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A Half Step Behind: Japanese Women Today
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 1, 2008
Fascinating interviews with Japanese women of all ages and from all walks of life about their feelings about their jobs/careers and their place in society. The author provides some social and historical background with each interview as well. This book is somewhat outdated, but I haven't seen many of its kind, so it's still worth reading.
November 28, 2019
This book was written the year I was born.
Instead of seeing it as outdated and irrelevant, I cherish it as a really unique piece of historical authorship about a generation of women who had grown up in a post-war Japan and were on the cusp of major transformation as the economy boomed. The Japan in these pages is not the Japan I knew in 2012, nor is it the Japan I visisted in 2019. It predates them both. Pre-Abenomics, pre Tokyo Olympics, pre 3.11 disaster, pre 90s stock market crash. This is a glimpse into a Japan that no longer exists and for the deeply dedicated Japoniphile such as myself, it's irresistible.
Most fascinating to me is the potent mix of optimism and fatalism that colors the women's view about their increasing opportunities (or lack thereof) in society; and all the more fascinating to compare to the Japan I know, 30 years after Condon published. How much has changed? What has remained the same? What will the current generation embrace or refuse? Such questions added layers of insight and interest as I read.
What I liked most is that Condon worked hard to organize the various interviews into a logical order and introduce them appropriately, but then she stepped aside and let Japanese women speak for themselves. This is especially poignant considering most of these women had grown up in a culture that devalued women's opinions. I'm not naive enough to think that Condon was above "massaging" or "tweaking" the interviews to fit her own theories or preconceived ideas, but I admire her desire to be more microphone than interpreter.
The stirring afterward welled up a deep sense of nostalgia and shared experience. Condon is writing about a return to Japan: awash in nostalgia, self-critical about that, and wistful about the changes to her old stomping grounds. How strongly I could relate, having just experienced the same heady mix of emotions less than a month ago!
Instead of seeing it as outdated and irrelevant, I cherish it as a really unique piece of historical authorship about a generation of women who had grown up in a post-war Japan and were on the cusp of major transformation as the economy boomed. The Japan in these pages is not the Japan I knew in 2012, nor is it the Japan I visisted in 2019. It predates them both. Pre-Abenomics, pre Tokyo Olympics, pre 3.11 disaster, pre 90s stock market crash. This is a glimpse into a Japan that no longer exists and for the deeply dedicated Japoniphile such as myself, it's irresistible.
Most fascinating to me is the potent mix of optimism and fatalism that colors the women's view about their increasing opportunities (or lack thereof) in society; and all the more fascinating to compare to the Japan I know, 30 years after Condon published. How much has changed? What has remained the same? What will the current generation embrace or refuse? Such questions added layers of insight and interest as I read.
What I liked most is that Condon worked hard to organize the various interviews into a logical order and introduce them appropriately, but then she stepped aside and let Japanese women speak for themselves. This is especially poignant considering most of these women had grown up in a culture that devalued women's opinions. I'm not naive enough to think that Condon was above "massaging" or "tweaking" the interviews to fit her own theories or preconceived ideas, but I admire her desire to be more microphone than interpreter.
The stirring afterward welled up a deep sense of nostalgia and shared experience. Condon is writing about a return to Japan: awash in nostalgia, self-critical about that, and wistful about the changes to her old stomping grounds. How strongly I could relate, having just experienced the same heady mix of emotions less than a month ago!
July 14, 2017
A good weave of the authors life in Japan and interviews with varying generations and working women in Japan about family, marriage, divorce, education, work and change. Although the book captures Tokyo, Japan of the 80s the author's storytelling style kept me glued to the book.
August 29, 2016
Worked wonders as research material
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews