Abstract

Japanese men and women enjoy high levels of life expectancy and health expectancy when compared with international standards. Relatively little is known, however, about health differentials among the population. Focusing on gender as a fundamental cause of health and mortality, this chapter summarizes the research findings on health inequalities between men and women in Japan. We pay particular attention to families as social arrangements that shape men’s and women’s health status. Our review suggests that differences between men’s and women’s lives, such as in the amounts of unpaid domestic work they perform, are related to health, with more unbeneficial consequences to women’s health. Fully understanding the mechanisms behind the gender gap in health requires research that examines the broader social conditions that create different experiences for men and women and how they lead to gendered health outcomes.