Introduction

Abstract

Why focus on a study comparing Japan and the United States? The United States and Japan are the two leading economic and industrial powers in the world today and both are democratic post-industrial societies. They both play leading roles in world politics. Japan has been influenced by the West throughout the twentieth century, both before World War II and after, as a result of the post-war occupation of Japan and its political reconfiguration along American lines. Superficially, the countries bear some similarities, particularly due to Japan’s U.S.—sponsored constitution. It includes the equivalent of an Equal Rights Amendment, Article 14, which states that Japanese men and women are equal under the law, although this clause has never been fully realized.