Women In Japan Research Articles

Coal-Mining Women in Japan: Heavy Burdens by W. Donald Burton

<i>Coal-Mining Women in Japan: Heavy Burdens</i> by W. Donald Burton

Relationship between Health Literacy and Adherence to Recommendations to Undergo Cancer Screening and Health-Related Behaviors among Insured Women in Japan

Background:Health literacy serves as a major barrier to effective preventive health behaviors, such as cancer screening, and this relationship has not been studied among insured women in Japan. We examined the relationship between health literacy and adherence to recommendations to undergo cancer screening, and health-related behaviors, among Japanese women who were insured by a health insurance society.Methods:We conducted a cross-sectional observation study of 670 insured Japanese women. For this, we used a self-administered questionnaire to assess environments, self-rated health status, cancer screening behavior, health-related behaviors (dietary behavior, exercise frequency, alcohol consumption and smoking behavior), and health literacy.Results:Among the participants, 206 completed the questionnaire (response rate, 30.7%). Fifty-seven had undergone breast and/or cervical cancer screening. The mean health literacy score was 3.44 (standard deviation = 0.68). In logistic regression models adjusted for age, self-rated economic status, and having a primary care physician, there was no statistically significant relationship between health literacy and adherence to recommendations to undergo cancer screening, and health-related behaviors. However, age and having a primary care physician were significantly associated with cancer screening and health-related behaviors. Health literacy was not found significantly associated with effective preventive health behaviors.Conclusions:The present study found no statistically significant relationship between health literacy and adherence to recommendations to undergo cancer screening and health-related behaviors. Rather, cancer screening and health-related behaviors were found related to medical support from physicians and those their own age. Further study is needed for exploring these associations among insured women in Japan.

日本における若年女性のストーキング被害 ─被害者・加害者の関係と親密な関係者間暴力に注目して─

日本における若年女性のストーキング被害 ─被害者・加害者の関係と親密な関係者間暴力に注目して─

日本での「貧困の女性化」についての1考察 : 高齢女性の貧困の統計的検討

日本での「貧困の女性化」についての1考察 : 高齢女性の貧困の統計的検討

Procuring, Crafting, and Sensing: Affect and Material Practices of Russian Women in Japan

The research was carried out with partial financial support: Japan Society of Lifology: Lifology Project 2015 (Nihon seikatsu gakkai: Seikatsugaku Purojekuto 2015/日本生活学会 生活学プロジ ェクト 2015).

Dynamic Microsimulation Model of Impoverishment Among Elderly Women in Japan

The increasing poverty rate for elderly women is a growing concern in Japan and is generally due to their lifestyle changes and the public pension system based on the pre-1980s (old) lifestyle. At that time, women were expected to get married and become homemakers. Therefore, the public pension system is generous for married women and widows but not for never-married and divorced women. Using a dynamic microsimulation model, the Integrated Analytical Model for Household Simulation (INAHSIM), previous research has shown that poverty rates for elderly people will increase significantly in the future due to changes in nuptiality behavior after the 1980s. However, this approach is an indirect method, and the mechanism of impoverishment remains unclear. This study uses the same dynamic microsimulation model but attempts a more direct approach to interpret the effects of these behavioral changes on poverty rates for elderly women. Specifically, under the baseline scenario, it makes future projections on key distributions related to poverty by marital status and illustrates how they will face the poverty problem. It shows the future projections of (1) the distribution of pension amounts by gender and marital status, (2) poverty rates for elderly women by marital status, and (3) poverty rates for elderly people by gender. After the 1980s in Japan, the marriage rate decreased and the divorce rate increased significantly. Nevertheless, society still suffers from wage inequality between men and women. As a result, the number of never-married or divorced women will increase and these women will receive poor pension benefits due to an unfavorable public pension system. In addition, they have a higher risk of living in a single-person household because they have no or very few children. In the end, they will face the risk of poverty and raise the overall poverty rate.

Rapid Increases in Syphilis in Reproductive-Aged Women in Japan: A Warning for Other Countries?

Rapid Increases in Syphilis in Reproductive-Aged Women in Japan: A Warning for Other Countries?

What Makes Super-Aged Nations Happier? Exploring Critical Factors of Happiness Among Middle-Aged Men and Women in Japan.

This study aimed to examine multiple factors associated with happiness from the perspective of gender difference among a middle‐aged Japanese population. A total of 865 participants (male = 344, female = 521) aged 40–64 years were divided into two groups (high and low) by their self‐reported level of happiness. Logistic regression analysis by gender was carried out. In men, high levels of happiness were significantly correlated with living with spouse, occupation, enough sleep, leading a normal life, and regular checkups; while low levels of happiness were significantly correlated with smoking and having two or more diseases. In women, low levels of happiness were significantly correlated with caring for a family member. Our data suggested that the factors relevant to happiness levels might vary between men and women among middle‐aged people in Japan. To increase the nation's level of happiness, the Japanese government must implement extended social services and policymaking, to alleviate caregivers’ burdens, especially among Japanese women.

Difficulties During Pregnancy for Foreign Resident Women in Japan

Difficulties During Pregnancy for Foreign Resident Women in Japan

Age and Gender Influence Differently on Various Foods Intakes, Body Mass Index (BMI), and Levels of Various Plasma Parameters in Young and Old Men and Women in Japan

Age and Gender Influence Differently on Various Foods Intakes, Body Mass Index (BMI), and Levels of Various Plasma Parameters in Young and Old Men and Women in Japan

Unmarried Women in Japan: The Drift into Singlehood

Unmarried Women in Japan: The Drift into Singlehood

脱植民地と在日朝鮮人女性による攪乱 : 「解放」後の濁酒闘争からみるジェンダー

脱植民地と在日朝鮮人女性による攪乱 : 「解放」後の濁酒闘争からみるジェンダー

Evaluating Labor Force Participation of Women in Japan and Korea: Developments and Future Prospects

ABSTRACTThe economic competitiveness of a nation in the 21st century requires human talent, which has become essential for areas such as research, development, execution of innovative ideas, technology, and value creation. In this respect, nations face a fundamental challenge of both attracting and retaining talented individuals to secure their economic growth. Both Japan and the Republic of Korea (Korea) are nations in dire need of human talent. Although industries in both countries are mainly focused on manufacturing and services, their working population is aging. Rather than luring human capital from across borders, however, both nations must focus primarily on incorporating more women into the workforce; while the number of highly educated women has significantly risen over the last several years, such growth has failed to contribute to an overall enhancement in the labor participation of women. On the whole, the utilization of female labor is an important factor when considering future prospects of economic growth for Japan and Korea. While Japan has successfully increased female labor participation across all age groups over the last several years, including that of women in their prime working ages, Korea has also witnessed higher numbers of women in the workforce. This is so despite the continuous trend of women leaving the workforce during their prime working years. Hence, the primary task here is to compare and contrast policy initiatives from the two countries and identify those that have been relatively successful from those that have proven to be less so. This study seeks to examine the recent efforts made by the governments of both Japan and Korea to acknowledge and promote female participation in the workforce; in doing so, it explores the multi-fold blockades that women still face at present while entering into and advancing in their careers, and propose potential methods for improving things in the future.

Spirituality and Women in Japan

Spirituality and Women in Japan

Sacred Mountains and Women in Japan: Fighting a Romanticized Image of Female Ascetic Practitioners

Sacred Mountains and Women in Japan: Fighting a Romanticized Image of Female Ascetic Practitioners

在日コリアン1世・2世女性のライフストーリーに見る時間表現の談話機能 ─文化談話分析からの考察─

在日コリアン1世・2世女性のライフストーリーに見る時間表現の談話機能 ─文化談話分析からの考察─

Association of Cervical Cancer Screening with Knowledge of Risk Factors, Access to Health Related Information, Health Profiles, and Health Competence Beliefs among Community-Dwelling Women in Japan

Objective:The aim of this study was to evaluate the past attendance for cervical cancer screening with knowledge of risk factors, access to health-related information, health profiles and health competence beliefs among Japanese women.Methods:Women ages 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, and 60 were contacted cross-sectionally as part of a project for the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Nikaho, Akita prefecture Japan between June 2010 and March 2011, and 249 women were analyzed for the current study. The questionnaire asked about past cervical cancer screening. Knowledge of each cervical cancer risk factor was determined on a four-point scale. A barriers to information access scale was utilized to assess the degree of difficulty in accessing health-related information. Health profiles were measured using the EuroQOL EQ-5D. Perceived health competence was measured using a scale (PHCS). The association was evaluated with odds ratios with 95% confidence interval were calculated from a logistic regression analysis after adjustment for age and potential confounders. The trend across the level was also assessed.Results:Women who knew that sexual intercourse at young age was a risk factor were significantly more likely to have participated in cervical cancer screening sometime in their lives (p for trend =0.02). Women who had pain/discomfort and those who had anxiety/depression were significantly more likely to have participated in cervical screening within the past two years (odds ratio [OR]: 2.02, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04–3.94; OR: 2.32, 95% CI: 1.05–5.16, respectively). Women with higher PHCS were significantly more likely to have attended for cervical screened at some point in their lives (p=0.04).Conclusion:This study observed that specific knowledge of cervical cancer risk factors, health profiles and PHCS were associated with the past attendance for cervical cancer screening among women in a community. Further researches are warranted.

Socio-cultural Factors Affecting the Health of Pregnant and Puerperal Brazilian Women in Japan

Socio-cultural Factors Affecting the Health of Pregnant and Puerperal Brazilian Women in Japan

Building a Feminist Scholarly Community: Fifty-One Issues of U.S.–Japan Women's Journal

Building a Feminist Scholarly Community: Fifty-One Issues of U.S.–Japan Women's Journal

The Benefits and Lessons of Two Decades with U.S.–Japan Women's Journal

The Benefits and Lessons of Two Decades with U.S.–Japan Women's Journal