2. Kalai Chik (21)
Hometown:
Los Angeles
Hong Kong
Major:
International Relations
Global Business
Management
East Asian Languages
and Cultures
ABOUT ME
3. "The state emphasizes the
social role of women as
wise mothers. Family values
stressed hard work for the
sake of the household and
obedience to in laws"
-Horiguchi, Noriko J.
Women Adrift : The Literature of
Japan's Imperial Body
ROLES OF WOMEN IN JAPAN
4. “A good mother…sacrifices all
for her child”
Jill Steury
Working Mothers in Japan and the Effects on
Children and Society
EXPECTATIONS OF MOTHERS
5. 1. How do women maintain
their subordinate role and
various identities in
society while also being
leaders in a visible
position?
2. What does their societal
given roles as “mothers”
play into their roles as
leaders?
3. How does public opinion
influence women’s
participation in these
protests?
QUESTIONS
6. Interviews
Nanzan Students (9)
Nanzan Extension
College Students (2)
Key member of the Anti-
Nuclear Protests
Case Study
Two observations of anti-
nuclear protests
METHODS
8. “When resistance does occur (in Japan), it is
often spearheaded by women, politically
marginalized mothers and housewives, who
do not possess formal power or status.”
-Morioka Rika
Japan Copes with Calamity
9. Mothers of Fukushima
Passivity of populace vs government
paralysis
Health hazards concerned mothers
Networking and raising awareness
BACKGROUND
10. “Housewife is a public identity that provides
a common ground and legitimacy for
women to unite.”
-Morioka Rika
Japan Copes with Calamity
11. Positive Image
9/9 Nanzan Students
1 Extension College
Student
Key Member
Neutral Image
1 Extension College
Student
Results
DATA FROM INTERVIEWS
14. Perception of
Fukushima women.
“Their concerns were
dismissed by school
teachers as irrational
fears of nervous, fussy
women.” (Rika, 171)
Encourages and
discourages
Sometimes has no
affect at all
Public opinion is
changing
INFLUENCE OF PUBLIC OPINION
15. Empowers yet traps
women
Limits them to their
societal role.
Given legitimacy only
for topics relating to a
housewife’s
responsibilities.
SOCIETAL EXPECTATIONS
16. Multiple identities
work in tandem
Changing views of
women
Role-appropriate
topics
Public opinion
promotes
empowerment
CONCLUSIONS
17. 1. Friedman, Seth. "The Changing Roles of Women in Japanese
Society." The Changing Roles of Women in Japanese Society.
N.p., Dec. 1992. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.
<http://www2.gol.com/users/friedman/writings/p1.html>.
2. Gill, Tom, Brigitte Steger, and David H. Slater. Japan Copes
with Calamity Ethnographies of the Earthquake, Tsunami
and Nuclear Disasters of March 2011. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
3. Horiguchi, Noriko J. Women Adrift: The Literature of Japan's
Imperial Body. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 2011. Print.
4. Steury, Jill. 1993. “Working Mothers in Japan and the
Effects on Children and Society.” Intercultural
Communication Studies . Paper presented at the biennial
conference of the Institute for Cross-Cultural Research, San
Antonio, TX (March).
REFERENCES
18. How would you view politically
active women in your own
country? Why?
DISCUSSION QUESTION
Notes de l'éditeur
I became interested in this topic after I watched the protests in Sakae. I thought “I have to change my topic!” In America, even if a woman was a mother and an activist, her community and family wouldn’t be as supportive. Groups such as “Mothers Against Drunk Driving” don’t have a particularly positive image in the United States.
I was initially interested in the topic of nuclear power in Japan and after I saw a demonstration in Sakae, I was inspired to do research on women in these demonstrations. What I was surprised to find was that a lot of women there were housewives. Usually in America, we don’t carry that image of a woman as a housewife. Also, Japan has one of the biggest gendergaps in the world.
How do these women find the courage to get out into the streets ad protest every week when the burden of societys opinions breathing down their neck?
A simple google search for the words, “Fukushima Protests,” pulls up a variety of pictures, many of which women are the main subject.
There actually aren’t that many protests in Japan in the first place. However,
An explaination is provided by Seth Friedman in his paper Women in Japanese Society: Their Changing Roles, “Japanese women seem to exercise political power at the grass roots level as opposed to the governmental level. In 1973 Prime Minister Tanaka said that "Women don't vote on big national issues but on things which affect their daily lives."61 -
Women are generally seen as uninterested in politics and participation in social protest is considered unnatural for women. (In both Japan and America and other parts of the world.)
The mothers of Fukushima have created a large network in response to the lack of governmental action. They feel they need to take the problem into their own hands. According to Days Japan, these mothers have formed groups and utilize their resources to do a variety of things such as measure the radioactivity near their homes. They believe the government can no longer be trusted and that the future of their own children, and the nation should be taken into their hands. Their presence on the streets has led to world wide media coverage and has encourage many women locally to join the cause. They are very active in local politics because their local politics shape their lives and their family’s lives. Political activism gives these women a power in the government, as the voices of women hound for change for the betterment of society.
The Nanzan students all supported the idea of women in these protests. Their image of these female protesters are of a married “housewife.” This stems from the large groups of mothers who took to the streets after they could no longer trust the government to give them the real facts. Even if these students believed that Japan should go back to nuclear power, they often supported these women in their efforts to stop nuclear energy. These students based their opinions on the more conservative lives they’ve had to live since the shutdown of the nuclear power plants. Most of them said they wouldn’t participate in these demonstrations because they don’t have time. However, they feel relieved that someone else is doing it on their behalf.
The extension college student that I spoke with had seen the Fukushima protests a while ago but has never seen the protests in Sakae. After hearing that a lot of women participate in these protests, she felt very inspired. She wanted to join in the protests at some point but never did because she was afraid of what her family, friends, and husband would say about her. Women who protests are seen as “very aggressive” and women are expected to be meek. But given the chance, she would like to promote change.
One of the extension college students had a neutral image of the women in the protests. Although she was completely unaware of the presence of anti-nuclear protests in the first place, she didn’t react very positively to the fact that many women participate in those protests. She doesn’t watch the news or read the news so she had no knowledge of the protests at all. Though she was leaning slightly on the negative side because she didn’t sound very sympathetic when I told her about mothers who were fighting for the removal of nuclear energy for the sake of the future.
Results – All of these people had a favorable image because they think back to their own mothers. They believe these women are protesting for the sake of their children and future children. Linking women to their roles as mothers was the main reason why they thought highly of these women. When I asked if these women weren’t mothers, what would they think of them? 5 students responded that these women were doing it for the sake of other children or future children.
For the past 2 years, this unnamed protest group gathers every Friday in front of the Chubu and Kansai Electric Power buildings in Sakae. There is an occasional large demonstration that is formally known as the No Nukes Team but that’s different. This group has been around since 2011 and demonstrate every single Friday. Their demonstrations run on time from 6-7 in front of the Chubu Electric Company and then from 7 to 8 pm in front of the Kansai Electric Company. Most of the participants are older women (above 40) but occasionally younger women would be there too. Children of some protesters would be accompanied by their parents (mostly mothers). I asked why they brought their children there and they said that their children feel strongly about their future and they’re afraid of nuclear energy. A key member of the protests, Hazuki Fujiwara, told me that it gives their movement greater power.
localized, fragmented and loosely organize. Participants tended to change from week to week as some people have work or some days may be a holiday weekend.
No clear leader. Everyone speaks for themselves. Luckily there were two other Americans who are also from Los Angeles who helped me out. They helped me explain how the group worked and pointed out the key members of the group. However, I wasn’t able to contact anyone from inside the group until one of the American researchers, Joe, acted as my translator and my guide into the group. He participates in the protests occasionally and other times he observes.
The Key member of the Sakae anti nuclear protests is not a mother and has no intention of marrying or having children. Her reasoning for protesting is that she felt like she couldn’t just sit at home and do nothing. She’s very involved as an activist. She actively advocates for equality for all, standing in solidarity with many disenfranchised groups of people in Japan such as the burakumin. Outside of these protests, she’s an interior designer.
She says that she’s never cared for what people thought of her and that Japan is seeing an increase of a “new kind of woman” who are just like her. She’s a feminist. She’s supports women who are mothers and hopes to inspire other people to join in their demonstrations.
When I asked if she knew anyone else at the protests. She said she knew most if not all of them. Likewise, what seemed like a random gathering of protesters was actually a band of friends. Initially, she was contacted by the leader of the protests in Tokyo to organize this protest in Nagoya. They had been friends for a while and she immediately took the opportunity. Through her vast network of friends and neighbors, she and other key members were able to band a group of over 200 people for their first protest back in April 2011. The group is very fluid and anyone is welcome to join when they have time and are not required to go to the weekly meeting on Wednesday. When I asked her who was the leader of the group, she said there isn’t one. Because if there’s a leader, that means that everyone else is a subordinate and just that hierarchical image didn’t sit well with her and everyone else.
Some women are really passionate that they don’t care how they’re viewed.
Others such as one of the extension college students was discouraged.
People I interviewed had positive views of women demonstrating in the protests. Thought of them as caring housewives.
One had a negative image and saw some of the women in the protests as hypocritical. Although this person lacked experience with these demonstrations both observing and participating. So she was probably applying what she thought onto these groups.
The realm of responsibilities for Japanese women centers on domestic matters: running the household, ensuring the health of family members and educating children.
At the same time, it’s a double edged sowrd. Women are only able to speak effectively on issues traditionally related to female roles such as health and safety of workers and children. Moral legitimacy and cultural power. Although the same role they are given gives them some authority, it limits their voices to family related issues
Women can only speak on role appropriate topics
Public opinion tends to give women invisible support
Communities and networks from the woman’s life helps to further provide support
Women seeing other women inspire them to work join in.
The societal expectation of a woman to be a mother doesn’t clash with their participation in these demonstrations. Even if it did, many of these women would still do it.
Fujiawara Hazuki said Japanese people tend to be private and so the plight of others usually do not concern them very much. However, many of these women protest because this is an issue that expands outside the private realm. Women are using the tools they have at hand to make policy change for the future.
