assertive], [a leader], [dependable or reliable] and [perpetrator]. Shōta has the female trait [victim] and the male traits [active] and [intelligent]. Osamu has the female traits [nurturing] and the male traits [gives expertise], [performs rescue], [adventurous] and [perpetrator]. The main characters both work in a heavily gendered workplace, the laundry workers at Nobuyo’s job are all females but the boss is a man, and Osamu’s work at the construction site has only men. Another workplace that is delved into is the female side-character in the family who works as hostess/call-girl, together with many other women.

Gintama 2 – Rules are made to be broken / 銀魂 2 掟は破るためにこそある / Gintama 2 Okite wa yaburu tame ni koso aru128 Release date: 2018.08.17 Length: 134min Box office revenue: 35.6 Billion Yen129 Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy and Sci-fi

Director: Yūichi Fukuda Writer: Yūichi Fukuda (screenplay), Hideaki Sorachi (manga) Executive Producer: Hiroyoshi Koiwai Producer: Shinzō Matsuhashi Other Producers: Kōji Hirano, Kazumasa Sanjōba, Daizō Suzuki

Cast: Shun Oguri, Masaki Suda, Kanna Hashimoto, Yūya Yagira et al.

128 “Gintama 2: Okite wa yaburu tame ni koso aru,” All information except box office revenue is taken from this page. 129 [2018's Movie (Japanese Movie) Ranking / Popular Period].

Storyline: Tall skyscrapers and spacecraft are in the sky in the city of Edo. A city, which after it had been conquered by the aliens, now, has modern-day technology and samurai of ages past. In a handyman store “Yorozuya”, three people, Gintoki Sakata, Shinpachi Shimura and Kagura have to take part-time jobs, after being unable pay their rent. The internal conflict of the Shinsengumi130and the conspiracy involving the Shōgun131 however disturb their work, and they are forced to help to ensure the safety of Edo.

The three main characters work at the office Yorozuya, sometimes they take part-times jobs to make ends meet, and more often than not they run into trouble. Kagura is a strong female character, but very airheaded and foolish. She is able to stop a car with her bare hands and fight off several Shinsengumi members, but when it comes to noticing important matters, like that the Shōgun is in the room, she is very slow. Almost all of the advice she gives is always somehow wrong and strange, sometimes it seems like she is discussing a completely different subject than other characters. This factored with her cute and charming appearance and actions, presents her as a quite an innocent person. Sakata is the president of the office Yorozuya, but as a person he is not very responsible. Shimura, one of the employees, always has to tell him what needs to be done. If Shimura is very proper and a rule follower, then Sakata is the opposite. Sakata does not care much for appearances or social rules; he curses at an old lady and tells people if they are being stupid to their face. Shimura worries a lot over the actions of Kagura and Sakata, but in the end follows their leads even when it frightens him. Both Sakata and Kagura are very strong and this is shown in multiple scenes, one example being when Kagura stops a car in motion and Sakata throws it away. Compared to the other two Shimura wants to help people, when he found out that a former Shinsengumi required help Shimura said that the three of them should help those in need. Kagura has only the male traits [performs rescue], [physically strong], [bold], [assertive], [dependable or reliable], [active], [cute] and [adventurous]. Sakata has only the male traits [intelligent], [performs rescue], [physically strong], [unemotional], [gives expertise], [bold], [assertive], [dependable or reliable], [active], [a leader], [handsome] and [adventurous].

130 Shinsengumi was a special police force organized by the Japanese military government in 1863. 131 The Shōgun was the military dictator of Japan from 1185 to 1868.

Shimura has the female traits [emotional], [nurturing] and the male traits [intelligent] and [gives expertise]. The three main characters are very open-minded and do all kinds of work to earn money for their rent, including being hostesses (Shimura and Sakata dressing up as women), hairdressers and protectors. However outside of these three characters most jobs are generally occupied by the male sex: television host, scientist, host club owner and more. There are few women seen working, excluding Kagura there are two, the hostess and landlady/snack shop owner. The military force, Shinsengumi, and resistance movement that are the focus of the story consists of only men.

5. Results of the Analysis In the films produced in 1998, namely Bayside Shakedown, Sleepless Town and Rebirth of Mothra II, there are four main male characters and one main female character. Female traits are in general uncommon, no matter the gender. Almost all male characters excel in male traits, even the two male child characters but to a lesser degree. Children also have more female traits, but there is a difference between female and male child characters. Popular traits for male characters are [dependable or reliable], [performs recuse], [physically strong] and [assertive]. Discounting Mothra, where no concrete conclusion could be made, the other two films have heavily gendered workplaces. This can be explained by the nature of the workplace, since police and lawless work is often associated with power, and seen as a more masculine work. There are no females in powerful positions within the employment sphere. In the films produced in 2008, namely Boys over Flowers Final, Suspect X’s Dedication and Partners – Stalemate! 42.195km Tokyo Big City Marathon, there are three main male characters and two main female characters. Female characters in the year 2008 show more female traits than in 1998, specifically the [shows emotion], [seeks expertise], [cute, elegant or sexy] and [submissive] traits. Only one female character has a high number of male traits, and they are related to strength and boldness. In 2008 men also score highly in very few female traits and mostly only male traits. The female traits that male characters score highly in are [shows emotions] and [seeks expertise]. The two police films and the one romantic comedy film, all show gendered employment. The police films from 2008 are similar to the analysed one from 1998. However I observed that Boys over Flowers Final took up a subject earlier unconsidered, which is the focus of young male and female characters. The main characters’ friends in Boys over Flowers Final are all rich, but shown in different ways. The men are powerful and leaders while the females are unimportant to the plot and focused on romance rather than on work. In the films made in 2018, namely Gintama 2 – Rules are made to be broken, Shoplifters and Code Blue Emergency Saving, there are six male main characters and six main female characters. The year 2018 has female characters that excel in both gender traits, but most of all in regard to male traits. The male traits most of the female characters score highly in is [performs rescue], [gives expertise] and [assertive]. The female traits of men did not rise that much, but the male traits lessened in score and more male characters are less traditional male in that regard. This is also the first year that men excel in the trait [nurturing] and women have a high score in

[performs rescue]. The year 2018 has a more diverse set of characters. The three films also have gendered work, however discounting Shoplifters the other two films brought up new nuances to the subject. Code Blue Emergency Saving has practically a balanced ratio of female and male employees at the hospital, something that is not seen in the other films. Gintama 2 – Rules are made to be broken is surprising in another way, the main characters and even some side characters are open-minded to performing work that can be seen as unfitting for their gender. Overall the films that are analysed have more male characters in total and in general the male characters display very few female traits in comparison to the male traits. Women generally embody male traits to a lesser degree. There is also in all films a clear line between work and gender. In the year 2018, there is a sense of more diversity in characters and employment environment compared to other years. However mostly they follow traditional gender stereotypes. The number of films I analyse is small, compared to the total production and cannot be said to represent all films in Japan.

6. Discussion The results of the study predominantly corresponded to earlier research on gender roles in films, with respect to the gendered traits. They also reinforce conclusions presented in previous studies with respect to general overrepresentation of men, the importance of youth and beauty to characterise female characters and the portrayal of men as powerful and older and females as younger individuals. Contrary to other studies I do not find any weak female characters. It may be because I do not regard the female characters as weak or strong, when they do not have any opportunity to show physical strength. Many female characters are intelligent, however appear as less assertive and seek expertise rather than take the lead in situations. Male characters are instead often reckless and bold in their actions. Something that is unexpected in the analysis results is that, while female traits are rarely used with male characters, male traits are comparably quite common with females. There is a difficulty in evaluating the emotional state of characters and whether they display the attribute moderately or not. If I were to redo this study I would most likely alter the attribute in some way and split it into more detailed divisions, for instance anger, happiness, sadness and more. This would show how we gender emotions. In my examination I have the impression that the sexes show various emotions with different amounts. For example, I noticed that when main characters are very emotional, male characters most likely become angry and female characters most likely become sad. Almost all films have gendered workplaces and there exist a difference in the workplace and in the employment rank depending on gender, the superiors are always men and women are subordinates. There is an apparent difference in influence and authority in the work environment, with the absence of female seniors and superiors in the films, especially in the law enforcement. In this thesis a conclusion cannot be reached on whether males work more or less than women in the films, and if it is a normal employment or a part-time work. One of the questions of the study is to examine if there are changes in gender characterisation of characters between the selected year periods. The characters in the films of 2018 show a bit more diversity in gender characterisation and in workplaces, in comparison with the films from 1998 and 2008. However, traditional gender roles dominate. The most likely explanation is that, even when rules and legislations change, the perception on gender roles that have existed in the society for a long time remains.

The presented research has also some limitations. The analysis could have been more comprehensive and included side characters. The results might have been different if the analysed films were of another genre, for example more romantic comedies. Most of the films examined are of the genre action and crime, which usually have higher representation of men. The results could also be different if another method had been used, since there are several methods of analysing films. This study uses a simpler method and it would be intriguing to see what results would be produced with other methods. The number of films analysed might be considered miniscule, making the results negligible. The results could also be seen as less reliable with only one person analysing the films. At the same time my cultural background and view on gender has influenced the analysis. It would be interesting and more informative to see a larger analysis of the same films done by more people of different gender and backgrounds. And this would perhaps give some differences in result.

7. Conclusions Womenomics, as previously mentioned, is a recent initiative of the Japanese government aimed to promote economic empowerment for women. The goal of the new policies is to increase the number of women in the workforce and in leadership positions in a wide range of sectors, and focuses on facilitating women’s ability to stay in the workforce. But Womenomics is not the first and only legislation aimed to empower women at workplace. The Equal Employment Opportunity Law was enacted in 1986 to improve the employment conditions for women, and it has been revised twice. The first revision in 1997 addressed discrimination in employment. The following revision in 2006 intended to stop sexual harassment at work and imposed policies on the employers. The question was whether these legislations had an impact on the portrayal of gender roles in Japanese popular cinema. In order to account for the complexity and time-related social and political transformations this thesis examines gender roles and workplace featured in nine best-seller films produced in 1998, 2008 and 2018. The gender traits method is used to analyse how the workplace and work relationships is gendered, what gender traits characterise women and men and if any changes can be observed between 1998, 2008 and 2018. As expected the main characters, examined with a table of traits, mostly perpetuate traditional gender stereotypes. This tendency is observed in all films regardless of the production year. Male characters generally displayed very few female traits in comparison to the male traits. Women embodied both male and female traits, but have less male traits. In 1998 and 2008 male main characters outnumber female characters, except in 2018 when a larger number of women appear. Most films have gendered workplaces, where mainly men work in positions that required either or both strength and intelligence, for example as a policeman. In general, few women are active in the workforce. It is also evident in workplaces that only men are placed in leadership positions. The films of the year 2018 show a bit more diversity, in both characters and employment. Women show more male traits while men show less male traits and explore new female traits when compared to 1998 and 2008. In 2018 a workplace with an almost balanced ratio of male and female characters is shown. This thesis analyses only a miniscule part of the existing Japanese films. Films are not a mirror of our societies, but often are thought to be. I think that we, now more than ever, can influence the content of films, through the power of social media and the existing network of people that

are concerned about gender roles and displeased with them. Gender roles are not only an issue in films and media. Sexism is a part of our world. It is not something that can be easily fixed through media portrayal. It takes time to change perceptions that have existed for years. Even in the Western democracies, were women and men are practically equal to law, gender stereotypes continue to rule the behaviour of many. I hope that through investigating the media, like films, we can bring attention to harmful material, like gendered stereotypes, and further question it.

8. Bibliography Assmann, Stephanie. “Gender Equality in Japan: The Equal Employment Opportunity Law Revisited.” The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus 12, no.45-2 (2004): 1-24. Attwood, Feona. “Researching Media Sexualization.” Sex Roles 61 (2009): 288-289. Bagdikian, Ben H. The Media Monopoly. Boston: Beacon Press, 2000. Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin Books, 1972. Buikema, Rosemarie, and Iris van der Tuin. Doing Gender in Media, Art and Culture. London: Routledge, 2009. Carter, Cynthia, and Linda Steiner, eds. Critical Readings: Media and Gender. Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2004. Dalton, Emma. “Womenomics, ‘Equality’ and Abe’s Neo-liberal Strategy to Make Japanese Women Shine.” Social Science Japan Journal 20, no.1 (2017): 95-105. D’arcy, Chantal Cornut-Gentille, and José Ángel García Landa. Gender, I-deology Essays on Theory, Fiction and Film. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1996. England, Dawn Elizabeth, Lara Descartes and Melissa A Collier-Meek. “Gender Role Portrayal and the Disney Princess.” Sex Roles 64 (2011): 555-567. Freud, Sigmund. The Essentials of Psycho-Analysis. London: Vintage, 2005. Gauntlett, David. Media, Gender and Identity. London: Routledge, 2008. Hagström, Linus, and Pia Moberg. Japan Nu: Strömmningar och Perspektiv [Japan Now: Currents and Perspectives]. Stockholm: Carlsson Bokförlag, 2015. Hill, John, and Pamela Church Gibson, eds. The Oxford Guide to Film Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Hogan, Jackie. “The Construction of Gendered national identities in television advertisement of Japan and Australia.” SAGE Publications 21, (1999): 743-758. Internet Movie Database. All links were accessed May 20, 2019. “IMDb Home Page” https://www. IMDb.com. “Odoru daisosasen.” [Bayside Shakedown] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210199/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1. ”Fuyajō.” [Sleepless Town] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169929/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1. “Mosura 2: Kaitei no daikessen.” [Rebirth of Mothra II]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133104/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1. “Hana yori dango: Fainaru.” [Boys over Flowers Final] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1160539/?ref_=nv_sr_4?ref_=nv_sr_4. “Yōgisha X no kenshin.” [Suspect X’s Dedication] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1160629/?ref_=nv_sr_2?ref_=nv_sr_2. “Aibō: the Movie: Zettai zetsumei! 42.195km Tōkyō Big City Marathon.” [Partners– Stalemate! 42.195km Tokyo Big City Marathon] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1045766/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3. “Gintama 2: Okite wa yaburu tame ni koso aru.” [Gintama 2 – Rules are made to be broken] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7639528/?ref_=nv_sr_3?ref_=nv_sr_3. “Shoplifters.” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8075192/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1. “Code Blue the Movie.” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7731512/?ref_=nv_sr_4?ref_=nv_sr_4. Itō, Yūko 伊藤裕子. “Seiyakuwari no hyōka ni kansuru kenkyū 性役割の評価に関する研究” (Evaluation of Sex-roles as a Function of Sex and Role Expectation). Kyōikushinrigaku Kenkyū 教育心理学研究 Japanese Journal of Educational Psychology 26, no.1 (1978): 1-11. Metz, Christian. The Imaginary Signifier. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1982. Molony, Barbara. “Japan’s 1986 Equal Employment Opportunity Law and the Changing Discourse on Gender,” Signs 20, no.2 (1995): 268-302. Mulvey, Laura. Visual and Other Pleasures. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989. Nagata, Tamotsu 永田有. ”Nihon no Josei no Katsuyaku Sokushin ni tsuite 日本の女性の活躍* 促進について” [Regarding the active promotion of Japan’s women]. Kaigai Rōdō Jōhō 海外労 働情報 [Overseas Labour Information] 16 (2016), 55-70. Nendai Ryūkō 年代流行 [Popular Period]. Accessed May 20, 2019. “Nendai Ryūkō Home page.” https://nendai-ryuukou.com. “1990 Nendai Eiga (hōga) ranking/ nendai ryūkō 1990 年代映画（邦画）ランキング／年代流行 ” [1990's Movie (Japanese Movie) Ranking / Popular Period]. https://nendai-ryuukou.com/1990/movie1.html. “2000 Nendai Eiga (hōga) ranking/ nendai ryūkō 2000 年代映画（邦画）ランキング／年代流行 ” [2000's Movie (Japanese Movie) Ranking / Popular Period].

https://nendai-ryuukou.com/2000/movie1.html. “2018 Nendai Eiga (hōga) ranking/ nendai ryūkō 2018 年代映画（邦画）ランキング／年代流行 ” [2018's Movie (Japanese Movie) Ranking / Popular Period]. https://nendai-ryuukou.com/2018/movie1.html. Nishibeppu, Atsuko 西別府厚子, and Sumiko Iwao 岩男壽美子. Terebidorma no shakaishinrigakuteki kenkyū: naiyōbunseki wo chūshintoshite テレビドラマの社会心理学的 研究：内容分析を中心として [Social Psychology research on TV dramas: Focused on content analysis]. Musashi Kōgyōdaigaku Kankyō Jōhōgakubū Kiyō 武蔵工業大学環境情報 学部紀要 Musashi Institute of Technology: Journal of Environmental and Information Studies, no.7, (2006): 79-89. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Accessed May 25, 2019, “The pursuit of Gender Equality: An Uphill Battle - How does JAPAN Compare?” (2017) http://www.oecd.org/japan/Gender2017-JPN-en.pdf. “Japan Policy Brief: Inequality.” (2015) https://www.oecd.org/policy-briefs/japan--greater-gender-equality-for-more-inclusive- growth.pdf. Oxford English Dictionary. “Gender.” Oxford: Oxford University Press 2019, Accessed May 25, 2019, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/gender Preiss, Raymond W., and Barbara Mae Gayle and Nancy Burell and Jennings Bryant, eds. Mass Media Effects Research: Advances Through Meta-Analysis. London: Routledge, 2006. Prieler, Michael, Florian Kohlbacher, Shigeru Hagiwara and Akie Arima. “How Older People are Represented in Japanese TV Commercials: A Content Analysis.” Keio Communication Review no. 31 (2009): 5-21. Prindle, Tamae K. Women in Japanese Cinema. Portland: Merwin Asia, 2016. Rolandelli, David R. “Gender Role Portrayal Analysis of Children’s Programming in Japan.”Human Relations 44, no.12 (1991): 1273-1299. Saito, Shinichi. “Television and the Cultivation of Gender-Role Attitudes in Japan: Does Television Contribute to the Maintenance of the Status Quo?” Journal of Communication 57, (2007): 511–531. Statistic Bureau of Japan. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Tōkyō: Statistic

Bureau of Japan, Accessed May 25, 2019. Summary of Results (QuestionnaireA-Time Use). https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/shakai/2016/pdf/timeuse-a2016.pdf. 2017 Employment Status Survey Summary of Results. https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/shugyou/pdf/sum2017.pdf. “Statistical Handbook of Japan 2018.” http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/handbook/c0117.html#c02. Stoller, Robert J. Sex and Gender: The Development of Masculinity and Femininity. London: Karnac Books, 1984. Iwao, Sumiko 岩男壽美子. The Japanese Woman. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993. Thompson, Theresa L, and Eugenia Zerbinos. ”Gender Roles in Animated Cartoons: Has the Picture Changed in 20 Years?” Sex Roles 32, nos.9/10 (1995): 651-673. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, “World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision, Key Findings and Advance,” (2017) Accessed May 25, 2019, https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2017_KeyFindings.pdf. Women Leaders Global Forum. “The Reykjavik Index for Leadership.” (2018): 1-27. Accessed May 25, 2019. https://womenleaders.global/wp- content/uploads/2018/12/Report_DIGITAL.pdf.

Films Aibō – Gekijōban - Zettaizetsumei! 42.195km Tōkyō biggu shitimarason 相棒-劇場版- 絶体絶 命！42.195km 東京ビッグシティマラソン Partners – Stalemate! 42.195km Tokyo Big City Marathon. Directed by Akiyoshi Kimata (as Seiji Izumi). 2008. Japan: Toei Company, Ltd. Home Video Fuyajō 不夜城 Sleepless Town. Directed by Chi-Ngai Lee. 1998. Japan: Toei Company, Ltd. Home Video Gekijōban kōdo・Burū dokutāheri kinkyū kyūmei 劇場版コード・ブルー ドクターヘリ緊急 救命 Code Blue Emergency Saving. Directed by Masaki Nishiura. 2018. Japan: Toho Co., Ltd.DVD.

Gintama 2 Okite wa yaburu tame ni koso aru 銀魂 2 掟は破るためにこそある Gintama 2 – Rules are made to be broken. Directed by Yûichi Fukuda. 2018. Warner Entertainment Japan/Warner Bros. DVD Hana yori dango fainaru 花より男子ファイナル Boys over Flowers Final. Directed by Yasuharu Ishii. 2008. Japan: Toho Co., Ltd. DVD. Manbiki kazoku 万引き家族 Shoplifters. Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. 2018. Japan: GAGA Pictures. DVD. Mosura 2 Kaitei no daikessen モスラ２ 海底の大決戦 Rebirth of Mothra II. Directed by Kunio Miyoshi. 1997. Japan: Toho Co., Ltd. DVD. Odoru Daisōsasen 踊る大捜査線 Bayside Shakedown. Directed by Katsuyuki Motohiro. 1998. Japan: Toho Co., Ltd. Home Video. Yōgisha X no kenshin 容疑者 X の献身 Suspect X’s Dedication. Directed by Hiroshi Nishitani. 2008. Japan: Toei Company, Ltd. Home.

9. Appendix Table 3.1 – Age and Employment of Characters in 1998

Bayside Sleepless Rebirth Rebirth Rebirth 1998 Films Shakedown Town of of of Mothra 2 Mothra 2 Mothra 2 Character Shunsaku Kenichi Kyohei Yoji Miyagi Shiori Aoshima Ryū Toguchi Uranai Age YA/MA MA Child Child Child Gender M M M M F Occupation Police Dealer/Gangster Student Student Student Inspector

Table 3.2 – Age and Employment of Characters in 2008

Boys over Boys Suspect Suspets Partners - Partners - Flowers over X’s X’s Stalemate Stalemate [...] 2008 Films Final Flowers Dedication Dedication [...] Final Character Tsukusa Tsukushi Manabu Kaoru Ukyo Kaoru Dōmyouji Makino Yukawa Utsumi Sugushita Kameyama Age YA YA MA YA/MA MA YA Gender M F M F M M Occupation President Student Physicist & Police Police Police Teacher Inspector Detective Detective

Table 3.3 – Age and Employment of Characters in 2018

Code Blue Code Blue Code Blue Code Blue Code Blue 2018 Films Emergency Emergency Emergency Emergency Emergency Shoplifters Saving Saving Saving Saving Saving Character Megumi Kousaku Kazuo Haruka Mihoko Osamu Shiraishi Aizawa Fuikawa Saejima Hiyama Shibata Age YA YA YA YA YA MA

Gender F M F F M M Occupation Doctor Doctor Doctor Nurse Doctor Construction Worker

Films Shoplifters Shoplifters Shoplifters Gintama 2 Gintama 2 Gintama 2 […] […] […] Character Nobuyo Shota Yuri Gintoki Kagura Shinpachi Shibata Shibata (Unkown) Sakata (No last Shimura name) Age MA Child/ Child MA YA YA Adolescent Gender F M F M F M Laundry Store Store Store Occupation Worker X X President Employee Employee

Table 4.1 - The “Feminine” Traits of Characters in 1998

Bayside Sleepless Rebirth Rebirth Rebirth MEN/1998 Shakedown Town of of WOMEN/1998 of Mothra 2 Mothra 2 Mothra 2 Shunsaku Kenichi Kyohei Yoji Shiori Character Character Aoshima Ryū Toguchi Miyagi Uranai Physically Physically weak weak 1 1 1 1 1

Gets rescued Gets rescued 3 2 4 4 4 Concerned Concerned with with self self appearance appearance 1 1 1 1 1 Shows Shows emotion emotion 3 2 3 3 3 Seeks Seeks expertise expertise 3 3 3 3 2 Cute, Sexy or Cute, Sexy or Elegant 1 1 1 1 Elegant (C)3

Timid Timid 1 1 1 1 2 Nurturing, Nurturing, helpful 1 1 1 1 helpful 4

Submissive Submissive 2 2 1 1 2

Troublesome Troublesome 2 1 1 1 1

Victim Victim 4 3 3 4 5

Table 4.2 - The “Masculine” Traits of Characters in 1998

Bayside Sleepless Rebirth Rebirth Rebirth MEN/1998 Shakedown Town of of WOMEN/1998 of Mothra 2 Mothra 2 Mothra 2 Shunsaku Kenichi Kyohei Yoji Shiori Character Character Aoshima Ryū Toguchi Miyagi Uranai Physically Physically strong 2 5 3 3 strong 3 Performs Performs rescue 4 5 5 5 rescue 3 Concerned Concerned with with other’s other’s appearance 1 2 1 1 appearance 1

Unemotional Unemotional 1 4 1 1 2 Gives Gives expertise expertise 4 5 4 4 3 Described as Described as handsome 4 5 2 2 handsome 1

Bold Bold 4 5 5 5 3

Adventurous Adventurous 4 3 5 5 3 Assertive - Assertive - (Decisive) 5 5 4 4 (Decisive) 5 Dependable Dependable or or reliable 4 5 4 4 reliable 3

A leader A leader 4 5 3 1 2

Active Active 3 3 5 5 3

Perpetrator Perpetrator 1 5 4 4 1

Intelligent Intelligent 3 4 2 3 4

Table 5.1 - The “Feminine” Traits of Characters in 2008

Boys over Suspect Partners – Partners – Boys over Suspect MEN/2008 Flowers X’s Stalemate Stalemate WOMEN Flowers X’s Final Dedication […] […] /2008 Final Dedication Tsukusa Manabu Ukyo Kaoru Tsukushi Kaoru Character Character Dōmyouji Yukawa Sugushita Kameyama Makino Utsumi Physically Physically weak 1 1 1 1 weak 1 1

Gets rescued Gets rescued 2 1 3 2 4 1 Concerned Concerned with self with self appearance 1 1 1 1 4 1 appearance Shows Shows emotion 4 4 3 3 emotion 5 4 Seeks Seeks expertise 2 2 1 5 expertise 4 5 Cute, Sexy or Cute, Sexy Elegant 1 1 1 1 or C E(5) Elegant (5)

Timid Timid 1 1 1 1 3 3 Nurturing, Nurturing, helpful 2 1 1 1 helpful 2 3

Submissive Submissive 1 1 1 2 4 4

Troublesome Troublesome 3 2 1 2 3 1

Victim Victim 3 1 3 1 4 2

Table 5.2 - The “Masculine” Traits of Characters in 2008

MEN/2008 Boys over Suspect Partners – Partners – WOMEN/2008 Boys over Suspect Flowers X’s Stalemate Stalemate Flowers X’s Final Dedication […] […] Final Dedication Tsukusa Manabu Ukyo Kaoru Tsukushi Kaoru Character Character Dōmyouji Yukawa Sugushita Kameyama Makino Utsumi Physically Physically strong strong 5 2 1 5 5 1 Performs Performs rescue rescue 5 1 5 5 1 1 Concerned Concerned with other’s with other’s appearance 4 1 1 1 appearance 1 1

Unemotional Unemotional 1 2 3 1 1 1 Gives Gives expertise expertise 4 5 5 2 4 3 Described as Described as handsome 5 5 3 4 handsome 1 1

Bold Bold 5 5 4 5 4 3

Adventurous Adventurous 3 5 2 5 3 1 Assertive - Assertive - (Decisive) 5 5 5 4 (Decisive) 4 3 Dependable Dependable or or reliable 5 5 5 5 reliable 3 2

A leader A leader 5 5 5 1 1 2

Active Active 4 4 2 5 3 1

Perpetrator Perpetrator 2 1 1 1 1 1

Intelligent Intelligent 2 5 5 3 5 3

Table 6.1 - The “Feminine” Traits of Male Characters in 2018

Code Blue Code Blue MEN/2008 Emergency Emergency Shoplifters Shoplifters Gintama 2 Gintama 2 Saving Saving […] […] Kousaku Kazuo Osamu Shota Gintoki Shinpachi Character Aizawa Fuikawa Shibata Shibata Sakata Shimura Physically weak 1 1 1 1 1 1

Gets rescued 4 1 1 1 2 2 Concerned with self appearance 1 1 1 1 1 1 Shows emotion 1 5 3 3 2 4 Seeks expertise 1 2 2 3 1 1 Cute, Sexy or Elegant 1 1 1 C(3) 1 1

Timid 1 2 2 1 1 3 Nurturing, helpful 1 3 4 3 1 4

Submissive 1 2 3 2 1 2

Troublesome 1 1 1 1 1 1

Victim 3 1 2 5 3 1

Table 6.2 - The “Feminine” Traits of Female Characters in 2018 Code Blue Code Blue Code Blue WOMEN/2018 Emergency Emergency Emergency Shoplifters Shoplifters Gintama 2 Saving Saving Saving […] Megumi Mihoko Haruka Yuri Kagura Character Shiraishi Hiyama Saejima (Unknown) Nobuyo Shibata (No last name)

Physically weak 1 1 1 1 1 1

Gets rescued 2 2 1 5 1 2 Concerned with self appearance 1 1 1 1 1 1

Shows emotion 5 3 5 1 2 3

Seeks expertise 3 1 1 4 1 3 Cute, Sexy or Elegant E(5) E(5) E(5) C(3) E(3) C(5)

Timid 2 1 1 5 1 1 Nurturing, helpful 4 2 5 1 5 2

Submissive 3 1 2 5 1 1

Troublesome 1 1 1 1 1 3

Victim 1 1 1 5 1 1

Table 6.3 - The “Masculine” Traits of Male Characters in 2018

Code Blue Code Blue MEN/2008 Emergency Emergency Shoplifters Shoplifters Gintama 2 Gintama 2 Saving Saving […] […] Kousaku Kazuo Osamu Shota Gintoki Shinpachi Character Aizawa Fuikawa Shibata Shibata Sakata Shimura Physically strong 4 1 3 1 5 3 Performs rescue 5 4 5 2 5 3 Concerned with other’s appearance 1 3 1 1 1 1

Unemotional 5 1 2 2 4 3 Gives expertise 5 4 4 3 4 4 Described as handsome 5 3 3 2 5 3

Bold 5 4 3 1 5 3

Adventurous 3 1 4 3 4 2 Assertive - (Decisive) 5 4 2 3 5 2 Dependable or reliable 5 3 3 3 5 2

A leader 5 4 3 3 5 3

Active 3 1 3 4 5 3

Perpetrator 1 1 5 3 1 1

Intelligent 5 3 3 4 4 5

Table 6.4 - The “Masculine” Traits of Female Characters in 2018

Code Blue Code Blue Code Blue WOMEN/2008 Emergency Emergency Emergency Shoplifters Shoplifters Gintama 2 Saving Saving Saving […] Megumi Mihoko Haruka Yuri Kagura Character Shiraishi Hiyama Saejima (Unknown) Nobuyo Shibata (No last name)

Physically strong 1 1 1 1 3 5

Performs rescue 5 5 4 1 4 5 Concerned with other’s appearance 1 1 1 1 1 1

Unemotional 2 1 1 4 2 3

Gives expertise 5 4 4 1 4 1 Described as handsome 1 1 1 1 1 1

Bold 3 4 3 1 3 5

Adventurous 2 1 3 1 1 4 Assertive - (Decisive) 5 4 4 2 5 5 Dependable or reliable 4 3 3 1 4 4

A leader 4 3 3 1 5 1

Active 3 2 2 3 2 5

Perpetrator 1 1 1 2 4 2

Intelligent 4 3 3 2 4 2