In this chapter, the characteristics of the Japanese-style life security system are explored and their implications for women’s active labor force participation are discussed. In the context of the comparative welfare states theory, the Japanese welfare state is difficult to categorize based on the common framework used to classify Western capitalist states. The Japanese style of life security can be characterized by its unique employment security system and concomitant welfare provisions by family members, especially women. This regime has been consolidated by a conservative political movement since the late 1970s. Since the 1990s, the government has announced a series of political interventions to tackle the problem of the shrinking population. One of its goals was to increase the labor force by encouraging women to enter it. However, in order to introduce women to the working population, the Japanese style of employment security must be modified.
