This book introduces six key influential feminist activists from Japan’s contemporary feminist movement and examines Japanese women’s experience of and contribution to the international #MeToo movement. Set against a backdrop of pervasive sexual inequality in Japanese society―on a scale that makes Japan an outlier in Asia as well as the rest of the advanced democratic world―this book offers a snapshot of Japan’s contemporary feminist movement and the issues it faces, including, primarily, sexual violence and harassment of women and girls. The six feminist activists interviewed to create this snapshot all work toward eradicating sexual violence against women and girls―they are: Kitahara Minori (instigator of the Flower Demo and public commentator), Yamamoto Jun (activist for sex crime law amendments), Nitō Yumeno (advocate for sexually exploited girls), Tsunoda Yukiko (feminist lawyer), Mitsui Mariko (former politician and current activist), and Yang-Ching-Ja (comfort women activist).
Author(s): Emma Dalton, Caroline Norma
Series: Palgrave Macmillan Studies on Human Rights in Asia
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 140
City: Singapore
Acknowledgements
Japanese-Language Transliteration Conventions Followed in This Book
Contents
About the Authors
1 Introduction: The Modest but Urgent Voices of Contemporary Japanese Feminism
Other ‘Voices’ of Japanese Women
Conclusion
2 Kitahara Minori: At the Heart of Japan’s Feminist Movement of the #MeToo Era
The Day Pornographic Magazines Disappear From Convenience Stores
The First ‘Flower demo’ of 2021
3 Yamamoto Jun: Survivor-Activist for the Sexually Abused
Spring
Shifting Social Awareness Leads to Policy Change
Still a Long Way to Go: The Root of the Problem
Working with Politicians: The Pragmatic Feminist Approach
4 Nitō Yumeno: Collaborating for the Rights of Teenage Girls
Feminist Self-Awareness in Response to Backlash
Child Prostitution
Homelife Vulnerability
Inadequate Welfare Services for Abused Girls
Rise in Vulnerable Girls During the Pandemic
Where Are the Responsible Adults?
5 Tsunoda Yukiko: Feminist Activist Lawyer
Tokyo Rape Crisis Center
Learning From American Feminists
Catharine MacKinnon
Japan Lagging Behind the World
Dignity as Relevant to Crimes of Sexual Violence
Action on Sexual Harassment
Female Journalism in Japan
6 Mitsui Mariko: A Feminist Leading Feminists
Feminist Beginnings and International Influences
Feminist Activist Teacher
Feminist Activist Assembly Member
Femigiren: The Belief that More Women in Politics is Good for Women
Taking on a Local Government and Winning
Progress and Reflection
7 Yang Ching-Ja: Seeds of Hope
The December 2015 Agreement
Directly Engaging Japanese Youth
Feminism and ‘Comfort Women’ Campaigning
Early Activism
Lessons from Survivors
Song Shin-Do
Kibōtane in the Contemporary Japanese Women’s Movement
‘Flower Demo’
The South Korean Women’s Movement
8 Japan’s Feminist Movement Within the Global Sisterhood
Feminist Knowledge Transfer
A World of Difference
Conclusion
References
Index
