Ryoko Kurihara

The Japanese Woman Suffrage Movement This analysis of the Japanese woman suffrage movement will focus on the period between 1931 and 1940. The main concern is to explore the ideas, strategies, and tactics of the most important woman suffrage organization, Fusen Kakutoku Domei (Woman Suffrage League of Japan), emphasizing the ideological aspects of the organization and the feminist ideas of its leaders, especially the most prominent and committed leader, Ichikawa Fusae. The history of the Woman Suffrage League of Japan moved from glory to defeat, restricted by the times and the political climate. I would like to explore the significance of the organization from the feminist point of view. Its position toward the Diet, its involvement in social reform activities and peace issues, and its link with proletarian women will be discussed. The woman suffrage movement was not only a political movement that aimed at political equality and women's political rights; it also contributed to the development of ideology in creating and developing a theory of feminism in prewar Japan.

General Historical Background of Japan 1868-1919 The Meiji period was the beginning of the modern era, but it was also the beginning of confusion. From its foundation, the Meiji government followed Western trends. While emphasizing the need to build a strong military government, the rulers appreciated the industrial and cultural aspects of Westernization. Women's status was one of their concerns, even though the government never seriously considered creating equality between the sexes. The patriarchal family system was preserved, and the strong tradition of Confucian ideology prevailed over the imported ideas of Western civilization. Early feminism in the 1870s came from the Enlightenment ideology based on justice and the humanitarian spirit of freedom and equality. The people who founded the Meirokusha (Meiji Six Society) in 1873 attacked the patriarchal family system and concubinage; however, they never questioned

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woman's sphere in the home. Therefore, their program toward women remained superficial and had only a short-lived impact on society. Some activists in the popular rights movement took up the issue of women and woman suffrage. Kishida Toshi and Fukuda Hideko were women activists in this movement. Ueki Emori, a male theorist and organizer of the popular rights movement, stressed the importance of the vote for women. His ideas derived from natural rights theory, based on human justice and individualism. He asserted that suffrage was not derived from the intellect and education of the people, but the status of the people as citizens. Therefore, he believed that equal suffrage would promote real equality and mutual respect between men and women. In the 1870s and 1880s, the government issued the Press and Newspaper Laws and the Law of Public Meeting and Association, which suppressed the popular rights movement. The government promulgated the City, Town, and Village Law in 1888, the Election Law of the House of Representatives in 1889, and the County and Prefecture Law in 1890. All of them restricted the right to vote to male citizens. In 1889 the Law of Public Meeting and Association prohibited women from attending political meetings, from being organizers of them, and from participating in political parties. The Meiji Constitution was promulgated in 1889, and in 1890 the Imperial Rescription on Education was enacted. In addition, the Meiji Civil Code was formulated in 1898, and both in name and reality the patriarchal system was completed. Finally in 1900 the government enacted the Personal Affairs Arbitration Law, banning all women's political activities. The woman suffrage movement in Japan started with the movement for revision of this law. In 1890 the members of the Women's Christian Temperance Union of Japan (WCTU) submitted written petitions to the ministry to revise the Law of Public Meeting and Association and also to revise the Election Law of the House of Representatives, demanding the right of women to attend the Diet session as observers. Although the significance of this petition as the first collective voice of women should not be denied, the petitions were colored with a humiliating tone based on the subservient idea that stressed women's domesticity and different gender role.2 On 9 August 1890 an editorial in Jogaku Zasshi (Women's Education) discussed the Law of Public Meeting and Association and commented that women should know politics and public affairs in order to help men and reduce men's anxiety, but that women's rights should be restricted to having a seat in meetings as observers. 3 It was apparent that even this radical magazine could not escape the framework of conservative morality of "good wife, wise

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mother." Its position was far behind the demand for woman suffrage. The ideas of the WCTU and of the editorial staff and contributors ofJogaku Zasshi were still within the framework of the patriarchal family system that stressed women's role as wives and mothers, not as individual human beings. In this sense, they were no challenge to the basic social and political structure of their time. The beginning of the twentieth century saw the emergence of a number of social problems, and as a result the labor and socialist movements appeared. In 1903, one year before the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, a group of socialists who opposed the government's war policy organized the Heiminsha (Commoners' Association). This organization combined its idea of feminism with socialism and created a unique feminist theory far ahead of its time. Kanno Suga and Fukuda Hideko were leading women activists of this association. Their idea of socialism exposed women's double oppression. By defining women as an oppressed class, it escaped the narrow definition built into the social and political framework of the time. Socialists reexamined women's oppression and broadened their view by situating feminist theory in the social and historical context. They not only demanded women's political rights but also exposed all aspects of women's oppression, especially women's double burden in the family. In 1905 socialist women in the Commoners' Association launched a campaign to revise the Personal Affairs Arbitration Law. After the association was disbanded, each year between 1907 and 1909 the members of the association continued to submit a petition. In 1909 only a small part of the law was changed. Although their campaign was not successful, this was an initial step for the realization of woman suffrage. In 1911 the Seitosha (Bluestocking Party) was organized by Hiratsuka Raicho and became the center of feminist agitation. Her well-known declaration, "In the beginning, woman was the sun," stimulated and awakened women's consciousness. 4 Even though her feminism stressed women's superiority and their special mission as mothers of the race, the women who participated in the Bluestocking Party did not bow to male power as "good wife, wise mother" advocates did, but openly confronted male tyranny. By so doing they developed a feminist consciousness and inevitably had to confront the political and social restrictions and the institutional oppression of women.

Shin Fujin Kyokai (Association of New Women) The founding of the Association of New Women in 1919 marked the start of a new political movement by women. It also meant the emergence of a

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women's political group that held the realization of woman suffrage as one of its goals. Half a century had already passed since the Meiji restoration in 1868. Originally, the purpose of the Association of New Women was not to gain woman suffrage but to elevate women's status in general. On 19 November 1919 Hiratsuka Raicho, Ichikawa Fusae, and Oku Mumeo issued a declaration of the founding of the Association of New Women, stating that many difficult problems remained unsolved in the male-dominated society and that by using women's instinct and feelings these problems would be solved. 5 Hiratsuka Raicho determined the association's theory and tactics, as she sought to elevate women's role and to participate in reforming society in cooperation with men. The immediate goal of the association was to revise Article 5 of the Personal Affairs Arbitration Law and to get passage of a law barfing men with syphilis from marrying. In petitioning for a law to bar men with syphilis from marrying, the association not only sought to protect women, but also stressed the moral significance of punishing men's licentious sexual behavior and of guaranteeing healthy offspring. 6 These were the acts of women who were awakening to their role as moral guardians under the humiliating conditions of the patriarchal family system. On 28 March 1920 the Association of New Women held a founding meeting and issued a declaration, its general principles, and a rule. These documents stressed the rights of women, mothers, and children. The third 7 article of the rule demanded the right to vote for women. Hiratsuka Raicho, one of the founders of the association, originally maintained that woman suffrage did not deserve the amount of sacrifice women had to make and emphasized that the ultimate purpose of the women's movement was to protect the rights of women as mothers and free choice in • 8 love and mamage. Later, however, she shifted her position and developed her argument about suffrage, emphasizing the utility of the ballot for social reform. 9 Historian Yoneda Sayoko argued that Hiratsuka's "motherhood ideology" was not the restatement of the old ideology of ryosai kenbo (good wife, wise mother), but instead implied the establishment of human rights and democracy.l° Nevertheless, at that time her overemphasis on the importance of family and the duty of mothers did not touch the issues of basic political and economic equality and could not be free from bourgeois sentimentalism. Ichikawa Fusae, another prominent figure in the association, thought that Hiratsuka's motherhood ideology had the potential danger of being used to justify and strengthen the patriarchal family. She explained later that during her work for women's rights she believed strongly that equality between the sexes should take

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precedence over ryosai kenbo.ll Ichikawa had the ability of practical, active leadership. She was the one who became the symbol of woman suffrage. Her goal was considered narrow, aiming only at the realization of women's political rights. However, she presented her own feminist idea that women's problems were not only women's but also men's, and that of society and the nation. Oku Mumeo, an important coworker with Hiratsuka and Ichikawa, understood and sympathized with women workers, criticized the abstract doctrine of socialism, and stressed that it was women themselves who could 12 save the present civilization that degraded them as well as men. The bill revising the Personal Affairs Arbitration Law finally passed the House of Councilors in 1921 at the Forty-fifth Diet. The Association of New Women finally broke up in 1922. In 1923, to unite the women's movement, the Woman Suffrage Alliance was formed. Ichikawa Fusae founded the League for the Realization of Woman Suffrage in December 1924. In 1925 it changed its name to the Woman Suffrage League of Japan and became the center of the woman suffrage movement. The Association of New Women aimed to elevate women's status beyond the issues of women's political fights. There was some controversy around the issue of the breakup of the association. Some argued that the association's bourgeois tendency, which did not have a political and social perspective, was the reason for the breakup. Others argued that the women's hysterical and noncooperative nature was at fault. Issues surrounding the breakup of the Association of New Women led to an examination of the controversy about the women's movement and feminist issues. Japanese feminism had been formed and developed through the rise and fall of the proletarian women's movements and the confrontation and cooperation between bourgeois and proletarian women's groups. Nevertheless, the Association of New Women played the important role of opening up discussion on women's issues. In spite of the small size of the organization, its impact on society was monumental.

Fusen Kakutoku Domei: The Formative Period 1924-1930 On 13 December 1924 the League for the Realization of Woman Suffrage held a general meeting and issued among other statements a declaration and a resolution. The resolution clearly showed that the purpose of the League was to bring about woman suffrage. In addition, it said that the League had a nonpartisan policy) 3 On 19 April 1925 the League changed its name to the Woman Suffrage League of Japan, and at the general meeting it issued a declaration and a resolution. The declaration stated that woman suffrage was

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a step toward solving women's problems, such as education, legal position, moral position, and so on. It also declared that suffrage was a means of promoting social happiness. In addition, the Woman Suffrage League of Japan reaffirmed its position of nonpartisanship.14 In 1925 Ichikawa Fusae wrote an article, "The Position of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the Women's Movement," in Fujin Koron (Women's Opinion). ~5In this article she put forward her argument for "women's rights," distinguished from the ideology of motherhood. She wrote that the women's movement and the women's social movement were completely different, and she maintained that the maternity protection movement was reactionary. Ichikawa asserted that the real mission of the women's movement was the so-called women's rights movement. Even though she emphasized women's political equality, she wrote that she did not think woman suffrage would solve everything, but she added that it could produce many positive by-products. As examples of the by-products, she mentioned unity between middle-class and working-class women, common interest among many ordinary women, and influence on the social reform movement after the realization of woman suffrage) 6 In May of 1925 the election law of the House of Representatives was passed, which established universal male suffrage. Ichikawa Fusae was encouraged by that and more committed than ever to universal suffrage including women. She exclaimed, "Fusen [male suffrage] is nothing without Fusen [woman suffrage]!" (In Japanese Fusen means both universal suffrage and woman suffrage.) After the realization of universal male suffrage, a number of proletarian parties were founded, despite strong opposition by the government. The Woman Suffrage League maintained some distance from these parties, although occasionally suffragists cooperated with proletarian women activists. Suffragists were attacked by proletarian party members because of their support for the bourgeois political parties and their activities, which aided the parliamentary political system. On the other hand, both suffragists and prolemilan women activists worked for social reform, especially after the Great Depression of 1929. They jointly organized the Fusen Kakutoku Kyodo Iinkai (Joint Committee of Woman Suffrage) to achieve women's three rights, including woman suffrage. Zen Nihon Fusen Taikai (National Meeting for Woman Suffrage) was cosponsored by the Woman Suffrage League and a proletarian women's organization after 1930. After 1929 woman suffrage became a practical issue in the political scene. Ichikawa Fusae called that period "a period of hope." The Great

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Depression, combined with other social problems, motivated many political leaders to consider woman suffrage. Particularly, two leading parties, Seiyukai and Minseito, became interested in woman suffrage as a remedy for the social and economic crisis. On 27 April 1930 the Woman Suffrage League held the Zen Nihon Fusen Taika, the first National Meeting for Woman Suffrage, which the committee of the League had planned a few years before, and the next day the sixth convention of the Woman Suffrage League was held. The League declared its intention to educate women politically and to make the suffrage movement more popular. They formally affirmed the rights of women and children, the unification of politics and kitchen, and their commitment to world peace and the purification of politics. They issued a statement saying that in order to make effective the utility of the ballot by women after the realization of woman suffrage, they would direct their efforts to arousing women's interest in and understanding of politics. ~7 One of the high points of the woman suffrage movement after 1930 was a controversy around the issue of women's municipal suffrage. In July 1930 there was an announcement that the government would present a restricted women's municipal suffrage bill to the following session of the Diet. The newspapers announced that the restricted bill would give women only the right to vote in the election of assemblymen of cities, towns, and villages and that only women thirty years of age and over would be eligible to vote. This announcement induced a heated debate. The Woman Suffrage League, in cooperation with two other women's organizations, issued a manifesto opposing the restrictions. Ichikawa wrote an article, "I Object to the Restricted Women's Municipal Suffrage Bill," in Fusen (Woman Suffrage), in which she argued that the restricted women's municipal suffrage would delay the realization of woman suffrage and destroy the movement. She wrote that she thought it would be more advantageous to acquire complete equal municipal suffrage even if they had to wait for a few more 18 years. Strong opposition to the bill came from the city mayors, backed by the House of Councilors. The Japan City Mayors' Council submitted an opposition statement, declaring that women's municipal suffrage was not suitable in the present situation of the nation. Ichikawa protested against the mayors" statement, saying that she did not think it would be a powerful force for rejection of the women's municipal suffrage bill. 19 She continued to argue that their position was antidemocratic and was derived from feudalistic attitudes toward women. Ichikawa declared that women should reject the old morality and

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family system and establish a new egalitarian family system by achieving municipal suffrage and the right to vote. 2° The government modified the bill in 1931, lowering the age of women eligible for municipal suffrage to twenty-five, while it was twenty for men. In addition, a wife needed her husband's consent to nan for political office. Also, women's municipal suffrage was restricted to cities, towns, and villages. The revised bill was passed by the House of Representatives, but not by the House of Councilors. At the following session of the Diet the restricted mtmicipal suffrage bill was again passed by the House of Representatives and not by the House of Councilors. The Woman Suffrage League was, however, rather satisfied with this negative result and on March 24 issued a statement calling for an unqualified municipal suffrage bill. Although historian Murakami Nobuhiko criticized the position of the Woman Suffrage League, the suffragists insisted upon complete equality and individual fights. Their position concerning women's municipal suffrage is understandable even though their idealism was not realized in the historical process. By opposing the restriction they challenged the patriarchal family system itself. Fusen Kakutoku Domei: The Period o f Decline 1931-1940 In September 1931 the Manchurian Incident took place. After that, the issue of women's municipal suffrage was never again taken up in the Diet sessions. By the reimposition of arrest and censorship of radicalism, women's fights and woman suffrage became a dead issue. Under conditions of military ascendancy over civil government, of prevailing totalitarianism, and of an antifeminist tendency, the women's movement was forced to change its course. In November 1931 Ichikawa Fusae published an article entitled "Woman Suffrage and International Peace." In this article she opposed militarism and voiced hope for the realization of world peace by the united efforts of women all over the world. 2~ She stressed women's duty to promote world peace. She wrote that women hated war and loved peace and that it was a common instinct of women all over the world and not just a feeling. She described women's special mission for world peace. This emphasis on women's special nature had not appeared in Ichikawa's arguments until the period of national crisis. It was effective in appealing to women's feelings as long as it stressed peace. However, gradually Ichikawa began to link women's participation in politics to national policy. This overemphasis on women's peace-loving nature and on motherhood easily meshed into the Japanese version of the ideology of "national motherhood" based on nationalism and prowar attitudes. This na-

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tional motherhood, based on bushido, was regarded as a key factor in the war and was deeply rooted in the worship of the imperial system, which was the symbol of Japanese patriarchy. In her article Ichikawa wrote that her aim was not woman suffrage itself; she believed that by using the ballot effectively women could achieve peace. 22 This idea had existed from the beginning of the movement and intensified in the face of the national crisis. In addition, this emphasis on the utility of the ballot also came from her belief in the growing possibility of achieving enfranchisement. In January 1932 the Musan Fujin Domei (Proletarian Women's Alliance) suggested organizing for cooperation with the suffragists. The Fusen Dantai Rengo Linkai (Joint Committee for Woman Suffrage) was formed. It was the second cooperative effort of proletarian women activists and women suffragists to get the fight to vote. However, the publication of the March 1932 issue of Fusen (Woman Suffrage) was banned because of its criticism of militarism. The government kept a watch on Ichikawa and checked all her writings and speeches. It became almost impossible for her to work on woman suffrage and women's political fights. Increasing military and totalitarian tendencies forced the women's movement to shift from political rights to social issues, especially issues about daily life. It was a backward step from the point of view of women's rights, equality, and individualism, although many former suffragists preferred to stress the positive aspects of women's social activities. The Woman Suffrage League devoted itself to improving women's daily lives. They paid special attention to the policies of municipal governments. The position of the Woman Suffrage League toward war and peace began to shift from antiwar to prowar. The shifting emphasis of the League can be seen in actions taken by the national meetings for woman suffrage. In March 1932 the third National Meeting for Woman Suffrage unanimously proclaimed its opposition to fascism. In February 1933, at the fourth National Meeting for Woman Suffrage, the women passed a resolution calling for military budget cuts and advocating international cooperation. Ichikawa insisted that strong international cooperation was necessary in order to achieve woman suffrage and to realize world peace, the ultimate purpose of their movement. 23 In March 1933, in the face of Japan's withdrawal from the League of Nations, Ichikawa argued: Peace-lovingwomen all over the world have supported the League of Nations. Japanese women were proud of Japan's being a member of the organization. Withdrawal from the League of Nations means the militaryexpansionof Japan, anticipating invasion from outside.24

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Ichikawa never lost faith in women's ability to act. She believed that by leading various kinds of social reform activities women could have a positive influence on national politics. In January 1934 Ichikawa wrote an article, "The Spirit of Woman's Vote," in Fusen. In it she said: We detest like poison the worship of the powerful. Whether it is a government policy or a position of a municipal government, we cannot tmcritically support it. If we always accept the policy of the government, it means that we do not need suffrage.25 She asserted that the movement should lead the public and that the meaning of the existence of the movement lay in its rejection of blind acceptance of government policy. She concluded: "We throw out our egotism and aim at the happiness of the people. This is the real spirit of the social movement. Let them say what they will, but if we have the spirit, we can go on. ''26 Ichikawa was one of the few who were still expressing their opinions. As she wrote in this article, she affirmed the important role of the movement in leading the public. The fifth National Meeting for Woman Suffrage was held in February 1934. Even though it continued to demand woman suffrage, the emphasis shifted toward social issues affecting women's lives. The Woman Suffrage League took up the issue of the protection of mothers and children. As one of its parliamentary activities, it sought the establishment of a maternity protection law. In 1934, after the fifth National Meeting for Woman Suffrage, the Boshi Hogoho Seitei Sokushin Fujin Renmei (Women's Alliance for the Passage of a Bill for the Protection of Mothers and Children) was founded. In the circumstances of national crisis, the rapid growth of suicide by women because of poverty and the death of their spouses, as well as trouble within families concerning military pensions, became social issues. Ichikawa related the maternal protection movement to the woman suffrage movement and argued that the purpose of the woman suffrage movement was to promote the happiness of women and children. 27 A t t h e sixth National Meeting for Woman Suffrage in February 1935, the following resolution was passed: Resolved: We strongly aff'u'mthe necessity to establish woman suffrage in light of the so-called "nationalcrisis" in 1935....Womencomposehalf of the population. It is an urgent necessity to give women power and make it possible for women to carry out their duties....We reject the national policy that neglects us, women.28

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In 1935 the government organized the Senkyo Shukusei Chuo Renmei (Joint Committee for Impartial Elections). To purify elections, the government asked for the joint efforts of the government and the people. Ichikawa accepted the invitation to join this committee. Although discussion of the issue of woman suffrage was prohibited in this organization, Ichikawa thought that her participation would have some positive effect on getting woman suffrage. However, ironically, her participation marked the In'st step in accepting the policy of the government. On 26 February 1936, the so-called "incident of February 26" happened, when members of the government were attacked by the military. Just after this incident Ichikawa expressed her hope for the maintenance of parliamentary politics and women's participation: It is necessaryto reformthe presentsituationin general.It is a basic requirement to provide a securelife for the people,includingwomenand children.In order to realize this, we shouldrejectfascismand its policy.We shouldestablish peaceful parliamentarygovernmentbased on the consent of the people. This is our hope from the women'sstandpoint,ratherthan a theoreticalassertion. Thishope makes us cry out for our participationin politics.29 The seventh National Meeting for Woman Suffrage was held in 1937. This was the last meeting. There the suffragists reaffirmed the necessity for women's participation in politics. As the international crisis intensified, woman suffrage was no longer a practical issue. The suffragists could no longer carry on their agitation for world peace. The women's rights movement, represented by the activities of the Woman Suffrage League, could not expand women's roles in society. In March 1937 the Boshi Hogoho (Bill for the Protection of Mothers and Children) was passed by the Diet. It assured protection for a mother and her children upon the death of her husband or if he deserted her. In September 1937 the Nihon Fujin Dantai Renmei (Japan Woman's Alliance) was founded, in which a number of women's organizations participated. Ichikawa Fusae became secretary of this organization. It meant that Ichikawa was now officially participating in the government's policy. She tried to show women's abilities and achievements. For her, it was a step in achieving women's political rights. The Japan Woman's Alliance declared its commitment to helping the war effort and to cooperating with the government, stating that the organization was formed to back up the fighting forces under the government's national mobilization policy. 3° In 1937 the Kokumin Seishin Sodoin (National Spiritual Mobilization)

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policy was declared by the government. The mobilization movement was ideological as well as economic. It imposed on the people patriotic, militaristic, authoritarian, and patriarchal principles. Women's organizations were forced to support this policy. In October 1937 Ichikawa stressed the importance of this policy and urged women to support it. She wrote that it went without saying that the mobilization policy was necessary in order to overcome the nation's serious crisis. 31 In November the Women's Convention for the National Spiritual Mobilization was held, sponsored by a number of women's organizations. Its resolution included a statement of women's duty to provide for the security of the family and the construction of the nation through endurance. In December the government appointed Ichikawa to be one of the members of the newly formed Family Action Committee. In January 1938 she wrote an article entitled "Recognition of the Woman Suffrage Movement" in Josei Tembo (Women's View). 32 In it she continuously emphasized the utility of the ballot, saying that the reason for the demand for woman suffrage was to acquire the means for the speedy and secure solution of their problems rather than to get the right to vote itself. However, here she combined the welfare of the family and the benefit to the nation and created the idea that women's responsibilities were to help the nation. Furthermore, she urged united effort by women's organizations, including the government-sponsored conservative organizations. She wrote that women showed their responsibility for their nation by participating in the national mobilization policy of the government. She concluded that her patriotism as a Japanese citizen would lead her to willingly participate in this policy. 33 In February 1938 she wrote an article entitled "To Unite the Women's Organizations" in Josei Tembo, suggesting that all the women's organizations should be merged into one. 34 Also in February 1938 the Fujin Jikyoku Kenkyukai (Women's Organization to Study the Crisis) was established. It decided to make contact with the government. At its meeting that year members declared women's obligation to defense of the home front and to economization in daily life; in addition, 35 they stated their appreciation for the efforts of the Emperor's army. In March 1939 the Jinji Choteiho (Law of Conciliation in Personal Matters) passed the Diet. It provided aid for war widows and aimed at solving family problems caused by the pressure of insecure conditions. The passage of the bill, in addition to the passage of the Boshi Hogo bill in 1937, were two of the few significant accomplishments of the prewar women's movement. These bills were supported by feminists as well as nonfeminist conservatives. Although the positive aspects of these bills cannot be denied, they did not

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actively promote women's rights. Rather, the legislation treated women as passive creatures, helping the "helpless" and supporting the patriarchal family system as the basis of the nation. A former suffragist, Kodama Katsuko, wrote that the bills were supported by the House of Councilors because they were believed to maintain the family system and good morals and manners. 36 Historian Ishizuki Shizue argued that the bills were based on the ideology of family stability and not aimed at promoting women's working conditions and women's right t o w o r k . 37 The ideology of the protection of motherhood in time of war was closely related to the government's population policy, which regarded women as producers of soldiers. Women were encouraged to bear children and motherhood became their destiny. A fertility campaign was undertaken, and the government justified invasion of foreign territories because of Japan's population pressure, even though these policies were contradictory. It is interesting to note that birth control clinics were forced to close when the Boshi Hogoho was established. The movement for the protection of motherhood before the end of the war overemphasized the importance of motherhood. Even the feminists argued that the significance of women's existence lay in motherhood. They no longer recognized that a woman should have rights as a person before she is a mother. In a sense this ideology contributed to the establishment of nationalism. In May of 1939 the Woman Suffrage League held its fifteenth general meeting. The resolutions called for women's participation in national policy and efforts to expand the National Spiritual Mobilization movement. The issues of woman suffrage and other women's political fights disappeared from the resolutions. In December of that year the Woman Suffrage League established the Fujin Mondai Kenkyu Jo (Center for Studying Women's Issues), whose main activity was to collect materials concerning woman suffrage and other women's issues. The Woman Suffrage League of Japan published the English-language newspaper Japanese Women from 1938 to 1940. It was distributed to foreign countries to introduce Japanese women's issues. The paper stressed the united efforts of women, strongly asserted women's rights, and referred to international cooperation and the hope for peace. The uniqueness of this paper was the writers" sincere expression of their idealism even during the time of crisis. In the issue of January 1940 Ichikawa expressed her hope that the government-sponsored women's organizations would be free from male control and directed by women.3s She argued further that women should have an

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understanding of international politics and should use their abilities to influence present policies. 39 Ichikawa was consistent in her advocacy of women's participation in politics. However, she had a vague fear that women might be manipulated and would not change the policy of the government even when they participated in the controlling system. A majority of the women who served as members of the three government-sponsored women's organizations had no background in national politics nor knowledge of feminist issues. In January 1940 the Committee of Spiritual Mobilization issued a declaration which included the statement that the people should recognize the significance of the construction of Greater East Asia. This had been a subject of conflict within the government and the military from the beginning of the war. Ichikawa supported the opinion of the moderates, who opposed the escalation of the war. Her mistake was that she insisted on a peaceful solution without demanding the complete withdrawal of Japanese military forces from China. Even though she longed for peace, she apparently endorsed the Japanese occupation and the puppet government in Manchuria. In 1940 Japan celebrated the 2,600th year of the imperial reign. On this occasion Ichikawa praised the anniversary and demanded that all women be united and many women leaders be born. In the May 1940 issue of Japanese Women she wrote about her visit to China and asserted the necessity for cooperation between Japanese and Chinese women and asked help from American women for international peace. Nevertheless, she could not oppose the government's policy on China, nor could she criticize the enforced prostitution practiced by the Japanese military. In 1938 the Woman Suffrage League officially changed its position from antiwar to prowar. The history of the League illustrates the process of the decline of the feminism which had originally motivated the movement and the defeat of the movement itself. On 22 September 1940, at the general meeting of the Woman Suffrage League, it was decided to dissolve the League, mainly because of the difficulty in continuing suffrage activities. Oku Mumeo criticized the dissolution of the League, saying that the League had lost its purpose of getting women's rights and had become the propaganda organ of governmental policy.4° In October a new government organization was established, called the Taisei Yokusan Kai (Imperial Rule Assistance Association). In the November issue ofJosei Tembo Ichikawa Fusae criticized this organization for having no women committee members. However, while stressing the importance of women's roles, she never challenged the wartime policy of the government that affected women's lives.

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In January 1941, in the lead article in Josei Tembo, Ichikawa emphasized the significance of the war effort: We should make every effort to construct the new order of Greater East Asia. On the other hand, with the help of other nations, we should fight against the political power of Chiang Chieh-shin, who pursues an anti-Japanese policy. In order to pursue our aim, we should cooperate with Chinese women.41 In February she wrote that war between Japan and the United States was unavoidable. 42 In June, in an article entitled "Women's Conference of the Axis Powers and the Representatives of Japanese Women," Ichikawa expressed appreciation for the German system, Nazism, and its women's organization: In Germany the system and the people are controlled by the new philosophy of Nazism, and they have carried out remarkable activities. We have to learn about this system and its activities. In order to have a close relationship with its leaders, we should grasp clearly the philosophy of totalitarianism.43 In March of 1941 Fujin Jikyoku Kenk-yu Kai (Women's Organization to Study the Crisis) held a meeting and submitted a petition to the government to unite the women's organizations. Ichikawa's ideal lay in a single women's organization in which all women would participate. In June 1941 the Japan Women's Patriotic Association, the Japan Joint Women's Organization, and the Women's Defense Organization jointly issued an official statement uniting their organizations. In February 1942 all the women's organizations were merged into one, the Dai Nihon Fujin Kai (Greater Japan Women's Association). Ichikawa Fusae became a committee member of this association. Ichikawa was appointed one of the members of the Tokyo branch of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association in 1941. Ichikawa's participation in the Dai Nippon Genron Hokoku Kai (Greater Japan Speech Patriotic Association) in December 1942, as the only woman member of the committee, reinforced her cooperation with the government. Even though she still had a little hope for women to participate in government policy making, it was apparent that her participation only resulted in collaboration with fascism. In 1943 Prime Minister Tojo declared that Japanese women should stay in the home and serve the nation as wives and mothers, adding that they should preserve the beauty of the traditional Japanese family system. On that occasion Ichikawa and other women activists undertook a study of the disadvantages of the preservation of the traditional family system, which the prime minister was trying to reinforce. They carefully analyzed the system's disadvantageous influence on women's wages and women's status in society. They disagreed

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with the position of the prime minister, who rejected w o m e n ' s right to work outside the h o m e in order to strengthen the patriarchal family system. They opposed the preservation of patriarchy and the absolute authority of male heads of household. However, they supported preserving the family itself as an important unit of the nation. In short, they had their o w n vision of a liberal and egalitarian system o f marriage and family. They reached the conclusion that w o m e n should participate in productive work, take up hammers and guns in order to reorganize the family unit. In July 1943 Ichikawa published Senji Fujin Tokuhon (Wartime Women's Reader). In the chapter entitled "Women and the Nation" she endorsed the fertility campaign: To bear and raise children are not the private matters of mothers or families. They are public and national matters. Women feel proud of this policy and praise it. In order to pursue this requirement from the government women should be conscious of their role as mothers of the race and should bear and raise a superior Japanese race. This is the service only women can do and the most important thing they can do. 44

F r o m these words we can recognize that Ichikawa had uncritically internalized the ideology o f "national motherhood," which strengthened the traditional family system itself. After Josei Tembo ceased publication, we can fired her words in the reports of Fuj in Mondai K e n k y u Jo (Center for Studying Women's Issues). In these reports she wrote that women should be more strongly organized to support the present war effort. Opposing the government policy that w o m e n ' s participation in the work place would destroy family stability, she endorsed w o m e n ' s participation in the work force: I regret that men in the government and in every social stratum still have a feudalistic idea about women. Women's work is necessary for the nation in order to reinforce production. Why not support it?45 At that time, however, unmarried w o m e n were being recruited to produce war material. Therefore, in a sense encouraging w o m e n ' s participation meant supporting the war effort. Women's participation didn't actually mean w o m e n ' s emancipation. Ichikawa demanded w o m e n ' s participation from a government that never considered w o m e n ' s emancipation. She wrote: I think that I should stand firm and serve the nation to the end. Now, in the face of this crisis, as a woman who led the women's movement, I am wondering which way I should take in order to serve the nation.46

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Ichikawa's nationalism is clearly shown in these words. Her mistake was that she placed nationalism above feminism and pacifism.

Conclusion: F e m i n i s m vs. N a t i o n a l i s m Some historians have criticized the women's movement and claimed that nothing important was accomplished by the prewar woman suffrage movement. Others have emphasized the bourgeois tendency of the movement. It is true that in the circumstances of war the Woman Suffrage League could not stand up against the power of the nation. However, the League had a broad perspective and tried to unite with other women's organizations, especially with proletarian women's groups. The difference was their ideological emphasis on women's issues. The League maintained that women's fights was their primary focus, while the proletarian organizations emphasized social revolution. The League's decision to work within the parliamentary system was a weak point that would easily be exploited by the power of the government. On the other hand, not distracted by ideals of social revolution and class issues, the suffragists strongly expressed women's rights. Until disbanded in 1940, the Woman Suffrage League challenged male power and stood for women's rights. It worked for social reform, and the establishment of the maternal protection law was one result of its efforts. Its opposition to the governmentsponsored women's organizations and its insistence on women's independence from these organizations also characterized its feminist position. In addition, its active participation in the international women's movement was important to show its interest in worldwide women's issues. Its belief in a feminism of a united women's power that could change politics and its strong desire for peace remained unchanged around 1938 despite the pressure of the outside world. However, the weakness of the Woman Suffrage League and its leaders lay in their theory of feminism. In a period when liberalism and radicalism were being suppressed, Ichikawa put too much stress on women's participation in politics. She had no alternative but to cooperate with the government. Being a representative of the government organizations, she tried to symbolize women's ability and hoped that women would be acknowledged as equal by the government. On the other hand, she accepted the home front defense activities of the government-oriented women's organizations only because they gave women a chance to work outside the home. Feminism aims at sex equality which ensures equal participation in every aspect of our lives. To Ichikawa and other suffrage leaders, women's participation became a contradictory idea of global justice. They restricted them-

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selves to participation in one small government that did not intend to give women any political rights. However, it is doubtful that their feminism would have attracted many ordinary women if they had persisted in appealing for women's political fights. Without support from masses of women they would be able to do almost nothing. The government's propaganda on family stability and women's role in the home raised women's consciousness more than any arguments on women's rights and feminism. In the face of the rise of nationalism, women's solidarity for egalitarianism had little meaning. The end of the woman suffrage movement before World War II was the end of the era of freedom. The woman suffrage movement was the last expression of women for freedom and humanity in prewar Japan. During the war the parliamentary system existed in name only. The suffragists could not continue their parliamentary activities as a tactic to secure women's rights. Nevertheless, there might have been some alternatives by continuing their activities outside the Diet in order to raise women's status. Ichikawa Fusae should not have accepted positions in the government-sponsored organizations. She should have worked as a free citizen and as a feminist leader. Her case suggests to us the danger for feminists of allowing themselves and their feminist objectives to be coopted by existing governments. The prewar Japanese woman suffrage movement lacked this theoretical insight into feminism. Notes 1. Ueki Emori, "Equality Between the Sexes," Doyo Shinbun no. 1701-1736, July 17-August 26, 1988; Articles on the Family System by Ueki Emori, ed. Sotozaki Mitsuhiro, Kochi Public Library, May 1957; Nihon Fujin Mondai Shiryo Shusei, no. 8, Theory Domesu Shuppan, 1976, p. 101. 2. Women's Christian Temperance Union, "A Petition Against the Prohibition of Women to Attend the Diet Session," The Record of the Tenth Anniversary of Woman Suffrage, September 1959, Shiryo Shusei no. 2, Politics, Domesu Shuppan, 1977, p. 126. 3. "Women's Right to Attend Political Meeting as Observers." An Editorial of Jogaku Zasshi, no. 225, 9 August 1890, Shiryo Shusei, no. 2, p. 136. 4. Hiratsuka Raicho, "In the Beginning Woman Was the Sun," Seito, vol. 1, no. 1, Seitosha, 15 February 1907, Hiratsuka Raicho Chosaku shu, no. 1, p. 14. 5. "A Declaration of Foundation of the Association of New Women, 24 November 1919," Shiryo Shusei, no. 2, Politics, 1977, pp. 152-53. 6. "A Petition to Bar Men With Syphilis from Marrying, 7 February 1920," Josei Domei, no. 13, 1 January 1922, p. 4. 7. "A Declaration, General Principles, and a Rule of the Association of New Women, 28 March 1920," Josei Domei, no. 1, The Association of New Women, 10 October 1920. 8. Hiratsuka Raicho, "Woman Suffrage Issue in Japan," Chugai, April 1919, Chosaku shu, vol. 3, p. 56.

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9. Hiratsuka Raieho, "Women's Duty for Social Reform," dosei Domei, no. 2, October 1920, pp. 2-11, Chosaku shu, vol 3, pp. 164-65. 10. Yoneda Sayoko, "Motherhood Ideology and its Historical Significance: Hiratsuka Raicho in the Time of Fujin Sensen," The Japanese Women's History, no. 5. Tokyo University Press, 1982, p. 116. 11. Ichikawa Fnsae, An Autobiography, p. 68. 12. Oku Mumeo, "The Present Politics and Women's Demand," Josei Domei, no. 6, 7 March 1921, pp. 2-5. 13. "Declaration and Rules of the League for the Realization of Woman Suffrage," 13 December 1924, Shiryo Shusei, no. 2, pp. 237-39. 14. "Declaration and Rules of the Woman Suffrage l.e.ague," 19 April 1925, Shiryo Shusei, no. 2, pp. 254-56. 15. Ichikawa Fusae, "The Position of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the Women's Movement," Fujin Koron, vol. 10, no. 3, Chuokoronsha, March 1925, Shiryo Shusei, no. 8, pp. 162-66. 16. Ibid., p. 165. 17. "The Declaration Resolved at the Sixth Meeting of the General Meeting of the Woman Suffrage League,~ 28 April 1930, Shiryo Shusei, no. 2, p. 341. 18. Ichikawa Fusae, "I Object to the Restricted Women's Municipal Suffrage Bill," Fusen, vol. 4, no. 8, August 1930, pp. 4-8. 19. Ichikawa Fusae, "I Reject the Opposition by the Japan City Mayors" Council Against the Women's Municipal Suffrage Bill," Fusen, vol. 4, no. 12, December 1930, pp. 6-9. 20. Ibid., pp. 8-9. 21. Ichikawa Fusae, "Woman Suffrage and International Peace," Fusen vol. 5, no. 11, November 1931, pp. 2-3. 22. Ibid. 23. Ichikawa Fusae, "International Perspective of the Woman Suffrage Movement," Fusen, vol. 7, no. 6, June 1933, pp. 4-5. 24. Ichikawa Fusae, "Withdrawal from the League of Nations and Japan's Future," Fusen, vol. 7, no. 3, March 1933, pp. 4-5. 25. Ichikawa Fusae, "The Spirit of Woman Suffrage," Fusen, vol. 8, no. 2, January 1934, p. 54. 26. Ibid., p. 55 27. Ichikawa Fusae, "Woman Suffrage and the Movement for Protection of Motherhood," Fusen, vol. 8, no. 8, August 1934, p. 4. 28. "Resolution of the Sixth National Meeting for Woman Suffrage," Fusen, vol. 9, no. 2, February 1935, pp. 16-17. 29. Ichikawa Fusae, "My Page: The Incident of February 26," Josei Tembo, vol. 10, no. 4, April 1936, p. 13. 30. "The Foundation of the Japan Women's Alliance," 28 September 1937, Shiryo Shusei, no. 2, pp. 497-99. 31. Ichikawa Fusae, "The National Mobilization and Women," Josei Tembo, vol. I 1, no. 10, October 1937, p. 2. 32. Ichikawa Fusae, "Recognition of the Woman Suffrage Movement," Josei Tembo, vol. 12, no. 1, January 1937, pp. 2-3. 33. Ibid. 34. Ichikawa Fusae, "To Unite the Women's Organizations," Josei Tembo, vol. 12, no. 2, February 1938, pp. 2-3. 35. "Resolution of the Women's Organization to Study the Crisis," 13 March 1938, Shiryo Shusei, no. 2, pp. 503-504.

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36. Kodama Katsuko, History of the Woman Suffrage Movement, Domesu Shuppan, 1981, p. 286. 37. Ishizuki Shizue, "The Proletarian Women's Movement in the 1930s," Japanese Women's History 5, p. 222. 38. Ichikawa Fume, "Problems Confronting the Women's Movement Today," Japanese Women, vol. 3, no. 1, January 1940. 39. Ibid. 40. Oku Mumeo, Fujin Undo, 1 September 1940. 41. Ichikawa Fusae, "Editorial Note," Josei Tembo, vol. 15, no. 1, January 1941, pp. 2--3.

42. Ichikawa Fume, "Editorial Note," Josei Tembo, vol. 15, no. 2, February 1941, pp. 2-3. 43. Ichikawa Fusae, *Women's Conference of the Axis Powers and the Representatives of Japanese Women,'Josei Tembo, vol. 15, no. 6, June 1941, pp. 2-3. 44. Ichikawa Fusae, "Women and the Nation," Senji Fujin Tokuhon, July 1943, p. 10. 45. Iehikawa Fume, Fujin Mondai Kenkyujoh'fi, no. 6, 30 October 1943. 46. Ichikawa Fusae, Fujin Mondai Kenkyujoh3, no. 8, 29 February 1944.

BREAKING FORMS f e a t u r i n g i n t e r v i e w s w i t h Paula G u n n Allen a n d N a n c y Spero, e s s a y s b y C a n a d i a n w r i t e r s Marlene N o u r b e s e P h i l i p a n d Lee Maracle, a c r i t i q u e