Gender Studies assignment topic:

Status of Women in Japan

Submitted to:
Ma’am Maryam Batool

Submitted by:
 Subha Yousaf
 Iram Ahmad
 Fatima Naz
 Sana Safdar
 Work Done List

Students Name Hard work Signature

Introduction,
Subha Cultural history,
Yousaf Political status,
Advances and lack of
advances

Iram Social status,

Ahmad Lifestyle,
Health,
Women rights

Fatima Marital status,

Naz Motherhood,
Family structure,
Domestic violence

Sana Educational status,

Safdar Women in research,
Women in science
 Status of Women in Japan

The place of women in Japanese society is an interesting blend of illusions and myth. It is within this
illusion though that there are two distinct Japanese societies that of the public and private. However,
the Western image of Japanese women is of the subservient Japanese woman and this image is real;
it is however, only an image. Women in their private ‘family roles’ often are dominant towards the
male members of the household. When judged by Western standards, the women of Japan are
unusually seen as dedicated to their families. Currently the position of women in Japanese society
can be attributed to the vestiges of two old philosophies that of Confucianism and the
Samurai. Gender equality in Asia has long been an interesting but challenging study of many
researchers. The developed and prosperous country Japan also holds a rich history of gender
revolution led by women.
While women in Japan were recognized as having equal legal rights to men after World War II,
economic conditions for women remain unbalanced. Modern policy initiatives to encourage
motherhood and workplace participation have had mixed results.
While a high percentage of Japanese women are college graduates, making up 77% of the part-
time work force, they typically earn 27% less than their male counterparts. Traditional
expectations for married women and mothers are cited as a barrier to full economic equality. The
monarchy is strictly males-only and a princess has to give up her royal status when she marries a
commoner.

Cultural history
The extent to which women could participate in Japanese society has varied over time and social
classes. In the 8th century, Japan had women emperors, and in the 12th century during the Heian
period, women in Japan could inherit property in their own names and manage it by themselves.
From the late Edo period, the status of women declined. In the 17th century, the "Onna Daigaku’’,
or "Learning for Women", by Confucianist author Kaibara Ekken, spelled out expectations for
Japanese women, stating that "such is the stupidity of her character that it is incumbent on her, in
every particular, to distrust herself and to obey her husband".
During the Meiji period, industrialization and urbanization reduced the authority of fathers
and husbands, but at the same time the Meiji Civil Code of 1898 (specifically the introduction of
the ‘ie’ system) denied women legal rights and subjugated them to the will of household heads.
(The ie (家) is a Japanese term which translates directly to household. It can mean either a physical
home or refer to a family’s lineage. It is popularly used as the “traditional” family structure).
 Political status of women
Japan has the lowest level of female participation in politics of any developed country. Women in
Japan didn't receive the right to vote until 1945. Just 4 percent of representatives in the Diet are
women. A few women have served as cabinet ministers but not many. For a long time there were
no female cabinet members and no top female officials and the person in charge of women issues
was a man in his 60s or 70s.

The Japanese Constitution, drafted by the US and adopted in the post-war era, provided a legal
framework favorable to the advancement of women’s equality in Japan. In 1946, women were
given the right to vote which allowed them greater freedom, equality to men, and a higher status
within Japanese society. Other postwar reforms opened educational institutions to women and
required that women receive equal pay for equal work. In 1986, the Equal Employment
Opportunity Law took effect. Legally, few barriers to women's equal participation in the life of
society remain, however, socially they lack opportunities in the workforce due to the long work
hours and dominance in the workplace by men.

Women have a bit more success in politicians than business because more women (65 percent of
them) vote than men. Among the political issues that interest woman are job discrimination laws
and national labor laws that identify them as the "weaker" sex, however, the power of women in
government is growing. In a national election in 1996, about 10 percent of the 153 candidates were
women.

In 2006, Japan ranked 11th among 12 industrialized nation in the proportion of women among all
national assembly members, at 9.4 percent. In 2005, it ranked 10th out of 10 in the proportion of
women civil servants, at 20 percent.

A record number of women (190) won seas in elections for prefectural assemblies in April 2007.
This is up from 164 in 2003, 136 in 1999, 52 in 1987 and 28 in 1979. A total of 367 ran in 2,544
contested seats, 2007. Two women were named to the new 17-member cabinet in August 2008.

The number of Japanese women in leadership positions is small. Women only account for 10.1
percent of parent teacher association leaders; 0.9 percent of mayors and other municipality heads;
10.5 percent of local assembly members; 3.8 percent of resident association chiefs.

In a global survey of women in parliaments, Japan ranked 123rd out of 189 countries. In
Japan's Diet, women hold slightly less than 10% of seats despite a government goal for 30% of
elected officials to be women by 2020. In the lower house of the Diet, women hold only 8% of
seats, with 19% in the upper house. Less than 1% of mayors were women.

The Japanese government has expressed a will to address this inequality of numbers in the 21st
century of the Heisei period through several focused initiatives, and a 2012 poll by the Cabinet
Office found that nearly 70% of all Japanese polled agreed that men were given preferential
treatment.
Professional life
During the 21st century, Japanese women are working in higher proportions than the United States'
working female population. Income levels between men and women in Japan are not equal; the
average Japanese woman earns 40 percent less than the average man, and a tenth of management
positions are held by women. Women are often found in part time or temporary jobs. 77% of these
jobs were filled by women in 2012. Among women who do work, women-only unions are small
in size and in relative power. A common occupation for young women is that of office lady, that
is, a female office worker who performs generally pink collar tasks such as serving tea
and secretarial or clerical work.
Japan has a strong tradition of women being housewives after marriage. When mothers do work,
they often pick up part-time, low-paying jobs based on their children's or husband's schedule.
Taking care of the family and household is seen as a predominately female role, and working
women are expected to fulfill it. Nevertheless, in recent years the numbers of women who work
has increased: in 2014, women made up 42.7% of the labour force of Japan. Japan has an especially
high proportion of women who work part-time, and a majority of those women are mothers.
In one poll, 30% of mothers who returned to work reported being victims of "maternity
harassment", or "matahara". The obento box tradition, where mothers prepare elaborate lunches
for their children to take to school, is an example of a domestic female role.
A number of government and private post-war policies have contributed to a gendered division of
labor. These include a family wage offered by corporations which subsidized health and housing
subsidies, marriage bonuses and additional bonuses for each child; and pensions for wives who
earn below certain incomes. Additionally, in 1961, income for wives of working men were untaxed
below $10,000; income above that amount contributed to overall household income. Corporate
culture also plays a role; while many men are expected to socialize with their managers after long
work days, women may find trouble balancing child-rearing roles with the demands of mandatory
after-work social events.
Some economists suggest that a better support system for working mothers, such as a shorter daily
work schedule, would allow more women to work, increasing Japan's economic growth. To that
end, in 2003, the Japanese government set a goal to have 30% of senior government roles filled by
women. In 2015, only 3.5% were; the government has since slashed the 2020 goal to 7%, and set
a private industry goal to 15%.

Social status of women

Lifestyle
 Marriage

In modern day, the average age to marry is 27. So, not really an extremely young age like
before modern day. However, a growing number of women are choosing to stay unmarried
in Japan today. Developments often viewed this as a rebellion against the traditional
confines of women’s restrictive roles as wives and mothers. In 2004, 54% of Japanese
 women in their 20’s was still single, while only 30.6% were single in 1985. Today,
marriage can either be ‘arranged’ or a ‘love’ match. Arranged marriage is the result of
formal negotiations involving a mediator who is not a family member, coming together
between the respective families, including the bride and groom for a meeting. This is
usually followed by further meetings and ends with an elaborate and expensive wedding
ceremony. Love marriage, which is okay in today's society, is the more preferred choice of
marriage. This is where, when two people fall in love, they can get married - not who they
are forced to be with. Less than 3 percent of Japanese remain unmarried, however the age
of marriage is increasing for both men and women, from late twenties onwards. The
divorce rate is one-quarter that of the United States. The divorce rate in Japan is less than
the US, but is growing.

 Education
Many Japanese beliefs still influence females about what their roles in life are. Many
women in Japan dedicate themselves to their children, and prefer to stay at home doing
household tasks, at least, while their children are still young. However, women’s
educational opportunities have increased in the 20th century. 37% of women have received
education beyond upper-secondary school, compared with 43% of men, but most have
received their post-secondary education in junior colleges and technical schools rather than
in universities and graduate schools.

Women's Rights

Women’s rights have dramatically changed since the Edo and Meiji period. Women have had
careers, and 70% of Japanese women have jobs before they even get married. Japanese women
now have lives of their own, and don’t have to follow and bow down on their knees for the men.
After World War I, equal rights ware written and revised for women. Women as well as men
were granted the right to choose spouses and occupations, to inherit and own property in their
own names and to retain custody of their children.

Women were also given the right to vote in 1946. Postwar reforms opened education institution
to women and stated that women receive equal pay for equal work - just the same as men.
However, few barriers to women’s equal participation in the life of society still remain.

Health
At 87 years, the life expectancy of Japanese women is the longest of any gender in the world.
Abortion in japan is legal under some restrictions. The number per year has declined by 500,000
since 1975. Of the 200,000 abortions performed per year, however, 10%are teenage women, and
a number which has risen since 1975.
In Japan, the Women's Center in Osaka operates a women's health information hotline for 3
days/month. An analysis of 730 calls to the Centre during 1990-1992 shows that abortion and
contraception are not major concerns. (Safe abortion is accessible. Oral contraceptives are banned.
Condoms and the rhythm method are the most common family planning methods.) The bulk of the
calls (22.6%) centered around menstruation, followed by reproductive diseases (21.5%),
menopause (7%), and infertility (7%). Irregular menstruation, no menstruation, and painful periods
made up most menstruation concerns. These cases tended not to be serious, which explains why
physicians were not interested in them, resulting in client dissatisfaction. Physicians are usually
concerned about menstruation only as it pertains to desire for pregnancy. Mothers who call the
hotline with questions about their daughters' menstruation ask about menstruation as it relates to
fertility. Clearly, woman's role is to bear children. Physicians prescribe medication to women with
concerns about infertility but women have difficulty asking their physicians any questions about
the medication. Women concerned about infertility do not consider other options such as
alternative treatments, adoption, or not bearing children. Once fertility has diminished, physicians
are no longer interested in women. Women with questions about menopause who do not get the
information from their physician or respectful attention from their physician call the hotline. Most
menopause- related complaints revolve around symptoms.

Sexual assault
Surveys show that between 28% and 70% of women have been grouped on train cars. Some
railway companies designate women only passenger cars though there are no penalties for men to
ride in a woman only car. Gropers can be punished with seven years or less of jail time and or face
fines of just under $500.
The use of women only cars in Japan has been critiqued from various perspectives. Some suggest
that the presence of the cars make women who choose not to use them more vulnerable. Public
comment sometimes include the argument that women’s only cars makes women are a step too far
in protecting women.
Some academics have argued that the cars impose the burden of social segregations women rather
than seeking the punishment of criminals. Another critique suggests the cars send the signal that
men create a dangerous environment for women, who cannot protect themselves.

Stalking
Stalking law were passed in 2000 after the media attention given to the murder of a university
student who had been a stalking victim with nearly 21,000 reports of stalking in 2013, 90.3% of
victims were women and 86.9% of the perpetrators were men. Anti- stalking laws in Japan were
expended in 2013 to include email harassment, after the widely publicized 2012 murder of a young
women who had reported such harassment to police. Stalking reports are growing at a faster rate
in Japan than any other country.

Sexual harassment
Dozens of women working for Japanese newspapers and TV networks have been sexually harassed
– many repeatedly – with government officials, police officers and MPs cited as the perpetrators
in about a third of the cases, according to a new survey.
The poll, which uncovered 150 cases of alleged sexual harassment targeting 35 women, was
carried out soon after the most senior bureaucrat in the finance ministry resigned over claims that
he had made sexually inappropriate comments towards a female journalist.
Professor Mayumi Taniguchi, a gender studies expert at Osaka International University, said 40%
of the incidents occurred at the women’s workplaces, while the rest involved news sources and
other individuals.
They included a female reporter for a national newspaper who claimed that a senior police officer
repeatedly directed inappropriate remarks towards her. Her colleagues were aware of his behavior,
but did nothing to stop it.
Chie Matsumoto, a freelance journalist and spokeswoman for the recently formed women in Media
Network Japan, said she wasn’t surprised by the survey’s findings. “Our network has 90 members
and 19 of them say they have been sexually harassed, including by police sources, interviewees
and their own bosses,” Matsumoto told the Guardian. “They were all told to forget about what
happened to them – that putting up with sexual harassment was part of their job as journalists.”
The global MeToo movement has been slow to gain traction in Japan, where victims are often
reluctant to speak out for fear of damaging their careers or being portrayed as the guilty party.
But criticism of how the country’s authorities handle allegations of sexual harassment has risen
since a weekly magazine published allegations that Junichi Fukuda, the vice minister of finance,
had sexually harassed a female reporter from the TV Asahi network
Fukuda, who has denied the claims, allegedly told the journalist he wanted to kiss her while they
were drinking in a bar. “I’ll tie up your hands. Can I touch your breasts?” he is alleged to have
said. “Shall we have an affair once the budget is approved?
The magazine alleged Fukuda made similarly inappropriate remarks to other female journalists
covering the ministry.
The finance minister, Taro Aso, drew widespread criticism after suggesting Fukuda might have
been entrapped, adding that sexual harassment was “not a crime”.
The prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has resisted calls to discipline Aso and has yet to comment
publicly on mounting claims of sexual harassment in the media, despite portraying himself as a
champion of the rights of working women.

Appearance

Japanese women in modern society do wear western style, but they also wear kimonos to their
ocha (Japanese Tea Ceremony) class once a week. However, Japanese women don’t dress as casual
as Americans, and tend to wear fewer bright colors. Although modern day Japanese women
basically wear the same as westerners for everyday clothing. Women generally wear skirts or
dresses instead of long pants or trousers. Women that work in offices are required to wear
appropriate uniform - usually a matching skirt and vest with a white blouse.

Marital status of Women

In ancient times, considerable authority was given to women. They had the right to inherit their
parent's house. But at the beginning of the 18th century due to the rise of Confucianism and a
conservative moral movement that revolved around the inferiority of women. Japan, like China
and Korea, is heavily influenced by Confucian ideals. Confucian society focuses on the family
where men are the heads of the household; women are dependent on the men. Women are expected
to marry, produce heirs, and oversee the household. A society like Confucian focused that women
are meant to stay at homes. Marriage was often arranged and women had no option over marital
decisions. It is a contract between families. Wife could be returned to her family if she failed to
produce an heir. There is a focus on family lineage rather than marriage. Ideally, three generations
would live under a single roof. It had a huge impact on society and became one of the reasons of
women inferiority, moreover women role reduced in society. In many respects, Japanese women
have less power and authority than they had thousands of years ago.

In 1982, a survey was done in Japan according to which Japanese women still believe that women
married or unmarried should stay at home and young girls should be brought up to be elegant and
‘ladylike’. The female writer Natsuo Kirino has observed that status of women in modern Japan
depends upon youth and beauty, second from whom they marry and third, from the school their
kids get into. Their success at being a wife and a mother is judged on the basis of things like the
school performance of their children and how well they make box lunches.

In December 2012, according to The Yomiuri Shimbun, reported more than half of the public
supports the idea that husbands should be the breadwinners, while wives should stay home and do
housework, a recent government survey showed. According to the survey on gender equality by
the Cabinet Office, 51.6 percent of respondents supported traditional roles for married couples.
The percentage increased by 10.3 percentage points from the previous survey in 2009. By age, the
rise was largest among those in their 20s, at 19.3 points. But the percentage of people who
supported that husbands are breadwinner and wives should stay at home increased after the survey
in 1992. Men who aged in their 20s agreed that wives should stay at home and this ratio was 21.4
points higher than the last survey.

Roles of the mother in household and childcare

Roles for mothers and fathers are segregated. Childcare is regarded as the mother's responsibility;
the father's domestic role is limited to small household repairs and playing with children on
weekends. Full-time working wives also have the burden of housekeeping without help. Domestic
help is not popular in Japan. When women need help in housekeeping work and childcare, their
mothers help them, and working mothers prefer living close to their mothers' house for this reason.
Husbands and wives call each other father and mother, even when children are not around.
Japanese couples regard parental roles as more important than a couple of roles when they have
children.

Since the 21st century, a lot of work has been done in order to improve the gender gap but the role
of women as mother remains the same. In Japanese families, still today father is meant to be the
breadwinner and women stay at home and look after their children.

Family Structure through history

Japanese family structure changed from the Heian era to today's modern family. According to a
historical perspective, there are three family structures which inherited their society in different
centuries. First is uji, according to which this is a model that was quite suitable for a marriage
politics approach to power. They had lots of daughters and lots of sons, and you marry them all
over the place. Then you have lots of in-laws and nieces and nephews and grandchildren, and then
you can use blood ties to build a dense web of political alliances. This sort of marriage politics
was a central feature of Heian-period Japan. Second is samurai family or ie system in the 13th
century in which the power of the household was given to men and was not limited to power over
women and children, household heads also had authority over their siblings, and because
the ie system did not favor to equal rights to inherit the property or to get married, younger sons
often needed their elder brother’s permission to marry, because a younger brother’s wife would be
entering the elder brother’s household, and any children of that marriage would be members of the
elder brother’s household.

For farm families, some level of equality between husband and wife was important, especially if
it was a family less wealthy and the couple really needed to work together to make ends meet. So,
attitudes towards both marriage and divorce were different. For a samurai woman, leaving her
husband and returning to her parents’ house was a huge deal. But according to surveys they have
observed that farm families also placed a greater emphasis on marital happiness or at least
compatibility.

The modern model of the Japanese family

The modern model of Japan evolved after the Meiji Restoration. Because the striking change in
family structure didn’t come until the U.S. occupation after World War II and Japanese family
structure revolutionized from the postwar constitution. That constitution was influenced by U.S.
progressive politics. The constitution, for example, has language for equal rights. Women are equal
to men before the law, and family law must be based on, “individual dignity and the essential
equality of the sexes.” This constitution also stipulates that marriage should be, "maintained
through mutual cooperation with the equal rights of husband and wife as a basis." Perhaps the
biggest challenge for families in modern Japan is the low birth rate and low rate of family
formation. In 1920s a Japanese woman had, on average, more than 5 children, it dropped to around
2 in the 1950s, and today it's around 1.4. Now Japan's low birthrate is not remarkable for an
economically developed country.

Violence on women in Japan and awareness

In 2015 government statistics reported 1 in 4 Japanese women suffered abuse by their spouses. It
is against the law for one person to assault another person, whether they are living together or not.
Japanese women suffer domestic violence by their spouses. Domestic violence in Japan is sure
much lesser and toned down as compared to neighbor China where it can get pretty violent. In
Japan, the issue is seen as very sensitive and people usually avoid talking about it. It is considered
as a personal issue that the family must sort out among themselves. A family is likely to lose
respect in society if people know that there exists domestic violence in their home. Moreover,
domestic violence is illegal and cognizable and would lead to an arrest of the culprit which would,
in turn, break the family. So most minor domestic violence issues get buried within the homes
itself.

However, in recent years, women have started speaking out about these issues that helped to
compile stats. In 2012, a report came out stating that nearly 1 out of 3 or 33% of women expressed
that they faced some form of domestic violence in their lives, which was unexpected and shocked
many. Due to financial constraints and for the future of children, some were not able to divorce or
press charges. Japan-based but very internationally-minded, the AJWRC (Asia-Japan Women's
Resource Center) fights to end violence and discrimination against women around the world. Its
roots lie in a group of Japanese women’s protest against sex tours made to other Asian countries
by Japanese men. Nowadays it aims to educate and campaign about feminist issues as they intersect
with war, trafficking, neoliberal globalization, and so on.

Educational status of Women

Modern education of women began in earnest during the Meiji era's modernization campaign. The
first schools for women began during this time, though education topics were highly gendered,
with women learning arts of the samurai class, such as tea ceremonies and flower arrangement.
The 1871 education code established that students should be educated "without any distinction of
class or sex". Nonetheless, after 1891 students were typically segregated after third grade, and
many girls did not extend their educations past middle school. By the end of the Meiji period, there
was a women's school in every prefecture in Japan, operated by a mix of government, missionary,
and private interests.

After 1945, the Allied occupation aimed to enforce equal education between sexes; this included
a recommendation in 1946 to provide compulsory co-education until the age of 16. By the end of
1947, nearly all middle schools and more than half of high schools were co-educational. In 2012,
98.1% of female students and 97.8% of male students were able to reach senior high school. Of
those, 55.6% of men and 45.8% of women continued with undergraduate studies, although 10%
of these female graduates attended junior college. With the development of society, more and more
girls go to colleges to receive higher education. Today, more than half of Japanese women
are college or university graduates.

Participation of Women in Research Fields

The number of women who pursue careers in science has increased in Japan in recent years, but
the ratio of female professionals still remains far below the international average. Just a seventh of
scientists in Japan are female. A record high rate for the country, despite being the lowest rate of
any developed nation.

A nationwide study by the internal affairs ministry found that, in March, last year there were a
record 127,800 female scientists in Japan, accounting for 14.4 percent of the total and up 0.4
percentage points from a year earlier. "Compared with 10 years ago in 2003, the pace of increase
in the number of female scientists surpasses that of males in all organizations," the ministry said.

Despite being a personal best for Japan, the percentage is the lowest among countries with
comparable data in the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD),
sometimes called the rich nations' club.

Economists and commentators around the world agree that Japan's well-educated women are a
huge source of untapped potential, with many dropping out of the workforce when they have
children and few returning to their careers.

Role Model Women in Science

There have been many strong and radiant women in Japan over the years who painstakingly paved
the way for women's accomplishments in a patriarchal society. Women in the sciences who were
pioneers in this male-dominated field and who experienced successes despite seemingly
overwhelming obstacles. Some of them are:

 Sada Orihara: Orihara was Tokyo Tech's first female student. After graduating from
the Maebashi Girls' Senior High School, she went on to study the sciences at the Tokyo
Women's Higher Normal School (currently Ochanomizu University) in 1926, where she
became assistant professor after her graduation. With the encouragement of those around
her, Orihara decided to enter Tokyo Tech's Department of Dye Chemistry as a sponsored
scholarship student in 1931. Among the nearly 150 students admitted that year, she was
the only woman. Orihara was one of 13 students to get enrolled in the Department of Dye
Chemistry. After earning her degree at Tokyo Tech, she returned to teaching at the Tokyo
Women's Higher Normal School. Her efforts were rewarded with the position of professor
at the Tokyo Women's Higher Normal School. Her accomplishment is that she was the
Tokyo’s first technology student and also taught under the hard circumstances of World
War II.
  Michiko Togo: Another pioneering college woman entered Tokyo Tech after passing
the entrance examination in 1947, two years after the war ended. She desperately wanted
to become an engineer in order to be able to contribute to Japan's post war recovery. Togo's
determination enabled her to pass the exam despite the fact that only about 21 percent of
aspiring candidates succeeded in passing. Her greatest problem was the absence of a
women's bathroom there. Her presence was so strong that other students quietly respected
her as the “only girl.” Togo studied in the Department of Electrical. After graduating from
Tokyo Tech, she told herself that it was imperative to take a look at the country that
defeated Japan, so she went to study in the United States for two years. During her stay she
also attended Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is often referred to
as an electrical technician who became a technician of memoirs and as such, she is also a
pioneer of lifelong learning.
 Kimiko Sato: Another pioneering woman in science, one who laid the ground for
women to obtain doctoral degrees, is Kimiko Sato. She became the first woman doctor of
engineering. She worked as a technical specialist and an academic assistant at Tokyo Tech
and obtained her doctorate in engineering at the age of 38, in 1962. Then in 1968, Sato
moved to the University of Electro-Communications where she contributed to educational
research in the fields of metallic materials and machine engineering.
 Kazuko Kunihisa: Kunihisa graduated from the Tokyo College of Science (currently
the Tokyo University of Science) in 1950, then entered Tokyo Tech to study physical
chemistry. She then worked at the Tokyo Industrial Research Institute of the Agency of
Industrial Science and Technology, and dedicated her life to research. She developed a
compact thermal analyzer which made thermal analyses possible while observing samples
under a microscope.

Renowned Japanese Women

 Chiakai Mukai: She is Japan’s first female astronaut and an all-round science
queen. Mukai received her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1977 and Doctorate in
Physiology in 1988 from Keio University, but this was only just the beginning. Before her
space missions, Mukai was working as an assistant professor at the Department of
Cardiovascular Surgery in Keio University. She then went on to work in a number of roles
at different hospitals throughout the country including in Shizuoka, Kanagawa and
Utsunomiya before returning to Keio University Hospital to take up the role as Chief
Resident in Cardiovascular Surgery in 1983. In 1985 she was selected to be an astronaut
by Japan’s national space agency, which at the time was called NASDA (it’s now called
JAXA). In 1994 she joined the Space Shuttle Columbia fleet and became the first female
Japanese astronaut. If that wasn’t enough, she returned in 1998 aboard the aboard Space
Shuttle Discovery making her the first Japanese citizen in history to have two spaceflights.
In total, she spent 23 days in space.
 Tomoe Gozen: Tomoe Gozen is one from the history books. A late 12th-Century female
samurai warrior, she was admired for her incredible bravery strength throughout a series
of battles including the conflict that led to the first bakufu government (Shogun era) in
Japan. Thanks to her deadly skills with both a strong bow and swords, Lord Kiso no
Yoshinaka, a general of the late Heian Period, was so impressed with her talents that he
personally awarded her as his leading commander during the Genpei War (1180–1185).
With a penchant for severing the heads of her conquests as a type of trophy, it’s hard to
believe this fearsome warrior lived until the ripe age of 91 (1247 was the year of her death).

Her legend has lived on long after her passing, blurring history and fantasy. Gozen’s life
was the main subject of a trilogy of novels set in a fantasy Japan by American author Jessica
Amanda; Salmonson The Disfavored Hero, The Golden Naginata and Thousand Shrine
Warrior, 1981–1984. Beyond that Gozen is also the title character in C. J. Cherryh’s 1988
novel, The Paladin and is one of the supporting characters in the 2010 US Syfy TV
series Riverworld, as well as being an inspiration for an uncountable collection of manga
characters.

 Yayoi Kusama: Yayoi Kusama will go down as one of the art world’s most
revolutionary names. Throughout her career, she’s created works through a huge variety of
mediums including painting, collage, soft sculpture, performance art,
outdoor/environmental installations and writing. Best known for her colourful and
psychedelic use of rhythm and pattern, there’s something about her work that’s both
visually accessible and deeply emotionally visceral.

Born in 1929, Kusama moved to New York in 1957 where she alongside contemporaries
like Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, and George Segal became interested in creating works
that drew from the past (like abstract expressionism) but pushed the envelope of what art
can be. In the 1960s she became a key figure in the New York avant-garde movements, but
it really wasn’t until she left in 1970 that her work really received the credit it deserved.

Known as one of the most important artists born in contemporary Japan, her work touches
on a number of different themes including feminism, minimalism, surrealism, and pop art.
However, it’s her autobiographical look at psychology that’s Kusama’s most moving
quality. Having battled with mental illnesses and a history of neurosis, she’s lived as a
voluntary resident at a mental hospital about four decades now, channeling this energy into
her work. She’s still holding exhibitions, including at the newly opened in Tokyo Yayoi
Kusama Museum dedicated to her.

 Sadako Ogata: A champion for human rights, Ogata Sadako was the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees between 1991-2000 where she oversaw massive
emergency operations in northern Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo, assisted in
the rescue and resettlement of internally displaced and vulnerable people during times of
crisis.

Born into a politically and socially active family, Ogata’s father Toyoichi Nakamura was
 a career diplomat and the Japanese ambassador to Finland. Her mother was the daughter
of Foreign Minister Kenkichi Yoshizawa and her grandfather was Prime Minister Inukai
Tsuyoshi, who was assassinated when Ogata was just four years old.

Throughout her valiant career, Ogata has been awarded countless accolades for her
humanity and leadership, including Japan’s honourable Order of Culture in 2003, the Indira
Gandhi Prize in 2001 and the World Citizenship Award in 2005, a prestigious award given
to individuals who have contributed to a better world in areas such as peace, environment
and education. Other recipients of the prize include Nelson Mandela and Wangari Maathai.
Ogata is currently the only Japanese recipient of this prize.

Following the devastating 2011 Tohoku earthquakes and tsunami, the outpouring of offers
of assistance to Japan from over 160 countries around the nation was in part attributed to
Ogata’s work by the then-Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

Advances by Japanese Women

Today, Japanese women are among the best educated in the world. In 2005, 42.5 percent of them
had at least some post-secondary education. One in five of the people taking the national bar
exam were women.
Women are exerting themselves in other ways. Many women shoulder sacred shrines along with
men at important festivals; girls play on boys’ teams in Little League baseball; and match their
male coworker beer for beer in after work drinking sessions. The number of women traveling
overseas increased from 3.2 million in 1988 to 7.3 million in 1998.
When a housewife was asked why she liked carry a shrine with a bunch of drunk men at a noisy
festival, she replied, "I forget I'm a housewife. I feel liberated. It feels like I'm going to a
discotheque. I can relax. I can be myself."
In April 1999, a law was passed that banned discrimination in the work place. In June 1999, a
sweeping "basic law" was passed that promoted equal rights for women.
Some Japanese women have come up with novel ways of asserting their independence. Some
elderly women have displayed their distaste with their husbands and their mother in laws by
purchasing separate grave sites far from their husbands so they won't have to spend eternity
together. According to one survey 20 percent of women want to be buried separately from their
husbands.
Lack of advances
Japan has been criticized by a United Nations panel for making only lukewarm efforts to
implement anti-discrimination measures. Among the Japanese policies that were singled, were
laws that discriminated against children born outside of marriage and provisions that stipulate
married couples must have the same name.
Some Japanese women still get a day off from work every month because of their periods and
many work as men-flattering bar hostesses. Women make up only two percent of all the
personnel in the military, where they learn important skills like flower arranging.
Boys names are listed before girls names on school rosters. Comic books often feature brutalized
women. On television a woman often sits next to the male hosts and acts as his cheerleader---
agreeing with everything he says, praising his intellect and laughing at his jokes---but offering no
insights herself. Many working women have no other duties than saying hello and acting polite.
Stewardesses sometimes drop to their knees to serve people. Most women have names that
implies they are a child. It has been said that Japanese men feel threatened by capable women
and prefer women who are stupid.
Thirty-two percent of women living alone between the ages of 20 and 64 in 2010 in Japan are in
poverty. For men the figure was 25 percent. The change of government in August 2009 was seen
as an opportunity to change the status quo and improve conditions for women.