2026-10-02T17:27:01Zhttps://skemman.is/oai/request

oai:skemman.is:1946/526052026-04-27T15:56:30Zcom_1946_2062com_1946_2057col_1946_2092

Háskóli Íslands Hjalti Freyr Hjaltason 2005- Kristín Ingvarsdóttir 1973- It is the aim of this thesis to explore how men can achieve masculine legitimacy, or success, in contemporary Japan. Since the economic rise of the postwar period, the salaryman has been deemed the epitome of masculine success in Japan, but recent studies have highlighted the challenges to achieving this ideal, mainly because of economic and social changes in the last two decades. This thesis argues that the “salaryman ideal” continues to exist and produces a socially and institutionally created pressure on Japanese men, while accessibility to said ideal has eroded. The main argument is that despite growing awareness of the topic, through studies of areas such as work and family, the salaryman ideal is preserved, and that it is also internalized by individuals. Masculinity is a social demand that, without direct enforcement from state-led or private institutions, creates uneven and, in many ways, outdated pressure on men in Japan. 2026-04-27T15:56:24Z 2026-04-27T15:56:24Z 2026-04-27T15:56:29Z 2026-04-27T15:50:22Z 2026-04 https://hdl.handle.net/1946/52605 en Japanskt mál og menning Karlmennska The Masculine Ideal: Achieving Masculine Legitimacy in Contemporary Japan Thesis Bachelor's