The Role and the Evolution of Japanese Women in the Civil Society

The Role and the Evolution of Japanese Women in the Civil Society

Abstract

Conventionally, major role of women in the society has been to take care of children and elders in every community in the world. Women were expected to get married and bear children and then take care of those children. However, the world is quickly changing, and the role of women in most countries of the world are equally changing. Japanese women are equally infiltrating the male-dominated spheres of politics and workplaces (Koyama, 2014). Japan has a strong tradition of women being housewives after marriage. Therefore, Japanese women can only work on part-time jobs or low paying jobs, which are based on the schedules of their husbands or children. Taking care of the household is predominantly taken as a female role in Japan. In the Heian Period, matriarchal family systems dominated Japanese social structures (Ostry, Alvarez, Espinoza, & Papageorgiou, 2018). The society consisted of female feudal lords, women writers, and artists. As a matter of fact, these women became great masters in literature, and one woman, Hokkekyo, raised the idea that women could achieve Buddhahood. Even today, many women in Japan still call their Husbands ‘Shujin’ to mean “my master” (Elwood, 2016). Therefore, this paper focuses on the role and the evolution of Japanese women in civil society. Moreover, it looks at how Japanese civil society is structured, the voices of women in Japan, demographic trends, and womenomics.

Introduction and Background Information

In ancient times, Japanese women wielded immense authority and power. In fact, it was a common phenomenon for Japanese girls to inherit the parents’ properties, including houses. However, there was a rise of conservative and Confucianism moral movement, which preached incessantly, that women were inferior and men superior. As a result, the change destabilized the matriarchal movement in Japan. In fact, thousands of years ago, Japanese women had more power and authority than they do today. In reality, Japan is one of the few countries that enjoyed matriarchal leadership. Modern anthropologists and sociologists emphasize that there are no known examples of matriarchal societies in the world today. The early years of the Meiji era between 1868 and 1912 was a point where the education of women in Japan was considered significant. Moreover, major thinkers and the elite group promoted women’s education among women (Kano, 2012). In 1872, there was a ruling that compelled all the Japanese children to attend both elementary and secondary schools (Chanlett-Avery & Nelson, 2014). This shows that when you talk about higher education for women, that is when inequality and repression for it becomes evident. It must be noted that before the invasion of the West into the Japanese culture, Japan, as an empire enjoyed the highest level of literacy in the world. Japan was already enjoying the Confucian[1] Oriented education studied in temples. Therefore, in 1871, the Japanese government established a ministry of education that was charged with the task of developing an organized system of education.

This paper begins by analyzing the household activities of the pre-industrial Tokugawa Period between 1600 and 1868 (Jansen, 2002).  In fact, this period has received a lot of scrutiny than the post-war eras. The other studies of Tokugawa women primarily engaged structural and legal approaches to analyze the customs and laws regarding succession and marriage (Fuess, 2004).The struggle of women continued long after the predicament of restoration was over. It was almost futile to redefine the position of women in Japan. It cannot be disputed that the Meiji reign spoke of equality between men and women.

Moreover, it tried as much as it could to bring equality among all the classes in Japan (Roberson, 1995). The way the social structure of Japan was construed made it challenging to address issues that needed substantial changes. The Japanese social structure was politically oriented, and women issues and positions had been placed far much below women in matters of social status. Consequently, the traditional women’s situation in Japan remained the same and unchanged for a very long period. It cannot go without mentioning that as early as the Meiji[2] In the Meiji Era, some people were advocating for equality in both sexes. Moreover, another considerable number insisted that women take practical steps to realize their own rights and privileges.  In 1925, a general election that was based on universal suffrage was carried out. This was one of the most exclusive election since women were totally excluded from participating. It was taken as if the universal suffrage was a men’s agenda only. The exclusion of women from voting in universal suffrage led to the rise of the feminist movement in Japan. This movement opposed the one-sided decisions made by men in the election. In 1937, the movement came to an expected end, by then, Japan was already organizing itself to become a war state.  The government of the day took it upon itself to suppress any large scale social movement. Therefore, the movement had no other options but to come to a drastic end. Notably, the transition of women from the old order to the new order was solely political. All the indications show that the process was not accompanied by the necessary transformation of her economy, educational, family and religious institutions. The former economy of Japan was rooted in a feudalistic economy. In fact, the family life was wholly patriarchal and the ethical behavior was totally unchanged.

According to the statistics of 1900, the number of women in the textile industry was 260000, and that of men 160000 (McEachern, 2014). The women outnumbered the men 1.6 times (Roberson, 1995).  However, we cannot say that this outnumbering of women in the textile industry had any effect on the social construct of Japan. The women continued to act as domestic housewives and caretakers of homes. Women who worked in these industries were ignorant and lowly paid. Due to their ignorance, they were utterly disorganized and could not advocate for equal better pay. The money they earned from the industry was used to buy their own wedding gowns or cater for their families.

The evolution of Japanese women in civil society cannot pass without the mention of the existence of prostitution (Ramseyer, 1991). The prostitution had a long history extending way back to feudal Japan. The business was organized and supervised by an official. Moreover, efforts were renewed to monitor and regulate prostitution. The recognition of the institution of prostitution lured most young women to be engaged in the business. The business of prostitution went on until as late as 1958 when the government managed to eradicate it entirely. Recently, various forces have been put in place to free women from the traditional feudalistic bondage.

Moreover, Japan underwent a wide range of economic, political, and social changes. Recently, the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe thinks she has found an answer to the Japanese workforce. She is determined to make a Japan where women shine. Her policy is that women should be allowed to work and have children at the same time. Her initial and broader plan Abenomics[3] Hatched in 2014 to pull Japan out of the economic stagnation (Chanlett-Avery & Nelson, 2014). Womenomics, a catchy phrase, is an idea that is closely related to Abe but also discussed around the world. The aim of womenomics is to ensure that women fill thirty percent of leadership positions by the year 2020. The mother feels more inclined to join the Japanese Workforce.

The role of the Japanese woman in the Civil Society

As mentioned earlier, the position of the Japanese was deeply embedded in custom, intimately intertwined, and entangled in the patriarchal family systems. Since these systems are family-based, it was difficult to uproot them from the Japanese culture. Children are born and grow, knowing the distinct roles of both men and women. However, new trends in civilization and education worked a little bit in changing the social structure of Japan. For instance, the recurrent impact of unique and alien ideals and ideas through the media of mass communication were an effective mechanism of social change. Also, among significant contributors of social change in Japan is the processes of urbanization, industrialization and modernization (Jansen, 2002). Moreover, series of wars with foreign powers and the Japanese involvement in the World Wars brought about immense changes in women’s position in the Japanese civil society. The role of women in the civil society was shaped by the changes in the educational systems and enacting of laws. In the initial years, it was not easy for women to secure their right to vote, improve their status without and within the family settings, and to better the working conditions in the industries (Senda, 2015, p. 27). There were more women in the textile industry than men, however, these women did not pose a threat to the males because their pay was low and were ignorant and disorganized. Any attempt to change the social construct of Japan by women were combated by conservative elements of the Japanese society who were leaders at manipulating and controlling events that led natural crises.  After the Second World War, the women in Japan achieved a full emancipation through unexpected reformation. The new law and the constitution brought about the democratization of the education system. Both men and women were allowed to attend school. This showed that women would only be discriminated against in the institutions of higher learning. It happens that the Japanese culture and society is not homogenous, thus making the process of urbanization not to be uniform.  In fact, there is a huge difference in Japan between those people who live in the country and those in live in the urban centers.

In Japan, there is a transformation process from school to the working class. This marks the transition from student (gakusei) to a social person (shakaijin). As a matter of fact, this transition is like a rite of passage to the men in Japan, for it marks a permanent source of social identification (Koyama, 2014). This is opposed to what happens to the Japanese women. Japanese women are identified with roles such as wives and mothers (Roberson, 1995). In the 21^st century, statistics show that Japanese women are working in higher proportions than the American female working population (Koyama, 2014). In all honesty, the Japanese economy is doing exemplary well. In fact, the employment rate have skyrocketed and most women have infiltrated the workforce. However, despite Japan pushing for gender equality at workplaces, Japanese government is still struggling with gender equality in work places. In Japan, there are two types of jobs: the first job is full time job and the second is contingent work. For full time workers, they enjoy seniority-based and the workers can get raises and promotions while on the other hand, part-time workers are excluded from such privileges. In order to cut costs and maximize profits most companies prefer contract and part-time workers to full-time workers. As a result, they employ more women thus end up paying them low wages. It is not surprising that it is the women who bear the burden of sclerotic employment system. In fact, most women hired in 2018, only a quarter managed to get into regular work (McEachern, 2014, p. 143).   Historically, unemployment has been low in Japan due the availability of job offers by many firms in Japan. However, the system is structured in a manner that these firms offer jobs through a system called shukastu where most workers are hired directly out of schools and colleges (McEachern, 2014). The workers are expected to work with these firms until retirement. We can also argue that although shukatsu helps students get jobs directly out of school, those who fail to land plum jobs right out of college are often condemned to a much less rewarding career path. Therefore, these workers have little hope of escape. Moreover, those women who were condemned by the system of shukastu still suffer the fate till date with little or no chance of escaping.

The position of women in the traditional Japanese family was a lowly one and deeply patriarchal. Since time immemorial, the Japanese family has been patriarchal. Four hundred years ago, Japan was unified under the feudal system (Fuess, 2004).

The Evolution of Japanese Women in the Society

It cannot go without mentioning that the place of women in japan is inundated and blended with myths and illusions. Japanese societies are both private and public, and this is what separates the Japanese civil society.  The western world has always held a subservient Japanese woman society image. However, this is only an image and nothing more. Every country and culture has a way in which it views another, and this is how the westerners see Japan at large. The good news is that in Japanese family life, which is private, the women often dominate the male members of the household. Therefore, we can say that the current role and position of women in Japan is attributed by two old philosophies, samurai and Confucianism (Hane, 2018).

Notably, the influence of these movements is still active to date. Markedly, the role of women has changed drastically since world war two. Historically it is clear that every part of Japan has experienced a revolutionary movement for the last 150 years (Koyama, 2014). In fact, Japan has evolved from semi-feudal[4] system to a world’s superpower. Moreover, the feudal systems were later legislated out of Japan and then replaced with democracy. Since the acquiring of power, the Japanese people had to deal and cope with the problems that came along. Confucianism and Buddhism formed alliances with the military classes to develop the warrior class, which were called the Samurai. The ascending of the Samurai into power changed the place of women in the Japanese society drastically. Before the advent of Samurai, the Japanese community had been ordered on a strict matrilineal line.  The three cultures, the Buddhism, the Samurai, and Confucianism, stressed the eminence of men over women in the larger Japanese society. Their philosophy was so strict and one sided, for instance, they insisted that any woman was to obey her father as a daughter, respect her husband as a wife, and obey her son as an aged mother. Moreover, the samurais believed that salvation was not possible for women in ancient Japanese society. They went by the mantra that a woman was supposed to obey her husband as if he were heaven itself. A Japanese woman was supposed to be submissive, venerate the husband, committed, and venerate him. By comparing the husband to heaven, the feudal system had elevated men to gods and women to mere mortals who were supposed to offer services to these “gods” (men). The man of the house, regardless of his age, became the authority of the household. For instance, The Tale of Genji is a typical example of how ancient society portrayed women. A woman was viewed as evil and a lesser being. The woman who writes the Japanese novel in the 11^th century says that if women were not fundamentally evil, they would not have been born women at all (Hane,2018).

In fact, story has it that women living under the Togugawa Shogunite era, that existed between 1602 and 1868; this is how the government of Japan was known during that period (Jansen, 2002). Women during that period did not exist legally. Moreover, women were not allowed to own property, and all their possessions and properties belonged to their husbands. Everything a woman-owned, including her life, belonged to the patriarchal family. For instance, history has it that a Portuguese trader was amazed by how a man would just kill a woman for being lazy, bad, and unproductive. This shows how biased the ancient Japanese society was towards women. All women were considered evil and bad and ugly. In fact, being born a woman was like having bad luck, and therefore, bad luck was to be done away with. The only thing that the women were allowed to write was the hiragana: a Japanese syllables that constitutes the Japanese writing system along with the katakana, romaji and the kanji. In more lucid terms, the Hiragana was just ordinary or simple document (Hane, 2018). It never contained any complicated information that may spear revolution among women. For this reason, many women remained uninformed and illiterate. The patriarchal society prevented and barred women from interacting in businesses and relating to politics or simply reading other literary texts and books. In real sense, information and knowledge about science, poetry, and philosophy was not meant for women. The more formal kanji was used to write this kind of information and women were restricted from using the kanji system. In all aspects, women were subordinate to men. There was no way women and men could sit at the same table and discuss the fundamental issues concerning the society. In 1637, the society of Japan cut off Japan from interacting with anybody and anything that was not Japanese. As a result, it caused the economy of Japan to stagnate. In fact, foreigners were not allowed to enter japan and in retrospect, all the Japanese were not allowed to travel outside of Japan. Resultantly, this ban reduced Japan to a capsule that would not be opened until 1853 (Hane, 2018). The arrival of Tokyo bay of Commodore Mathew Perry of the United States of America was what would thrust Japan into modernization and urbanization with a societal structure that had never existed before. After 1858, Japan signed several treaties with the Westerners and tariffs imposed on the imports were five percent (Jansen, 2002). In 1868, Japan had a revolution that ousted the Shogun system. Upon the revolution, Japan embarked on a severe modernization and civilization programs that restored the power of the imperial monarchial systems that were under the Meiji the Emperor. The arrival of Perry’s caused the disappearance of the feudal lords also called the Daimyo, the Meiji emperor also eliminated the class restrictions and entirely wiped out the samurais (Richie, 2012). As a result of the drastic change in the Japanese landscape, the women who had been ruthlessly exploited, became a key factor in the success of Japan. Moreover, as the social turmoil increased, women, on the other hand, were being encouraged to be the moral foundation of the country. The birthrate in Japan started increasing, leading to the treatment of women equal to men. The social construct of Japan began to changing gradually, with the women being treated with little respect. The ancient family which consisted of husband to wife, father to son or senior to junior was totally done away with. Japan had begun to compete on equal footing with other western countries. In fact, Japanese women were encouraged to produce more babies, regardless of their gender. All girls and boys began to be accepted as children.

In fact, statistics show that women were the major contributors of the Japanese economic success (Ostry, Alvarez, Espinoza, & Papageorgiou, 2018). Without the effort of women in the commercial sector of Japan, the miracle of Japan economic growth would not have been realized. In efforts to finance its modernization, it had to employ women in the textile industry. Statistics show that women consisted of over sixty percent of the total industrial labor force. Economic realities forced women to work in the factories. It is not like the women worked in the textile industry was a solution to the problem of women in the Japanese society; in fact, working in the industries were characterized by low wages and poor and dilapidated living conditions, and living like virtual prisoners. The women’s predicament was just the same but now under different circumstances. They were now allowed to work outside their homes but for low pays and were stacked in crowded and diseased dormitories. It is easy to call these working women as slaves or what we would call prisoners.

After the world war two, there was a little change in the position of women in the Japanese society. During that period, Japan was actively involved in the war, this led to millions of men joining the military. As a result, a vacuum was created and women had to fill the gap. With the absence of men in the industry to join the military, women started working on jobs were initially male dominated. For instance, women found themselves working steel mills, coal mines, and factories (Osawa, 1987). Since most husbands were gone to war, the women had it upon themselves to take care of their homes. The Japanese women were now in full control of their homes. The women were overburdened since they had to work hard and labor for basics such as food.

The wars lead to a massive transformation of Japan. In fact, several Japanese cities were bombed at the end of the Second World War. For instance, the raid on Tokyo left tens of thousands of people dead. Millions were left homeless and more than eighty thousand people injured. The mother of all bombings was the atomic bomb of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As a result, this left most of the Japanese citizens disillusioned by the Japanese military system, and another revolution ensued.

Since the 1950s, women in Japan have sought more personal satisfaction from their lives in the past few decades (OECD, 2012). According to statistics, very women in Japan expected to be happy. In fact, women in Japan view marriage as graveyard. They term it as a suffering place and a prison. There is a saying in Japan that goes: “marriage is a women’s grave.” For this reason, women take full advantage before engaging in marriage. They stay at home working and living with the family prior to marriage. Despite women wanting to take full advantage of their years prior to marriage, a woman who is unmarried to Japan is subject to ridicule and gossip. Being married elevates a woman’s status in the society. Once a Japanese woman is married, she finds herself in roles opposite of the perceived sex roles (Richie, 2012). The social structure marginalizes the female of the species. The Japanese culture perceives women as physically inferior to men and are also considered as emotional beings. As a results these myths and illusions attribute to the burden the society has placed upon the shoulders of women. Women are to be feminine and are thought by men to be like children rather than the adults they are. This leads to strict supervision of women and being kept in confined places. At a certain age, most Japanese women are supposed to be married and with children. A woman who goes beyond her prime and is unmarried is considered an outcast by the society at large. Women are seen in Japan as what might be considered as second sex. A man, will get a well-paying job and will establish the kind of life that he wants. On the contrary, a woman will get married and will become a helper to the man. She will help the man in his domestic life. Ideally, a typical “wife material” regardless of her career will be expected to cook for her husband, clean for him, keep his house clean, serve him, take good care of his relatives if any, and sleep with the husband and bear children. In fact, the Japanese society defines the role of a woman as the haha, thume, and stuma this loosely translated means that a woman is her father’s daughter, her husband’s wife, and her son’s mother (Roberson, 1995).  This is a clear indication that a woman, in all dimensions is the property of a man. Japanese women are not expected to participate in any other roles apart from shuttling between the kitchen and the bed (of a man).

Therefore the role of Japanese women in society will continue to evolve. Since women have already achieved a dominant position in matters concerning household, it is only a matter of time before women achieve public power (Fuess, 2004). It is no doubt that the current generation of Japanese women are victims of conflicting roles. More women are finding themselves in political and social roles initially meant for men. Women were given the right to vote in 1946; this made the women to be legally termed as shimin to mean citizen loosely. In real sense, women in Japan can now mingle freely in workplaces with men though the social construct still bars them.

Wemonomics

There have been uproar in the public domain that women in Japan have been barred from wearing sunglasses to work. The reason for banning the wearing of sun glasses by women is because: one, some retail chain retails reportedly said that glass wearing shop assistants gave a cold impression. Moreover, the social media has erupted with an uproar over dress practices and women in the workplace.  Feminists on social media went on to create a hashtag “glasses are forbidden”. Women not being allowed to wear glasses is one of the baseless ideologies the world has ever had. Some wear glasses due to doctor’s instructions. Among others, these are just the challenges women face in workplaces. However, womenomics has come into place to try and solve these kinds of problems.

Womenomics is a theory that advocates for the empowerment of women; the theory argues that women should access to equal participation in society and the economy for it to progress. The method first came into the limelight in 1999, as advocated by Kathy Matsui. In 2013, the Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo pledged to implement it as a policy (Chanlett-Avery & Nelson, 2014). For Japan, we must all agree that womenomics is a very viable policy.  Due to the historical setting of Japan, women have been considered as lesser beings and not worth any economic or political positions.

Over an extended period, the Japanese government has been confronted with economic stagnation, rapidly aging population, and strict immigration controls. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe launched an ambitious plan widely called Abenomics. It was aimed at restarting the dwindling Japan’s economy. Abe aimed at persuading more Japanese women to join the workforce, to remain in workforce long after they have had children and advance even higher on their career ladder. Among the high income countries, it is said that Japan has the highest gender gap. For this reason, some economists have argued that for Japan to grow economically, this gender gap must be narrowed (Chanlett-Avery & Nelson, 2014).  It is said that Japanese women have limited access to power and influence. Therefore, the government of the day seeks to address the raft by applying strategies and policies. Many praise the womenomics as a step in the right direction. In the same measure, womenomics, has had an equal share of criticism. Since its inception, only a few women have risen to power in Japan. Statistics show that 5.6 percent of Japan top managers are women. Some women are also not sure whether gender discrimination has been eliminated totally at workplaces. For instance, male colleagues still question the capability of female colleagues who are up for promotion. Many male colleagues are still intertwined in the traditional system and beliefs. Some say that Prime Minister Mr. Abe has little to say about gender equality or addressing Japan’s entrenched culture of sexual discrimination (Coleman, 2017). Women are encouraged to shine, but if the ground is not that favorable, their lights snuff out, and they dwindle into oblivion. If womenomics manages to improve the standing of some women in upper-level politics and management, there is a likelihood trickle-down feminism. Trickle-down feminism suggests that all the benefits provided at the top will trickle down to benefit the society (Cottom, 2012). Moreover, womenomics looks beyond the goal of boosting the productive and the reproductive labor power of women. The proposals are to place 30 per cent of women in top leadership position by 2020(Kano, 2018). Since the inception of various observations and comments have been made about the policy. Some feel that women should asked if they want to work or not. Other critics of womenomics hold the opinion that women are always quick to evade responsibility. Most women are happy with the status quo and do not need to be involved in management positions. For instance, Matsura Tamie when consulted about PWL, women will be happier than men when they occupy top leadership position. In his view, men should always be happy and men always want to enjoy life so the status quo of gender inequality should remain.

Today, men feel like they work too much while women still relax and enjoy life at home. Women are seen as crucial to the home while men to the society. However, to some men the home does not matter that much as the society does. More ultimate value is placed on the society making men more important than women. Moreover, Japan is afraid of losing her tradition and customs should feminist’s policies be carried out.

Conclusion

As we have seen, Japan has one of the most complicated histories in the world. The fight of women to conquer gender inequality has been in existence since time immemorial. Throughout the history of Japan, women have always been considered as a lesser being. The society of Japan has been profoundly patriarchal and disdainful against women. Therefore, the role of women in the community has majorly been restricted to the kitchen and home. Despite efforts by the government to empower women to get into the work force, traditions and customs still retrain women from working. The woman question in Japan is an issue of great contention. Most, people feel that some change in the status of women is inevitable if Japan wishes to keep up the pace it has set. Womenomics is an idea closely related to Japan’s Prime Minister Abe to ensure that the advancement of women and economic development. Abe intends to get more women to work and also get women to fill a 30 percent leadership position (Kano, 2018). The policy of womenomics is working to fix daycare shortages and encourage workplaces to be conducive. If workplaces are helpful, more women would be inclined to rejoin the workforce. Japan’s population keeps shrinking; therefore, women are encouraged to give birth and work at the same time take care of their children.

References

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[1] Confucian is also known as Ruism: It is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. It is characterized by a system of social and ethical philosophy other than religion. As a matter of fact, it built the classical foundation to establish social values, beliefs, ideas, institutions, and notions undertaken by ancient Chinese people.

[2] era existed in Japan between 1862 and 1912; it was under the great emperor Mutsuhito. History has it that he was the first Emperor of Japan to have wielded real political power in centuries. The meiji era marked the end of the Japanese system of feudalism. This reconstructed the social, economic, and military life in Japan.

[3] Abenomics refers to the economic policies advocated by Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe since the 2012 general elections. The policies are based on monetary easing, structural reforms, and fiscal stimulus.

[4] Feudalism is a type of Government where a weak monarchial emperor tries to control an area of land through agreements with wealthy landowners. Japan as a country was under a semi-feudal system of government.