Gender
Japan is a highly structured society where the status of women is subordinate to that of men. Although, in Brazil there is no set distinction between the place of women and men in the society, when Brazilian woman arrive in Japan they become subject to the same treatment that apply to Japanese women. From our interviews we gathered that distinctions exist between men and women in the work place. For example, at the Naganuma factory men were paid a higher salary then women. The spokesperson explained that this is because men perform some special duties, such as lifting of heavy materials, although while we toured the factory we noticed that men and women performed the same type of jobs. We also realized that Japanese brokers are more likely to recruit men than women. At the Naganuma factory, where the number of women seemed to be more balanced to the number of men, women did not go to Japan or find jobs with the aid of a broker or contractor. All the men we spoke with were working through a broker. Many of the women were in Japan because their husbands were in the country or for financial reasons like most of their compatriots.
Personal account of a factory worker