This paper first examines whether there was a possibility for women to start and manage their own business in their life course before World War II and second, how married women were involved in the choice of starting business with their husband and what role she played in the store management. Few researchers had taken up the women on the small business. Even though there were such studies, the women had been considered as “assistants” of their husband. In this paper, I take commonly overlooked women, who worked for small store, and discuss the choice of self-employment and store management for women in their life course. The first case shows the woman who opened her store after doing a peddler, and the second case is the woman who opened and managed a store with her husband after World War II. From the first case, I found the women had life course that allowed them to start and manage the business on their own before World War II. From the second case, I discovered the wife of store owner participated in their store management not as a “assistant” but as a “partner” after World War II. The women could open their store before World War IIbecause there was the process of life course that allowed them to start with little capital as a peddler. The wife of store owner was not only an “assistant” but also a “partner” of the store management, since their business ability to buy and sell merchandise and to communicate with their customers were considered to be the important resource to increase the customer.

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This empirical study explores why remuneration of female tax accountants has been generally inferior to that of male tax accountants. Drawing on the Practice Theory of P. Bourdieu, R.W. Connell and B.S. Ortner, this paper argues that each field has its own common reference system in which particular structures, rules, histories and accumulated practices are embedded. These influence people who work in that field. It also argues that concepts such as ‘gender order’ and ‘gender regime’ are parts of structures that are largely made up of power, gender division of labor, cathexis and symbols. It is suggested that the gender division of labor in tax accounting reflects the gender stereotype in Japanese society and is one of the key elements that leads to female inferiority in this field. The gender stereotype in Japanese society includes preconceived attitudes such as ‘females are more sensitive to the feelings of others, ’ ‘males are better at decision making’ etc. As a result of this, jobs tend to be allocated according to gender. Female tax accountants are considered to be suitable for dealing with small companies that require minor or troublesome services in return for a small fee. In contrast, they tend to be excluded from contracts with large companies that pay high fees in exchange for advice that involves difficult decisions or strong management. As a result of the accumulation of such practices a sense of female inferiority is reinforced and the practice of inadequate remuneration is continued. Is it possible to change this situation? This paper suggests that the examples of a few female tax accountants who receive large salaries show that it is possible to overcome the gender stereotype and work practices in this field.

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This paper is based on the long-term participant observation (over 3 years) in the work of Bicycle Messengers in Tokyo. The main purpose of this paper is to present an outline of the work and the culture of Bicycle Messengers and to give a detailed description of their labor process. Then, the interaction between the culture and the hard laobr (the messenger culture provides the definition of labor, and the experience of every day physical labor provides the material basis of their culture) is considered. At the end of this paper, research points to the ongoing trend of the difficulty young messengers have in obtaining the opportunity to be the totally skilled messenger, as the work process is broken into parts, and personal skills are now replaced with the computer systems.

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The purpose of this paper is to examine a contradiction between non-regular employment and the public nature of public service. This approach leads not only to the examination of the social role played by non-regular workers and the position in which they are placed in society but also to the exploration of a basic direction for a “regeneration of the public nature” of public service. This paper focuses on the characteristics of the jobs engaged in by non-regular employees working in municipal governments; the actual working conditions of non-regular workers and their attitudes toward their jobs; and social relationships developed through the medium of work. This paper discusses these issues by analyzing findings of questionnaire and interview surveys, from three perspectives: 1) the attitudes of non-regular employees working for municipal governments toward employment and work, 2) their social relationships through employment and work, and 3)their communication and relationships in the workplace. The data used for the analysis and discussions of this paper include 1) the findings of a questionnaire survey conducted among officials of 42 local governments in Osaka (excluding, Osaka prefectural and municipal governments) concerning non-regular employees working in municipal governments; 2) interviews held with 12 workers using a semi-structured interview method; and 3)165 non-union members' results of a questionnaire survey conducted by the Osaka Division of the National Federation of Prefectural and Municipal Workers' Union concerning the actual status of part-time, temporary and contract workers of municipal governments. This paper basically consists of four parts. The first part focuses on the fact that non-regular workers are playing an increasingly indispensable role in the operation of municipal government, while clarifying the characteristics of non-regular employees working in municipal governments in terms of structure and actual conditions as well as shedding light on problems confronting those workers. Second, attention is focused on the fact that non-regular workers, who have been placed in complex and refracted relationships in the workplace, seek to feel pride, responsibility and fulfillment in their jobs, and that the pride, responsibility and fulfillment in work are determined by their social relationships with local citizens that develop through their public service work. Third, attempts are made to bring out two mutually contradictory characteristics found among non-regular workers, by considering why non-regular workers are indispensable for municipal governments. Finally, it is indicated that cooperation and collaboration between public service workers, including non-regular workers, and people from every walk of life is critical to innovative changes in the work of public service and the public nature of public service. This paper concludes by raising issues to be addressed in the future while referring to subjective and objective requirements for such cooperation and collaboration.

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This paper aims to reveal the culture of laborers in construction laborers' camps known as Hamba. Culture is defined here as being created through human subjective actions. It focuses on subjective meanings which Hamba laborers gives to their labor, and reveals a behavior pattern of them at worksite, which I call “the labor culture in Hamba” here. It also reveals how the culture emerges against outside of the group of laborers. A behavior pattern of Hamba laborers is oriented by “an aspiration to capability”. They find their meaning of labor in being skillful at their works. They have to show their skill at work and capability with real actions. Their aspiration to capability is emerged as a generous help for newcomers, and it plays a role to maintain their group. With the help of veteran laborers, newcomers learn knowledge of Hamba labor. This knowledge is a hint to adapt them to Hamba labor and at the same time it reflects their sense of value in the labor. An aspiration to capability raises their motivation but it makes them act arbitrarily without consultation in some situations. On the one hand Hamba laborers work for the benefit of their employer, but at the same time they work for their satisfactions, so we can find a conflict between laborers and employers. While the labor culture in Hamba encourages cohesion of laborers and makes conflicts between laborers and employers, it raises a conflict within the group of laborers.

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