Sook-Yeon Won, Ewha University in Seoul, KoreaShu-yun Wu (Jessie), National Chi Nan University, TaiwanXiaoyuan Shang, University of New South Wales, AustraliaKaren Fisher, University of New South Wales, AustraliaGuo Ping, China Research Center On Ageing (CRCA), ChinaLeung Lai Ching, City University of Hong Kong, Hong KongKimio ITO, Kyoto University, JapanEmiko Ochiai, Kyoto University, JapanKenichi Johshita, Kyoto University, Japan

• 1. Introduction: Gender and Welfare States in East Asia; Sirin Sung and Gillian Pascall 2. Work-family Balance Issues and Policies in Korea: Towards an Egalitarian Regime?; Sirin Sung 3. Rhetoric or Reality? Peripheral Status of Women's Bureaux in the Korean Gender Regime; Sook-Yeon Won 4. Continuity and Change: Comparing Work and Care Reconciliation of Two Generations of Women in Taiwan; Jessie Wu 5. Gender, Social Policy and Older Women with Disabilities in Rural China; Xiaoyuan Shang, Karen R. Fisher and Ping Guo 6. Confucian Welfare: A barrier to the Gender Mainstreaming of Domestic Violence Policy in Hong Kong; Lai Ching Leung 7. Emerging Culture Wars: Backlash Against 'Gender Freedom'; Kimio Ito 8. Prime Ministers' Discourse in Japan's Reforms since the 1980s: Traditionalization of Modernity rather than Confucianism; Emiko Ochiai and Kenichi Johshita 9. Conclusion: Confucianism or Gender Equality?; Gillian Pascall and Sirin Sung