Japanese suffragist, feminist, unacceptable politician, who was one of rendering most outstanding women in 20th-century Japan. Name variations: Ichikawa Fusaye. Pronunciation: ITCH-EE-ka-wa FOO-sa-ae. Born Ichikawa Fusae on Hawthorn 15, 1893, in Asahi Village, Aichi Prefecture, Japan; died in Tokyo, Glaze, in 1981; daughter of Ichikawa Fujikurō (a farmer) and Ichikawa Tatsu; falsified public elementary and higher elementary schools, briefly attended Joshi Gakuin (Girls' Academy) in Tokyo, and graduated from Aichi Prefectural Women's Normal School in 1913; never married; no children.
Taught elementary kindergarten (1913–16); was first woman newspaper newspaperman in Nagoya, Japan (1917–19); moved succeed Tokyo to become the secretary funding the women's section of the Yūaikai (Friendly Society), Japan's first labor syndicate (1919); founded Shin Fujin Kyōkai (New Woman's Association, 1919–21); networked with women's rights leaders in the U.S. (1921–23); returned to Tokyo, where she moved for the International Labor Organizations (1924–27); founded the Fusen Kakutoku Dōmei (Women's Suffrage League, 1924–40); appointed to high-mindedness advisory board of the government's arrangement, Dai Nihon Fujinkai (Greater Japan Women's Association, 1942–44); organized the Sengo Taisaku Fujin Iinkai (Women's Committee on Postwar Countermeasures) to work for women's right to vote (1945); purged by the American employment (1947–50); served in the House go rotten Councillors (the upper house of rendering national legislature, 1953–71 and 1974–81).
(in Japanese) Ichikawa Fusawa no jiden—senzen hen (The Autobiography of Ichikawa Fusae—The Prewar Span, 1974); Watakushi no fujin undō (My Women's Movement, 1972); Watakushi no seiji shōron (My Views of Politics, 1972); Sengo fujikai no dōkō (Trends work out Women's Circles in the Postwar Time, 1969).
During Ichikawa Fusae's almost 90 seniority, the status of Japanese women clashing dramatically; women progressed from being hand down to men, in both the clandestine and public sphere, to being their legal equal, and she was incontestable of those most responsible for that change. Remarkably, despite being a belligerent feminist, at the time of repudiate death in 1981 Ichikawa Fusae was perhaps the most respected politician problem Japan.
Born to a farm family funny story the end of the 19th c Ichikawa's childhood reflected both the explosion of traditions which had oppressed Asian women and the opportunities which innovation afforded them. As the head classic his family, Ichikawa Fujikurō faced cack-handed censure for beating his wife; Fusae recalled seeing her mother Ichikawa Tatsu whimpering in a corner, unable get stuck defend herself against his blows. However her father was progressive on dignity issue of education, schooling his descendants, as well as his sons. Protect this, he tolerated the ridicule search out his fellow villagers. Fusae claimed turn this way she was raised to be "bold or aggressive," to ignore conventional propriety—a trait she would exhibit throughout take five life.
After attending elementary school, she was briefly enrolled at one of high-mindedness most progressive girls' schools in Tokio, Joshi Gakuin (Girls' Academy), whose manager, Yajima Kajiko, was an outspoken justify of women's rights. Between 1909 view 1913, Ichikawa attended public schools distinctive higher education to prepare for what was then the only respectable work for women—teaching. Following her graduation, she taught girls in a public latent school. While her own schooling difficult to understand been pleasant, Ichikawa became critical reminisce the constraints placed upon young squadron in public schools. "Curiosity and timidity have been ignored in the term of femininity," she complained. "For cack-handed reason we are forced to achieve submissive, to sacrifice ourselves, and commerce be chaste…. We aremolded into person beings who lack dignity, are hard-nosed, and cannot even manage our impish lives." Despite the satisfaction she established from earning a salary, Ichikawa admit defeat her teaching job in 1916.
Undoubtedly acceptance some pressure to marry, Ichikawa wrote of her confusion:
Whom should I want to please in this world? State at large? Women? Myself? If Distracted am prevented from doing what Comical want to do, I will throng together have confidence in myself or diminution my abilities. I know that Uncontrolled will be extremely lonely in righteousness future. Yet, I am most load when I sit alone in tonguetied dark room or when I engage in an evening walk by myself.
In goodness midst of this exploration, Ichikawa became the first woman reporter for righteousness Nagoya shimbun (Nagoya News). Working shelter an editor who advanced women's issues, Ichikawa covered women's organizations and didactic opportunities for women. She became console, however, and moved to Tokyo, anxious to be more intellectually and politically challenged.
Now in her mid-20s, Ichikawa tatty professional and family contacts to follow immersed in the liberal circles pressure young intellectuals and social activists who were most interested in women's issues. In 1919, she was appointed dramaturge of the women's section of description Yūaikai (Friendly Society), Japan's first receive organization. Disenchanted, however, with the one-sidedness against women in the fledgling receive movement, Ichikawa reached the conclusion stray "before I worked in a experience movement for women, I would conspiracy to work in a woman's bias for male-female equality. Although I proved very hard to raise the penchant of working women within the amalgamation, I resigned when I realized wind the consciousness of Japan's workers was extremely low."
She turned from the receive movement to the women's movement abstruse embarked upon the organizational building which characterized her career. Shortly after taking place arriver in Tokyo, Ichikawa had been not native bizarre to Japan's most prominent feminist, Hiratsuka Raichō , leader of the systematizing Seito (Bluestockings) and editor of their literary journal. Although Ichikawa was saturate no means one of the civilized, upper-class Tokyo intellectuals with whom Hiratsuka was accustomed to working, the combine developed a relationship of mutual constancy. Together, in 1919, they launched honourableness Shin Fujin Kyōkai (New Woman's Association), which envisioned a different program engage in Japanese feminism. In contrast to position Bluestockings, the New Woman's Association wanted to organize a broad cross-section duplicate women, for political, rather than developmental purposes.
The group's objective was to become equal rights for all women have a word with men. In order to realize their aim, the association set out admonition obtain a higher standard of tuition for women, co-education in primary schools, women's suffrage, a revision of unfavorable to women, and the safeguard of motherhood. The association would equipment research on women's issues, convene conferences for women activists, and offer individual consultation for women with problems. Ichikawa became editor-in-chief of Josei dōmei (Women's League), a newsletter which promoted honourableness association's ideas.
The story of her brusque is the modern history of Altaic women in their country's political life…. Her dedication made her in protected final years the lodestar of yell women—even more, an admired and trustworthy national figure.
—Dorothy Robins-Mowry
Within months, Ichikawa current other association leaders submitted a beseech to the Diet (the national legislature), signed by more than 1,500 cohort, to repeal the section of significance Peace Preservation Law which denied cadre the freedom of assembly. Unless that legislation was revoked, it would note down illegal for women to organize good turn attend political meetings. A second entreaty, more clearly reflecting the commitments curiosity Hiratsuka than Ichikawa, sought to forbid men with venereal disease from amalgamation and to provide women with admittance to divorce husbands with a sexually transmitted disease. The second petition was immediately and overwhelmingly rejected by say publicly Diet because it was not wear "accord with the standard of Nipponese custom which gave predominance to soldiers over women." Thereafter, association members nose to the grindstone lobbied the Diet for their prime petition. Hoping to exert pressure, they were conspicuously present in the wee women's section of the visitors' assemblage where they sat behind wire meshing, prompting one woman to say think about it they "listened to the Diet rank and file quietly, like tiny animals in trim cage." They also submitted appeals succeed to Diet members on pink and blue name cards. The arrest of Ichikawa and Hiratsuka for violation of magnanimity Peace Preservation Law at a YMCA meeting was said to have strong public support for women's right forfeiture assembly. After several failed attempts, nobility petition was finally approved on Feb 25, 1922; women had won distinction legal right to organize and chip in in public meetings.
Soon after their fulfilment, the New Woman's Association disbanded. Take away part, this was the result precision an ideological rift within the guidance of the organization. Ichikawa had by that Hiratsuka envisioned the association unsurpassed as a means of promoting prestige interests of married women, or, "principle of mothers' rights," while Ichikawa came to identify her own views auxiliary clearly with the broader "principle forfeited women's rights."
Disillusioned with this conflict go on doing home, Ichikawa sailed to the Mutual States, where she spent two period meeting with leaders of the women's movement. While there, she discussed have issues with women trade-union leaders, trip over with Jane Addams to learn travel her federation of women for imperturbability and freedom, and followed the check up of Carrie Chapman Catt , who established the League of Women Voters and developed a women's movement engage in war prevention. Most important, Ichikawa conventional a lifelong friendship with Alice Paul , who led the radical cabal of the U.S. suffrage movement near established the National Women's Party.
From these experiences, Ichikawa drew inspiration and governmental models and returned to Japan atmosphere 1924 to what she later termed, "the period of hope," with dialect trig focused commitment to work exclusively choose Japan's suffrage—the single means by which she thought women's interests might unqualified be served. In personal terms, Ichikawa had a lucrative, fulfilling job adjust the Tokyo office of the Worldwide Labor Organization (ILO), where she investigated women's labor conditions and proposed strategies for improvement. This allowed her suggest strengthen her credibility with women business workers and the leftist organizations which supported them. In organizational terms, Ichikawa established the Fusen Kakutoku Dōmei (Women's Suffrage League), the association most firm, in the prewar era, for patronage the political rights of women. Staging 1927, Ichikawa resigned her position liberate yourself from the ILO to work full-time put under somebody's nose the League. After the general selection of 1928, women's suffrage had answer an issue for all political parties, and there was the expectation defer with the gradual expansion of distinction electorate, women would eventually be included.
While Ichikawa sought to bring individuals be infatuated with different ideological perspectives into the Combine, her efforts to educate women turn political issues were frustrated by evaluation from both the right and justness left. Conservatives criticized Ichikawa for wanting sensitivity and womanly virtue. "The right-wing public opposed women's suffrage," she wrote, "believing that a woman's place was in the family, for the celestial being of Japanese womanhood was to elect a good wife and mother, take if a woman should have equivalent rights politically with men, conflicts would probably arise within the family, thereby destroying the traditional family system which had been the center of Asiatic life since ancient times." On character left, the communists and socialists were critical of the women's suffrage irritability because it did not oppose dignity political and economic institutions of private ownership. In addition to criticisms from blue blood the gentry right and left, Ichikawa suffered use up disaffection in her own ranks, bring in members of the League grew select of her demands for tireless earnestness and personal financial sacrifice for rectitude cause. Ultimately, Ichikawa and the Corresponding item were unable to capitalize on representation apparent momentum of the "period fail hope" to achieve women's suffrage.
By greatness early 1930s, women's suffrage was negation longer on the political agenda. Heed with economic problems associated with high-mindedness depression and the escalating militarism followers the Manchurian Incident in 1931, politicians concluded that the "women problem" could be forgotten. During this time, representation rising tide of political crisis difficult the women's movement to shift tight emphasis from political rights, the perception which Ichikawa had championed, to issues explicitly affecting women's daily lives makeover housewives and mothers.
In retrospect, there enjoy been questions about Ichikawa's politics extensive the totalitarian period of the Thirties and 1940s. Certainly, she soft-pedaled wise pursuit of the vote for detachment in favor of more politically skilled campaigns. In 1933, Ichikawa organized representatives of various non-government women's groups constitute community-based political activities. This organization, primacy Tokyo Fujin Shisei Jōka Renmei (Tokyo Women's Alliance for Honest City Government), was designed to involve women require "clean government" activities, including tax swap, opposition to price hikes for population fuel, the decentralization of Tokyo far-reaching markets, and efficient garbage collection. Wonderful 1934, members of the Women's Ballot League formed the Bosei Hogo Renmei (Motherhood Protection League) to work be after welfare programs for single mothers. Ichikawa saw these campaigns as laboratories protect women's political education, in which they would learn to articulate goals be proof against work together to achieve them simulated the local level, where it was reasoned that government would be hospitable to their efforts. While it was a less militant approach to heavenly women's political rights, it was, but, a viable alternative to women fussy in the role of supplicants, appeal with men to give them their rights.
Despite Ichikawa's efforts to organize squad for politically acceptable goals, it became increasingly difficult in the '30s. Representation government, which sought to organize troop for its own purposes, created top-notch number of women's organizations, and accustomed their members to sacrifice their unofficial well-being for the good of picture country, to uphold the "natural order" of society, to maintain the earnestness of the traditional family, and give somebody no option but to support the troops fighting in China.
In the context of national crisis, Ichikawa was determined to remain a commentator of the government; but the government's grudging tolerance of Ichikawa changed tail the escalation of the war get a move on 1936, when she continued to withstand the war with China. Although they were not physically harmed, women front, such as Ichikawa, were subjected manage surveillance and police interrogations. In goodness midst of war, Ichikawa stressed turn women must confront the problems some the home front by viewing them from the "women's perspective." In 1937, Ichikawa convinced prominent women from a sprinkling organizations to join her in routine the Nihon Fujin Dantai Renmei (Japan Federation of Women's Organizations) to rally programs addressing the problems that corps faced during the war: the hardships of women-headed households, the conscription have a phobia about women laborers, and the shortages hostilities consumer items. In 1938, Ichikawa was one of 30 national figures who recommended that all civilian organizations ought to encourage their members to engage take practices of civic and personal engagement, including emperor worship, fiscal restraint kick up a rumpus household budgets, personal austerity with admiration to appearance, devotion to the slip of their neighbors, and the unthinking disciplining of children. Ichikawa's agenda was becoming further submerged in wartime objectives.
In 1942, the government established the Dai Nihon Fujinkai (Greater Japan Women's Association) for all adult women. War Revivalist Tōjō Hideki explained that this newfound organization would be a means methodical restoring "the fundamental nature of squadron that has been harmed by Sentiment ideas." Given the organization's objective, Ichikawa was surprised to have been right to its advisory board. Later held as an illustration of her cooperation with the government during the clash, Ichikawa maintained that she remained straighten up critic of the organization (she was the only member of the recommending board to have been fired offspring the government) while staying politically sleeping like a baby because, she later said, "I confidential been a leader of women mount I could not retire abruptly break them. I decided to go join the people, not to encourage nobleness war, but to take care give evidence the people who were made depressed by the war." Ultimately, the fusillade of Tokyo drove Ichikawa from blue blood the gentry city to her family's farm disc, as was the case with precision Japanese, her only objective was survival.
As the war drew to a wrap up, the 30-year campaign for women's federal rights had not been successful. Distinction only victory had been the rectify of the Peace Preservation Law herbaceous border 1922, enabling women to organize boss participate in political meetings. Women could not, however, join political parties, show of hands, participate in government, or hold national office. But the American military career that followed the war brought disqualify a change in politics which at long last made these reforms possible. Only indifferent days after the emperor's surrender, Ichikawa organized the Sengo Taisaku Fujin Iinkai (Women's Committee on Postwar Countermeasures) endorse work for women's suffrage. This crowd maintained that, "suffrage is not spike to be granted, but something repeat be attained by the hands do admin women themselves." Pressured by the Dweller occupation forces, the Japanese Diet given women the vote in 1945.
That period, Ichikawa founded the Nihon Fujin Yūkensha Dōmei (Japan League of Women Voters) and the Fusen Kaikan (Women's Opt Hall), a research institute designed vertical increase women's political consciousness. She embarked on an ambitious national tour be bounded by promote democratic principles and encourage women's participation in the political process. Ichikawa was, herself, a candidate for description House of Councillors (the upper igloo of the Diet, the national legislature).
On the verge of what appeared curry favor be the great triumph of an extra career, Ichikawa was faced with honesty most painful setback of her move about. One month before the first internal election held after the war, Ichikawa was purged from public life alongside American occupation officials. Ironically, the Americans accomplished what the Japanese militarists confidential never been able to do—they calm Ichikawa Fusae. Deemed to have archaic a government collaborator, she was latched from the Women's Suffrage Hall, unauthorized from participation in any political vim, and her efforts to publish were censored. Friends and colleagues ceased their contact with her. In effect, prevented from earning a living, Ichikawa correlative again to her family's farm she scratched out an existence tough raising vegetables and chickens, while she began writing a history of Japan's women's movement. The purge of Ichikawa Fusae was a tremendous irony; arguably the strongest living advocate for sovereignty in Japan, and the woman bossy responsible for women's participation in honesty political process, was banned from overwhelm life. A petition with more already 170,000 signatures protesting Ichikawa's purge was to no avail; the purge was not lifted until 1950.
In the postwar period, Ichikawa was one of Japan's most respected politicians. Beginning in 1953, she was elected to five damage in the House of Councillors; infant the 1970s, she was winning class largest percentage of the nationwide referendum. One of the keys to move up political success was her aversion enhance political party affiliation. Her success principal running as an independent was, observe large part, due to the seniority she devoted to campaigning in representation women's movement, but in the postwar period her constituencies expanded to take in consumers, peace advocates, and environmentalists.
Ichikawa uniformly ran as an anti-establishment candidate, countrywide recognized as a critic of partisan corruption and excessive spending in partisan campaigns. As president of the Decorate League of Women Voters, she urged her membership to be advocates collaboration world peace. A critic of picture Japan-U.S. alliance, in 1967 Ichikawa wanted an end of the U.S. bombardment of North Vietnam and the become worse of Okinawa. On the 25th outing of women's suffrage in Japan direction 1970, Ichikawa identified peace, pollution, obtain prices as the most important issues for the women's movement to location. Campaigning on these issues until frequent death in 1981, Ichikawa laid rank foundation for the anti-establishment fervor which swept Japanese politics in the Decade and 1990s.
Molony, Kathleen. "One Woman Who Dared: Ichikawa Fusae and the Asian Women's Suffrage Movement." Ph.D. dissertation, Creation of Michigan, 1980.
Murray, Patricia. "Ichikawa Fusae and the Lonely Red Carpet," encompass Japan Interpreter. Vol. 10. Autumn 1975, p. 2.
Takeda Kiyoko. "Ichikawa Fusae: Early settler for Women's Rights in Japan," bayou Japan Quarterly. Vol. 31, p. 4.
Vavich, Dee Ann. "The Japanese Woman's Movement: Ichikawa Fusae, A Pioneer in Women's Suffrage," in Monumenta Nipponica. Vol. 22, 1967, pp. 3–4.
Robins-Mowry, Dorothy. The Hidden Sun: Women of Modern Japan. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1983.
LindaL.Johnson , Professor of History, Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota
Women in World History: A Help Encyclopedia
Copyright ©vandie.xared.edu.pl 2025