In Japan, a man's most important expectation in a woman is domesticity. In forming a lifetime partnership, a Japanese man, who should have a promising future, requires his partner to be entirely domestic to support him in his climb. It is typical for a Japanese boy to make this kind of calculation in preparing for his career and lifetime partnership. This is because it has been proved in Japan's long history that a domestic wife contributes the most to a husband's career and to the success of the pairing in general.
What, then, is "being domestic" in Japanese terms? Why do men want that quality in their lifetime partners? "Being domestic" is a safeguard for men who spend most of the day outside their homes. They want good housekeepers to look after their home and children. If the wife is clumsy in housecleaning, lazy in cooking, and reluctant to wash clothes and dishes, a man's home life will be miserable and his love for his wife will almost certainly diminish day after day—regardless of how sociable, talented, or attractive the wife is. The husband will probably be inclined to envy other husbands who have domestic wives. This phenomenon is not unusual in Japan. Quite a few husbands eat a quick breakfast at a kiosk in a train station, or purchase some ready-made food for the family supper on the way home. Their faces do not look blissful at all. It is very difficult to find a domestic wife in today's affluent society, which has so many devices to replace housework: laundries, instant foods, cleaning agencies, day care centers, and so on.
Under such social conditions, the quality of being domestic not only has greater value but has taken on broader meaning. Rather than merely being a good housekeeper, a wife is now expected to have the psychological qualities needed to hold the family together. She needs to be broad-minded, warm, cheerful, and tolerant of her husband and children. She cannot achieve such virtues simply by staying inside and doing housework. She has to understand all sorts of things around her and her family. She should be sociable and knowledgeable, and also available to her family. At the same time, she should be a dominant ruler of the family.
Mr. B was a white-collar worker and a hardworking man. One day he was transferred to a new post—apparently a demotion—following the merger of his company with a larger one. He was one of the victims of reorganization. When he returned home, he told his wife all about it and lamented what had happened. His wife was surprised and mortified at his demotional transfer but she was clever and suppressed her emotion.
"Oh, dear, that's not so bad! You get paid without working as hard as before. That's even wonderful, isn't it?" She abandoned her expectation of many years and tried to cheer him up and heal his wounded spirit. Despite his wife's effort, he only continued to sigh deeply. For more than ten years, he had devoted himself completely to the company, sacrificing his family life for the sake of his job. The reward he received was a merciless demotion. Throughout that period, his wife had managed all the household duties and the rearing of their children. He owed her very much for his happy home life.
One week and two weeks passed. The children started romping about their father saying, "How nice! Daddy is on vacation." His wife was wise in comforting him every evening when he came home.
"Company life is not the only source of worth for you. Men become aware of their stupidity in working so hard only after they are completely worn out. You are fortunate because you have been thrown out of the fray early." At least at home he could feel comforted.
It may be said that the most domestic wife is one like Mrs. B who is able to relieve the mind of a husband who has been defeated by the organization. Mrs. B tried hard to endow her husband with a new pride and to revitalize his defeated spirit. This ability to offer psychological support is the quality every man looks for in a wife. Perhaps he wishes subconsciously to be mothered by her, and he turns to her for tender care. This is the dependence syndrome. Naturally, the expectation of a husband contradicts the chronic "success" expectation of a wife, described previously in the story of Mrs. A. A wise wife, however, is able to abandon her expectation, like Mrs. B, whenever circumstances require. She becomes truly domestic by giving up her expectation. Thus the contradiction between the expectation of a husband and that of a wife is usually overcome by the domestic wife in Japan.
Social Role of a Housewife
From the above description, the reader can easily imagine that the diligence of Japanese workers is fully supported by their wives and that Japan's industrial strength is maintained by the semi mystical power of these housewives. Japan owes them very much indeed. They never complain about tedious work. They seldom become sulky. They are totally self-sacrificing. It is because of them that the husbands can devote themselves wholeheartedly to their work. Although they are very domestic, they have contributed greatly to the success of Japanese industrial society. In this sense, they are important social contributors.
Recently, however, quite a few women have begun to struggle against the wall that confines them to the house. In Japan, these women are referred to as "women who have flown the coop." They want to be independent, and masters of themselves. Very often they are described as career girls or career women. These women are determined to meet the world on its own terms, and to win independence on their own merits. They cannot have true independence without economic independence—this is their belief.
In the context of Japanese society, this is a wonderful ambition. But should a woman's pride or worth be measured solely by economic independence? Also, is it not a profound error to regard every aspect of married life as subservience to the male? The meaning of "subservience" is quite different for each couple. A wise woman can build a married life that is not subservient to her husband. A wife is considered economically dependent for the simple reason that she and her family live on the husband's salary. However, her role as the sustenance of the family equals the husband's role of procuring the capital to sustain their daily lives. Both roles are critical to the survival of the family unit. Although the roles differ, it is certainly inappropriate to call a housewife dependent. The husband and wife are mutually dependent—the two together are economically independent in the larger sense. This new concept is readily gaining currency in Japanese families.
4. QUALITY CONTROL OF HUMAN RESOURCES
In recent years, many business managers, union leaders, and journalists from the United States, Western Europe, and other countries have visited Japan one after another to study Japan's high productivity. Such a phenomenon could not have been imagined a decade ago. Devoting themselves to the task of "learning from Japan," these visitors sought to uncover the secret behind Japan's high productivity and the superior quality of its goods. After the observation tours, most of them came to the conclusion that Japan's success was due to its group-oriented dynamics, which mobilizes the enthusiasm and cooperation of workers, and to its effective application of quality control techniques in production. Above all, these visitors felt that the total quality control (TQC) program was the true secret behind Japan's high-quality goods. Their conclusion is not wrong, but it is only part of the story, for these technically minded visitors focused solely on the production systems.