This brief chapter draws together the arguments made in the book. Up to the inter-war period at least, the Japanese economy was characterised by small-scale production units and a high level of household self-sufficiency, especially in food. This depended on the availability of household labour, which was unpaid according to the ‘third-party criterion’ and not reflected in standard quantitative measures of living standards. Examination of the characteristics of the diet and clothing consumed by rural and urban households reveals the role of such labour in determining living standards and the significance of its neglect in historical assessments and comparisons. It also highlights the influence of female household labour in the creation of food products that have come to be enjoyed across the globe in recent years.