Japanese Women’s Reform: Global Connections, Then and Now
Ann Marie Davis, The Ohio State University
Note: If you have any trouble accessing the article, please use the PDF link listed at the end of each citation.
Readings
- Anderson, M. (2015). About Japan: A Teacher’s Resource | Women in Modern Japanese History | Japan Society. Japan Society. https://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/women-in-modern-japanese-history#sthash.SJLWoPiO.dpbs
- Fox, M. (2013, January 2). Beate Gordon, Long-Unsung Heroine of Japanese Women’s Rights, Dies at 89. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/world/asia/beate-gordon-feminist-heroine-in-japan-dies-at-89.html (Beate Gordon PDF link)
- Raicho, H. (2015). Primary Source Document “Restoring Women’s Talents” (1911). In D. J. Lu (Ed.), Japan: a documentary history. Volume II: The late Tokugawa period to the present (Vol. 2, pp. 398-399). Routledge. (Restoring Women’s Talents PDF link)
- Shimada, Y. (2022, March 8). Japan’s feminist reckoning. https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democracy-and-society/japans-feminist-reckoning-5774/
- Tomii, R. (2018). Dear Kojien Dictionary: Tomorrow Girls Troop. Review of Japanese Culture and Society, 30(1), 278–279. https://doi.org/10.1353/roj.2018.0017 (Tomorrow Girls Troop PDF link)
Optional
- Hastings, S. A. (1993). The Empress’ New Clothes and Japanese Women, 1868-1912. The Historian, 55(4), 677–692. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1296472988/citation/740CF4F47E204812PQ/1 (Empress’ New Clothes PDF link)
Further Reading/Resources:
- Japanese Women’s Reform Resources Padlet
- Women’s Christian Temperance Union (website)
- The Only Woman in the Room: A Memoir of Japan, Human Rights, and the Arts (book)
- No Steps Behind: Beate Sirota Gordon’s Battle for Women’s Rights in Japan.(book)
- Grass (book)
- Tomorrow Girls Troop (website)
- Kyofukai (website)
Discussion Questions:
- What major events in US history can you think of that were not only transformational for society at large but also for women and gender? What were these events and how did they affect women?
Japan-focused questions:
- How about in Japan? What major events in Japanese history were transformative for women’s rights and/or gender discrimination? For example, how about the Meiji Restoration (e.g., Japan’s era of modernization and westernization–including the Rokumeikan era–at the turn of the 20th century)? World War II and the Post-War American occupation? Others? How did these events affect women and gender relations in Japan?
For deeper reflection:
- Is it helpful to think about Japanese women’s experiences comparatively, e.g., in contrast to those of women in other countries such in the US? How does a comparative framework enlighten or improve our understanding of women in other countries? How might such comparative frameworks limit or obscure our understanding?
Japanese Women’s Reform Resources Padlet