Suffrage in Japan
Encyclopedia
Although women’s advocacy has been present in Japan since the 19th century, women’s suffrage in Japan
blossomed during the turbulent, 1920s, inter-war period. Whilst experiencing marked cultural upheaval, Women's Suffrage became a feature of the changing society of Japan.
was the call for women’s education. Policy makers believed this was imperative to the preservation of the state, as it would prepare girls to become effective wives and mothers capable of producing diligent, patriotic sons. Although policy makers did not necessarily have the same motives as women’s rights advocates in their call for women’s education, the availability of education opened the door for further advancements for women in Japanese society. The end of the 19th century also saw women's the fight for protection from patriarchal cultural practices. Practices such as prostitution and polygamy had long subjected them to abuse, in particular sexually transmitted diseases.
Feminists also began to oppose the exclusive provision of civil rights for men and women's exclusion from politics. 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 the Japanese Diet (parliament) over-ruled Article 5 of the Police Security Act by granting women the right to attend political meetings. The ban on women’s involvement in political parties, however, was not altered, as many members of the Diet felt that it was selfish for women to forsake their families for government. Feminists, however, were still determined to fight for political equality.
After women were granted the right to participate in political assemblies, there was a surge in numbers of women’s interest groups. Alumni groups, Christian missionary groups, and other women’s auxiliary groups began to sprout during the inter-war period. After a massive earthquake stuck Tokyo in 1923, representatives from 43 of these organizations joined forces to become the 'Tokyo Federation of Women’s Organizations' (Tokyo Rengo Fujinkai). The federation was designed to serve as disaster relief to aid those affected 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 issues affecting women, the Tokyo Federation of Women’s Organizations divided into 5 satellite groups: society, government, education, labor, and employment. The government sector was perhaps the most significant of the sectors, as it spawned the 'League for the Realization of Women’s Suffrage' (Fujin Sanseiken Kakutoku Kisei Domei), later the 'Women's Suffrage League' (Fusen Kakutoku Domei), which became the most influential and outspoken women’s advocacy collective of the era. The government satellite issued a manifesto outlining the abuses Japanese women suffered and how they were to be corrected:
The League, as well as numerous other groups, continued to fight for social and political inclusion, as well as legal protection from the patriarchal traditions that continued in Japan. Women were finally granted the right to vote in 1946, in part due to pressure from the occupying forces of the United States.
s, or the Korean residents in Japan, have been demanding 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 prompt legislation.
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 1950s.
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.
’. 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.
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.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
blossomed during the turbulent, 1920s, inter-war period. Whilst experiencing marked cultural upheaval, Women's Suffrage became a feature of the changing society of Japan.
History
After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the concept of human rights and Universal Suffrage began to take hold in Japan. During the late 19th century, the first proponents for women’s rights advocated, not for political inclusion or voting rights, but for reforms in the patriarchal society oppressing women. Of prime importance to the early Feminist MovementFeminist movement
The feminist movement refers to a series of campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment and sexual violence...
was the call for women’s education. Policy makers believed this was imperative to the preservation of the state, as it would prepare girls to become effective wives and mothers capable of producing diligent, patriotic sons. Although policy makers did not necessarily have the same motives as women’s rights advocates in their call for women’s education, the availability of education opened the door for further advancements for women in Japanese society. The end of the 19th century also saw women's the fight for protection from patriarchal cultural practices. Practices such as prostitution and polygamy had long subjected them to abuse, in particular sexually transmitted diseases.
Feminists also began to oppose the exclusive provision of civil rights for men and women's exclusion from politics. 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
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
Movement and in 1921 the Japanese Diet (parliament) over-ruled Article 5 of the Police Security Act by granting women the right to attend political meetings. The ban on women’s involvement in political parties, however, was not altered, as many members of the Diet felt that it was selfish for women to forsake their families for government. Feminists, however, were still determined to fight for political equality.
After women were granted the right to participate in political assemblies, there was a surge in numbers of women’s interest groups. Alumni groups, Christian missionary groups, and other women’s auxiliary groups began to sprout during the inter-war period. After a massive earthquake stuck Tokyo in 1923, representatives from 43 of these organizations joined forces to become the 'Tokyo Federation of Women’s Organizations' (Tokyo Rengo Fujinkai). The federation was designed to serve as disaster relief to aid those affected 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 issues affecting women, the Tokyo Federation of Women’s Organizations divided into 5 satellite groups: society, government, education, labor, and employment. The government sector was perhaps the most significant of the sectors, as it spawned the 'League for the Realization of Women’s Suffrage' (Fujin Sanseiken Kakutoku Kisei Domei), later the 'Women's Suffrage League' (Fusen Kakutoku Domei), which became the most influential and outspoken women’s advocacy collective of the era. The government satellite issued a manifesto outlining the abuses Japanese women suffered and how they were to be corrected:
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, as well as numerous other groups, continued to fight for social and political inclusion, as well as legal protection from the patriarchal traditions that continued in Japan. Women were finally granted the right to vote in 1946, in part due to pressure from the occupying forces of the United States.
Local Suffrage for the Foreigners
Zainichi KoreanZainichi Korean
Koreans in Japan are the ethnic Korean residents of Japan. They currently constitute the second largest ethnic minority group in Japan. The majority of Koreans in Japan are Zainichi Koreans, also often known as Zainichi for short, who are the permanent ethnic Korean residents of Japan...
s, or the Korean residents in Japan, have been demanding local suffrage rights for several years. In recent years Mindan
Mindan
Mindan , or the Korean Residents Union in Japan, is the name of one of two main organizations for Koreans living in Japan, the other being Chongryon. Mindan has ties to South Korea and was established in 1946 in Tokyo, Japan...
, an organization of Zainichi South Koreans
Zainichi Korean
Koreans in Japan are the ethnic Korean residents of Japan. They currently constitute the second largest ethnic minority group in Japan. The majority of Koreans in Japan are Zainichi Koreans, also often known as Zainichi for short, who are the permanent ethnic Korean residents of Japan...
, has made a dramatic move to make this issue political. In Nov, 2007 5,000 Zainichi gathered at the center of Tokyo demanding 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 fighting for 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 1950s.
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.
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 motherGood Wife, Wise Mother
Derived from an idealized traditional role for women, the ideology of Good Wife, Wise Mother or Wise Wife, Good Mother was coined by Nakamura Masanao in 1875.It represented the ideal for womanhood in the East Asian area like Japan, China and Korea in the late 1880s and early 1900s...
’. This subservient role can be traced to the widely accepted and revered teachings of Hayashi Razan
Hayashi Razan
, also known as Hayashi Dōshun, was a Japanese Neo-Confucian philosopher, serving as a tutor and an advisor to the first four shoguns of the Tokugawa bakufu. He is also attributed with first listing the Three Views of Japan. Razan was the founder of the Hayashi clan of Confucian scholars.Razan was...
, 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 workforceWomen in the workforce
Until modern industrialized times, legal and cultural practices, combined with the inertia of longstanding religious and educational traditions, had restricted women's entry and participation in the workforce. Economic dependency upon men, and consequently the poor socio-economic status of women...
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.
Further reading
For news concerning local suffrage of Zainichi see:- Mindan English News Mindan the 2nd semi-annual 2007 National Conference of Local HQ Heads and Subsidiary Organization Heads
- Mindan English News Voice for local suffrage
- Mindan English News 11•7 Rally at Tokyo Hibiya
- Mindan English News 11•7 Rally Greetings from the host
- Mindan English News Suffrage Subcommittee (in Mindan)
External links
- Korean Residents Union in Japan (MINDAN) (Korean, Japanese, English)
- Online Newspaper covering Zainichi Korean and Mindan (English)
- Photo of "Suffrage Week in Tokio" taken between 1915 and 1930, published by Detroit Publishing Co. (copyright unknown)