A Demonstrative Study on Farm Families and Rural Women living in Changing Regional Societies

本研究的主要目的是从农业劳动力的角度，弄清性别平等和农村妇女独立的状况。1998-2000年，调查员收集了有关农村妇女劳动力的统计数据和原始资料，并进行了分析。另一方面，调查者对福岛长野县和北海道县的一些农村社区进行了调查，特别是对农村妇女的工作、生活和态度的实际情况进行了调查。1998- 2000年的研究表明，首先，调查显示，男子在农业机械中起主要作用，而妇女则起次要作用，从事辅助手工劳动。研究表明，正是这种男女分工的农业劳动导致了妇女在社会中的地位低下;其次，研究证明，从高增长时期到今天，性别分工模式一直受到各种教育机构和大众媒体的广泛认可;再次，研究表明，农村妇女作为一个人而不是作为农业家庭成员的生动行动，第四，本研究还证明了地方政府（市、镇、村）在农村妇女赋权中的重要作用。

This research aims mainly< to make clear conditions of gender equality and rural women's independence, from particularly agricultural labor respect. In 1998-2000 the investigator collected statistics and primary sources on rural women's labor, and analyzed them. On the other hand the investigator researched some rural communities in Fukushima Nagano and Hokkaido prefectures, especially rural women's survey on actual conditions of works, lives and attitudes. The following is what this study made clear in 1998-2000.First , this investigation reveals that men play a major role, Operating an agricultural machine , while women play a minor role, engaging in an assistant hand-work. And this study demonstrates it is caused by such a division of farmwork between men and women that the status of women in society is low.Secondly this study proves that the sexual division model has been widely received by a variety of educational institutes and mass medeia from a high-growth period until today.Thirdly, this study makes clear that rural women's lively actions as one person without as a member of a farm family , are often found recently, and their actions are changing power relationship between gender in rural regional societies.Fourthly, also this study proves that a local government (city ,town, and village) plays a key part on women's empowerment.