Skip to main content

The Role of Housework in Everyday Life: Another Aspect of Consumption in Modern Japan

  • Chapter

Abstract

What determines the level of utility that people derive from their everyday lives? There is no doubt that the consumption of goods — necessities and luxuries — is primary in considering the utility level of ordinary people. However, tangible goods are not the only objects consumed. Various kinds of ‘services’ also have a great influence on the level of individual utility. Specifically, before the ‘contemporary’ age, services delivered inside the household made up an important part of the overall consumption. These services have mainly been provided by means of ‘housework’ in a broad sense. The purpose of this chapter is to shed light on the practice of housework in modern Japan from the point of view of consumption history.1

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Becker, G. (1965) ‘A Theory of the Allocation of Time’, Economic Journal, vol.75 no.299, pp. 493–517.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourke, J. (1994) ‘Housewifery in Working-class England 1860–1914’, Past and Present, no.143, pp. 167–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowan, R. S. (1983) More Work for Mother, New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Vries, J. (2008) The Industrious Revolution: Consumer Behavior and the Household Economy, 1650 to the Present, New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Furushima, T. (1996) Daidokoro Yōgu no Kindaishi (A Modern History of Kitchen Utensils), Tokyo: Yūhikaku.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higgs, E. (1983) ‘Domestic Servants and Households in Victorian England’, Social History, vol.8, no.2, pp. 201–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kawamura, S. (2010) ‘igirisu no Kajihōkō no Rekishi to sono Shūhen’ (On the History of British Domestic Servants and Related Matters), Rekishi Hyōron, no.722, June 2010, pp. 4–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurashiki, N. (2007) ‘Kindai Kazoku Kihan Juyō no Jūsōsei (The Multi-layered Features of Adopting the Norm of the Modern Family)’, Nenpō Nihon Gendaishi, no.12, May 2007, pp. 201–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maddison, A. (1995) Monitoring the World Economy 1820–1992, Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nomoto, K. (2001) ‘Kaji Rōdō o Meguru “Shufu” to “Jochū” (Housewives and Domestic Servants in Relation to Housework)’ in Ōguchi, Y. (ed.) Onna no Shakaishi: Ie to Jendā o Kangaeru, Tokyo: Yamakawa Shuppansha, pp. 311–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nihon Hōsō Kyōkai (ed.) (1941) Seikatsu Jikan Chōsa (Living Time Survey).

    Google Scholar 

  • Odaka, K. (1995) ‘Redundancy Utilized: The Economics of Female Domestic Servants in Pre-War Japan’ in Hunter, J. (ed.) Japanese Women Working, London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rōdōshō Fujin Shōnen Kyoku (ed.) (1955) Fujin Rōdōsha no Seisan Katsudō to Kaji narabi ni Bosei Katsudō ni Kan suru Chōsa Kenkyū (Research Report on Female Workers’ Productive Work and their Housework and Child-rearing Activities).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shimizu, M. (2004) ‘Jochū’ Imeeji no Katei Bunkashi (Image of Domestic Servants and the Cultural History of the Home), Kyoto: Sekai Shisōsha.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shinada, T. (2007) Kaji to Kazoku no Nichijō Seikatsu (Housework and the Everyday Life of the Family), Tokyo: Gakubunsha.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sōrifu Tōkeikyoku (ed.) (1970) Kokusei Chōsa Tokubetsu-shūkei, Setai oyobi Kazoku (National Census Special Aggregation on Households and Families).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanimoto, M. (2002) ‘Kindai Nihon no Toshi Shōkeiei’ (Small Urban Businesses in Modern Japan) in Nakamura, T. (ed.) Toshika to Zairai Sangyō, Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Hyōronsha, pp. 3–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanimoto, M. (2003) ‘Kindai Nihon no Josei Rōdō to “Shōkeiei”’ (Women’s Labour and Small Business in Modern Japan) in Ujiie, M., Sakurai, Y., Tanimoto, M. & Nagano, H. (eds) Nihon Kindai Kokka no Seiritsu to Jendā (Gender and the Formation of the Modern Japanese Nation State), Tokyo: Kashiwa Shobō, pp. 144–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanimoto, M. (2006) ‘The Role of Tradition in Japan’s Industrialization: Another Path to Industrialization’ in Tanimoto, M. (ed.), The Role of Tradition in Japan’s Industrialization, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 3–44.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Tanimoto, M. (forthcoming) ‘From Peasant Economy to Urban Agglomeration: the Transformation of “Labour-intensive Industrialization” in Modern Japan’ in Austin, G. & Sugihara, K. (eds), Labour-intensive Industrialization in Historical Perspective, London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tokyo Shiyakusho (ed.) (1934) Tōkyō-shi Kōgyō Chōsa-sho (Industrial Survey of Tokyo City), Tokyo: Tokyo Shiyakusho.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2012 Masayuki Tanimoto

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Tanimoto, M. (2012). The Role of Housework in Everyday Life: Another Aspect of Consumption in Modern Japan. In: Francks, P., Hunter, J. (eds) The Historical Consumer. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230367340_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics