In the 8th century Japan had female emperors, and in the 12th century women in Japan could inherit property in their own names and manage it by themselves but after World War II, the dominant cultural template for the role Japanese woman has been that of the “office lady (OL)” , who becomes a housewife, and a then a kyoiku mama (education mother) after marriage.
Today if we take unpaid work in account Italian women clock up 21 hours more per week than men on housework.
