“Sleep” as a reflection on Women’s role in Japanese Society

For reference I will be paraphrasing points from three articles “Change and diversity in the Japanese family” by Merry White, “Being Happy as a Woman: The promise of happiness for middle-class housewives in Japan” by Ofra Goldstein-Gidoni, and “Producing Mothers” by Anne Allison. In these three articles there is much discussion about how Japanese society forces women into the role of wife and mother. I feel that many of the points made in these articles are reflected in Murakami’s story “Sleep”. Murakami is known for creating characters who are “outsiders”, and rebel against the rigid social roles of Japanese society, and I think he uses the narrator of “Sleep” to explore the female perspective of this “outsider”, and how women interact with their role in Japanese society. 

One of the main points of these articles was a how the Japanese education system pushes women into these roles. Firstly, education and academic merit are not valued in women in Japan. These articles state how women who are high achieving in academics and attend top universities are not seen as suitable candidates for marriage, because they will be too focused on their careers to care for children. In Japan there is also the concept of “good wife, wise mother” that reflects the idea that women’s intelligence and value is seen as their role of being a good and nurturing mother. This can be seen in “Sleep” as the narrator was high achieving in university, and was even encouraged to attend graduate school, but chose instead to get married and have a child than pursue this education. 

The article “Being Happy as a Woman” also discussed how Japanese media, specifically women’s magazines, promoted this idea of the “happy housewife” as the epitome of happiness for women in Japan. It created this ideal life for women that centered their lives around housework and raising children, but what happens when this life doesn’t make women happy? I think the narrator of “Sleep” is an example of a woman who feels disconnected from the standard social role the society has forced upon her. We can see throughout the story that the narrator has been living a monotonous life as a housewife and mother, until she rediscovers her love of literature. After discovering what actually makes her happy, she no longer has the need to sleep, and slowly grows more and more resentment towards her husband and son.

I think that this story is a reflection upon many women’s discontent with the traditional role of women as wife and mother, and indicates many changing ideals about women’s roles in Japan. “Change and diversity in the Japanese family” discusses how many more Japanese are moving to urban areas, more “pink collar” jobs are opening for women, and women are staying single for longer and focusing more on their careers. I think many of these trends can be seen in Murakami’s novels, as we see characters traveling from more rural parts of Japan to Tokyo, and many of his female characters are employed. Overall I think Murakami’s reflection on, and disdain for, women’s traditional role in society in “Sleep” is what makes one of his only female narratives so realistic and compelling to women, like Mikeko Kawakami, which we saw in her interview with Murakami.

Ken