Day Laborers of Contemporary Japan

Paper Summary:

This paper explores the socially marginal individuals in Japanese society, through the research by Tom Gill. It examines how Japanese day workers challenge our western assumption of the homogeneous Japanese culture and social structures. The paper illustrates Gill's intensive study of ethnography of the day laborers, including factors such as their martial status, and age.

From the Paper:

"What occurs when individuals are excluded and socially ostracized from an essentially community-focused society? This is the central research question that drives the perspective of the book authored by Tom Gill, entitled Men of Uncertainty; The Social Organization of Day Laborers in Contemporary Japan. The book uses the specific example of day laborers in contemporary Japanese society to challenge some of the assumptions of homogeneity many Westerners bring to larger Japanese culture and social structures, as well as to simply highlight aspects of the difficulties individuals experience when they live at the margins of any particular culture. Gill's relatively narrow social focus is thus developed, through historical study and fieldwork, to challenge a larger set of expectations often held by Westerners. The existence of day laborers, for example, challenges the notion that Japanese society is homogeneous yet inclusive. Both ordinary Japanese individuals who deny the existence of day laborers in their midst as well as Westerners observing Japan from afar often hold such expectations."

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