Kumiko Nemoto
School of Business Administration, Senshu University
2-1-1, Higashi-Mita, Tama-ku, Kawasaki-shi
Kanagawa 214-8580, Japan
k_nemoto@isc.senshu-u.ac.jp
EDUCATION
University of Texas at Austin
Ph.D. Sociology, 2004
Hitotsubashi University, Japan
M.A. Economics, 1996
B.A. Sociology, 1994
Georgetown University
College of Arts and Sciences, 1991–1992
POSITIONS HELD
2021- Professor, School of Business Administration, Senshu University, Japan
2018- 2020 Director, International Research Institute for Studies in Language and Peace, Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, Japan
2018- 2021 Professor, Department of Global Studies, Faculty of Global Engagement, Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, Japan
2014- 2017 Professor, Department of Global Affairs,
Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, Japan
2012-2014 Associate Professor of Sociology, Western Kentucky University
2005-2012 Assistant Professor of Sociology, Western Kentucky University
2002–2005 Assistant Instructor of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin
PUBLICATIONS
Books
Kumiko Nemoto. Too Few Women at the Top: The Persistence of Inequality in Japan. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, ILR Press imprint, 2016.
Kumiko Nemoto. Racing Romance: Love, Power, and Desire Among Asian American/White Couples. Rutgers University Press, 2009. View Details
Chapter one reprinted in Race and Ethnicity in Society: The Changing Landscape (3rd edition), edited by Elizabeth Higginbotham and Margaret L. Andersen. Cengage Learning, 2012. View Details
Refereed Journal Articles
Kumiko Nemoto. "Varieties of Engagement: Japanese Corporate Leaders’ Strategic Relations with Foreign Shareholders and Institutional Change." Review of International Business and Strategy 34:3 (May 2024): 454-468.
Kumiko Nemoto. “Revisiting Japan’s Stakeholder-Based System and Foreign Ownership: IR Managers’ View of Foreign Shareholders in Corporate Governance Reform in Japanese Companies.” Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society 23:3 (April 2023): 534-562.
Karen Shire and Kumiko Nemoto. "The Origins and Transformations of Conservative Gender Regimes in Germany and Japan." Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society 27: 3 (August 2020): 432-448.
Kumiko Nemoto. “Global Production, Local Racialized Masculinities: Profit Pressure and Risk-Taking Acts in a Japanese Auto-Parts Company in the United States.” Men and Masculinities 23: 3-4 (August 2020): 476-498.
Miho Iwata and Kumiko Nemoto. “Co-constituting Migrant Strangers and Foreigners: The Case of Japan.” Current Sociology 66:2 (March 2018): 303-319.
Kumiko Nemoto, Makiko Fuwa, and Kuniko Ishiguro. “Never-Married Employed Men’s Gender Beliefs and Ambivalence Toward Matrimony in Japan.” Journal of Family Issues 34 (December 2013): 1673-1695.View Details; Download
Kumiko Nemoto. “Long Work Hours and the Corporate Gender Divide in Japan.” Gender, Work & Organization 20:5 (September 2013): 512–527.View Details
Kumiko Nemoto. "When Culture Resists Progress: Masculine Organizational Culture and Its Impacts on the Vertical Segregation of Women in Japanese Companies." Work, Employment & Society 27:1 (February 2013): 153–169.View Details
Kumiko Nemoto. “Sexual Harassment and Gendered Organizational Culture in Japanese firms.” Gender and Sexuality in the Workplace. Research in the Sociology of Work 20 (September 2010): 203–225. View Details
Kumiko Nemoto. “Postponed Marriage: Exploring Women’s Views of Matrimony and Work in Japan.” Gender & Society 22: 2 (April 2008): 219–237. View Details
Kumiko Nemoto. “Climbing the Hierarchy of Masculinity: Asian American Men’s Cross-Racial Competition for Intimacy with White Women.” Gender Issues 25: 2 (June 2008): 80–100. View Details; Download
Kumiko Nemoto. “Intimacy, Desire, and Construction of Self in Relationships between Asian American Women and White American Men.” Journal of Asian American Studies 9: 1 (February 2006): 27–54. View Details; Download
Reprinted in American Families: A Multicultural Reader (2nd edition), edited by Stephanie Coontz. Routledge, 2008. View Details
Book Chapters
Yuko Onozaka and Kumiko Nemoto. “Digital Transformation, Leadership, and Gender Equality: Are They Related?” Adopting and Adapting Innovation in Japan’s Digital Transformation, edited by Anshuman Khare and William W. Baber. Springer, 2023.
Kumiko Nemoto. “Revisiting Comparative Frameworks and Gender Inequality in Japan.” Handbook of Post-Western Sociology: From East Asia to Europe, edited by Laurence Roulleau-Berger, Li Peilin, Kim Seung-Kuk, and Shujiro Yazawa. Brill, 2023.
Kumiko Nemoto. “Why Women Won’t Wed.” Beyond the Gender Gap in Japan, edited by Gill Steel. The University of Michigan Press, 2019.
Kumiko Nemoto. “Economic Shifts, Consumption of Sex, and Compensatory Masculinity in Japan.” Unmasking Masculinities: Men and Society, edited by Edward Morris and Freeden Oeur. Sage Publications. View Details
Kumiko Nemoto. 2011. “Interracial Romance: The Logic of Domination and Acceptance.” Introducing the New Sexuality Studies: Original Essays and Interviews (2nd edition), edited by Steven Seidman, Nancy Fisher, and Chet Meeks. Routledge. View Details ; Download
Others Publications
Kumiko Nemoto, “Closing the Gender Gap in Corporate Japan.” East Asia Forum. August 29 (2023).
Kumiko Nemoto, “Reflection Modern Japan in the Imperial Succession.” East Asia Forum Quarterly 13:3 (September, 2021): 37-39.
Kumiko Nemoto, “Why Aren’t There More Women Leaders in Corporate Japan?” East Asia Forum. May 14 (2021).
Kumiko Nemoto. “Why Gender Inequality Persists in Corporate Japan.” Work in Progress: Sociology on the Economy, Work and Inequality. October 3 (2017).
Kumiko Nemoto. "Tokyo's First Female Governor and Japan's Glass Ceiling." Gender & Society Blog. October 26 (2016).
Kumiko Nemoto. “Unmarried Men’s Happiness and Changing Families in Japan.” In Family, Work, and Well-Being in International Perspective. IGS Project Series 5 (2016): 15-24. Institute for Gender Studies, Ochanomizu University. Tokyo, Japan. IGS Project Series 5 (2016): 15-24.
Kumiko Nemoto. “Global Management and Employment Constraints in Japanese Firms in the United States.” Murata Science Foundation Annual Report 27 (2013): 628-634.
Tetsuro Kato, Keiko Kaizuma, and Kumiko Nemoto. “Changing Labor Market and Masculinity in Post Nation-State Japan (Post-kokumin kokka jidai ni okeru roudou sijyo no henyou to danseisei).” Jokyo (May–June 2007): 179–195.
Encyclopedia Article
Kumiko Nemoto. “Race & Ethnicity in Japan,” in Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society, edited by Richard T. Schaefer. 778–781. Sage Publications, 2008.
Book Reviews
Our Unions, Our Selves: The Rise of Feminist Labor Unions in Japan. By Anne Zacharias-Walsh. Journal of Japanese Studies (forthcoming).
Single Mothers in Contemporary Japan, by Aya Ezawa. Japanese Studies 37:2 (2017): 267-268. .
The Curious History of Love, by Jean-Claude Kaufmann. Contemporary Sociology 43:4 (2014): 540-542.
Beyond Loving: Intimate Racework in Lesbian, Gay, and Straight Interracial Relationships, by Amy C. Steinbugler. American Journal of Sociology 119:2 (2013): 582-583.
Women and Family in Contemporary Japan, by Susan D. Holloway. Social Forces 90:1 (2011): 335–337.
Gendered Trajectories: Women, Work, and Social Change in Japan and Taiwan, by Wei-Hsin Yu. Asian Politics & Policy 2:2 (2010): 304–306.
Asian American Women and Men: Labor, Laws, and Love (2nd edition), by Yen Le Espiritu. Gender & Society 24: 2 (2010): 263–265.
Migration, Homeland, and Belonging in Eurasia, ed. by Cynthia J. Buckley and Blair A. Ruble, with Erin Trouth Hofmann. International Sociology 24:5 (2009): 675–678.
GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
2020 Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (until 2022).
2018 Sociologist of the Month, December 2018 (with Miho Iwata), Current Sociology.
2018 Japan Securities Scholarship Foundation (until 2020).
2018 The Kikawada Foundation, Japan (until 2020).
2017 Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
(until 2020).
2014 Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Japan Society for the Promotion of
Science, Japan (until 2016)
2013 Potter College Faculty Research Grant, Western Kentucky University
2011 Social Science Research Council Abe Fellowship Fund Scholar
2011 Japan Studies Grant, Northeast Asia Council, Association for Asian Studies
2011 Japan Center for Economic Research Grant, Japan
2010 Research and Creative Activities Program Award, Western Kentucky University
2010 The Nomura Foundation Social Science Research Grant, Japan
2010 The Murata Science Foundation Research Grant, Japan
2009 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship for Researchers
from North America and Europe (JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship)
2009 Summer Faculty Scholarship, Western Kentucky University
2007 Regular Faculty Scholarship, Western Kentucky University
2006 Junior Faculty Fellow Scholarship, Western Kentucky University
2004 Honorable Mention in Graduate Student Paper Award Competition, American
Sociological Association, Race, Gender, and Class Section
2003 Honorable Mention in Dissertation Award by Women’s and Gender Studies,
University of Texas at Austin
2000 University of Texas at Austin, Summer Tuition Fellowship
1996 Fulbright Scholarship Fund Scholar, Japan
MEDIA COVERAGE
The New York Times. “A Show That Makes Young Japanese Pine for the ‘Inappropriate’ 1980s.” May 29, 2024.
Reuters. "Japan Airlines, Bankruptcy Helped Lay Groundwork For First Female Boss." January 31, 2024.
The New York Times. “A Woman Who Shows Age Is No Barrier to Talk Show Stardom.” January 19, 2024.
FairPlanet. “Japan: Why Workplace Sexism Remains Endemic.” October 9, 2022.
Bloomberg. “Despite Abe’s Push, Women Still Largely Absent From Japanese Boards,” July 22, 2022.
BBC World Service. Business Matters (on Shizo Abe’s womenomics policy). July 9, 2022.
Insider. “Meet Princess Aiko, The Only Child of Japan’ Emperor Who Can’t Inherit His Title Because of Her Gender.” December 2, 2021.
CNN. “Japan's Harry and Meghan? Not so much.” October 26, 2021.
The New York Times. “At Last, a Royal Wedding. But No Trumpets, Just a News Conference.” October 25, 2021.
The New York Times. “As Pandemic Took Hold, Suicide Rose Among Japanese Women.” February 22, 2021.
Exame. “O ‘Suganomics’ vai conseguir concluir a obra inacabada de Shinzo Abe?”(Will "Suganomics" be able to complete Shinzo Abe's unfinished work?) October 8, 2020.
Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen, Austrian Public Radio (ORF), West German Radio. “Power Harassment – Japans Aufstand gegen das Mobbing von oben” (Power Harassment – Japan’s Uprising Against Bullying From Above.) March 28, 2020.
BBC News. “Japan’s Workplace Rethink ‘Drinking With the Boss.’” December 18, 2019.
The Washington Post. “The Women in Japan Were Told Not To Wear Glasses To Work. Their Response Has Been Fiery.” November 9, 2019.
BBC News. “Japan ‘Glasses Ban’ for Women at Work Sparks Backlash.” November 8, 2019.
Veja Magazine. “Japanese Government Launches Flirting App to Encourage Marriage.” November 1, 2019.
The New York Times. “Craving Freedom, Japan’s Women Opt Out of Marriage.” August 3, 2019.
The New York Times. “With Trump’s Visit to Japan, Empress Masako Finds a Spotlight.” May 27, 2019.
The New York Times. “As a New Emperor ls Enthroned in Japan, His Wife Won’t Be Allowed to Watch.” April 29, 2019.
Bloomberg. “No More Happy Hour: Japan Bank Boss Takes Aim at Drinks Culture.” April 26, 2019.
NPR. Invisibilia. "A very offensive Rom-Com.”April 5, 2019.
20 Minutes. “#MeToo au Japon: Les victims peinent toujours a faire entendre leur voix (#MeToo in Japan: Victims still struggling to make their voices heard.)” April 4, 2019.
South China Morning Post. “South Korean hit novel about young mother Kim Ji-Young strikes a chord among women across Asia.” February 3, 2019.
Bloomberg. “Entertaining clients in hostess bars is still a thing in Asia.” January 17th, 2019.
Bloomberg. “Hostess clubs thrive in Japan.” January 17, 2019.
The New York Times, “Women barred from Sumo ring, even to save a man’s life.” April 5, 2018.
The Economist. “Flower power: Japanese women are working more, but few are getting ahead.” November 16, 2017.
Quartz, “Japan’s office managers are experimenting with this radical new trend called “working from home.” April 3, 2017.
USA Today, “Japan looks for a few good women to revive economy.” January 15, 2014.
Associate Press, “Japan promises equality, but women find few jobs.” December 31, 2013. Picked up by papers including ABC News, Washington Post, Mainichi Shinbun, Taipei Times, Telegraph Journal, Daily News, and HighBeam News.
Interviewed by Chritian Riou for the Radio-Canada.ca in Tokyo, Japan, July 2013.
Interview Requested by The C.O.W.S. Radio Show, July 2009.
SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION
Editorial Board Member, Contemporary Sociology, 2020-2023.
Parliamentarian, Sociologists for Women in Society. 2020-2021.
Regional Representative for Asia, RC32. International Sociological Association. 2019-2020.
Cheryl Allyn Miller Student Paper Award Committee. Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS). 2018. 2019.
Section Presider. Section on Sex and Gender Roundtable Session on “Non-traditional Contexts.” American Sociological Association annual meeting, Montreal, August 2017.
Invited Participant, U.S. Embassy Alumni Leadership for Women’s Empowerment, Tokyo, Japan. April, May, June, July, August, 2015.
Editorial Board Member, Gender & Society, 2011–2014.
Discrimination Committee. Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS). 2013–2014.
The Local Arrangement Committee (for the winter meeting), Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS). 2013–2014.
Session Organizer (with Shobha Hama Gurung). Section Session on “Gender and Work in Global Context.” International Sociological Association annual meeting, Yokohama, July 2014.
Section Presider. Roundtable Session on “Global Labor Markets.” American Sociological Association annual meeting, New York, August 2013.
Best Paper Award Committee. Section on Race, Gender, and Class. American Sociological Association annual meeting, 2012–2013.
Panel Discussant. Roundtable Session on “Immigration and International Studies.” Sociologists for Women in Society summer meeting and Association of Black Sociologists annual meeting. Denver, August 2012.
Reviewer, Advanced Social Science Research on Japan Panel, National Endowment for the Humanities. Washington, D.C., August 2011.
Section Presider. Roundtable Session on “Gender and Work.” American Sociological Association annual meeting, Boston, August 2011.
Graduate Student Paper Award Committee. Section on Race, Gender, and Class. American Sociological Association annual meeting, 2010–2011.
Section Presider. Section on Sex and Gender Roundtable Session. American Sociological Association annual meeting, Las Vegas, August 2011.
Nomination Committee. Section on Sex and Gender. American Sociological Association annual meeting, 2009–2010.
Book Award Committee. Section on Sex and Gender. American Sociological Association annual meeting, 2009–2010.
Session Organizer (with Karen D. Pyke). Section Session on “Masculinity: Race, Gender and Class Intersections.” American Sociological Association annual meeting, San Francisco, August 2009.
Graduate Student Paper Award Committee. Section on Race, Gender, and Class. American Sociological Association annual meeting, 2008–2009.
Program Committee. Section on Race, Gender, and Class. American Sociological Association annual meeting, 2007–2008.
Section Presider. Roundtable Session on “Sexuality: Negotiating Practices and Identities.” American Sociological Association annual meeting, Boston, August 2008.
Section Chair. Roundtable Session on “Men & Family Involvement.” American Sociological Association annual meeting, Boston, August 2008.
Book Award Committee. Section on Race, Gender, and Class. American Sociological Association annual meeting, 2006–2007.
Session Organizer (with Katrina Bell McDonald). Section Session on “Navigating the Rough Terrains of Marriage: Race, Gender and Class Intersections.” American Sociological Association annual meeting, New York, August 2007.
Panel Discussant. “Youth/Women and Children.” Anthropologists and Sociologists of Kentucky annual meeting, Bowling Green, October 2005.
Conference Volunteer. Sociologists for Women in Society Winter Meeting, Austin, February 1999.
Japanese translator of the State of the Union. Published by Mainichi Shinbun Press, Tokyo, Japan, 1995, 1996.
INVITED PARTICIPATION AT CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS
Invited Speaker, “Board Gender Diversity and Corporate Governance Reform in Japan.” University of Tokyo for Contemporary Japanese Studies. September 14, 2023.
Invited Panelist, “Globalizing Corporate Governance and its implications for women leaders in Japan.” The Academy of Management Philosophy. Waseda University, Japan. June, 2022.
Invited Speaker, “Institutional Barriers to Gender Equality and Corporate Change in Japan.” ANU Japan Institute Seminar Series. April 14, 2021.
Invited Panelist, “Institutional Gender Barriers and Corporate Changes in Japan.” Speakers Series on the theme of Gender, Diversity and COVID19 Vulnerabilities at Embassy of Canada, Tokyo, Japan. October 29, 2020.
Invited Panelist, “Reconstructing the Meaning of the Family and Parenting: Case of the Facebook Users in the United States.” Symposium on Parenting and Social Media. Ochanomizu University, Tokyo. Japan. February, 2019.
Invited Panelist, “Corporate Changes and Workplace Gender Division in Japan.” Work Style Reform, Gender Time Gap, Work-Life Balance, and Gender Equality in Japan and Germany. German Institute for Japanese Studies. November, 2018.
Invited Talk, “Too Few Women at the Top: Organizational and Institutional Obstacles against Gender Inequality in Japan.” East Asia Institute, University of Texas at San Antonio. September, 2017.
Invited Talk, “Too Few Women at the Top: Japan’s Progress Toward Gender Equality at Work.” Lakeland University Japan. July, 2017.
Invited Talk, “Too Few Women at the Top: The Persistence of Inequality in Japan.” The Stanford Japan Center, Doshisha University. May, 2017.
Invited Talk, “Unmarried Men’s Happiness and Changing Families in Japan.” Family, Work, and Well-Being in International Perspective. International Symposium, Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, Japan. June, 2016.
Invited Talk, “Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women,” Japan University English Model United Nations. Kinki University, Osaka, Japan. June, 2015.
Invited Talk, “Long Work Hours and Gendered Consequences in Japanese Companies,” Center for Japanese Studies, University of California, Berkeley, November 2014.
Invited Talk, “Sex Discrimination Court Cases in Japan and the United States,” Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, Kyoto, Japan, November, 2014.
Invited Talk, “Lack of Aspirations or Deprived Opportunities? Slow Progress for Women in Management and Corporate Barriers in Japan,” Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies, Temple University, Japan Campus, Tokyo, Japan, December 2013.
Invited Talk, “Unbreakable Walls: Organizational Inertia, the Lack of High-Powered Women, and Sex Segregation in Japanese Companies.” Abe Brown Bag Lunch. Social Science Research Council, Tokyo, Japan, July 2013.
Invited Talk, “Gender Inequality in Labor Market.” Southern Japan Seminar, Florida International University, March 2011.
Invited Talk, “Racing Romance.” Center for Gender Research and Social Sciences. Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan, July 2010.
Invited Talk, Requested at Faculty of Letters of Hokkaido University, Japan, June 2009 (declined).
Invited Talks, “Late Marriage and Non-Marriage in Japan.” Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo,Japan, June 2006.
REVIEWER
American Journal of Sociology; AGLOS: Journal of Area-Based Global Studies; British Journal of Political Science; Contexts; Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology: Gender & Society: Gender, Work & Organization; Journal of Asian American Studies; Journal of Family Issues; Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies; Social Science Quarterly; Social Science Research; Sociological Forum; The Asia Pacific Journal: Japan Focus; The Journal of Intercultural Studies; The Sociological Quarterly; Women’s Studies International Forum; Scandinavian Journal of Management; Journal of Marriage and Family; National Endowment for the Humanities; Israel Science Foundation; The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHR)
SELECTED PAPERS PRESENTED AT PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS
Kumiko Nemoto, “Foreign Investors, Corporate Governance, and Management Changes in Japan: A Review of Previous
Studies.” Japan Academy of International Business Studies annual meeting, Tokyo, November, 2021.
Kumiko Nemoto. “Gendered Career Mobility and Women Managers in Foreign Firms in Japan.” Sociologists for Women in Society annual winter meeting San Diego, January, 2019.
Kumiko Nemoto. “Managing Up: Career Navigation of Women with MBAs and Consulting Experience in Japan.” American Sociological Association annual meeting. New York, August, 2019.
Kumiko Nemoto. "Economic Shifts, Institutional Change, and Compensatory Masculinity in Japan." American Sociological Association annual meeting, Seattle, August 2016.
Karen Pyke and Kumiko Nemoto. "Consuming the Racial Other: White Women's Heterosexual Desire on a Majority Racial Campus." Pacific Sociological Association annual meeting, Oakland, April 2016.
Kumiko Nemoto. “Adaptation and Competition: Worker/Management Dynamics in a Japanese Auto Parts Company in the United States.” American Sociological Association annual meeting, Chicago, August 2015.
Kumiko Nemoto. “Revisiting Organizational Frameworks: Modernity, Sex Segregation, and Organizational Inertia in Japanese Firms.” American Sociological Association annual meeting, New York, August 2013.
Kumiko Nemoto. “Reinforcing Gender Stereotypes in the Workplace: The Influence of Women’s Status and Organizational Cultural Customs.” Sociologists for Women in Society annual winter meeting, New Mexico, February 2013.