Women’s Empowerment in Agricultural Entrepreneurship in Japan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33831/jws.v23i2.316Keywords:
entrepreneurship, agri-women's empowerment, agricultural entrepreneurship, JapanAbstract
Women in Japan have almost always been intertwined with agriculture. However, agri-women could not see the value of their deserve in agricultural production processes. The increasing importance of agriculture in the economic growth and the raising awareness on food safety brought the issue of women's empowerment in agriculture. Although the general entrepreneurship tendencies are not high in Japan, in order to ensure that agriculture has positive effects on the economy, it is seen that the arrangements for the development of agri-women entrepreneurship have accelerated after 2015. Our study is aimed to reveal the situation of women in agricultural works, the reasons that lead women to work in agriculture, the support provided to women as agricultural entrepreneurs and the problems have experienced by Japanese women entrepreneurs in agriculture. Based on these statements, it is also aimed to present concrete proposals that will ensure the empowerment of women in Japan on the axis of agricultural entrepreneurship. According to the main results, women entrepreneurship in agriculture is getting more attention due to the increasing importance of safe food production in agriculture and agricultural factors for economic development. On the other hand, it is understood that more social consciousness is needed to increase the women entrepreneurship in agriculture.
References
Aoyama, H. (2019). Women’s Advancement of Agriculture and Rural Society: Considerations on the Innovations by Women in Agriculture. In A. Kiminami (Ed.), Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Japanese Agriculture (pp.97-113). Singapore: New Frontiers in Regional Science. Asian Perspectives.
Assmann, S. (2016). Agriculture in Japan: Free Trade and the Need for Reform. In S. Assmann (Ed.), Sustainability in Contemporary Rural Japan Challenges and Opportunities (pp. n.p.). New York: Routledge.
Barbasiewicz, O. (2013). The Impact of Confucianism on Modern Japanese Women’s Life. Acta Asiatica Varsoviensia, 26, 159-171.
Bobrowska, S. & Conrad, H. (2017). Discourses of Female Entrepreneurship in the Japanese Business Press - 25 Years and Little Progress. Japanese Studies, 37(1), 1-22.
Bosma, N., Hill, S., Ionescu-Somers, A., Kelley, D., Levie, J., Tarnawa, A. & the Global Entrepreneurship Research Association (GERA) (2020). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2019/2020 Global Report. UK: Published by the Global Entrepreneurship Research Association.
Franzke, S., Wu, J., Froese, F. J. & Chan, Zi X. (2022). Female entrepreneurship in Asia: a critical review and future directions. Asian Business & Management, 21, 343–372.
Futagami, S. & Helms, M. M. (2008). Emerging Female Entrepreneurship in Japan: a Case Study of Digimom Workers, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics University of Zurich Working Paper Series, Working Paper No. 82.
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (2020). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2019/2020 Global Report, UK: Published by the Global Entrepreneurship Research Association, London Business School.
Gergely, M. (2004). Regendering the Rural: The Agricultural Training of Office Ladies in Hokkaido. Women's Studies, 33(4), 507-539.
Hara Fukuyo, J. (2010) “Women farmers’ networking in Japan: A case study of a pioneering network. In A. Bonanno, H. Bakker, R. Jussaume, Y. Kawamura and M. Shucksmith (Eds.), From Community to Consumption: New and Classical Themes in Rural Sociological Research (pp.261-275). Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Iijima, M. (2015). Japanese Women in Agriculture – Overview, Global Agricultural Information Network, GAIN Report Number: JA5006.
Kakuchi, S. (2013). Agriculture Leans on Japanese Women. Retrieved from http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/06/agriculture-leans-on-japanese-women/.
Kano, K. (2005). Entrepreneurship and Rural Women’s Empowerment: Some Japanese and Thai Cases. In M. Murayama (Ed.), Gender and Development The Japanese Experience in Comparative Perspective (pp. 85-116). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kawate, T. (2008). Change and Problems about Women Farmers in Japan, IRSA-Working Group 34- An Evaluation of the Roles of Women Farmers in East Asia-1st Session: Status and Problems of Women Farmers in East Asia (1).
Kazumi, T. (2019). Survey and Analysis on Women Entrepreneurs in Japan. In Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs. In the Islamic Republic of Iran the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (Prep.), Japan Women, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Empowerment Women, A Comparative Study on Women Entrepreneurs in Iran and Japan (pp. 1-56). Japan: Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs, the Islamic Republic of Iran the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.
Kegel, P. (2016). A Comparison of Startup Entrepreneurial Activity between the United States and Japan. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 17(1), 18-26.
Koyama, T. (1961). The Changing Social Position of Women in Japan, Genève: United Nations Educational, Scientific and CuIturaI Organization.
Kurochkina, K. (2015). Workplace of New Young Farmers in Japan: New Business Opportunity or Peasantry?. Japan Studies: Frontier, 57-70.
Leung, A. (2011). Motherhood and Entrepreneurship: Gender Role Identity as a Resource. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 3(3), 254-264.
MAFF (2021). FY2020 Summary of the Annual Report on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas in Japan, Japan: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
MAFF (2018). Women's Empowerment in Agriculture, Japan: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Management Improvement Bureau, Young Farmers and Women Division, Women's Empowerment Office.
MAFF (2017). FY2016 Summary of the Annual Report on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas in Japan, Japan: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
MAFF (2016). Japan’s Challenges and Policies for Empowering Women and Youth in the Agriculture and Food Systems, Japan: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
MAFF (2008). Annual Report on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas in Japan FY 2007 Summary (Provisional Translation), Japan: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Nakano, K. (2014). The “Sixth Industrialization” for Japanese Agricultural Development. The Ritsumeikan Economic Review, LXIII (3-4), 314-326.
OECD (2016). Women entrepreneurship Key findings: Japan. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/sdd/business-stats/EaG-Japan-Eng.pdf.
OECD (2019). Innovation, Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability in Japan-OECD Food and Agricultural Reviews, Paris: OECD Publishing.
Roman, K., & Okada, A. (2015). The role of Japan in Overseas Agricultural Investment: Case of ProSAVANA project in Mozambique, Paper presented at Land Grabbing, Conflict and Agrarian‐Environmental Transformations: Perspectives from East and Southeast Asia an International Academic Conference, Thailand.
Taeko, J. (2022). Women Entrepreneurs and Empowerment in Japan — Presentation at National Taiwan University (NTU). Retrieved from https://julietaeko.com/news/2018/women-entrepreneurs-and-empowerment-japan.
Uchiyama, T. (2014). Recent Trends in Young People’s Entry into Farming in Japan: An International Perspective. Retrieved from http://ap.fftc.agnet.org/ap_db.php?id=322&print=1.
Welsh, D. H. B., Memili, E., Kaciak, E., & Ochi, M. (2014). Japanese Women Entrepreneurs: Implications for Family Firms. Journal of Small Business Management, 52(2), 286–305.
World Bank (2022a). Labor Force, Female (% of Total Labor Force)-Japan. Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.TOTL.FE.ZS?locations=JP.
World Bank (2022b). Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (Percent of GDP) - Japan, World (1996-2020). Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS?end=2020&start=1965&view=chart.
World Bank (2022c). Agricultural Raw Materials Import and Exports. Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/TX.VAL.AGRI.ZS.UN.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Kadın/Woman 2000, Journal for Women's Studies
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication, with the work [6 months] after publication simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access)