Stefanie Reitzig

Sociology, Japanese Studies

(PhD Students, April 1, 2014 - July 31, 2014)

Japanese Dining Culture/Meal Supply
Family Sociology
Work-Life-Balance

Dissertation
Working Title: ´Familial Dining Culture in Japan: Meal-supply of Japanese Working Mothers in view of their working-life and daily-routinge´

The idea of combining work and family matches the reality of about two thirds of Japanese women eager to realize a satisfactory work-family-balance. Working-life, however, is nowadays undergoing a diversification in working options. Systems of flexible working-hours or teleworking (home office) e.g. enable mothers to continue their professional acticity while at the same time being child rearers, caregivers, housewives (shufu) and familial ´meal-managers´(shokuji maneejaa).

It is the purpose of my study to reveal the factors that influence the current meal-supply of working mothers in Japan and find out about their meal-management strategies between work, family life and leisure time.
As a result I expect to find different types of female meal-managers that vary depending on occupation, familial background, priority of work or family, attitude towards nutrition, time-budget and personal interests.