Gender roles vary across cultural groups. After the unprecedented economic prosperity witnessed in the post-World War II era, there is increased talk in gender literature about the convergence of gender roles in the world. In fact, the past decades have seen key trends in family structures including declines in levels of fertility, postponement and even abandonment of childbearing and declines in marital and non-marital marriages. These shifts, partly influenced by the tremendous changes in economic life, have demonstrated the dynamism of the family entity more so with respect to decision making and challenged the traditional concept of male as the breadwinner and female as the homemaker. It is argued, with reference to Nigeria and Japan, that despite this seeming convergence of trends, gender roles remaining significantly different. It is argued that this is because cultural gender ideology operates in the midst of all these changes. Nonetheless, the paper does not reject the proposition that there have been unmistakable changes over the years that have watered down gender role divisions across the world.
Gender roles imply the set of behaviors that are culturally defined for men and women leading to the production of gender relationships over time. To this extent, gender roles are a representation of cultural stereotypes about men and women. In all human societies, men and women tend to carry out different homemaking, occupational and leisure roles (Nwosu, 2012) . For instance, in most East Asian countries and indeed in many others across the world, men are more often than women involved in construction work while women are involved more often in family affairs like the bringing up of children. Stereotypical assumptions inform the divisions of roles that men are naturally stronger and more rational than women and therefore better suited for construction work. On the other hand, women are perceived to be more gentle, patient and kind, and as a consequence, better suited to bringing up children. Self-perceptions may also be an indicator of cultural stereotypes and therefore influence the interaction of men and women in various roles (Nwosu, 2012) .
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A review of gender roles in Nigeria and Japan suggests a degree of similarity and differences. Japan has over the past decades undergone considerable trends in urbanization, industrialization and other forces of modernization. Nigeria, on the other hand, has undergone these processes though to a much lesser degree. Therefore, while these modernization processes might help explain the differences, they are not adequate in explaining the similarities in gender roles. As will be demonstrated, both of these countries have retained strong adherence to traditional gender ideologies that have a sizable degree of similarity such as patrilineal kinship ties. And yet these traditions also have their differences that help to separate the gender role nuances between the two societies.
Background
A form of labor division between genders has been found to exist in nearly all societies; it affirms that gendered behavior stands as an essential component of social life (Oláh, Richter, & Kotowska, 2014) . Gender ideologies or stereotypes are the beliefs about the appropriate activities and roles for men and women in various life domains as in education, politics, employment, romantic relationships and childcare. A sort of a bipolar dimension of gender roles exists in many world cultures that range from a modern dimension, on the one pole and a more traditional dimension on the other pole (Cuddy, Crotty, Chong, & Norton, 2010) .
The traditional gender dimension has emphasized the division of labor based on what has been termed as the homemaker or breadwinner model. In this model, the man is charged with getting out of the home to heck a living to provide for the family while the woman works within the home by principally ensuring care for the children. These traditional approaches to gender roles are often justified through claims of the inherent difference between men and women and the natural importance of mothers being involved in the provision of care to children. The modern approach to gender roles is more egalitarian thanks to its emphasis on the equality of sexes. It is based on the belief that men ought to compete equally with women especially in the labor market and that men ought to be equally involved in domestic life more so in the nurturing of children. The egalitarian ideology is therefore premised on the inherent equality of men and women at home and work and that both genders are deserving of equal treatment as human beings (Oláh, Richter, & Kotowska, 2014) .
Depending on the nature of the inquiry, gender ideology might concern itself with beliefs about others or self. Inquiries that conceptualize gender ideology as an individual behavior motivation such as in household labor division are going to underscore the internalized approval of gender stereotypes that are closer to the individual conception of self. On the other hand, inquiries that concentrate on the broad changes in gender roles that take place at a macro level are likely going to emphasize the general belief or attitude that people have about the general roles of either men or women in society (Sugihara & Katsurada, 2002) .
The more modern approach to gender is often correlated with economic and social development. This correlation, as has been observed, is linked to the trends in modern industrial economies that reduce the utility of clinging to traditional gender ideologies and cajole societies to embrace more egalitarian attitudes. As some have rightly observed, increased entry of women into the labor force and gradual increases in female wages have blurred the difference between the spheres of family and work in many of the world’s developed nations and in the process engendered a cognitive dissonance between the reality of working women and traditional gender ideologies (Sugihara & Katsurada, 2002) . Furthermore, the precipitous reduction in family sizes and the emergence of childcare services have significantly reduced the demands of women in child raising. Novel phenomena such as female-headed households, rising cases of divorce and increased number of people who never marry have produced a considerable segment of the population for whom older or traditional notions of labor are not a remote possibility (Oláh, Richter, & Kotowska, 2014) . While it is now evidently clear that forces of social and economic change have gradually eroded the average support levels for traditional ideologies of gender roles, what is less apparent is whether the trends in the social and economic realms have engendered a unified conceptualization of gender ideologies across cultures or whether varying cultural understandings of traditional and recent gender roles have persisted despite these shifts. A comparative analysis can offer important insights on this cross-cultural equivalence.
A Cross-Cultural Comparison
Gender roles in Nigeria have been a matter of persistent debate. The traditional African perspective on gender has remained hugely dominant as the lenses through which to view gender roles. In the African context, women have historically faced marginalization and deprived of equal opportunities as men. This is largely attributable to notions in traditional African societies that women are an inherently weaker sex and lower to men. The general belief, therefore, has been that the role of women starts and ends with the home. Consequently, it should come as no surprise that women in Nigeria, just like in other African nations, make up the bottom ladder in respects like poverty, employment, training, education, and status. The subordinate and inferior position that is occupied women in Nigeria can be seen in farming communities where men are recognized as ‘farmers’ while on the other hand women are termed as ‘farmer’s wives.’ To this extent, it is assumed that it is only a man who can serve as a farmer since he is the one guiding farming activities (Nwosu, 2012) . In other words, a woman suffers not just underration but is also perceived as just a man’s support system.
Gender role discriminations in Nigeria are not just attitudinal but can also be traced in most of the traditional practices. For instance, the Igbo have a traditional practice in which a woman who is widowhood is forced to mourn in-doors for months while in other communities, it is forbidden for women to engage in certain activities like hunting or climbing trees. Thanks to the detriments of these stereotypical attitudes, the role of women on Nigeria has been evolving. Traditional ideas are giving way to new notions and ideas. Occupational and professional barriers that have discriminated against women in the past have withered with Nigerian women being ably represented in fields like banking, law, engineering, military, pharmaceuticals and even wrestling (Nwosu, 2012) .
The forces behind these changes are increased education levels, industrialization, urbanization, globalization and legal reforms. In fact, there are notable differences between gender roles in rural and urban Nigeria where people are more learned. And yet traditional values remain pertinent to contemporary gender roles in the West African country as evidenced by more men representation in many professions and the fact that women are still more involved in household roles than are men. This is especially prevalent in the rural parts of the country (Nwosu, 2012) .
In Japan, the current genders roles represent a mixture of traditional and modern approaches to gender roles. The traditional view of gender roles in Japan is heavily influenced by Confucian philosophy (Sugihara & Katsurada, 2002) . Confucian society has a lot of emphasis on the nature of the family. Man is perceived as the natural head of the family while women are dependent on men. The role of women is largely reduced to marriage, overseeing household matters and production of heirs. Marriages were not consensual but were often arranged as contracts between families. Lineage was the primary factor influencing these contracts. Failure by women to give birth often formed a basis for the return of wives back to their families (Oláh, Richter, & Kotowska, 2014) .
Under the Tokugawa Shogunate 1602-1868), women were not viewed as legal entities, and as such, were not entitled to property ownership. Most students of Chinese gender roles agree that Japan was to a degree an equitable matriarchal culture till Confucian ideologies immigrated to China. The adoption of the Confucian structure of hierarchy between men and women introduced a patriarchal system in gender roles. Gradually, shifts have occurred in Japanese society away from Confucian ideals with World War II being perhaps the most important defining moment. During the war, sharp gender relations worked to women’s detriment. Through propaganda, they were encouraged that their role was to give birth and that they were essentially married to the state. This encouraged loyalty to the government during the war initiative. Thus, many women were drafted into government to offer sexual services to men. In fact, many soldiers referred to these women as ‘semen toilets’ or comfort women (Sugihara & Katsurada, 2002) . However, for the first time, women were allowed to work in war factories to support the war initiative.
The post-World War II era witnessed major shifts in gender roles in Japan. The 1946 Japanese constitution introduced far-reaching changes that revised Japanese family relations. The 1947 civil code granted numerous rights to women including the right to property ownership, parental rights, right to vote, right to inheritance of family property and women were for the first time allowed to divorce freely (Sugihara & Katsurada, 2002) . The equality of all sexes became a legal doctrine though this was not automatically achieved in practice. The legal changes of this period went a great deal to challenge traditional gender orthodoxies. The provision for divorce for instance envisaged for the first time an independent woman not under the control of a man. It spoke to a woman who could also serve as a head of the household (Oláh, Richter, & Kotowska, 2014) .
The Japanese economic miracle after the war in the 1950s led to unprecedented levels of economic growth stimulating considerable changes in gender roles. Industrialization and urbanization took hold during this period as Japan experienced a double-digit growth rate up to the 1970s. In this period, Japan emerged not just as an industrial powerhouse but also as the second largest economy in the world. Between 1950 and 1995, Japan’s population in the agricultural sector fell from 49 percent to 6 percent (Sugihara & Katsurada, 2002) . The proportion of Japanese population living in urban centers rose from 37 percent in the 1950s to 78 percent in 1995. The trends meant huge transformations in gender roles. As the economy transitioned from primary to secondary to tertiary sectors, more women joined the workforce. Female labor participation grew to 62.2% in 1996 up from 55.8% in 1965. The demographic shifts that Japan has faced over the years have added to the pressure for women to be more involved in the workforce: Japan faces an increasingly aging population and major declines in fertility levels and family sizes prompting the involvement of women in the economy beyond household roles. Delayed marriages are now a key feature of Japanese social reality. The number of women who never married between ages of 25-29 increased to 48% in 1995 up from 21% in 1975 (Sugihara & Katsurada, 2002) . This increase has only intensified in the 21 st century with the desire by women to pursue a career being the reason behind such marriage trends. In brief words, economic shifts have fired the shift away from the Confucian ideals of a woman.
The work-family balance has therefore shifted significantly in Japan such that a huge number of Japanese women are postponing marriage and childbearing responsibilities. Perhaps the most noticeable shifts have been in attainments of higher education where there is a near equal ratio of men to women who get a degree which is often a ticket to lifelong career (Sugihara & Katsurada, 2002) . Today, there is an ongoing conversation within Japan on work-family balance, on whether to delay childbearing or avoid the entire phase completely (Oláh, Richter, & Kotowska, 2014) .
Despite these shifts that seem to suggest homogenization of gender roles in Japan and Nigeria, at least in the long run, their remains significant differences between the two. While these differences are attributable to differentiated levels of economic growth, they also have to do with traditional cultural ideologies. Confucianism, which is still important in the Japanese context, has many areas of departure with traditional African philosophy. Thus, while divorce has grown to be more acceptable in Japan, non-marital childbearing and cohabitation remain nearly non-existent in Japan, a situation that differs from what is witnessed in Nigeria or indeed in the United States. Also, the role that women perform in Japan as housewives is highly valued relative to that in Nigeria or Western nations. Thus, the modern Japanese woman is still expected to make career sacrifices to function as the family locus. Unlike Nigeria, therefore, a Japanese man is more likely going to admit to dependence on their wives. In the latter, such decisions by a woman are more likely going to be perceived as obligations rather than sacrifices.
Modification of Gender Roles
While Japan has made considerable headway towards the attainment of gender equality, there is still reason to think that there is room for greater progress. The current shortage of children that Japan faces is partly attributable to failure by men to take up roles that have traditionally been considered to belong to women. This reluctance is attributable to Confucian values and has led to pressure on women who have to strike a balance between modern and traditional roles thus having little incentive for childbearing (Sugihara & Katsurada, 2002) . Solving this problem will entail convincing men to lend a hand in some of these responsibilities.
Also, while women have finally managed to get into the marketplace, they remain confined to certain job categories that are traditionally thought to belong to women. Men are therefore over-represented in jobs culturally considered to belong to men such as in the police service or the military while women are more represented in domains like nursing. More genuine reform of gender roles would have to bring greater representation of either gender in such fields. Lastly, women in Japan remain grossly underrepresented in top Japanese companies’ management. In fact, many executives in major companies and to a degree in government are men (Sugihara & Katsurada, 2002) . There is an evident need to resolve such as a problem.
Alternative Concept
The concept of cognitive styles may be equally relevant in understanding the Japanese society. Cognitive style refers to the way that different groups think and remember information. Recent cross-cultural research reveals ample evidence that different cultural groups have divergent cognitive styles. Western cultures are said to have an analytic processing style that is attuned to focal objects but is less sensitive to contexts. Other cultures such as the East Asian are said to be more sensitive to context and more attune to the background and therefore have a holistic cognitive style (Han, 2009) . Recent brain imaging research suggests that cultures have a bearing on multi-level cognitive styles and tend to induce differences in neural correlates that underlie cognitive processes such as attentional and perceptual processing. Appreciation of these differences in cognitive styles has a huge impact on any inquiry into a society. For instance, intelligence is understood differently across cultures. While in western cultures it is viewed by the extent to which an individual is able to devise categories and participate in rational debate, in Japan, as in China and South Korea, it is based on the extent to which community members are able to detect complexity and contradiction and engage successfully in various social roles. Other psychologists suggest that intelligence in Japanese society entails understanding and relating successfully with others including knowledge of when to show and conceal intelligence. Such conceptual differences are according to a number of psychologists attributable to different cognitive styles (Han, 2009) . Understanding these styles is thus crucially important for an assessment of Japanese social needs, preferences, and realities.
Conclusion
Gender roles, it has been seen, are social constructs. Just like culture changes, so do gender roles. It has been demonstrated that Japanese gender roles have shifted over the years to reflect the country’s socio-economic shifts. A similar shift has been witnessed in the West African nation of Nigeria where gender roles have changed to reflect more modern and egalitarian perspectives. It is however argued that the achievement of gender roles homogenization is far from taking place due to differentiated levels of economic development and more importantly distinct traditional systems in both countries. Modification of gender roles in Japan, it is argued, is still possible and could greatly help address some of that country’s problems. The paper ends by identifying a psychological concept that is relevant for an inquiry into Japanese society.
References
Cuddy, A., Crotty, S., Chong, J., & Norton, M. (2010). Men as Cultural Ideals: How Culture Shapes Gender Stereotypes. Harvard Business School , 10-97.
Han, S. (2009). Cultural Differences in Thinking Styles. Towards a Theory of Thinking , 279-288.
Nwosu, I. (2012). Gender Role Perceptions And The Changing Role of Women in Nigeria. International Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, 15 (3), 1240-1246.
Oláh, L., Richter, R., & Kotowska, I. E. (2014). The new roles of men and women and implications for families and societies. Families and Societies, 11 .
Sugihara, Y., & Katsurada, E. (2002). Gender Role Development in Japanese Culture: Diminishing Gender Role Differences in a Contemporary Society. Sex Roles, 47 (9), 443-452.
