Changes in Work and Family Life in Japan Under COVID-19

Shigeki Matsuda (Ph.D.) is a professor of Chukyo University in Aichi prefecture. After receiving a doctorate in sociology from Keio University in Japan, he worked for a private think tank and currently teaching at Chukyo University. His is a researcher focuses on low fertility, family, and employment; a prominent researcher on low fertility in Japan. He has published many volumes of books in Japanese and English: Major publications are Low Fertility in Advanced Asian Economies: Focusing on Families, Education, and Labor Markets (2020, Ed, Springer), Low Fertility in Japan, South Korea, and Singapore: Population. Policies and Their Effectiveness (2020, Ed, Springer), The theory of declining birth rate (2013, Keiso Shobo, in Japanese), and The theory of declining birth rate [sequel] (2021, Gakubunsha, in Japanese). He has served as a board member of the Population Association of Japan and Japan Society of Family Sociology. To date, he has served as a member of many meetings set up byJapanese government, including meetings held by Minister of State for the Declining Birthrate of the Cabinet Office and the central government office, which are involved in policy making against the declining birthrate in Japan.

Hirohisa Takenoshita (MA) is a professor of sociology in the department of political science in Keio University. In his previous appointment, he was an associate professor in Shizuoka University, and was a professor in Sophia University. He has published several artcles in international journals and book chapters in edited volumes. His publications include: Gender inequality in access to managerial positions in Japan from a cross-national comparative perspective: The role of labor markets and welfare states. Japan Labor Issues 6(1/2): 25-39 (Co-authored with Kota Tagami). The Gender Wage Gap in Four Asian Countries: Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. In: Matsuda S. (eds) Low Fertility in Advanced Asian Economies . SpringerBriefs in Population Studies. Singapore: Springer: 41-59. The Recent Economic Crisis and Unemployment of Immigrants in Japan. Journal of International Migration and Integration 18: 563-585. Social Capital and Mental Health among Brazilian Immigrants in Japan. International Journal of Japanese Sociology 24: 48-64. He serves as an editor-in-chief in Sociological Theory and Methods , an official journal of Japanese Association for Mathematical Sociology.