Introduction: Exploring Family and Labour under Industrial and Regional Transformation

Abstract

In this special issue, we explore ways of studying people’s struggle with work and family life. We believe that during Japan’s rapid economic growth period, many industries forced structural shift and the migration of individual workers, resulting in severe social divergence, which was the beginning of the current social stratification. This special issue examines the regional characteristic features of industrial labourers and their families, focusing on agriculture, the textile industry, and the coal mining industry. We seek to find new directions in the study of the family.