Abstract
Why did the women's labour force participation rate in Japan not increase with the process of economic development, unlike in other developed nations? What kind of policies and social and cultural barriers hinder the process? What kind of returns of economic growth did women in the labour force receive with economic growth? The flip side of growth in export-oriented Japan was that many of the women lost their jobs as production was relocated abroad. In fact, underwriting Japan's rapid growth and industrial transformation was a labour system based on the oppression of women, the use of temporary workers and subcontracting.