Suffrage in Japan

= Overview of Women’s Suffrage in Japan=

Although women’s advocacy has been present in Japan since the nineteenth century, aggressive women’s suffrage in Japan was born during the turbulent interwar period of the 1920s. Enduring a societal, political, and cultural metamorphosis, Japanese citizens lived in constant confusion and frustration as their nation transitioned from a tiny isolated body to a viable world power. Perhaps one of the most profound examples of this frustration is the fight for women’s rights and recognition in Japan.

After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the concept of rights began to take hold in Japan. During the latter portion of the nineteenth century, the first proponents for women’s rights advocated not for political inclusion or voting rights, but for reforms in the patriarchal society that had for so long oppressed women. Of prime importance to the early feminist movement was the call for women’s education. Policy makers believed that women’s education was imperative to the preservation of the state because it would prepare girls to be knowledgeable wives and mothers capable of producing diligent, nationally loyal sons. Although policy makers did not necessarily have the same motives as women’s rights advocates in their call for women’s education, the development of such education opened the door for further advancements for women in Japanese society. Also occurring at the end of the nineteenth century was the fight for women’s protection from some of the cultural practices that had long subordinated women. Practices such as prostitution and polygamy had long subjected Japanese women to various abuses, especially sexually transmitted diseases.Fact|date=January 2008

As the topic of women’s rights began to gain a larger following, women’s advocacy groups slowly developed and tuned their interests to other issues impacting women in Japan. The interwar period, which followed the conclusion of World War I, brought about what has become known as the Women’s Suffrage Movement of Japan. Feminists opposed the nation’s provision of civil rights to men exclusively and the government’s exclusion of women from all political participation. Women in Japan were prohibited by law from joining political parties, expressing political views, and attending political meetings. By 1920, the fight for women’s political inclusion was at the forefront of the suffrage movement, and in 1921 women were granted the right to attend political meetings by the Japanese Diet (parliament), which overruled Article 5 of the Police Security Act. The ban on women’s involvement in political parties, however, was not eradicated. Many members of the Diet felt that it was unnecessary and selfish for women to participate in the government. While they faced immense opposition, feminists were determined to fight for political equality. After women were granted the right to participate in and attend political assemblies, there was a surge in the development of women’s interest groups. Alumni groups, Christian missionary groups, and other women’s auxiliary groups began to sprout during the interwar period. After a massive earthquake stuck Tokyo in 1923, representatives from forty three of these various organizations joined forces to become the Tokyo Federation of Women’s Organizations (Tokyo Rengo Fujinkai). The federation was designed to serve as a disaster relief organization that aided those impacted by the earthquake, however as time progressed, it went on to become one of the largest women’s activist groups of the time. To efficiently address the specific issues impacting the women of Japan, the Tokyo Federation of Women’s Organizations divided into five satellite groups: society, government, education, labor, and employment. The government sector was perhaps the most significant of the federation’s satellite sectors because it spawned the League for the Realization of Women’s Suffrage (Fujin Sanseiken Kakutoku Kisei Domei) which was the most influential and outspoken women’s advocacy collective of the time. The government satellite organization issued a manifesto that outlined the abuses that Japanese women suffered and also how to correct these issues. The manifesto was as follows:

1. It is our responsibility to destroy customs which have existed in this country for the past twenty six hundred years and to construct a new Japan that promotes the natural rights of men and women;

2. As women have been attending public school with men for half a century since the beginning of the Meiji period and our opportunities in higher education have continued to expand, it is unjust to exclude women from international suffrage;

3. Political rights are necessary for the protection of nearly four million working women in this country;

4. Women who work in the household must be recognized before the law to realize their full human potential;

5. Without political rights we cannot achieve public recognition at either the national or local level of government;

6. It is both necessary and possible to bring together women of different religions and occupations in a movement for women’s suffrage.

The League for the Realization of Women’s Suffrage, as well as numerous other women’s advocacy groups, continued to fight for social and political inclusion, as well as protection under the law from the patriarchal traditions that continued to plague the country. Their fight continued to progress and make strides until women were finally granted the right to vote in 1946.

Local Suffrage for the Foreigners

Zainichi Koreans, or the Korean residents in Japan, have been demanding for local suffrage rights for several years. In recent years Mindan, an organization of Zainichi South Koreans, has made a dramatic move to make this issue political. In Nov, 2007 5,000 Zainichi gathered at the center of Tokyo demanding for prompt legislation.

Key Individuals

Shidzue Katō: (1897-2001) As a member of the Japanese Socialist Party, Shidzue Kato was the first woman elected to the Imperial Diet. Shidzue spent the majority of her life combating women’s reproductive and political rights. She is also noted for annulling her marriage and remarrying, an act that was extremely rare for women at the time. Ichikawa Fusae: (1893-1981) Advocate for women’s political rights. Ichikawa concentrated most of her efforts towards gaining women the right to participate in the voting process and in political parties. Along with Hiratsuka Raicho, she helped establish the New Woman Association. Her involvement also extended to the Patriotic Press Association and the League for Women’s Suffrage ( fusen kakutoku domei). Ichikawa traveled to the United States shortly after World War I and observed the advancements American women such as Alice Paul had made in the fight for equality and political rights. She returned to Japan and remained an outspoken voice for women’s rights and was eventually elected to the Japan’s House of Councilliors in the 1950’s.

Hiratsuka Raichō: (1886-1971 ) Women’s right’s advocate who was key in the founding of the Shin Fujin Kyokai, or New Woman Association, in 1919. Hiratsuka was noted for her belief that achieving the rights of inclusion in all aspects of Japanese society would have to be secondary to unifying women as a class.

Key Factors

Political Participation:

In 1890, the first session of the Imperial Diet issues the Law on Assembly and Political Association (shukai oyobi seishaho), which is the first government issued decree banning women from joining political parties. However in 1921, the Diet voted to overrule this decree allowing women to attend political meetings. With constraints still in place prohibiting women from actively participating in politics, women’s interest groups and other advocates continued to persevere for voting and inclusion rights, which did not arrive until 1945 when the Election law was revised allowing women over the age of twenty to vote in elections.

Literary Activism:

One of the most effective ways in which women were active in the suffrage movement was through literary outlets. During the interwar period, the number of educated women in Japan was at its highest and these women, many of whom were graduates of Japan’s finest institutions of higher learning, began using their education as a weapon in the fight against oppression. Literary magazines such as Seito, Fujin Koron, and Shufu No Tomo were the most popular feminist magazines of the time. Literary works such as these often tackled issues such as abortion, sexuality, politics, and independence. Such magazines also sometimes included Western literary works that were often deemed controversial to the largely conservative Japanese population.

Traditional Roles:

Tradition calls for Japanese women to serve as willing subordinates to men. In fact, one of the most popular sayings of the time was ‘ryosai kenbo’ which, translated, means ‘good wife, wise mother’. This subservient role can be traced to the widely accepted and revered teachings of Hayashi Razan, who developed a Confucian school of thought that placed emphasis on superiority and inferiority in certain relationships. According to this school of thought, the relationship between husband and wife relied upon a woman fully devoting herself to the needs and success of her husband. Hayashi Razan’s teachings, although developed during the seventeenth century, were the basis of the Japanese social and cultural structure for centuries.

Workforce:

Women traditionally were to focus all of their efforts to the maintenance and development of their households and their work was limited to domestic and agricultural tasks. With the evolution of Japan as a growing industrialized nation and with the reformation of Japanese society, women became the majority in newly built factories that became necessary to support Japan’s booming textile industry. Although these women were allowed to leave their homes and earn wages, they were still held captive by the patriarchal constraints of the time. Many women in the workforce had been sent by their families to work in factories that would send their earnings back to their homes. They were provided room and board for the duration of their employment, however the conditions in which they lived and worked were deplorable and resulted in widespread illness and disease. The deplorable conditions in which women were forced to work, their mediocre salary, and their risk of developing life-threatening medical conditions were the driving force behind the suffrage movement’s desire to improve the state of the workplace for women.

Sources

1. Beard, Mary R. “Woman's Role in Society (in Women in Present-Day Society)”.Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 251. (May, 1947), pp. 1-9.

2. Molony, Barbara. “Women's Rights, Feminism, and Suffragism in Japan, 1870-1925”.The Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 69, (Nov., 2000), pp. 639-661.

3. Nuita, Yoko. “Fusae Ichikawa: Japanese Women Suffragist”. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, Vol. 3. (Autumn, 1978), pp. 58-62.

4. Reich, Pauline. “Japan's Literary Feminists: The "Seito" Group”.Signs, Vol. 2. (Autumn, 1976), pp. 280-291.

5. Fujita, Taki. “Women and Politics in Japan in Evaluations of the Political Responsibilities That Women Are Exercising, by Regions or Countries”. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 375. (Jan., 1968), pp. 91-95.

External links

* [http://www.mindan.org/ Korean Residents Union in Japan (MINDAN)] (Korean, Japanese, English)
* [http://www.mindan.org/eng/newspaper/index.php Online Newspaper covering Zainichi Korean and Mindan] (English)

Further reading

For news concerning local suffrage of Zainichi see:

* Mindan English News [http://www.mindan.org/eng/newspaper/read_artcl.php?newsid=1038 Mindan the 2nd semi-annual 2007 National Conference of Local HQ Heads and Subsidiary Organization Heads ]
* Mindan English News [http://www.mindan.org/eng/newspaper/read_artcl.php?newsid=1084 Voice for local suffrage ]
* Mindan English News [http://www.mindan.org/eng/newspaper/read_artcl.php?newsid=1095 11•7 Rally at Tokyo Hibiya ]
* Mindan English News [http://www.mindan.org/eng/newspaper/read_artcl.php?newsid=1096 11•7 Rally Greetings from the host ]
* Mindan English News [http://www.mindan.org/eng/newspaper/read_artcl.php?newsid=1102 Suffrage Subcommittee (in Mindan) ]