Short Rant: Japanese Feminism
I doubt many people are aware of this, but I have spent a large amount of this past collegiate semester reading about Japanese Feminists and trying to learn about the movement as a whole. I still have a long way to go, so make no mistake - this is a rant and nothing more. Arguments are preliminary and mainly emotional, even if logical. This should probably be kept in mind with all my posts, but I feel I should make it especially clear since I am talking about such a broad category. I am not sure I will rant like this in the future, as it is kind of weird and awkward for me to write something like this, but whatever - I will keep it short. A longer, more detailed analysis of the issue may come in the future.
Pretty much I will not bother to complain about the failures of feminism in Japan, those are pretty apparent to any one interested in the subject, at all. My problems lies more in the contradiction of Japanese feminist theory. I will explain this in more detail.
There are books on Japanese feminism, if not a lot. Most of these books do not get translated into English, and is perhaps expected, get little respect in Japan. Simply stated - on the wall of Waseda University’s Liberal Studies department’s library, there is a periodical section with lots of different periodicals, each with its own shelf. There are two notable shelves in that there are just one or two page print-outs, folded up, instead of periodicals - these are the feminist works. One or two pages of interest, copied from somewhere else, folded-up and basically hidden. Anyway, not the point - thee main point is that the works show a rather rich and impressive history.
This is where my problem is — there is a rich feminist history, that has fallen to such disgrace that it is near impossible to know existed. In the early 1900s there were groups of men and women that were living to almost the same degree of freedoms as French libertines, free love, existentialism, socialism, anarchism, real feminism was all over. It was not easily accepted, of course, but it was there and it had an impact. This impact and this movement was largely put under wraps, or picked up by the Imperialist government and put to nationalistic works, but it existed, and it lasted. But it has become weak and is no longer influential. Interest has dropped, and the movement is hidden. It still exists, it still speaks with as much conviction and persuasive power as anything in the West, if not more, yet it is ignored.
I want to say, “Come on Japan, get with it,” but this sort of problem goes beyond nationality. So, really, come on world and show some more interest. There are more than enough people, worldwide, with interest in Japan to have interest in this, as well. There are more than enough women that would like to work in Japan, if not for problems with the patriarchal system. In general, just step up already!
January 21st, 2010 at 12:36 pm
I keep being surprised by Japan’s history. I was also just recently told that they just stopped one day and said, “wait we don’t like Japan right now - let’s think this over and spend 100 years tearing our country down and rebuilding without Feudalism.”
I hadn’t even thought about Feminism in Japan, so your post comes as a surprise. Certainly I am aware of some of the more extreme cultural attitudes the Japanese exhibit toward women - it makes so much sense that there would be a Feminist movement to question it.
Your disclaimer that this rant isn’t a formal argument is enough for me. I won’t criticize it on those grounds. If you continue investigating this, I would be very interested in hearing a formal argument.
January 21st, 2010 at 1:21 pm
I watched this last night. It was disturbing, thought it would probably add something to the Japan-feminism discourse:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493420/
January 21st, 2010 at 6:08 pm
I am glad you are both interested in this, to some degree. I will check that movie out.
Yeah, Japanese history and the intellectual underpinnings are rather odd. Their whole feudalism with an emperor was strange enough, but some of their later thought patterns and historical reconstructions are just sort of silly. The whole Meiji history is kind of work looking into, if you are interested.
That is basically how I thought about feminism in Japan until my course offered a reading in it - I had not really thought of it as a thing. I hope to do more research on the subject, I am still trying to find materials that tell me a full history on the subject — I am finding a lot of works are simply not translated into English. Basically I am willing to attempt to translate these books in order to continue this research, but my Japanese is still weak, and I don’t know if I have the time to invest in it at the moment.
Thank you for the understanding, but feel free to level any criticisms you have. I do think I will write a more involved post in the future, so your thoughts will help me shape my next post a good deal.