Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T10:21:43.575Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘Gender’ Problems in Japanese Politics: A Dispute over a Socio-Cultural Change towards Increasing Equality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2016

MIKIKO ETO
MIKIKO ETO*
Affiliation:
Hosei University, Tokyo eto@hosei.ac.jp
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

‘Gender (jenda)’ is a troublesome loanword in Japan. While this term has been prevalent in feminist and scholarly circles, it has evoked confusion in the government and stimulated a backlash from the ultra-conservatives against gender equality. Japanese reactionaries have attacked the concept of gender because of their anxiety about cultural destruction – I thus call them the ‘old guard’. Focusing on a dispute over the term ‘gender’ between feminists and the old guard, this paper examines the changes in the term's usage and meanings in the Japanese political context. I first shed light on Japan's reaction to the newly arrived term ‘gender’, outlining different attitudes towards gender between the feminist/scholarly circles and the government. Secondly, I discuss the old guard's condemnation of the concept of gender, in which they distort its significance in order to diminish its positive impact on society. I then scrutinize the old guard's reasons behind their attack on the concept of gender. My findings reveal that the old guard, whose political cause is to protect traditional Japanese culture, asserts that gender equality damages this culture. Moreover, I refute their emphasis on Japan's uniqueness, demonstrating that Japanese women's traditional virtues under the patriarchal family system are not peculiar to Japan. To gauge how the concept of gender has been interpreted politically, I highlight legislative debates about the term ‘gender’. In doing so, I elucidate the extent to which the concept of gender has infiltrated Japanese society through the dispute.

Type
Research Article
Information
Japanese Journal of Political Science , Volume 17 , Issue 3 , September 2016 , pp. 365 - 385
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Asahi Shimbun (2003), ‘Chiba, danjo kyodo sankaku jiminto ga dokujiann wo teishutu [The LDP Proposes Their Own Plan for Cooperative Decision-Making in Chiba]’, morning edn (Chiba), 26 February, p. 35.Google Scholar
Asahi Shimbun (2004), ‘Nishikawa-shi tono taiwa no ba wo, jenda hatsugen mondai de shimin dantai [A Citizens’ Group Asks Nishikawa to Discuss Her Remark on Gender]’, morning edn (Kumamoto), 1 November, p. 31.Google Scholar
Asahi Shimbun (2005), ‘Jenda hasusu? nokosu? yogo meguri hibana Inoguchi tantosho to Yamatani seimukan [Minister Inoguchi and Parliamentary Secretary Yamatani Dispute the Term Gender]’, morning edn, 14 December, p. 4.Google Scholar
Asai, Haruo (2006), ‘Seikyoiku danjo byodo basshingu no haikei to honshitsu [Backgrounds Behind and Purposes of Bashing of Sexual Education and Gender Equality]’, in Asai, Haruo, Jun Koyasu, Atsuko Tsuruta, Aya Yamada, and Kazuko Yoshida (eds.), Jenda/Sekushuariti no Kyoiku wo Tsukuru [Creating Education for Gender and Sexuality], Tokyo: Akashishoten, pp. 17–56.Google Scholar
Barbara, Houston (1985), ‘Gender Freedom and the Subtleties of Sexist Education’, Educational Theory, 35 (4): 359–369.Google Scholar
Connolly, William E. (1993), The Terms of Political Discourse, 3rd edn, Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Ehara, Yumiko, Hasegawa, Koichi, Yamada, Masahiro, Yasukawa, Hajime, and Ito, Ruri (1989), Jenda no Shakaigaku [Gender in Sociology], Tokyo: Shinyosha.Google Scholar
Eto, Mikiko (2010), ‘Women and Representation in Japan: The Causes of Political Inequality’, International Feminist Journal of Politics, 12 (2): 177–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eto, Mikiko (2012), ‘Making a Difference in Japanese Politics: Women Legislators Acting for Gender Equality’, Harvard Asian Quarterly, 14 (1&2): 25–34.Google Scholar
Faludi, Susan (1991), Backlash: The Undeclared War against American Women, New York: Anchor Books, Doubleday.Google Scholar
Farr, James (1989), ‘Understanding Conceptual Change Politically’, in Ball, Terence, Farr, James, and Hanson, Russell L. (eds.), Political Innovation and Conceptual Change, Cambridge, New York, and Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, pp. 24–49.Google Scholar
Fujioka, Nobukatsu (1997), Jigyaku Shikan no Byori [An Analysis of Masochistic Historical View in Japan], Tokyo: Bungeishunju Google Scholar
Fukaya, Kasuko (1995), Tokyo Joseizaitan Hando Bukku [The Tokyo Women's Foundation Handbook], Tokyo: Tokyo Joseizaidan.Google Scholar
Gelb, Joyce (2008), ‘The Politics of Backlash in the United States and Japan’, in Grey, Sandra and Sawer, Marian (eds.), Women's Movements: Flourishing or in Abeyance? London and New York: Routledge, pp. 79–88.Google Scholar
Grant, James (1989), The State of the World's Children, UNICEF (translated by the Japan Committee titled Sekai Kodomo Hakusho [The White Paper on Children Worldwide]).Google Scholar
Hayano, Toru (2002), ‘Danjo kyodo sankaku bakku rasshu [Backlash against Cooperative Decision-Making between the Sexes]’, Asahi Shimbun, morning edn (22 October), 24.Google Scholar
Hayashi, Michiyoshi (1998), Shufu no Fukken (Resurgence of House Wives), Tokyo: Kodansha.Google Scholar
Higashioka, Toru (2005), Koizumi chirudoren do ugoku, jimin shinjin giin 83 nin (How Do New LDP Lower House Members, Whom Junichiro Koizumi Initiated, Act?), Asahi Shimbun, morning edn (21 December 21), 4.Google Scholar
Hiratsuka, Shiho (2005), Mizukara ugoki kosodate shisaku, Inoguchi-shi, hatsu no shoshika sennin daijin shunin kara ikkagetu, hahaoyara to senmon-i secchi (Minister Inoguchi, who entered office just a month ago, actively engages in policy-making for childcare forming a special advisory council with mothers), Asahi Shimbun, morning edn (13 December), 33.Google Scholar
Ida, Hiroyuki (2006), Jenda kanren yogo no kihonteki imi (Basic Meanings of Phrases Related to Gender), in Nihon josei gakkai genda kenkyukai (Japan Women's Studies Association) (ed.), Danjo Kyodo Sankaku, Jenda-Fure Basshingu (Bashing of Cooperative Decision-Making between the Sexes and Gender-Free), Tokyo: Akashishoten, pp. 171–86.Google Scholar
Illich, Ivan (1982), Gender, Berkeley: Heyday Book.Google Scholar
Japan Cabinet Office (2009), Pekin purasu 15 ni mukete (Toward Beijing Plus 15), Kyodo-Sankaku (Cooperative Decision-Making), 19: 1–2.Google Scholar
Koyama, Shizuko (1995), Kazoku no kindai (The Family in Modernisation), in Nishikawa, Nagao and Matsumiya, Hideharu (eds.), Bakumatsu Meijiki no Kokumin Kokka Keisei to Bunka Henyo (Nation-building and cultural changes in the late Edo and Meiji periods), Tokyo: Shinyosha, pp. 167–90.Google Scholar
Meguro, Yoriko (1990), Sei, jenda, shakai (Sex, Gender and Society), Joseigaku-Kenkyu (Women's Studies), 1: 5–21.Google Scholar
Mitsui, Mariko, and Asakura, Mutsuko (2012), Bakkurasshu no Ikenie (Sacrificed for Backlash), Tokyo: Junposha.Google Scholar
Miyakawa, Kiyoshi (1965), Kyu-Minpo to Meiji-Minpo (The Meiji Civil Code and Its Previous Version), Tokyo: Aokishoten.Google Scholar
Nakahara, Memori (2008), Koe: ‘otoko/onna’ rashisa nakushu shakaini (Readers’ Voices: Eliminating Stereotype of Masculinity and Feminine), Asahi Shimbun, morning edn (25 October), 17.Google Scholar
Nawata, Yasumitsu (2006), Rekishitekini mita nihon no jinko to kasoku (Population and Family in Japan, from Historical Perspectives), in Rippo to Chyosa (Legislation and Research), 10: 90–100.Google Scholar
Nishikawa, Nagao (1995), Nihongata kokumin kokka no keisei (Japanese-Style Nation-Building), in Nishikawa, Nagao and Matsumiya, Hideharu (eds.), Bakumatsu Meijiki no Kokumin Kokka Keisei to Bunka Henyo, Tokyo: Shinyosha, 3–44.Google Scholar
Nishio, Kanji and Yagi, Hidetsugu (2005), Shin Kokumin no Yudan (New National Inattention), Tokyo: PHP Kenkyujo (PHP Institute).Google Scholar
Nishio, Kanji and Michiko, Hasegawa (2000), Kyo kara Anata mo Nipponjin: Kokumin no Rekishi wo megutte (You Are Japanese Now: On National History), Tokyo: Chichi Shuppan.Google Scholar
Okamoto, Sachiko (2004), ‘Gairaigo no juyo to kanri (Demand and Management in Loanwords), Hokkaido Bunkyo Daigaku Ronshu (Bunkyo University Review), 5: 51–62.Google Scholar
Osawa, Mari (ed.) (2000), 21Seiki no Josei Seisaku to Danjo Kyodo Sankaku Shakai Kihonho (Women-Friendly Policy in the 21st Century and the Basic Law), Tokyo: Gyosei.Google Scholar
Phillips, Anne (2010), Gender and Culture, Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Ritani, Nobuyoshi (1998), Jenda kenkyu senta no genjo to tenbo (Current Situations and Prospects in the Centre for Gender Studies)’, Ochanomizu joshi daigaku jenda kenkyu senta nenpo (Ochanomizu Annual Report on Gender Studies), 1 (18): 3–8.Google Scholar
Sasaki, Eri (2007), Jenda-furi’ no gengo ryoiki kara no bunseki (Analysis of Gender-Free from a Linguistic Field)’, in Endo, Orie (ed.), Kotoba to Jenda no Miraisu (A Future Image on Language and Gender), Tokyo: Akashishoten, pp. 228–62.Google Scholar
Shimizu, Akiko (2007), ‘Scandalous Equivocation: A Note on the Politics of Queer Self-Naming’, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 8 (4): 503–16.Google Scholar
Skinner, Quentin (1988), ‘Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas’, Tully, James (ed.), Meaning and Context: Quentin Skinner and His Critics, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp. 29–67.Google Scholar
Takagi, Tadashi (1999), Mikudarihan (A Divorce Note in the Edo Period), Tokyo: Heibonsha.Google Scholar
Tamanoi, Toshiro (1984), Jenda: Otoko to Onna no Sekai (Gender: The World of Men and Women), Tokyo: Iwanamishoten.Google Scholar
Tanaka, Mitsuo (2011), Jenda to Jenda-furi basshingu (Gender and Bashing of Gender-Free),Tokyo: Meibunshobo.Google Scholar
Tobari, Kimiyo and Fujita, Megumi (2007), Tokyotogikai chihojichitai niokeru ‘jenda-furi’ kinshi no keii to genjo (Courses and Situations of Prohibiting Gender-Free in Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly and Local Governments), in Endo, Orie (ed.), Kotoba to Jenda no Miraisu, Tokyo: Akashishoten, pp. 263–333.Google Scholar
Ueno, Chizuko Mari, Osawa, Kiyomi, Kawano, Kazuko, Takemura, and Mariko, Adachi (2001), Radikaru ni Katareba (Radically Speaking), Tokyo: Heibonsha.Google Scholar
Ueno, Chizuko (2011), Fuwaku no Feminisumu (Feminism in the Fortieth Anniversary), Tokyo: Iwanamishoten.Google Scholar
Watanabe, Shoichi et al. (2000), Kuni wo Uru Hitobito (Traitors to Their Country), Tokyo: PHP Kenkyujo.Google Scholar
Yagi, Hidetsugu (2013), Kenpo Kaisei ga Naze Hitsuyo ka: ‘Kakumei’ wo Tsuzukeru Nipponkoku Kenpo no Shotai (Why Constitutional Amendments are Necessary?: A Real Character of Japan's Revolutionary Constitution), Tokyo: PHP Publishing.Google Scholar
Yamaguchi, Tomomi (2012), ‘Chiho karano feminisumu hihan (Locals criticising feminism)’, in Yamaguchi, Tomomi, Saito, Masami, and Ogiue, Chiki (eds.) Shakaiundo no Tomadoi (Confused Social Movements), Tokyo: Keisoshobo, pp. 49–105.Google Scholar
Yamaguchi, Tomomi (2014), ‘Gender Free Feminism in Japan: A Story of Mainstreaming and Backlash’, Feminist Studies, 40 (3): 541–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yamamoto, Tetsuji (1983), Keizai Sekkusu to Jenda (Economic Sex and Gender), Tokyo: Shinhyoron.Google Scholar
Yamanaka, Einosuke (1988), Nihon Kindai Kokka no Keisei to ‘Ie’ Seido (Modern Nation-Building and the Traditional Family System of Japan), Tokyo: Nihonhyoronsha.Google Scholar
Yamashita, Yasuko, Hiroko Hashimoto, and Makoto Saito (2001), Danjo Kyodo Sankaku Suishin Jorei no Tsukurikata (Ways of Making Plans for promoting Cooperative Decision-Making between the Sexes), Tokyo: Gyusei.Google Scholar
Yamatani, Eriko (2010), Nihon yo Eien nare (Forever, Japan), Tokyo: Fusosha.Google Scholar
Yano, Yuko (1997), ‘Boasonado to Sono Shiso (Boissonade and his law thought)’, Waseda Daigaku Hogakkaishi (Journal of Waseda University Law Association), 47: 309–59.Google Scholar