This book provides the keys to understanding the trajectory that Japanese society has followed
toward its lowest-low fertility since the 1980s. The characteristics of the life course of
women born in the 1960s who were the first cohort to enter that trajectory are explored by
using both qualitative and quantitative data analyses. Among the many books explaining the
decline in fertility this book is unique in four ways. First it describes in detail the
reality of factors concerning the fertility decline in Japan. Second the book uses both
qualitative and quantitative methods to introduce the whole picture of how the low-fertility
trend began in the 1980s and developed in the 1990s and thereafter. Third the focus is on a
specific birth cohort because their experiences determined the current patterns of family
formation such as late marriage and postponed childbirth. Fourth the book explores the
knife-edge balance between work and family conditions especially with regard to childbearing
in the context of Japanese management and gender norms. After examining the characteristics of
demographic and socioeconomic circumstances of postwar Japan in detail it can be seen that the
change in family formation first occurred drastically in the 1960s cohort. Using both
qualitative interview data cumulatively from 150 people and quantitative estimates with
official statistics this book shows how individual-level choices to balance work and family
obligations resulted in a national-level fertility decline. Another focus of this book is the
increasing unintended infertility due to postponed pregnancy a phenomenon that is attracting
great social attention because the average age of pregnancy is approaching the biological
limit. This book is a valuable resource for researchers who are interested in the rapid
fertility decline as well as the work-life balance and the life course of women in Japanese
employment practice and family traditions.
