Feminism in Japan began with women's rights movements that date back to antiquity.Molony, Barbara (Nov. 2000). "Women's Rights, Feminism, and Suffragism in Japan, 1870–1925". The Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 69, No. 4: "Woman Suffrage: The View from the Pacific". . . p. 640. The movement started to gain momentum after Western thinking was brought into Japan during the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Japanese feminism differs from Western feminism in that less emphasis is placed on individual autonomy.Buckley, Sandra. Broken Silences: Voices of Japanese Feminism. University of California Press, 1997. p. 63.
Prior to the late 19th century, Japanese women were bound by the traditional patriarchal system where senior male members of the family maintain their authority in the household.Yuji Iwasawa. International Law, Human Rights, and Japanese Law. p. 205. After the reforms brought by Meiji Restoration, women's status in Japanese society also went through series of changes. Trafficking of women was restricted, women were allowed to request divorces, and both boys and girls were required to receive elementary education. However, major restrictions still remained towards women. Further changes to women's status came about in the aftermath of World War II. Women received the right to vote, and a section of the new constitution drafted in 1946 was dedicated to guarantee gender equality.Yuji Iwasawa. International Law, Human Rights, and Japanese Law. pp. 205–206.
In 1970, in the wake of the anti–Vietnam War movements, a new women's liberation movement called ūman ribu (woman lib) emerged in Japan from the New Left and radical student movements in the late 1960s. This movement was in sync with radical feminist movements in the United States and elsewhere, catalyzing a resurgence of feminist activism through the 1970s and beyond. The activists forwarded a comprehensive critique of the male-dominated nature of modern Japan, arguing for a fundamental change of the political-economic system and culture of the society. What distinguished them from previous feminist movements was their emphasis on .Setsu Shigematsu, Scream from the Shadows: The Women's Liberation Movement in Japan (Minnesota: The University of Minnesota Press, 2012). They did not aim for equality with men, but rather focused on calling for men's liberation from the oppressive aspects of a patriarchal and capitalist system.
In 1979, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. The Japanese government ratified it in 1985.Yuji Iwasawa. International Law, Human Rights, and Japanese Law. p. 206.
Historical Context
Meiji Restoration and the initial phase of Japanese Feminism Following the Meiji Restoration in 1868 and the formation of a new, modern capitalist nation-state, Japanese women were affixed to the role of 'good wives and wise mothers' (Ryōsai kenbo). They were expected to contribute to the state's pursuit of a 'wealthy country and strong army' (Fukoku kyōhei) under total subjugation of the patriarchal society and male head of the household. Simultaneously, however, the late 19th century also saw the emergence of early feminist consciousness–partly due to the dissemination of liberal ideas from the West which gave rise to increasing desires for emancipation and equal recognition. While only a small part of the Japan's civil rights movement or the 'Freedom and People's Rights Movement' (Jiyū Minken Ūndo) of the 1870s and 1880s constituted women, it nurtured some of the most prominent feminists of Japan. One such figure was Kishida Toshiko, who was the first female to publicly address the issue of women's rights within the broader Popular Rights Movement. She was critical of the existing societal conventions based on the Confucian principles that placed women in an inferior position to men courtesy of biological differences, and called for a change in the status quo. Many women across the country were drawn to her, including Fukuda Hideko, who later went on to become the founding editor of Japan's first socialist women's newspaper, Seikai Fujin, following a series of tumultuous life events. Thus, with the mobilization of the nation-state to pursue a path of modernization coinciding with the emergence of new liberal ideas influenced from the West, the later years of the 19th century was colored with popular discourses on people's rights, including those of women, which laid the foundation for the feminist movement in Japan.
Politics & Society
First Wave Feminism and the 'New Woman' Inspiration from Henrik Ibsen's Nora in A Doll's House permeated Japanese society, prompting a group of young women, who called themselves 'New Women', to embrace new forms of self-expression that transgressed established gender norms. The 'new woman' symbolized a radical departure from the traditional idea of female identity that was rooted in the patriarchal values of 'good wife, wise mother' imposed by the state, and instead represented women taking control of their lives, sexuality, and identity. From this milieu emerged Hiratsuka Raichō who founded the Bluestocking Society (Seitō) and its literary journal in 1911, which featured debates on themes such as chastity, abortion, and prostitution.
Bluestocking Society (Seitō-sha) and Seitō Magazine The Seitō magazine disseminated Hiratsuka's seminal work, "In the beginning, woman was the Sun" and Yosano Akiko's "Mountain Moving Day" in its first issue. While the Seitō was not free of scandal, it certainly provided a platform for intellectual debates that contested mainstream ideas, even bringing taboo topics into public discourse. What began as an initiative for women's literary expression for liberation from the Japanese Confucian-based family system, the Seitō began to be increasingly concerned with larger social issues including the politics of prostitution. With eccentric dressing style and habits, sometimes leading them to cafés and entertainment quarters as sightseers, the public saw them as daring to transgress the boundaries of social respectability; the 'New Woman' came to be associated with "scandalous women of the Bluestocking society."
Key Intellectual Debates: The Motherhood Protection Debate (bosei hogo undō) Public debates through journals were one of the ways in which ideas were disseminated and feminist intellectuals engaged with one another. One such significant debate in the course of Japanese feminism was on the question of motherhood protection from the state (bosei hogo undō). It was a highly contested issue, mainly between the two thinkers–Hiratsuka Raichō and Yosano Akiko, also involving others such as Yamakawa Kikue and Yamada Waka. Intellectuals like Hiratsuka Raichō recognized the unique social contribution of mothers and the simultaneous burden it placed on women and demanded economic independence in the form of state assistance. In turn, Yosano Akiko criticized Hiratsuka for glorifying motherhood and argued that her stance reinforced the ‘dependence mentality’ on the patriarchal state thereby undermining the individual abilities of women.According to her, fatherhood was equally important as motherhood and that women should only bear children if they were economically independent. Hiratsuka responded by pointing out Yosano’s privileged position as a successful poet, and that many of the actual women found it immensely difficult to earn for themselves under the existing system. She had also included in her consideration, the issues surrounding illegitimate children where mothers had to raise them outside of the conventional family structure. The debate got more complex with the intervention of other contributors, Yamada Waka and socialist feminist, Yamakawa Kikue.
Yamada Waka provided an alternative perspective to the discourse; her stance was akin to that of the state, emphasizing the family as the basic unit of society. She recognized that men and women had different functions to perform, and if men earned enough wages to support the family, the issue of motherhood protection would be resolved. On the contrary, Yamakawa Kikue criticized how neither Hiratsuka nor Yosano challenged the capitalist system which was the true culprit that forced many women into their plight. She called for a change in the economic system itself, that is, a socialist revolution.
The motherhood protection debate brought about new questions about the relationship between the individual and the state, as well as on the nature of the feminist movement introducing different worldviews despite advocating for a similar goal. Consequently, each of the intellectuals went on to pursue feminist activism through their own paths such as the formation of the New Women’s Association by Hiratsuka and others, although it fell under the wider umbrella movement.
Formation of the New Woman Association
In 1919, with the help of Ichikawa Fusae and Oku Mumeo, Hiratsuka Raichō created the New Woman Association: Shin Fujin Kyokai. Their goal was to achieve rights of protection and inclusion through identifying a female class.Molony, Barbara. "Women's Rights, Feminism, and Suffrage in Japan, 1870–1925". The Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 69, No. 4, Woman Suffrage: The View from the Pacific. (Nov. 2000), p. 645. In November 1919, Hiratsuka delivered a speech at the All-Kansai Federation of Women's Organizations titled "Toward the Unification of Women." It stated that if women had rights, they would be able to be part of the state and help determine its future.
The following January, Ichikawa and Hiratsuka drafted the two demands of the New Woman Association. Firstly, they wanted to amend the Public Peace Politic Law, a revised version of the 1890 Law on Political Association and Assembly, which banned women from joining any political party or attending or participating in political events. Secondly, they wanted protection from husbands and fiancés with venereal diseases. The Revised Civil Code of 1898 stated that a woman who commits adultery is subject to divorce and up to two years in prison. However, a woman was unable to divorce her husband if he committed adultery. Challenging patriarchal society, the New Woman Association wanted reforms so that women could reject infected husbands or fiancés.Molony, Barbara. "Women's Rights, Feminism, and Suffrage in Japan, 1870–1925". The Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 69, No. 4, Woman Suffrage: The View from the Pacific. (Nov. 2000), p. 647. They prepared petitions and any opposition was met by arguing that such measures would enable women to become better wives and mothers.
Two petitions were prepared. The first addressed the need to give women rights and to include women in the state by revising the Public Peace Police Law. The second addressed the need to protect women by testing future husbands for sexually transmitted diseases and would allow women to divorce husbands and collect compensation for medical expenses. The Diet was adjourned before the petitions could make it to the floor. On February 26, 1921, the House of Representatives passed a bill to allow women to attend political meetings. The bill was defeated in the House of Peers. In 1922, the Diet amended Article 5 in the 1900 Police Law, allowing women to attend political gatherings while continuing to forbid them from joining political parties and voting.
The Red Wave Society
The Red Wave Society, Sekirankai, was the first socialist women's association. Yamakawa Kikue and others organized the association in April 1921. The Red Wave's manifesto condemned capitalism, arguing that it turned women into slaves and prostitutes. Rural families were forced to contract their daughters to factories due to financial difficulties. These girls were required to live in dormitories, unable to leave except to go to work. They worked 12-hour shifts in poor conditions.