Notes Preface 1 . The term “salaryman” (sararīman ), a combination of the two English words “salary” and “man,” chiefly denotes Japanese white-collar worker in the bureau- cracy and corporation and in fact symbolizes the “standard” and stable Japanese social structure (see Vogel [1963] for the emergence of this class and Dasgupta [2000] for its relationship with masculinity, and see especially chapters 2 and 4 in this book). The term “wives’ kingdom” (tsuma tachi no ōkoku ) was coined by a popular writer in his novel of that title and set in the same area of Senri New Town as my research (see Shiroyama, 2007). 2 . Office ladyship is the most common job for Japanese women, especially in the period between their graduation and marriage. An OL ( ōeru ) is a woman work- ing regularly in an office who engages in simple, repetitive, clerical work with- out any expert knowledge or management responsibility. Like many unmarried Japanese women, OL often live with their parents well into early adulthood. They are usually full-time permanent staff members, although the jobs they do usually have little opportunity for promotion, and there is generally the tacit expectation that they will leave their jobs once they marry. 3 . Ma and Ma-chan are nicknames for Mariko used only by her very close friends. Chan is the suffix used for a familiar (female) person. In the same light, I would often sign my e-mails to Mariko as “O,” and Mariko would greet me as “O-chan.” 4 . In the following I will use “State” (capitalized) whenever I refer to its compre- hensive meaning in the sense given to it by Corrigan and Sayer (1985). 5 . Throughout the book, the intertexts are numbered according to the chapter which they precede. Notes for the intertexts are included in the notes for the chapters. 1 Entering the Field: Joining Mariko’s Introspective Journey 1 . During a visit to Japan, Mariko and I attended a series of lectures at a Women’s Center (Josei sentā ) in Nishinomiya (a city in Hyogo Prefecture, between 226 ● Notes Osaka and Kyoto) given by women professionals on the theme of “housewife’s malaise” (shufu no iwakan ). 2 . On the “wives’ kingdom,” see note 1 in the preface. 3 . The time stamp denotes the time the e-mail reached my e-mail inbox; there is usually a seven-hour difference between Japan time and Israel time, so when Mariko sent this e-mail it was 11 p.m. in Japan, which explains her rush to finish her household chores. 4 . The Japanese word for “grandmother” is obā-san ; Chan is a suffix used for a familiar (female) person. 5 . The use of Mariko’s first name only arises not merely from the personal aspects of my relationship with her, but also from her own request not to use her family name to protect the privacy of her husband and his family. 6 . “Mi ” is an abbreviation of familiarity for Mizuki, Mariko’s younger daughter. 7 . Here, Mariko quotes directly from an earlier message of mine. We both regu- larly adopted this practice to refer to a specific issue, question, or idea. 8 . I use ellipsis here to mark an omission of long passages that, although highly significant and mutually intriguing at the time, would probably burden the reader. 9 . See Constable (2003, pp.231–2, n.6) for examples of Internet research. 10. The research formally began in 2003. Unfortunately, due to the “wonders” of computers, most of the e-mails in my sent-items box, including what I wrote to Mariko at the time, were deleted, and therefore, cannot be presented here along with Mariko’s e-mails, which were kept in my inbox. 11 . Minpaku is the National Museum of Ethnology, located in the same Expo Park. I had academic contact with anthropologists working there. By “those days,” Mariko means the time I spent in Osaka in 1997. We went to the park with our two young children. 12 . As noted previously, some of my messages to Mariko were unfortunately deleted. Clearly, however, Mariko refers to my previous mail, in which I prob- ably shared with her my impressions of a fascinating PhD dissertation by Tsipy Ivry (2004) that I was reading at the time. 13 . Ueno Chizuko is a renowned Japanese feminist writer. She has contributed greatly to the discussion of the social phenomenon of the Japanese housewife, as is further discussed later in this book (see mainly chapter 2 ). Naturally, I had read Ueno’s books, as I probably replied to Mariko. 14 . Japanese women’s participation in the labor force is generally depicted as an “M-curve,” referring to their high participation after college or high school graduation, their first retirement upon marriage or childbearing, starting again usually when their children go to school, and then leaving again to care for aging relatives or to retire permanently. However, the M-curve does not reveal the nature of women’s participation in the labor force, especially as they return to it mainly as part-timers ( pāto ). See chapter 4 . 15 . This e-message, which was written over several days, was longer than most e-mails we exchanged (10 KB compared with an average of about 5 to 6 KB). Notes ● 227 Although it includes many relevant themes on housewives’ lives, the marital relationship, etc., I chose to omit most of that text here as many themes are discussed later on, when the book delves deeply into the life narratives of the women of Royal Heights. 16 . Umeda is one of the centers of Osaka city and a busy shopping and business area. To get there, Mariko needs to take a short bus ride or a 20-minute walk to the subway station, and then a train journey of about 20 minutes. 17 . See Brinton (1992) for this orderliness of Japanese women’s life plan, as well as my analysis (in chapter 3 ) of the life course as a consequence of clear-cut social roles. 1 8 . T h e w o r d iipanashi is a combination of the verbs iu (talk) and hanasu (let go). Mariko decided to use it to impart a more relaxed feeling to the theme meet- ings. This use of hanasu refers to a relaxed way of performing a certain act. 19 . The size and the price of apartment houses are primarily determined by the number of rooms more than the LDK. The term “living room” is slightly deceptive because Japanese living rooms, though not necessarily decorated in traditional Japanese style with tatami, are presumed to be multipurpose. Therefore, they can also serve as study rooms, bedrooms or futon rooms, and dining rooms, depending on the needs of the resident(s). For example, Mariko and her husband decided to have only a relatively large, ultramodern dining table in the room, which most other residents of Royal Heights usually also use as a living room furnished with a sofa and a TV set. 20 . An environment that supports the formation of a nakama , a “circle of friends” or “inside group,” is considered very valuable in such communities formed by women (Hendry, 1992). 21 . The expression “just a housewife,” which may be relevant to the United States (see Matthews, 1987) and to Israel, where I was raised, is not necessarily rel- evant to the way the housewife is regarded in Japan, as this book will show. 22 . Mariko and her daughters came to visit me and my family in Ann Arbor, MI when I was a visiting professor at the University of Michigan. 23 . The article appeared in a special volume of Anthropology and Humanism (vol. 23, no. 2) on anthropologists and their families in the field. 24 . The Israeli system is in many respects “woman friendly,” as the country’s social policy enables and even encourages women to combine family and work. Its major drawback, however, is that it is not symmetrical for women and men (see Izraeli, 1998, pp.142–3). 25 . Kurihara Harumi is the most famous charisma housewife in Japan today. Mariko and I had a lengthy interview with her (see chapter 6 ). 26 . The Japanese meticulous sorting of garbage has always impressed me as a for- eigner when visiting or living in Japan. 2 7 . Writing Culture (Clifford and Marcus, 1986), a major text advocating alternative ethnography and one of the leading works in the postmodern turn in anthro- pology, has been subjected to massive criticism, not only for excluding women anthropologists but also for ignoring a whole alternative “women’s tradition” of ethnographers (see Abu-Lughod, 1990, 1991; Mascia-Lees et al., 1989). 228 ● Notes 28 . “Business of ‘employment’” is taken from Hendry (1992, p.170), where it refers to the unsuccessful case of friendship and collaboration between an anthro- pologist of Japan and a Japanese housewife, as mentioned above. 29 . Lassiter (2005, p.144) cites Hinson (1999) for this distinction between a coau- thored and a cowritten ethnography. 2 The Postwar “Professional Housewife” and the Japanese State 1 . Noam is my younger son and Tomer the elder; Boaz is my spouse. 2 . There is a custom to spend the Japanese New Year holiday, which lasts five or six days, with the natal family, more often the husband’s family than the wife’s. 3 . “Chan” (instead of “san”) is a prefix used mainly by women for close friends. As Mariko and Okamoto-san were not close at the time we interviewed her together in 2003, Mariko wants to make sure I know who she means when she uses Okamoto’s first name (I use fictive names, following my practice in the main text).