By examining the interplay between cultural (gendered) notions of maturity and selfhood, and normative ideals of masculinity in Japan, it is possible to see how individuals' attempts to create more meaningful lives for themselves are mediated by gendered notions (created and maintained by both men and women) of what it means to be an adult man in Japan. By ethnographically exploring the lives of freeters I seek a different perspective from previous studies. The causes of turning freeter have been attributed to from status symbolic apathy toward the traditional work career and life style of baby boomers to hardship of economic slumps that swept Japan in the 1990s and in the first few years of the current decade. Yet, they also felt that they would be failing themselves by shelving their aspirations and succumbing to a lifestyle that many had been seeking to move away from. They felt that by continued pursuit of their non-mainstream aspirations they were failing at being 'proper' adult men because of their inability to become core breadwinners and provide familial stability. ( 2011 ) that both Freeters and students in Japan have ritualist. Indeed, failure was never far from the thoughts of male freeters, though for differing reasons. In this study we explore the effect of the macro socio-economic situation (job-hunting. Much of the concern surrounding the freeter 'issue' focuses on male freeters who are perceived to be failing to be proper productive citizens through their irregular working styles, low (or absent) payments into the social welfare system, and their comparatively modest marriage rate. In 2006, 48 percent of those between 15 and 24 and 26 percent of those between 25 and 34 were described as freeters. Yet these are intimately tied into the discourse on freeters and to their lifestyles. There were 1.78 million freeters in 2009 according to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. Little focus is given to the role of gender or issues of agency or the ways in which cultural notions of adulthood, selfhood and gender intertwine. These are generally data-rich, but people-poor, and most seek to structurally understand why people become freeters and the role that education and changing economic structures play in this.
The vast majority of studies on freeters come from sociology, education and labour economics. Freeters are often depicted in popular discourse as either lazy unmotivated youth or the victims of a changing economic climate. But what happens to young men who are unable or unwilling to attain salaried work? This thesis explores the lives of freeters: officially defined as part-time workers aged between fifteen and thirty-four, who, by their employment status, are almost the antithesis of the steady, productive salaryman. Although this model of adult manhood is becoming less attainable for many young men, the social and self expectations of many remain focused on these very ideals, as do normative ideals of adulthood.
Normative ideals of masculinity in Japan continue to largely revolve around the figure of the 'salaryman': the responsible (middle-class) salaried worker, breadwinner and father.
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