Discussing Japanese parenting (university assignment)

[Bissen]

Heya, J-peeps

I'm not very active on these boards, but I'm a long-time listener to JPod101.

I study Japanese at university, and am in the middle of a culture assignment. I've narrowed my topic down to parenting in Japan with an often absent father (especially tanshinfunin) and an overprotective mother who puts most of her effort into her child's education, and what it does to the child (social maladjustment, stress, parental violence, refusing to go to school).

However, I don't really know what my discussion could be about. What would be the obvious?
I have several studies on how it negatively effects the children to not have a father to teach them "fatherly stuff" such as socialization, moral, right and wrong etc., as Japanese mothers seem to be unable to take this role (dates back from pre WWII, I guess, where the father was in the house more, and the wife would just... take care of the house).

Hoping for some help Let me know if you need me to elaborate on something.

[natsukoy9313]

Bissen-san,
Wow! You're working on VERY interesting matter!! I can spend hours with you discussing abotu it
Well, since you're learning Japanese at university, I assume you can understand Japanese catoons on TV. My suggestion is to watch "sazae-san", which is a real looooong time hit as catoon, any Japanese know, and what's more, this describes/shows the "typical traditional Japanese family" in a good way. I think it's interesting to use this catoon as reference, as oppose to "recent family/household". In this catoon, the one who has power over the entire family IS the father/grand fater.
Another insteresting point that you can focus on could be the negative fact/reality of "making fun of fathers", which was kind of taboo in post-war Japan.
Knowing both above, look at the strange TV commercial of Softbank mobile. The father is a dog! HOWEVER, attention, if you can watch carefully the comercials, this dog father DOES have both old and recent fatherhood: strong inflence/power over his family (listen to how "brother" talks to his dog father) and weak to his wife (dog father's wife seems to be a calm sophysticated very Japanese mother/wife, but she can easily shut up this dog father's mouth!).
Recent families and young mothers have a lot of insane problems...so, probably it's better to focus on certain points. Good luck!

[Bissen]

WOW! Thank you SO, SO much, Natsuko-san! (You, Sakura-san and Peter were who I started out with, listening to JPod. I'm honored to get a response from my sensei ) Also, an absolutely BRILLIANT idea with Sazae-san; I remember the family I lived with in Hokkaido for a month loved that show, and told me of how old it actually is. However, I'm still a first-year student, so I don't get everything they're saying. Same goes for the Softbank CMs, but I do understand most of it (おあげさまで). 90% of what I know of Japanese, I knew before beginning at university, and I learned it from you (JPod101).
I will go on the hunt for Sazae-san episodes available for viewing. My professor will be very happy if I get a case, or other reference material than just studies. Thank you! This has helped me tremendously!

So I believe a good main question for my paper would be something like "Changed view on Japan Fathers" or something?
I'd love to discuss this with you; always nice with inputs and different views.

Again, thank you so much. I think my paper just got better

[natsukoy9313]

Bissen-san,
I'm glad you found my idea was useful and made your paper better (already???)!
BTW, I'm not the teacher "Natsuko" you listened to....same name, different person
Yet, I'm glad I could be a kind of teacher to you!! LOL
Good luck and hope you'll make a interesting discussion on your paper!

[Bissen]

Oh, haha - sorry. I just saw some earlier posts by you, and you signed off with "Natsuko/JapanesePod101.com", so I thought you were THE Natsuko.

Nevetheless, it has still helped me!

[Javizy]

Seeing you mention absent fathers and overprotective mothers makes me think there's an obvious link to the 草食男子 phenomenon that shows little sign of declining. I've seen recent アンケート in the news that show significant numbers (20％以上) of men in their 20s and 30s aren't interested in sex or finding a girlfriend. Given how much of a social and economic issue 少子化 has become, I think it's quite significant. I'm sure you could find more serious research in psychology and sociology journals too. I think a paper linking parenting, 草食男子, 少子化 and maybe the impact of 高齢化 in relationship to this could make for an interesting paper. Just my take on it. Maybe there's too much of a socioeconomic element for a culture piece.

[natsukoy9313]

Javizy-san,
that's an interesting point! I totally agree with you about this link between absent fathers and 草食男子 thing.
Typically, Japanese guys are getting more and more like female, or at least "neutral". Interesting survey I saw some years ago showed that Japan ranked as the worst when it comes to sex life.
Absent fathers were welcomed by those wives who think 「亭主、元気で留守がいい」, which basically means "if my husband is healthy and fine, and away from me and/or home, that's the best". I would never be one of them, though...

[Javizy]

I've seen that セックス回数 statistic mentioned quite a few times. There's a lengthy article about it here: セックス負け国! 世界最低のsex回数の理由!. I saw this survey, which showed 80% of men and 70% of women in their 20s were single and uninterested in finding a partner, mentioned on ホンマでっか！？TV too. I think figures from other countries would surprise people too, but these are consistently incredibly high. Hopefully young people learn how to like each other soon

[natsukoy9313]

Javizy-san,
I totally agree with you.
No wonder why there's even lectures at universities about love, relationships and marriage..... I couldn't believe that "how to get in relationship" is something to be taught at university; I thought we learn it naturally.
This might lead to another interesting (or rather "weird") "watching Japanese" discussion

Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com

[amylian2084252]

I study Japanese at university. I must to study hard.

[community.japanese]

amylian2084252 san
Good luck for your study!!
Ganbatte kudasai!

Minako
Team JapanesePod101.com