Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
chant to
find the wisdom to seek out ways to support each other, and had
stressed that one
s
expense. Hiro told me he then realised that he had to support his future wife
and that it was not fair to make such demands when he was unwilling to
make such sacri
'
s person
'
s happiness could not be achieved at the other
'
ces for her. He was now thinking about the wedding, when
to ask her to marry him (which she had been pestering him about for a long
time, according to Hiro), and that he was prepared for her to continue
working and for them to share household and childrearing tasks. Yet he con-
tinued to be worried about how they were going to manage with both of them
working such long hours. The guidance given to this couple by a male Soka
Gakkai leader did not seem to be aimed at maintaining traditional gender
roles in particular. It had more to do with two people having to
find a solu-
tion with which they could both be happy, a solution that meant making
'
Support and respect for the other the foundation through which they both
would be able to ful
l their individual mission
'
, as Hiro told me. Hiro had (in
my eyes) overcome his own
desire to be looked after. However, for
Hiro there was another hurdle to overcome to achieve such a work
'
sel
sh
'
life
balance that would also practically allow his wife to continue working after
they had children. This hurdle came from the organisational structure of Soka
Gakkai itself.
Young men in Soka Gakkai stay in the Young Men
-
'
s Division until their
'
late thirties, while young women join the Women
s Division as soon as they
get married. This highlights a signi
erence in the way gender roles are
organisationally regarded, organisational structures that are still like age-
grade organisations that were common in the village. Being in the Youth
Division means having time to do Soka Gakkai activities without having the
particular family responsibilities that naturally come with having to put chil-
dren to bed or cook a meal for them. For the young men, many of their Soka
Gakkai activities go on till late into the night. Hiro was already complaining
to his Headquarters YMD leader about the number of activities he had to
attend because of the election. I asked him whether he was going to join the
MD when he got married.
cant di
The expectations are
that young men stay in the YMD until their late thirties, regardless of
whether they are married or not, he explained. There are no formal rules that
state that those men must remain in the YMD and, in fact, they are free to do
as they please, but in reality most remain, he continued. Having more activ-
ities to attend in the YMD, this has an obvious impact on the time left over
for taking care of young children, time that is already limited because of the
long working hours men face in their jobs. It is di
'
That would be very di
cult.
'
cult to see how such men
would practically
find time to share domestic tasks and, from my observa-
tions, few do. This informal system, which seems to be based mostly on men
themselves wanting to stay in the YMD (
, as I put it to
one young man who laughed in agreement at my suggestion), is another
practical and organisational obstacle to the need for sharing childcare were
women to remain in employment. In other words, while it re
'
To still feel young
'
ects it also
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