Beyond Invisible Motherhood: How Women Make Decisions
UN/
BEYOND IIrI\IISIBLE MOTHERHOOD: HOW WOMEN MAKE DECISIONS NOT TO TIAVE CHILDREN WITHIN THE PREVAILING UNDERSTA\IDINGS OF CHILDLESSNESS IN JAPA\T
Yuko NAKAMURA
A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts
Gender Studies
School of Social Sciences
UniversitY ofAdelaide
January 2OO7 Table of Contents
Table of Contents tr
List of Illustrations VI
Abstract UI
Declaration vt[
Acknowledgments x
Introduction Not childless but childfree 1
Chapter 1 Historical and political context of motherhood in Japan t2
1.1 Japanese laws governing reproduction 13 1.1.1 The pre-World War II L.I.z After World War II I.2 Movements against the Iegislation 19 I.z.L Pre-World War II 1.2.2 After World War II 1.3 Construction of the myth of three years old 25 1.3.1 Popularization of the myth of three years old 1.4 The contemporary conservative discourse on motherhood 29 1.4.L The importance of motherhood 1.4.2 Motherhood and maternal love is a universal instinct L.4.3 Feminist misunderstanding of motherhood I.4.4 The reinstatement and protection of motherhood.
II Chapter 2 Japanese Feminist understanding of motherhood and childftee women 39
2.L "Maternalprotection debate" (fSf0 - 1919) 39 2.LJ Hiratsuka's argument 2.1.2 Yosano's argument 2.L.3 Yamakawa's argument 2.2 Ribu: second wave feminism in 1970s 50 2.2.7 A mother or a toilet 2.2.2 Infanticide and maternal love 2.2.3 Message from a daughter to a mother 2.3 "Ecological feminism debate" in 1985 59 2.3.L Ecological feminism 2.3.2 Can women save the world? 2.4 Feminist analysis of childfree women in 1992 62 2.4.I Is motherhood women's medal? 2.4.2 Lessons Ohinata draws from childfree women's experiences
Chapter 3 Method: how the study \ilas conducted 67
3.1 Selecting narratives and interviewees 68 3.1.1 Selecting the narratives 3.1.2 Selecting the interviewees 3.2 Conducting the interviews 70 3.2.1 Semi-structured in'depth interview 3.2.2 How I started the interviews 3.3 Analysing the narratives and interviews 73 3.3.1 Content analysis for the narratives 3.3.2 Listening to silences: writing women's stories
Chapter 4 Childfree women and men in the narratives 76
4.1 Women's reasons for being childfree 77 4.Il Parenting is difficult
lll 4.I.2 Children limit one's lifestyle 4.L.3 Childbirth and childrearing is not a valuable experience in life 4.L.4 The value of the man-woman relationship 4.I.5 No desire to have own children 4.1.6 Rejection of motherhood 4.L.7 No choice 4.2 Women's certainty about making the decision to be childfree 95 4.2.I Women who were uncertain 4.2.2 Women who were confident 4.2.3 Women who were less confident 4.3 Discussion concerning children between couple 98 4.3.L Not much discussion and no agreement 4.3.2 Never discussed but agreed 4.3.3 Discussion with agreement or disagreement 4.4 Experiences of being childfree 104 4.4.I Old age 4.4.2 Critique for being childfree 4.5 Japanese childfree men's accounts 106 4.51 Parenting is difñcult 4.5.2 Desire to keep freedom 4.5.g Having/not having children is women's decision or condition 4.6.4 Do not want to repeat parent'child relationship 4.6 Certainty and discussion with wife/partner 116 4.6.1 Certainty 4.6.2 Discussion with wife/partner 4.7 Men's experiences of being childfree r20 4.7.1 Old age 4.7.2 Critique for being childfree
Chapter 5 Voices and. silences from childfree women in the interviews 124
5.1 Independence, equality and partnership: short biographies t25 5.1.1 Rieko 6.L.2 Akemi 5.1.3 Yumi
lV 5.I.4 Ritsuko 5.1.5 Neko Oikawa 5.1.6 Yoshimi 5.L.7 Haruko 5.1.8 Kaori 5.1.9 Kayoko 5.1.10 Ayako 5.1.11 Akira 5.2 Reasons for not having children 164 5.2.L Parenting is diffrcult: prioritized work 5.2.2 The social diffi,culties of childrearing 5.2.3 No desire to have own children 5.2.4 Negative influence of the mother 5.2.6 Cannot be a "good enough" mother 5.2.6 Fear or disgust of pregnancy and childbirth 5.2.7 Those with "no choice" to have children 5.3 Awareness of gender relations 180 5.3.1 Rejection of gender inequality 5.4 Individualism rather than being a wife/mother 191 5.4.I Human being rather than gendered being 5.4.2 Creating identity through career 5.4.3 Alternative womanhood other than motherhood 5.5 Mutual agreement 198 5.5.1 Resolving the ambivalence concerning childfree decision
Chapter 6 Conclusion: the challenge of childfree women to motherhood in Japan 2O4
Appendix 1 2tr
Appendix 2 2r3
Appendix 3 2t6
References 2t8
v List of Illustrations
Figures
1 Average number of children according to couple's marriage period 4 2 The number of children desired by married couples, single men and single women 5 3 Number of abortion and abortions per 1,000 tilomen 13
4 Birth number and total fertility rate 18
Tables
1 Married and unmarried women's contraception in 2000 T4 2 Wife's unemployment rate according to the youngest child's age and family structure 26 3 Women's reasons and certainty concerning their childfree decision 78
4 Discussion between couple about childfree decision 99 5 Women's reasons for being childfree: interviews and narratives compared 155 6 Gender gap in domestic duties: who does different domestic duties in Japan 181 7 International comparison of responsibilities for household tasks r82
8 International comparison of time spent in childcare 183
v1 Abstract
Although motherhood is believed to be an essential role for Japanese women, a growing minority of women are choosing to be childfoee. This thesis explores why Japanese women choose not to have children, given the strong pronatalist discourse on motherhood. Childfree women's voices are rarely heard in society and the subject is also absent from Japanese feminism.
A qualitative-interpretive study of existing narratives was undertaken to record the reasons, experiences and meaning of being childfree in Japanese society from women's perspectives. Women in narratives identified the difficulty of combining work and family as the main reason they were childfree.
A semi'structured interview method was also employed to collect and analyze t}lLe stories of ten women and one man who have chosen not to have children. Some of the themes which emerged from the interviews were unexpected. One major reason women choose not to have children is that they reject gender inequality. They described that, once a woman has a child, gender/sex role assignment comes into her relationship with her husband"/partner: the husband/father becomes a breadwinner and the wife/mother is responsible for domestic work including childrearing. Furthermore, women, reflecting on their own mothers' experiences, felt that mothers are expected to take care of not only children but also in-laws and relatives. The other major reason for women choosing to be childfree is that they value their individual fulfillment above the social role of wife/mother. For example, women stated that they would like to be human beings or they stressed their identity in terms of their careers, and discussed how they were creating their own subjectivity through a profession. The women's stories also indicated that there is insufficient social support for childrearing, despite feminists demanding it. The childfoee women in this study resolve the problem by not having children. Thus they seek to keep an equal relationship with their husbands/partners. Furthermore, these women are challenging the stereotype of Japanese femininity to create their own identity beyond motherhood.
vrl Declaration
This work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or d.iploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text.
I give consent to this copy of my thesis, when deposited in the University
Library, being available for loan and photocopying.
Signed: Date: 2L J*r¿.2æ7
v111 Acknowledgements
Firstly, I wish to express my gratitude to my interviewees: Akemi, Ayako,
Haruko, Kaori, Kayoko, Neko oikawa, Rieko, Ritsuko, Yoshimi, Yumi and Akira. This thesis is made up from those interviewees' rich stories. Without their cooperation, it would have been impossible for me to write about childfree \ñ/omen.
Thank you very much to my supervisors Chilla Bulbeck and Margie Ripper.
They have been supporting and encouraging me since I came to Adelaide, and I could never have completed this project without them. Kate Cadman also has been very supportive. Furthermore, I would like to acknowledge Thalia, Margaret, Lareen, Jane, Celia, Patricia, Christina, Seki-san,
Akaishi-san, Yuji-kun and Stuart for their assistance. Thank you to ChiIIa,
Margie, Kate, Caroline, Rosemary, stuart, Jo,Roz, Jessi, Anne, clair, Edith,
Toni, Patricia, Josh, Mitchell and. Asha who kindly edited the thesis and
made grammatical corrections in various drafts.
I wish to express my gratitud.e to my friends: Mayu-chan, Taku, Mami-chan, Junji, Young, Hisashi'san, KarI, Raphael, Arahata-san, Masayo-san, Harumi-chan, Doreen, Jen, Yasu-san, Dan, Brian, Dawn and Ben.
Especially, I would like to thankYoung-Hee Chan for her friendship.
1X I also wish to acknowledge my teacher and friend: Azusa Shinohara who has been giving me accurate advice for my study and direction. Aiko-san has been send.ing me delightful messages from North America. Yamaguchi-san has been listening to my experiences carefully. My special thank you to
Makoto Hosoya and. Hiroyuki Nishino for their practical advice as weII as moral support. They have been with me through this journey despite distance.
Finally, I thank my family who has been supporting, accepting and trusting of me. Wherever I go and whatever I do, I have been with them' Moreover,
I wish to express appreciation to my grandmother and great'grand aunt who went to another world during this journey. I believe they guided me to start this study without any words. They told. me that there is rich life whether one has a child or not.
x Introduction Not childless but childfree
"Women 'child-free,' not childless - As men sing the joys of parenthood, women increasingly opt out" (Phillimore ín The Japan Times 10 May, 200ù.
I found. this article when I was taking an English course after arriving in Adelaide. Everyone in the class was required to bring any article for reading. The author of the article Jane Phillimore, reported that an increasing number of women in developed countries such as the United
States, Germany and. Italy are choosing not to have children. As the headline expresses these women are not "childless" but "childfree," the article is positive about women's choice.
Within Japanese society there is a belief that it is natural for women to have children once they are married and. it is understood to be their primary role.
This is demonstrated by the way in which the question "Do you have a child?" is commonly asked of women as if it is a kind of greeting. Moreover, there is a belief in Japanese society that "A woman is fully'fletlged when she has a child." Especially in the past, a woman's status within her husband's family d.epended on whether she had a chilct. If she did not have a child she
was understood by the other members of the family to be useless and called
"stone woman." Thus there was also a proverb that "A lvomen who did not
have a child within three years of marriage, she has to leave the husbands
1 family." Consequently, Japanese women are still influenced by these perspectives on motherhood to some extent. For example, women continue to experience pressure to have children and this is demonstrated by the way in which it is usually women, and not Japanese men, who are subjected to infertility treatments (Finrrage 2000: 31). In these contexts, motherhood is an integral part of self-identity for many Japanese women. Therefore, in this study I aim to erçlore the subjective identities of Japanese women who reject dominant social pressures by focusing on women who choose not to have children.
In 2005, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced that the total fertility rate in Japan was 1.25. This is the lowest rate on record since the end of World War IL The Japanese Government has been attempting to increase the total fertility rate by improving day-care services, creating family friendly workplaces that encourage employees to take childcare leave an¿ eldercare leave as well as by attempting to promote the involvement of fathers in childrearing (Roberts 2OO2i 61, 63, 65). The Government's attempt to increase the total fertility rate through such measures is hoping to avoid a future weakening of national power and the future bankruptcy of the national pension system, which may result if the declining total fertility rate continucs.
The mass med.ia in Japan frequently report issues associated with the
d,eclining total fertility rate. In March 2003, three articles about childfree
2 couples were published in the national Japanese newspapeg Asahi Shinbun
(Ono ín Asahi Shinbun 7, 14, 21 March 2003). Tomomi Onol who is the author of the articles presented her discussions about childfree couples in a way that inferred. that they were problematic and, in some ways, responsible for the d.eclining total fertility rate, rather than representing the decision to remain childfree as a particular lifestyle choice. The representation of childfree couples as problematic was further reinforced because the author of the articles attempted. to identiff the "cause" of couples remaining childfree. In addition, the framing of the articles also reinforced the dominant
Japanese conception of childrearing being natural for married women'
The mass media also reacted to the announcement that was made in 1989 which indicated that the total fertility rate had declined to I.57. The mass media reported. this statistic as "I.67 shock" and some journalists suggested that the declining total fertility rate was the result of the increasing numbers of women who chose not to have children. However, many acad.emic scholars refuted this and explained that the declining total fertility rate was more likely to be the result of the increased number of women who were remaining single and, who were delaying marriage (Ohinata t992:27Ù. It appears that the explanations that ïvere provided by the academic scholars may be adequate in explaining the declining total fertility rate.
Married couples were continuing to reproduce at a level that was relatively consistent with previous years in 1989. Figure 1 below shows the average
I It is customary for Japanese family names to come before given names' , However' throughout the lhesis this has been reversed for consistency with the English form.
3 number of children born to couples according to the number of years that they have been married.. Figure 1 indicates that since 1987 there has been a gradual d.ecrease in the number of children that married couples have had except those who have been married more than 15 years, whose family size has remained similar since 1977.
Figure 1
Average number of chilfuen according to couple's marriage period
2.5
2
*0-4 years -*- 5-9 years 1.5 z 9E # 10-14 years ts. o_ HO 15-19 years Þ-4 -)Ê ry OO -IF 0 ver 20 years 1 5Ér # otal aveftìge
0.5
0 t977 1982 1987 t992 t997 2002 2005 Y ear
(zootra: source: National social security and Population Institute ¿)
Figure 2 shows the desired number of children for married couples, single
men and single women. Figure 2 ind,icates that each group desired family
size has dropped, across the period. Lg77 - 2005. This drop is most marked for single men and single women. Married couples have maintained more
4 consistency across time in their desire for two children, indicating that it is unlikely that many want to be childfree'
Figure 2
The number of children desired by married couples, single men and single women
2.4
2.3
2 , *Couples 'unZ+E rl-d --*-Singbmen 2 .Il^ ô r-f - +Singb wom en 9o 2 - Þf,
1.9
1.8 1977 1982 1987 1992 1997 2002 2005 Y ear
Source: National Social Security and Population Institute (2005a: 6) for couplesi National Social Security and Population Institute (2005b: 12) for single men and women.
However, more young people in Japan are now choosing to remain childfree for a longer period of their lives and recognition of this is emerging within both the academic and. populist bodies of literature. Thus this thesis explores why women choose to be childfree under the prevailing understandings of motherhood.
Compared to their grandmother's generation, women today have more
5 reprod,uctive choices, including various contraceptive methods. The condom is the most popular form of contraception for married couples in Japan (Wagatsuma 2000: 24ù. The oral contraceptive pill is not popular among women but it was approved in 1999 and used by approximately 2o/o of women
(see Table 1). In addition, abortion was legalized in 1948, earlier than in many western countries. However women ate far from declaring that they have their own reproductive rights because women's reproduction has been regulated by the government and debated by conservative social commentators. For instance, under the Maternal Body Protection Law,
Japanese women have conditional access to abortion, if they have economic or health problems. On the other hand, abortion is actually prohibited and a crime accord.ing to the Law of Abortion. In both the Maternal Body
Protection Law and the Law of Abortion, men are never charged for causing pregnancy and abortion. Thus one aim of this thesis is to explore how the
Japanese government regulates women's reproductive rights and how contemporary Japanese culture represents motherhood.
There are many messages about women and about motherhood which circulate in Japanese culture such as "a girt is a potential mother in the future," "a woman is emotional and illogical because of her biological function" and "men and. women cannot be equal because there is a natural difference between them" - I have received these messages directly and indirectly over the years, and whenever I heard these messages, I wondered
whether they were true or not. I also experienced expectations concerning
6 the gender/sex role assignment at home, school, and in the workplace, and felt it was unfair. Therefore when I took a Women's Studies course during my frrst year at college and learned the term "gender," I was excited "that's it!" and felt a bright view unfold before my eyes. It was Women's Studies and feminism that explained my experiences and feelingsi I realized that my response was not only personal and insignifrcant but due to a structural gender problem. Therefore I have been doing Women's Studies not for an intellectual interest but as a personal and political issue.
In order to explore how motherhood. influences women's lives, especially rfi¡omen who choose not to have children, I use a feminist perspective. This approach not only focuses on women but also on gender hierarchy which reveals that women are ignored, devalued, experience prejudice and are oppressed. in a male dominant society, including by academics which claim to be ,'objective," "neutral" and. "fair" (oakley 1998: 72Ð. In this sense, I believe there is no objective, neutral and fair study and it is impossible to undertake research without questioning one's own position.
The concept of "gender" makes a clear distinction between men and ïvomen. By introducing gender, feminists d.emonstrate how the difference between men and. women's behaviour, thoughts and so forth are constructed
culturally and sociaþ rather than biologically (Kanai 1989: 163). In other words, the feminist perspective makes it possible to reveal both the
inequality and politics between men and women (Reinharz !992:250). In
I addition, a feminist approach tries to change women's situations into reality.
Therefore feminist research is the study of women, by women and for women
(Stanley & Wise 1990: 21).
Feminist writers such as Yasuko Tama (ZOOf) and, Masami Ohinata (fggZ) have pointed out that motherhood. and the desire to have children have been constructed. socially and culturally. In order to analyse what it means to remain childfree within the contemporary construction of motherhood in
Japan, I think a feminist perspective is necessary for my study. In addition, as the total fertility rate has fallen, a strong pronatalist discourse has strengthened pressure on v¡omen to take up their former roles as wives and mothers. Thus this thesis analyses motherhood as an ideolory including pronatalist discourse from a feminist perspective'
There are a lot of studies of childfree women in western countries such as
Australia, the united states and England (e.g. cannold 2005; vissing 2oo2;
Campbell lggg). On the other hand, to my knowledge, studies of childfree women are almost absent in Japan. However, Japanese feminism has been focusing on motherhood since the dawn of feminismi for example the
"maternal protection debate," in which feminists argued whether or not motherhood should be protected by the statei debates opposing the Eugenic
Protection Law in Ig72; the "Agness debate"2 ín the 1980s which discussed the pros and cons of taking a child into the workplace. As these debates z This debate is called the 'Agness" debate because the singer Agness Chan took her son to her workplace and caused debate, which included female writers and feminists.
8 indicate, motherhood. has been one of the essential issues for Japanese feminism. Therefore in this thesis, I will explore how Japanese feminism understands and theorizes motherhood and childfree women, referring where relevant to studies in western countries.
T\rrning to the outline of the thesis, Chapter 1 maps how the Japanese government regulates women's reproduction, especiaþ focusing on abortion aft,er World War II because abortion is considered to be a woman's frnal resort if she does not want to have a child. Once we look at the state's regulation, we see that it defrnes women as mothers and considers the quantity and. quality of children in terms of the presumed interests of the nation. However women were not only passive recipients of the state's regulation, they have been thinking what does it mean to have or not to have children by frghting against the state's laws. In this chapter, I also introd.uce the impact of policy in emphasizing motherhood, especially in the
1g60s when the Japanese experienced high economic growth. In this period, the sexual division of labour emphasised that woman as wife/mother had two roles: to support her husband, who d.evoted his enerry to the company and to raise the children who were going to carry the future of Japan'
Furthermore, I outline how conservatives have argued for motherhood in recent years. They insist that the women's roìe is primarily as mothers and
they oppose the so'called "gender free" Iegislation introduced in the
mid-1990s.
I In Chapter 2,Iintroduce the ways that Japanese feminists have understood motherhood. They have been arguing for the necessity of social support for childrearingi that motherhood and maternal love do not arise instinctively in women and that there is a tension between a woman as a mother and as an individual. Japanese feminists also developed their debates in order to change male d.ominated society. I witl consider whether or not feminists' emphasis on \ilomen's reproductive function as the "female principle" is effective or not as a feminist stratery. Chapter 2 concludes with an overview of Japanese feminist understanding of motherhood including how they recognize childfree women.
Chapter 3 discusses the methods used in this thesis. I will introduce my research aims and. approaches, and my methods of analysing the two sets of data that I utilise the frrst being existing interview texts which I refer to as
"narratives" throughout this thesis, and the other being interviews which I conducted with Japanese childfree women. In doing so, I explain my preference for a qualitative and exploratory method.
The frndings of my analysis of the narratives are presented in Chapters 4.
This chapter provides an exploration of how Japanese childfree men and rvomen have expressed their reasons to he childfree in narratives published in recent years. As wilt be seen, the decision to be childfree is influenced by institutional factors, such as the difficulty of combining work and motherhood.
10 Chapter 5 explores \ñ¡omen's accounts about choosing to be childfree by analysing the interviews that I conducted and by comparing them with the narratives. One major difference between ïvomen in my interviews and those in the narratives was that my interviewees strongly reject gender inequality and value individualism rather than being a wife/mother.
In conclusion, I will consider Japanese feminists' understanding of motherhood. Furthermore, I intend to explore the implications for
Japanese feminism of women choosing not to have children.
11 Chapter 1
The historical and. political context of lvomen's reproduction and' motherhood in Japan
In this chapter I will discuss how Japanese laws and population policies have regulated women's reproduction especially after World War II, concentrating on abortion because abortion is a woman's ultimate choice if she is not going to have children.
According to Rosalind. Pollack Petchesky, reproductive control, including abortion, describes actions by the state to regulate the population, restrain sexual behaviour and. to keep social order (Petchesky 1990: L16-117). Once we look at Japanese laws and policies, we see that they defrned women as potential mothers who are expected to give priority to mothering. This chapter also explores how Japanese feminists have sought to increase women's reprod.uctive rights, which Petchesky (fggO) distinguishes from reproductive control on the basis that reproductive rights identiff women's ability to control their own reproduction. Feminists assert that women
ought to have reproductive choice when and whether to have children:
"Because it is primarily women who bear the consequences of pregnancy and the responsibility for children, the conditions of reproduction and
contraception affect them directly and in every aspect of their lives"
(petchesky 1g90: 12). Despite feminist activism, Japanese \¡romen have
t2 only conditional reproductive rights. Furthermore, this chapter will also map how conservatives argue for motherhood. They assert that women should. take responsibility for childrearing because they claim that motherhood is innate for women. Conservatives also defrne a woman's primary role as motherhood. I will also outline the feminists'objections to the conservative discourse.
1.1 Japanese laws governing reproduction after world war II
"A paradise of abortion" is how Japan was described in the foreign media because Japanese women are able to access abortion easily for economic reasons (Kato 1996: 387-388). Figure 3 shows that the number of abortions peaked. in 1955 and has decreased since then. Japanese women rely on abortion once contraception has failed.
Figure 3
Number of abortion and abortions per 1,000 women
1,400,000 60 1,2o0,ooo 50 qrc 1,000,000 ¡- 8' oo 40 ^H --l- Num ber of abortbn !P 800,000 ok 30 vo *Abortbns I wom en -ooE-o 600,000 Þ6 20 Ô", z, 400,000 200,000 10 0 0 o)ÊcDL.l)t()L()L.l)tl)Ê Source: Koseirodosho Daijinkanbo Tokeijohobu €OOt: 12) for number of abortion and abortions per 1,000 \¡vomen from 1955 - 2001; Kato (1996: 387) for number of abortion from 1949 -L9ó4. 13 Japanese women's major contraceptive methods are the condom and the rhythm method both of which were recommended by doctors and nurses after World War II (Wagatsuma 2000: 24Ð. Their popularity survives today as following 1 shows. Table 1 Married and unmarried. women's contraception in 2000 (%) (Multiple answers were given by participants) Method Married women Unmarried women Rhythm 16.3 20.0 Coitus interruptus 26.6 25.0 Condom 7ú.3 93.4 Douching o.4 1.6 Spermicide 0.5 0.8 IUD 2.7 0 Pilt 1.5 2.1 Female sterilization 5.3 0 Male sterilization 1.1 0 No answer 2.4 0.4 Souce: Wagatsuma (2000: 246-247). 1.L.1 The pre-W'orld War II Before the Meiji Restoration in 1868, abortion and infanticicle were practised widely by women and female abortionists in Japani indeed they were the major birth control method (Ogino 1994: 70). In order to terminate pregnancies, women inserted sticks or plant roots into their uterus or t4 ingested. poisonous medicine (Ogino 1991: 112). According to demographers, abortion and infanticide limited Japanese population growth from the 1700s to the earLy 1800s (Ogino Igg4 70). However in 1880 the new imperial Meiji government (1868 - tg1^ù established a modern penal code, modelled on the French penal code, which designated abortion to be a crime (Ogino 1994: 70). Despite the criminalization of abortion, female abortionists still existed and abortion practise remained common among women (Ogino 1991: tl,z). The popularity and toleration of abortion was disapproved of by the government, which wanted to westernise. Furthermore, with its policy of "a wealthy country and a strong army," the government wanted to increase the population in its pursuit of economic and military power afber the Russo-Japanese war in 1904 - 1905. The statistician Ayatoshi Kure claimed abortions in Japan were being carried out at three times the European rate in the 19th century. He opposed abortion, seeing them as "lost lives" which could have contributed to economic growth (Ogino 1994: 70). In ord.er to enforce government policy, the penal code was revised and became more strict as the Law of Abortion in 1907, which was modelled on the German penal code (Ogino 1994: 70). As a result, prosecutions which resulted, in guilty verdicts for women and abortionists rose from 293 in 1904 to 672 in 1910 (Ogino 1994: 70). These figure were only the tip of the 15 iceberg of abortions being carried. out. The Law of Abortion is rarely applied now but it is still on the statute books. In the 1930s, the government promoted the slogan "beat children and strengthen the nation" (Ogino 1994:7L). During this period, women were encouraged to have children and women's reproductive choices were restrained. For example, information in relation to contraception was completely excluded from women's magazines, birth control clinics were closed d.own and. birth control activists arrested (Ogino 1994 7Ð' Furthermore, in order to strengthen the government's population policy, in !g40, the National Eugenic Law, which was modelled on Nazi Germany's Hered.itary Diseases Law was introd.uced (Ogino 1rgg4 71i Kinjyo 1995: 361). This law permitted abortion only for eugenic reasons, that is to avoid hered.itary diseases. The law also permitted sterilization of people who had hered.itary diseases or a mental illness (Marumoto & Yamamoto 1997: 8). During World'War II, women had difficulty in accessing abortions; if they did obtain an abortion, they were criticized. as "traitors to the country" (Ogino 1994: 7Ð. 1.L.2 After World War II After defeat in Worlcl War II, Japan faced overpopulation because many soldiers, expatriates and families came back from the former colonies. In spite of the lack of food, people married and a baby boom occurred (Ogino Igg4i 7:I; Kinjyo 1995: 360; Marumoto & Yamamoto 1997: 11). The 16 population was about 72 million in October 1945 and it increased by over 10 million by 1gõ0 (Ogino Lgg4: 7l). At that time, the government wanted to reduce the birth rate in order to facilitate economic recovery (Marumoto & Yamamoto IggT: 11). Thus the government established the Eugenic Protection Law in Lg48 which extend.ed the eugenic circumstances in which abortion could be performed. A further motivation for law reform was that many women were raped. by foreign soldiers and the government wished to avoid the birth of children of mixed blood (Marumoto & Yamamoto 1997: 11). The goal of the government was to control not only the quantity but also the quality of children at this time. This law provided for abortion on eugenic grounds as follows: *The aim of the law was "to prevent the birth of eugenically inferior offspring, and to protect maternal health and life" (Norgren 2001: 145). *Abortion, which was referred to as a eugenic operation, could be performed ,,if the person in question or that person's spouse has a hereditary psychopathic disord.er, hereditary physical ailment, or hereditary (Norgren d.eformity, or said. spouse is mentally ill or mentally deficient" 2001: 146) or for economic reasons. *The permission of both the pregnant woman and her husband was required. Furthermore, the law justifred hysterectomies, sterilization and abortion for the mentally disabled and for people with Hansen's disease. fi As well as being able to have an abortion for physical and eugenic reasons since Lg4g, women were also permitted to have an abortion for economic reasons. Indeed most post-war abortions have been carried out for this reason (Kato 1996: 388i Marumoto & Yamamoto 1997: 12). As a result of the post-World War II polices, the birth rate declined rapidly, a change which coincid.ed. with rapid economic recovery (Marumoto & Yamamoto 1997:12-13) (see Figure 4 below). Figure 4 Birth number and total fertility rate 3,000,000 5 2,500,000 4 -l q) ci Cl) -oE 2,000,000 3 H) o IBirth num ber 1,500,000 E P c+ +TotalfertflitY rate ! 2 1,000,000 t. Êo af 1 500,000 0 0 Þ.- o Lr) o rr) o Lf) o tr) o Lf) I t! Source: The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (2006: 3-11). In 1996, the Eugenic Protection Law's title was changed to the Maternal Body Protection Law and. the content was changed to delete the reference "to prevent the birth of inferior descendants" (Marumoto & Yamamoto 1997: 18). Elimination of the eugenic aspect from the Maternal Body Protection Law 18 was a progressive move which resulted from a campaign spearheaded by Japanese feminists and women with disabilities. However Japanese women's reprod.uctive rights are still limited in that they can only access abortion conditionally. In the next part, I will discuss how feminists understood and reacted to changes in the abortion laws. L.2 Movements against the legislation As noted above, since the Meiji period (fSOg - I9l2), Japanese women's reproduction has been controlled by the state. Yet women did not just passively accept this situation. Abortion was an important issue for Japanese feminists and they resisted state control over \¡vomen's reproductive capacities. t.z.L Pre'World War II In 1982, feminists such as Raicho Hiratsuka and Fusae Ichikawa formed the Amend the Law of Abortion Pledge League ("Dataiho kaisei kisei domei") to change the Law of Abortion (Ogino 1991: 115). Shizue Kato, who is described as the Japanese Mrs. Sanger, also proposed legaLizatíon of birth control and amend.ment of the Law of Abortion at a feminist meeting in 1934 (Ogino 1gg1: 115). However, these early attempts to improve \ilomen's reproductive choices did not expand very much during the war years from 1931 to 1945 in Japan. 19 1.2.2 After lil'orld War II Following World War II, and often in response to government attempts to limit women's reproductive choices, Japanese feminists were active in relation to the Eugenic Protection Law and the Maternal Body Protection Law. ln Ig72 and 1982, conservative politicians proposed, in the National Diet, amendments to the Eugenic Protection Law in which they tried to prohibit abortion by the d.eletion of economic reasons and by adding a clause permitting abortion if the fetus had a disability (Marumoto & Yamamoto lrggli 15i Ohashi 1995: 153). Those who opposed abortion urged that the murder of innocent fetuses for economic reasons was unnecessary and unacceptable (Ogino 1994: 88). These conservative politicians had strong connections with a newly-formed, religious organization "seicho no Ie" (House of Life) based on Shinto. Seicho no Ie carried the slogan "reverence for life" and held public meetings about the abortion rate (Ogino 1994: 88). Moreover, in order to eliminate economic reasons which permitted women to have abortions, Seicho no Ie tried to collect 10 mittion signatures for a petition in 1982 and 1983 (Ogino 1994: 88). The proposed d.eletion of the economic clause and the addition of the disabled fetus clause meant that it would become compulsory for a pregnant woman to have a "healthy child." Thus feminists and disabled women together started to frght against the Eugenic Protection Law (Ohashi 1995: 153). At first glance, feminists and. disabted people's perspective and demands appeared to be opposed because feminists wanted women to have the right to 20 an abortion whereas disabled people felt that they would have been terminated by the amend.ed Law (ohashi 1995: 151). The feminist movement avoided this potential conflict by asserting \ilomen's reproductive rights which included both to have and not to have a child. The slogan "To be a society in which we can have a child and to be a society where/in which we want to have a child!" represented the common ground between feminists and people with disabilities. The slogan called for a society which does not place economic consid.erations above the value of mothers and which respects those with disabitities (Ohashi 1995: 153). As a result of the activism of feminists and disabled people, the bill was rejected. Again, in 1982, there were proposals put forward by conservative politicians to delete the economic reasons for abortion in the Eugenic Protection Law. Feminists spearheaded. a protest against the amendment by claiming "I (woman) am going to decide whether to have a child or not"' They also agreed that "A woman needed safe legal abortion as a last reproductive resort" (Ohashi 1995: 150). This time, the proposal to have access to abortion was not even sent to the Diet because of the many opponents includ,ing feminists and d.isabled women (Tsuge 1996: 376). After feminists and. disablecì. women clefended their reproductive rights against the state, they tried to repeal the restrictive abortion laws. For instance, Yuho Asaka, who is a disabled Japanese feminist, appealed to the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development in 2l Cairo in lgg4, claiming that \ñromen with disabilities were denied reprod.uctive rights in Japan. She spoke of the Eugenic Protection Law in Japan and. the way it denied the existence of disabled people. Furthermore, she said. this law justified hysterectomies for disabled women in order to reduce the caregivers' burden in dealing with menstruation and the possibility of pregnancies. The issue had never been discussed before (Asaka because "sex and sexuality are taboo for disabled people" in Japan 1gg3: 1g0). After the Cairo conference, feminists and disabled women put pressure on the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Justice for the abolition of the Law of Abortion and the Eugenic Protection Law (Tsuge 1996:376). Consequently, the Maternal Body Protection Law was passed in 1996. This altered. the Eugenic Protection Law to eliminate the eugenic articles and those which allowed, hysterectomies and abortions for mentally disabled people and people with Hansen's disease to be performed without their consent. while this was an improvement, there are a number of ways in which women's reproductive rights are still limited and controlled by the law. The Maternal Bod.y Protection Law still enshrines the state's and husbands' intervention in women's reproduction. Marumoto and Yamamoto point out that there are three issues which remain for women to consider in relation to the law (Marumoto & Yamamoto 1997: 2O-2I)i 22 1. Women',s reproductive rights have not yet been established. The Law of abortion that prohibits abortion is still in force. The Maternal Body Protection Law only permits abortion for limited reasons. Pregnancy and abortion occur in women's bodies, thus women should have the right to choose whether they are going to have a child or not. unless there are rights to have and not to have child.ren, women's reproductive rights will not be established (Marumoto & Yamamoto 1997: 20). 2. A woman stiil needs her husband's consent for an abortion or sterilization. While a woman cannot have a child without a man, this clause allows men to control women's bod,ies because a married woman must have her husband's consent for an abortion (Marumoto & Yamamoto I997t 2]-). 3. Thc law's title was changed. to include the term "maternal body." The expression "maternal" identifres the woman's body as solely or at least primarily a mother's bod,y (Marumoto & Yamamoto L997t 2].)' The law assumes that all women will become mothers, identifuing women's sole role as that of mother, or the mother's role as the primary purpose of a woman's body. In addition, Yukiko Saito points out that it is impossible for women to establish their autonomy as long as they are "protected" by the state and men because women are the objects of protection (Saito 2OO2:2L). The state and. men permit women's reproductive choice only when it frts their intentions (Saito 2oo2t 2L). 23 Makoto Hosoya says "the slogan 'I lwoman] am going to decide whether to have a child or not'id.entifi.es the power relationship between the state and women. The slogan accused the state of controlling women's reproduction" (Hosoya lgg4i 154). Simultaneousl¡1 the slogan also represented the possible rejection of motherhood., even though motherhood is a role which many v¡omen had internalized. Within Japanese culture, motherhood is a symbol of richness and acceptance of all life (Ohashi 1995: 163). Therefore Hosoya suggests that rejection of motherhood by Japanese !\¡omen is very diffrcult (Hosoya 1994: 62) . Feminists won women's reproductive rights through frghting against the state, but the state still regulates the extent of abortion which is framed in terms of a woman as primarily a mother under the control of her husband. However, Iaws not only control women's reproduction and motherhood but so do social policies. Once we look at the government policy carefully, it is clear that women are also socially defrned such that their essential role is mothering. One key policy is based, on the "myth of three years old' (,,sansaiji shinwa"), enshrining the belief that "the mother should take responsibility for her child until he/she is three years old because the period is very important for the child's healthy growth" (Ohinata 2000: 83)' This "myth of three years old." urges women to prioritize mothering, as will be discussed in the next section. 24 1.3 Construction of the myth of three years old (the There is a popular Japanese proverb "mitsugo no tamashii hyakumade" child is father of the man). The proverb means one's character is formed in infancy and never changes, even if one becomes a 100 years old' This proverb is at least as old as the Ed,o period (1603 - 1867), being found in a text in 1809 - 1813. originally, there \ryere two meanings of this proverb: the flrrst is that the child's innate character never changes, the second that children's characters are influenced by early nurture and education (Ozawa 1gg5: 73). The latter meaning was emphasized by the Japanese government in the 1960s in order to construct and reinforce the "myth of three years old," and to assert that only the mother can care properly for the child. The myth has contributed to creating the famous M-curve representing Japanese \ryomen's working pattern. Many women leave their full-time jobs either during pregnancy or after childbirth, and return to part-timc work when their child.ren are of school age. The M-curve has become less accentuated in recent years but the "myth of three years old' still influences \ryomen, as the following table shows. 26 Table 2 Housewife's rate according to the youngest childs age and family structure (o/o) Total Age 0-3 Age 4-6 Age 7-9 Age 10'12 Age 13-14 Parents + children 64.2 74.4 53.7 42.3 ól.l 22.0 Parents + children 34.2 56.9 34.9 24.4 18.6 22.9 + grandparents source: The Ministry of Health, Labour and welfare (19g8: Tabke 2-43) The table shows the housewife's rate according to the youngest child's age and. family structure. women do not work when their children are small. This data also reveals that \¡/omen living with their parents or parents-in'Iaw participate more in paid work because they have more support from mothers/fathers in the old'er generation. Moreover, according to a survey cond.ucted. in 2005 by the National Social Security and Population Institute, 7I.8% of wives agreed Qz.ly" totally agreed and 49.I% relatively agreed) that mothers should stay at home when their children are small, whereas 2L.4o/o of wives d.isagreed with this statement G.6% totally d.isagreed and 14.8o/o relatively disagreed) (National Social Security and population Institute 2005a: 17). This also proves that "the myth of three years old" is shared among women who are mothers as they believe it is better for them to concentrate on childrearing when their children are young. 26 1.3.1 Popularization of the myth of three years old From the mid 1950s to 1960s, the Japanese economic boom was described as "the Japanese miracle." During this period, gender/sex role assignment was emphasized: men as husbands were expected to devote themselves to work as the corporate warrior and women as the housewives/mothers were expected to take care of their husbands and children who would be the future labour force (Ohinata 2000: 92). It may be said that the "good wife, wise mother" id.eology, which emerged in the Meiji period (fgAg - l9I2), was also reflected in women's lives in the 1950s and 1960s. Prime Minister Ikeda Hayto (the Prime minister from 1960 L964), end.orsed, the "myth of three years old." He believed that, in order to raise future Japanese citizens of high ability, a mother must raise her own child (Ozawa 1995: 64). Hence he stressed the primary role for women as mothers. Furthermore, in lkeda's cabinet, the Ministry of Health forecast a d.ecline in the birth rate, discussed in gloomy terms as they recognízed the necessity of children as members of the future labour force who would have the ability to compete in the global society (Ohinata 2000: 92i Ozawa 1995: 63). In 1964, Kuroki Toshikatsu, who was head of the Children's Agency in the Ministry of Health (now called the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare), argued. that mothers who gave up the responsibility of taking care of their children created, problem children (Ozawa 1995: 67). He suggested that this 27 \ryas an increasing trend in Japanese society (Ozawa 1995: 67). Kuroki believed that scientifrc evidence proved his claim and so urged women who (Ozawa were mothers to shift their focus aïvay from work to their children 1gg5: 6T). Furthermore, Kuroki stressed that maternal love is essential for children's proper development basing his belief on the work of British psychiatrist John Bowlby who reported that infants who are institutionalised tend. to have d.evelopmental problems because of the absence of their mothers (Ohinata 2000: 94). Kuroki spread his message through the mass media, particularly via a television program titled "Three years old," which was produced by psychologists and broadcast in 1964 and 1965 (Ozawa 1995: 70)' The program's aim \Mas to emphasize the importance of the mother-child (Ozawa relationship and the mother's role in children's healthy development 1gg5: Z0). This program contributed to disseminating the "myth of three years old' throughout Japanese society. Feminist scholars critiqued. the "myth of three yeas old." For example, Masami Ohinata points out (Ohinata 2000: 95) that the government only emphasized. one aspect of Bowlby's study and totally ignored the critique of his work in the west. For example, there were debates concerning whether the absence of the mother or the insuffîciency of the institution prevented the infant's growth, given that some infants who were cared by indifferent mothers also had. developmental problems (Ohinata 2000: 95). In other 28 In other words, maternal love is only one factor which affects an infant's appropriate growth. In add.ition, Makiko Ozawa emphasises that, in order to develop healthy growth, children required connection with various people including fathers and other children (Ozawa 1995: 80). In 1g98, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare showed that there was no rational basis for the myth of three years old (Ohinata 2000: 84). Ohinata (ZOOO: S4-S5) d,escribes this announcement as epoch-making' Yet, she continues that the announcement was also a necessity if the government wished to stop the d.eclining fertitity rate. They understood that the "myth of three years old" would. d,iscourage women from having and raising children Thus Ohinata emphasized that childrearing practices have been subject to political influence thus we need, to have a critical perspective on them (Ohinata 2000: 85). L.4 The contemporaty conservative discourse on motherhood The United Nations declared 1975 as International Women's Year- The d.eclaration encouraged the Japanese government to pay attention to their administrative arrangements as they affected women, to review laws which (Ehara discriminated against women an¿ to involve women in policy making in 1990: 8). As a result, the importance of women'S issues is now recognized Japanese society. Furthermore, in many ways the Japanese gender situation has improved at the national level since the 1980s' In ord'er to move toward,s a gend.er-equal society, legislation such as the Equal 29 Employment Opportunity Law (1g95), the Child/Family Care Leave Law (tggtr), the Basic Law for a Gend.er-Equal Society (fggg) and the Domestic Violence Prevention Law (ZOOf) have been introduced. These laws, not only prohibit discrimination and violence against women, but also aim to change both women's and men's involvement in and responsibility for every social and private aspect of their lives such as at work, home, school and in the community. For example, the Child/Family Care Leave Law allows both female and male workers parental leave to take care of their children or elder family members. This legislation is remarkable in that the law rejected the conventional gender/sex role assignment that taking care of children and eld.ers is the woman's role: however 98%o of those taking ad.vantage of the law are women (The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare 2005: 3). In addition, the government has been leaning towards "female friendly" policies in ord.er to ad,dress the declining fertility rate. For example, they introduced. the Angel Plan in 1994 and the New Angel Plan in 1ggg. In these plans the government committed itself to improving childcare services such as accepting an increasing number of babies in public day-care centres and. extending the opening hours of centres (Cet¡ 2003: 116). These changes have produced a backlash from conservatives who they have attacked feminist politicians, scholars and journalists who have been trying to promote a gender-equal society (Kanai & Hosoya 2003: 67)' Conservatives such as Shintaro Ishihara (The Governor of Tokyo), Ayako 30 (an Sono (a writer), Harumi Kimura (an essayist) and Hidetsugu Yagi acad.emic) developed. their arguments through mass media such as the (Kanai newspape r Sankei Shinbunand a magazíne Seiron (Correct Opiniod & Hosoya 2008: 67-63). In the magazíne Nihon Jiji Hyoron (Japan Current Events Critique), they attacked Mari Osawa who is a feminist economist and member of the council of Gender Equality. They vilified her as undermining "family values" and. claimed that she was introducing Communist concepts (Cet¡ 2008: lZÒ. Ishihara, the Governor of Tokyo, abolished the Tokyo 'women's Foundation ín 2oo2 and budgets have been cut for many women's centres (Cetb 2008: L2ù. Furthermore, conservatives were successful in preventing the Basic Law for a Gender-Equal Society ordinance being introd.uced in ube and. Matsuyama city (Hashimoto 2oo4: 3). As these examples show, conservatives have certainly mobilized successfully against gender equal policies. Michiyoshi Hayashi, a psycholory professor at Tokyo Women's Christian I]niversity and psychoanalyst, is also a key member of this conservative group. His comments often appear in English language newspapers such as The Daily Yomiuri: Gender conceptions are unhealthy ideas formed through school education. ... Men and women are different not only physically but also psychologically. It's important to teach the differences in a non-discriminatory way (The Daily Yomiuri,lS February 2OO4). 31 People say that children are brought up by society' Nevertheless, there are special roles for both mothers and fathers to play (rne Daily Yomiuri, 3 November 1997). Moreover, Hayashi published a major work on motherhood Bosei no fukken (Reinstatement of MotherhooÐ in 1gg9. The work appears to be influential politically. For example, Takashi Nishimura, head of Kisarazu clty Board of Ed.ucation and superintend,ent of schools expressed total agreement with Hayashi in a newsletter article titled "Reinstatement of motherhood and women's forum." He stated: Extraordinary events have occurred in recent days. I am afraid that the core of the Japanese spirit is melting down. In this circumstance, I read, Bosei no Fukken by Michiyoshi Hayashi. It makes sense that motherhood. is important for children, especially babies' and infants' d.evelopment and. growth ... I do not d'eny \ñ¡omen's social participation but I think we need to consider motherhood and reform it in our society. When we discuss motherhood, it might appear that we are trying to constrain women to the home. Yet whenever I look at the problems facing children toclay such as bullying, school attendance refusal, collapse of behaviour management in the classroom and increasingly atrocious juvenile crimes - I think we need to discuss the "importance of motherhood." To discuss motherhood is to consider childcare ar) administration (Nishimura 2000) Hayashi's argument, found largely in Bosei no .Fukken, is a comprehensive, influential and. representative example of the conservative demand for a return to conventional motherhood. under the control of the father. The following section is organized around Hayashi's four main points: the importance of motherhood, motherhood and maternal love is a universal instinct, feminist misunderstanding of motherhood, and the reinstatement and protection of motherhood. t.4.1 The importance of motherhood ,,There is something wrong with mother. Mother is not mother anymore." (Hayashr Hayashi states at the beginning of. Reinstatement of motherhood 1999: 1). He continues "something unusual is happening to the mother. There is a rapidly increasing number of mothers who do not love, who hate an¿ who abuse their own children" (Hayashi 1999: 1). Hayashi describes such mothers as having "broken motherhood" (Hayashi 1999: 3), arguing that many children with mental illness and who commit crimes are raised by such mothers (Hayashi 1999: 3). Thus he stresses motherhood is very important for children, especially children under three years old' According to Hayashi, if young children boncl with their mother, they will be able to (Hayashi develop healthy character and an independence in the future 1999: 16). Hayashi also claims that science supports his position. In support of his claim he notes that the fetus is familiar with its mother's heartbeat and 33 voice (Hayashi :rggzi 24-2Ð. Moreover, newborn babies stare at their mother as soon as they are borns and if they see their biological mother they relax whereas the baby is stressed if someone else cares for it, and becomes sullen or cries (Hayashi Lggg: 26). Hence Hayashi endorses the importance of the biological mother, in particular the myth of three years old. t.4.2 Motherhood and maternal love is a universal instinct Hayashi's second. major claim is that motherhood and maternal love are provid,ed by women innately and they are universal for all human beings. As evid.ence for this, he cites Japanese myths and stories, which tell of motherhood and maternal love towards children. One myth is a woman whose maternal love for her son, Ohkuninushinomikoto, was so great that she revived him twice after he was killed by his brothers (Hayashi 1999: 88). In spite of his early misfortune, Ohkuninushinomikoto grev¡ up to be a hero who governed the country with another God (Hayashi 1999: 88). Moreover, he taught humans about medicine (Hayashi 1999: 8S). According to Hayashi, the point of this myth is that the hero could only love human beings because of his mother's love (Hayashi 1999: 88-89). In addition, Hayashi claims the universality of motherhood by reference to clay frgures, sculptures and. pictures in Egypt, the congo, and Peru as well as christian icons of the Mad,onna and child (Hayashi 1999: 91, 96). Hayashi argues that these arts (Hayashi express a universal image of the mother raising children with love lggg: g5). However according to Hayashi, feminism refutes this proof of the a Masami Ohinata disputes Hayashi's claim that a newborn baby recognizes its mother, citing the experience of midwives (Ohinata L992:245). 34 universal nature of motherhood' 1.4.3 Feminist misunderstanding of motherhood Hayashi states that feminist discourse which asserts that "motherhood is a (Hayashi social, political, historical and. cultural construction" is mistaken lggg: 100). For example, he critiques Makiko Ozawa's paper "Infants' policy and the psycholory of the mother-child relationship." while Hayashi aglees with Ozawa's argument that the government has emphasized motherhood and. the "myth of three years old' policy, he rejects the feminist claim that motherhood is a social institution (Hayashi 1999: 106, 190). Somewhat contradictorily, he suggests that what he sees as the mistaken ideologies of feminism can disrupt women's willingness to undertake motherhood, even though he claims that this is instinctual for women (Hayashi lggg: 1g0). According to Hayashi, the feminist emphasis that "to raise children is only one aspect of women's life," makes stay-at-home mothers dissatisfied with their lives while he criticizes the "paid work ideology" which valued paid work more than domestic work such as housekeeping and. child.rearing (Hayashi 1999: 136-137, L4ù' Hayashi concludes that these ideologies cause women to neglect their children, and to experiencing childrearing as an irritating burd.en (Hayashi 1999: 137). Therefore, Hayashi calls for the reinstatement and protection of motherhood' 1.4.4 The reinstatement and protection of motherhood In order to protect motherhood, Hayashi emphasizes that it is necessary to 35 construct a society where mothers do not need to work and a system that gives mothers appropriate advice and information about childrearing (Hayashi lggg: 195-196). In the current society it is often argued that d.ay-care centres are necessary as a social support for childrearing. Yet according to Hayashi, a d.ay-care centre cannot replace a mother's care (Hayashi lggg: Ig4). Thus society should not encourage mothers to work even when the labour market is tight (Hayashi 1999: 195). Instead, he emphasizes the need for a new social consensus that childrearing is worthwhile for women, even if they have to leave the work force temporarily (Hayashi 1999: 1S8). He suggests that women can return to work when their children are atleast three years old (Hayashi 1999: 196)' Furthermore, Hayashi criticizes the present school curriculum for its failure to train young \Ã/omen for their future role as mothers which means that new mothers do not know how to raise their children (Hayashi 1999: 199). In particular, Hayashi asserts that genderfree education is not appropriate because of inherent differences between men and women, between men's and women's roles, and between fatherhood and motherhood: a father's role is to support his family morally and keep his family stable, and a woman's (Hayashi principal role is to become a mother and take care of children 1999: 200). Hayashi also stresses the father's moral support giving the wife confrdence in raising their children (Hayashi 1999: L9ù' Thus he urges that both male and, female school students should be taught the importance (Hayashi of motherhood, and. their own future gender/sex role in the family 36 1999:200) In response to claims such as those made by Hayashi, feminist sociologist Yumiko Ehara argues that traditional notions of motherhood excuse men from involvement in and social support for childrearing (Ehara 2000: 277)- She also suggests that traditional motherhood can hardly be a universal instinct if it is so easily disrupted by a social force like feminism (Ehara 2000: 27Ò. Thus Ehara concludes that Hayashi's critique of the feminist interpretation of motherhood is irrelevant and we need to understand motherhood within broader gend.er relations and social change (Ehara 2000: 27G-27ù. Feminist sociologist Yasuko Tama also claims that Hayashi's critique totally ignores ïyomen's reality and. needs (Tama 20OL' 26). The overall legal constraints on women's reproductive choice in Japan, evidenced by the Law of Abortion and the Maternal Protection Law, defrne women's essential role as reprod,uction and women's bodies as primarily "maternal bodies." As a result, Japanese women only have conditional reproductive rights despite Japan',s representation as a "paradise of abortion." Similarly, social policy defrned women's primary role as motherhood and contributed to create the "myth of three years old." Moreover, conservatives claim that men and women are physically and psychologically d.ifferent. Thus men and women have different roles and responsibilities. According to conservatives, recent genderfree trend ignores this point. As a result, breakdown of the family occurs and, child 37 abuse and. juvenile crime increase. In order to restore healthy families and child.ren, conservatives emphasize the importance of reinstating conventional gend.erlsex roles that man is a father who controls the discipline and. woman is a mother who takes responsibility for childrearing. Therefore since the dawn of Japanese feminism feminists have been frghting for their reprod.uctive rights and. challenging motherhood which defi.nes women's essential role as a mother. In other words, motherhood has been also an essential issue for Japanese feminism. In the next chapter, I will concentrate on Japanese feminist und'erstandings of motherhood and childfree women. 38 C};¡aptet 2 Japanese feminist understanding of motherhood and childfree \ilomen It may be said that Japanese feminists have nevel. relinquish motherhood (Ueno 2OO2i L62). In this chapteq I will outline how Japanese feminism understands motherhood as expressed in debates and theory, discussing frrst wave feminism in the early 1900s, second wave feminism (women's liberation movement) in the 1970s and ecological feminism in the 1980s because motherhood is a key subject for abolition of sex discrimination against women and achievement for gend.er equality. Moreover, I will map how Japanese feminism recognizes childfree women in the 1990s. 2.1 "Maternal protection debate" (fgfO - 1919) period Japanese modernization and industrialization started in the Meiji (rgos - lgl2). The Meiji constitution defi.ned the Emperor as having power to govern the land and people as his subjects. Thus people had limited and the freedom such as of speech and religion. Moreover, the constitution legal system was clearly gend.ered (Mackie 2003: 21). For example, in the family system (the "ie" system) only the man as a husband/father could inherit property and had the power to control other family members, such as 39 a daughter's marriage. Women lost possessive rights in their property which they brought into the marriage and they could only petition for divorce through a male relative (Mackie 2003:21). In this context, of course women did not have suffrage. The "good. wife, wise mother" ideolory also emerged in this period, in which the woman as a wife/mother rñras expected to support her husband who was the breadwinner and who was the public face of the family in society. As d,iscussed. in the previous chapter in relation to population policies, the woman's role was to nurture the children who were going to carry the state on their shoulders in the future. In this social context, Japanese feminism was launched in 1911 by Raicho Hiratsuka's and Akiko Yosano's declarations which were carried tn Seito (Bluestocking), a literary magazine for women. TWo poems, one by Hiratsuka and. one by Yosano, express the excitement of these early feminists as they imagined that they could, become "authentic" people, Iiving for themselves and not through othersi as such women would "awaken" and move the mountains: In the beginning woman was the Sun. An authentic person. Today, she is the moon. Living through others. 40 Reflecting the brilliance of others .. ' (Hiratsuka 1911 in Mackie 2003: 46) The day the mountains move has come. I speak but no one believes me. For a time the mountains have been asleep, But long ago they all danced with frre. It doesn't matter if you believe this, My friends, as long as You believe: All the sleeping women Are now awake and moving. (Yosano 1911 in Mackie 2003t 46) Seito was the revolutionary first ever such magazine to be published in Japan. That is because feminists argued about love, marriage, abortion, chastity, prostitution which were taboo for women at that time, challenged the prevailing family system (the "ie" system, summarised above) and the "good wife, wise mother" ideology. Moreover, feminists also opened up new \ilays of thinking about women's lives, especially questioning motherhood from three different positions: "difference" feminism which emphasizes women's d.ifference from men and the need for the state to support women's reproductive powersi "sameness" or liberal feminism which argues that rü/omen should. have the same rights and roles as meni and socialist feminism which argues for women's liberation as part of the class revolution. Each of 4I these positions is discussed in relation to a key writer: Raicho Hiratsuka' Akiko Yosano and Kikue Yamakawa. 2.!.1 Hiratsuka's argument Raicho Hiratsuka was a strong voice in this debate. she was born in 1886, studied philosophy and, zen for enlightenment (oril 2oo2i 391). In 1908, Hiratsuka attempted. double suicide with a male writer in order to complete their love (Tachi 1991:9). A-fter this, she experienced love with a same sex a colleague, then in lgt4cohabited. with a younger male partner and became mother (Tachi 1991: 9, 11). Clearly, Hiratsuka challenged the conventional social model for a woman's life, but her real focus was on motherhood' Especially, she was infLuenced by Swedish feminist critique Ellen Key'a Hiratsuka's main argument was that motherhood should be supported economically by the state because it contributes to the continuity of the human species: originally, mother is the source of life. A woman moves beyond her individual being when she becomes a mother. She becomes a social' national and human being. Thus to protect motherhood is not and neceßsary only for her own happiness but also required for society humanity. Motherhood has such a social aspect (Hiratsuka 1918 in Hiratsuka Raicho Chosakushu Henshuiinkai 1983: 353). Key a Ellen Key (ta+o 1926) focused on love, marriage and motherhood. In addition, - women' stressed the importance of motherhood which distinguishes between men and 42 In valuing childbearing which contributes to the continuation of society, Hiratsuka argued for paid government support for women's work as mothers (Tachi 1gg1: 80-31). This argument was influenced in her experiencing the difñculties of child'rearing: her partner was ill thus Hiratsuka was responsible for the economic support of her family (Tachi L991: 27)' Her o\¡yn experience also influenced her emphasis on the importance of physical protection of mothers: Hiratsuka's breast-milk suddenly stopped overnight when she was writing an article just two months after her second son's birth (Tachi 1gg1: Zg). In addition, Hiratsuka questioned the concept of "maternal love" which held that a mother loves her child instinctively. She stated. she could not think about a child and did not have maternal love during labour because of the pain (Hiratsuka 1916 in Hiratsuka Raicho Chosakushu Henshuiinkai 1983 : 142)i People often say that perfect maternal love towards a child is provided for the mother from the beginning. However, I believe maternal love grad.ually develops and. becomes stronger while a mother takes care of a child. Therefore a woman needs a certain time to develop her maternal Iove (Hiratsuka 1916 in Hiratsuka Raicho Chosakushu Henshuiinkai 1983: 14ù. Hiratsuka showed how maternal love was in fact much more complex than the prevailing beliefs about it. She positioned motherhood as a social 43 (IearneÐ phenomena rather than a natural (instinctual) one. Furthermore, Hiratsuka struggled with the tension between a woman's individual self-realization and the role of motherhood (Tachi 1991: 28). She expressed this as the tension between egoism and altruism: How motherhood threw me into a corner. It brought me an exhaustion I had never before experienced, confusion, lack of sleep which caused nervous tension, uneasiness and a restless mind, continuous irritation and fretting I thought these feelings arose because I was an inexperienced mother and my physical tiredness. However, I later realized that these feelings arose from my egoism. Particularly, my individual desires were never fulfilled. That is to say, I had not time for meditation, and littte time for study and work. Furthermore' I was stressed by my financial condition, because I was unable to work (Hiratsuka I9I7 in Hiratsuka Raicho Chosakushu Henshuiinkai 1983: 273-274). Thus, by analysing Hiratsuka's own experience that the role of motherhood reduced a woman's capacity to be emotionally and economically independent, she reached the view that mothers should be frnancially supported by the statc. It may be said. that Hiratsuka represents difference feminism (Bacchi 1990: 105) which respects diversity between men and \ñr'omen, including biological 44 and psychological differences. In the difference feminism context, pregnancy, childbirth and childrearing should not handicap and discriminate against women. Therefore social support and reform are required for motherhood in ord.er to achieve equality with men. By contrast, Yosano disagreed with Hiratsuka. She stated that to demand frnancial support from the state created. a situation of women's economic dependence. Rather, Yosano emphasized women's sameness with men and the importance of women's economic independence individuals, even as mothers. 2.L.2 Yosano's argument Akiko Yosano was a feminist poet and. essayist who was born in 1878. She had 11 child.ren with her husband. who was also a poet (Tachi 1991: 19). Yosano expressed her childbirth experience in the poem "First Labour Pain": I wonder why I often meet death And I am used to pain, blood and screams But I shake with anxiety and fear which is uncontrollable ... I am alone, I am alone in the heavens and on earth, and I bite my lip "' To have a child is An explosion from myself Which is the only true creation, there is no right or \¡¡rong It is the first labour pain now The sun became slightly PaIe 45 The world became coldly quiet Then, I am alone (Yosano 1919 in Tachi 1991: 19'20) Yosano expressed the pain, fear and loneliness but also the creativity of childbirth. She highly valued childbirth, saying "you say the state is important or this and. that about knowledge and war. I think there is nothing superior to women who can give birth to new life" (Yosano in Tachi 1gg1: 2g). However, as Yosano understood that being a mother or a father is only one aspect of life, she opposed the "good wife, wise mother" ideolory (Yosano which stressed. women's role as only a wife and mother 1918 in Maruoka 19T6: z34). Furthermore, Yosano emphasized the importance of a woman's mental and economic independ.ence even if she was married and became pregnant: Awoman who is going to marry or to have a child expecting to depend on her husband financiatly is going to be slave depending on her husband and stealing his money even they love each other ... I understand it as slavery if a woman depends on a man economically for reproduction' From the same reasoning, I believe women have to refuse to depend on the state (Yosano 1gt8 in Maruoka 1976: 234). According to Yosano, economic support from the state deprives women of independ,ence, freed.om and ability (Tachi 1991: 30). Her opinion came from 46 her pride that she was a breadwinner instead of her husband who did not have much income (Ueno 1986a: 119). Yosano encouraged and expected women to achieve emotional and economic independence simultaneously (Ueno 1986a: 119). In addition, she pointed to the lack of a fatherhood tradition in Japanese society (Tachi 1991: 32). Yosano stressed that there is a need to change the model of fatherhood from disciplinarian to loving involvement in childrearing. She said: Human beings cannot reproduce by only one sex. Men always cooperate with women in the continuation of human life It is superfrcial to conclude that only women have aptitude for the continuation of the species (Yosano in Tachi 1991: 31). Hiratsuka and Yosano both wanted motherhood to be valued as an important social act. However they differ in that Hiratsuka sees government support as acknowledging motherhood and allowing mothers their independence (from husbands and fathers)' By contrast, Yosano sees government support for mothers as dependency and argues that mothers should be economically self-sufficient. Yosano represents the sameness feminist position which aims to achieve equivalence with men (Bacchi 1990: 105). Sameness feminists minimize the differences between men and women and advocate that women assimilate to the male standard (Bacchi 1990: 10õ). Yosano insisted, that women should. work for a living as men do. Yet she also claimed that men should be more like women, as nurturing parents' 47 2.t.3 Yamakawa's argurnent Kikue Yamakawa was born in 1890. She visited spinning factories with members of the Salvation Army while she was studying at a women's college (Suzuki 2002 46Ð. Yamakawa was shocked by the cruel conditions in which the mill-girls worked and. the Salvation Army personnel's disregard for them. She turned. to socialism to remedy the situation, becoming involved in the socialist movement and deepening her knowledge of the socialist feminists when she graduated from college. Yamakawa read western feminist writers such as Wollstone craft,, Luxemburg, and the socialist thinker, Bebel. Yamakawa und.erstood that capitalism produced the difference between men and women, and. produced men's power over women and women's oppression' Thus she strongly believed that women's liberation could only come from socialism. Moreover, Yamakawa emphasized the importance of the abolition of all forms of inequality at the same time - sex, class and ethnic d.iscrimination (Suzuki 20021 46ù. Through her involvement in a women's socialist group and the labour movement, Yamakawa made efforts to abolish sex, class and, ethnic d,iscrimination (Suzuki 2OO2:469)' yamakawa joined the "maternal protection debate" from her socialist feminism perspective: 48 I accept there is some truth in both Hiratsuka and Yosano's argument' Women's economic ind.ependence and the protection of motherhood are not antithetical but should be realized at the same time to improve women's status. Yet, I do not think rcalizatíon of women's economic independ.ence and the protection of motherhood will solve women's issues and save women from their current oppression. I believe the fund.amental solution is to change economic relations (Yamakawa 1918 in Maruok a 1976 24Ð. According to Yamakawa, Hiratsuka's argument emphasises motherhood and reinforces the "good. wife, wise mother" id.eolory (Hosoya L994:145)' On the other hand, she consid.ered, that Yosano's argument was limited by her (Hosoya bourgeois perspective and the privilege of financial resources 1994: 14û. Therefore Yamakawas solution was the socialization of childcare under socialism, rather than the d.enial of the importance of motherhood und.er capitalism (Tachi 1991: 31i Hosoya 1994: f4Ð' Motherhood was an essential issue in the first wave of Japanese femimsm. Feminists such as Hiratsuka, Yosano and Yamakawa debated the social support for motherhood, the prevailing understanding of motherhood, internal conflict between individual desires and motherhood, and the importance of fatherhood. What is surprising is that these are the same issues concerning feminists in Japan today (ueno 1986a: 120). 49 In 1919, Hiratsuk a organized "shinfujin Kyokai" (New Women's Association) with other feminists such as Fusae lchikawa. The association's campaign included. motherhood. protection, women's suffrage and $¡omen's involvement in politics (Tachi 1991: 32). However during the period when the Japanese economy placed. itself on a war footing (f ggf - 1945), the feminist movement declined. For instance, the Worr-ten's Suffrage League was disbanded in 1940 (Mackie 2003: 108). In ord'er to support the military state, all women's organizatrons lvere absorbed into the Greater Japan Women's Association in 1g42 (Murasaki 2OO2i 316i Mackie 2003: 109). As we have seen in Chapter 1, women were encouraged to have children under the slogan "bear children and strengthen the nation" and birth control activist Shizue Kato was arrested. After World \{'ar II, the Constitution and legal system were extensively restructured. The Constitution defrned men and women as equal: marriage and divorce ïvas with the consent of both parties and there was to be equal pay for equal work. However this was not the situation of most Japanese women, leading to the emergence of women's liberation in the 1970s' 2.2 Ribu: second wave feminism in 1970s During the period. of high economic growth in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Japan, there were various social and political movements such as the one opposing the IIS-Japan security treaty which was biggest peace movement after World War II in Japan, the student movement and the anti-Vietnam 50 'War protests (Buckley 1994: 157i Mackie 2003: L4Ô. Women were involved in these movements but they questioned the hierarchical organization and sexism in the protest organizatrons (Ehara 1985: 105; Tanaka 2001: 34Ò' For example, women objected to the assumption that they always had to assist male activists by preparing meals and typing (Tanaka z}O]-i 346; Ehara 2002 39). The women recognized that many male activists took the women's d,omestic role for granted and some of them also treated female activists as sex objects (Ehara 2002: 39). Therefore women organized their own groups for women's liberation all over Japan (Tanaka 2001: 346i Ehara 20OZ gÐ. Each group d.eveloped their own movement but there were also times when they joined forces such as the demonstration on International Antiwar Day in 1970. This was the beginning of Japan's second wave feminism, which is called, Uman Ribu (Women's Liberation) (Ehara 1985: 105). Ribu was subject to rid.icule by the mass media (Ehara 1985: 101; Mackie 2003: 156) and antipathy from society (Ehara 1985: 109). Feminist sociologist Yumiko Ehara argues that Ribu was uil¡/elcome because its members rejected women's role as wife/mother, a role that traditional feminism never questioned (Ehara 1985: 115). Accord.ing to Yoko Akiyama who was involved in the feminist group "IJrufu no Kal' (Group Wolf), most women involved, in Ribu were single women and the movement was a small movement, However Ribu had influence over a broad generation and area for women in Japan (Akiyama 1993: 51). Ribu focused on abortion, women's health, sexuality and. criticízíng motherhood from what would now be d,escribed, as a rad,ical feminist perspective. The slogan "The personal is 51 politicaf' well describes both Ribu and. radical feminism (Ida 2002: 478). Ribu revealed cases of sexual discrimination and male oppression of women in the private sphere such as in the family and heterosexual relationships, and proposed. radical solutions that included either women moving out of these relationships or radically reforming their roles in relation to men and male power (Ida 2002 478). In other words, Ribu explained discrimination and oppression against women as based on women's sex and sexuality' Importantly, they claimed. that the cause of this inequality was located in the patriarchal system with its systematic privileging of men and masculinity' Mitsu Tanaka, single and in her 20s, was a leading member of the "Gurupu Tatakau Onna"õ (Fighting Woman) and' wrote Japanese Ribu's manifesto ,,Liberation from the toilet" in which she questioned women's conventional gender/sex role such as wife/mother. she pubtished Inochino onna Tachie: torimidashi uman ribu ron (From one v¡oman to all womel: paradoxical on \ryomen,s liberation theory) ín 1972 (reprinted in 20016) which focused motherhood. as a compulsory social ínstitution for women'7 In this section' I r Fighting Woman established the Shinjuku.Ribu Centre fuom 1972 to 1977 as a base the for their fãminist activism (Mackie 2003:156)' The group also published newsletters"Kono Michi Hitosujl' (Devoting Ribd. Many feminist groups also to published. newsletters and other mini-komi (mini communication) as an alternative (r".r" where women's issues were neglected (Mackie ifr" -"""-t"-l "o--otti""tiotù 2003:156iBuckley1994:158).Mini-komicontributedtothenetworkingoffeminist(Buckley groups all over Japan without losing each group's focus and independence 1994:158). 6 I am using the 2001 edition' Botnin z Similarly, Ad"i"rrrr" Rich critiqued motherhood as "institution" in Of Woman dertocontrolwomen'scapacities,the"institutionof thepatriarchalsystem.Theinstitutionofmotherhood thers and. non'mothers: childrearing is comFulsory for for mothers thus excusing men from involvement in childrearing and social support Rich mothering, and. stigmäúzíngwomen who do not become mothers. Furthermore, suggesb[that the-patriarchal system devalues women's biological function such as 52 will explore how Tanaka theorized, motherhood in this text representative of Ribu's approach to issues of motherhood and female identity. 2.2.1 Amother or a toilet According to the masculine consciousness which shapes our und.erstanding of sexuality, men are unable to see a woman as an integrated whole who has both the emotional quality of gentleness and the sexuality which is the physical expression of this gentleness' As far as men are concerned, a woman is split into two images - either the expression of maternal love: a 'mother', or a vessel for the management of lust: a'toilet'(Tanaka 2001: 15, quoted in Mackie 2003: 14Ð. Ribu articulated. two major points that had never before been discussed within Japanese feminism. Firstly, they argue that there is no "woman" but only "woman's role" such as that of wife/mother but which never fulfrlls a woman's own life (Tanaka 2001: 13). The ideal \¡voman as a wife/mother during Japan's high economic growth in the 1950s to 1970s was to support her husband as the corporate warrior who was devoted to the company and to raise child.ren who were to carry future society, as I mentioned in the previous chapter. In other words, the devoted wife/mother was prescribed for women. In fulfrlling this role, women were expected to develop a certain form of femininity, including respect and willingness to serve husbands menstruation and childbirth, and argues that women need to recapture their own bodies which is the source of their power. 53 without question. Within Japanese popular culture, there is a common understanding that the housewife role is easy and relaxed. because they are able to have "three meals and naps" everyday. Yet, Ribu argued that the wife's daily life was not "easy and. relaxed" because ofher dependency on her husband and lack ofcontrol of her life (Tanaka 2001: 13) which led to passiveness, constraint and dissatisfaction.s The other major argument highlighted by Ribu was that women are highly valued as a wife/mother rather than as sexually equal with their husbands (Tanaka 2001: 15). Women's role as a wife/mother depends on women exchanging "three meals and. naps" for sex and childbearing on her husband.'s terms. This maintained the double sexual standard and denied women's sexual and body autonomy. Thus Ribu proposed that there is no difference between the wife/mother and the prostitute in this context (Tanaka 2001: 14). In other words, in order to maintain patriarchal society, the social system and ideology of male domination controlled woman's sex, sexuality and. reproduction (Ehara 1985: 119). For instance, in the 1970s, a sexually active man was considered to be virile but a sexually active woman was consid.ered. to be a "prostitute." As a result, women's sexuality was s Incidentally, this theme is exactly the same as Betty Friedan's argument concernrng the American housewife's "problem that has no name" ín The Feminine Mystiquein with the western women's liberation ng. However, Ribu developed their own o"tittg ideas from western society (see Ueno 2oo2:154-156, 167). 64 d.enied and became taboo. Women's sex and reproduction is only recognízed when their husbands demand. it. "From the passive lovemaking to the active lovemaking woman" was a Ribu's slogan which affirmed \¡¡omen's sexuality (Hosoya 19941164-155). 2.2.2 Infanticide and maternal love Ribu also questioned the prevailing understanding of motherhood and maternal love (Tanaka 2001: 179'130). A \iloman who committed infanticide is d.escribed in the mass media as evil, cruel and cold-blooded. Furthermore, infanticide \üas seen as shocking, deviant and intolerable because of the common belief that maternal love is natural and universal for women. However Ribu argued that maternal love constrained women's lives as mothers by discussing the issue of infanticide (Tanaka 2001: 179-180): A woman who wants to live, live, live, may committed infanticide. Nearly 400 cases of infanticide occurred last year (that is women's dark history). Is it a cruel "criminall' act by an hysterical woman and playgirt? The act hits a vital spot. You, who look like a good and intelligent person, d.o you understand? There is a moment that you hate your lovely child and you want to kill them (Tanaka 2001: 179-180)' According to Ribu, no ïvomen raise their child.ren without diffrculties (Ehara 1985: 185). That is because motherhood is not instinctual, and a mother and child are individuals who each have their own desires and needs. For 55 example, a mother who wants to speak with her friend on the phone, she is she is unable to d.o so if her child is crying. If a mother ignores the child, accused of being selfish and should care for her child as her priority. Miyuki Takeda, who is a mother and. was a member of Fighting Woman, said the "child.'s desire and. my d.esire are incompatible every d^y," echoing Hiratsuka's comments on the tension faced by mothers (Takeda 2001: 32ù' In other words, child.rearing means continuous conflict between a woman as a mother and her child. Moreover, mothers have to take the whole responsibility for childrearing (Ehara 1985: 136). If the child is not perfect, or even average the mother is blamed. for not caring properly for her child' Therefore Ribu understood that a woman who committed infanticide is a into a woman torn between the reality and ideal of motherhood, and driven (Tanaka corner by the prevailing understanding of motherhood 2001: 179)' of In other words, infanticide is a woman's ultimate rejection of the ideolory to motherhood, and maternal love which covers her reality in relation childrearing. 2.2.g Message from a daughter to a mother goals Furthermore, Ribu critiqued. their own mothers as pushing their own rather and. d.csires onto their children in ord.er to fulfrll their own egoism (Tanaka than being the selflessly d,evoted mothers of the ideat stereotype 2001: 331'332): 56 Human beings live and die alone even if d.ressed in beautiful clothes. 'Your hunger" is "your hunger." Even if a mother feels hungrSr, it never becomes a child's "hunger." This fact never changes. The child's success is the mother's success. Thus mother's love is not freely given but is for the mother's success (Tanaka 2001: 331'332). Mothers eager to send their children to top schools are either glad or sad depending upon their children's grades. These mothers are understood to be fuII of maternal love and. are called "education mothers" in Japan. Yet Ribu recognized that devotion to children never fulfiIled the mother's own life because mothers and children occupy different existences (Tanaka 2001: 331-332). Moreover, Ribu argued that mothers are not only victims of patriarchy but also reinforce it when they train their daughters to be submissive to men (Sachi 2001: 32I). A mother expects her daughters to be more passive, obedient and to do housework as training to become a wifeimother. However daughters who were involved in Ribu rebelled against their mothers, arguing for individualism and agency, and telling their mothers that they sought alternatives to motherhood. (Sachi 2001: 32ù. Ribu's strong sense of individualism and independence even considered motherhood without menl To become a single mother is woman's declaration that she is her own boss. ... We would like to be liberated from our lives as sex objects' We would like to construct a society where a woman is able to raise children 57 without marriage. We would like to establish a society where reprod.uction is going to be one of choice for a woman (Tanaka 2001: 3LßÐ. What is interesting here is that Ribu's rejection of motherhood does not mean that they choose not to have children as proposed by the western feminist Shulamith Firestone.e Ribu refused patriarchal society, which defines ywomen as a "reprod.uctive machine," "child caretaker" ând a "dependent existence" (Ehara 198õ: 160). Yet they never rejected'women's biological function and. having child.ren. Rather, they re-valued women's biological function and having children, seeking women's subjectivity, autonomy and social change (Tanaka 2001: 31-32)' Motherhood was an essential issue for Ribu as it had been for first wave feminism. However the radical difference from first wave feminism is that Ribu argued that women's real flesh and blood are split between their sex, sexuality and reprod,uction in order to keep the patriarchal system functioning. As a result, Ribu rejected \Momen's role as wife and mother' However, unlike rad.ical feminism in the west, Ribu affirmed the role of the mother itself and. they did not reject heterosexuality as some western radical feminists did. e Firestone published The Dialectic of Sexin 1979 and claimed that "tyranny of (Firestone reproductiv" biology" Ied to women's oppression and dependence on men ttils tgÐ. Thus she suggested that women's liberation could be achieved via reproductive technology (Èirestone 1979: 193): "The freeing of women fromthe tyranny role of reprod,uction by every means possible, and the diffusion of the child'rearing to the society as a whole, men as well as women" (Firestone 1979: 193, italics in original)' 58 Motherhood was an essential issue for Japanese feminism in 1980s' For instance, as I mentioned in the Introduction, there was the "Agness debate" in the late 1980s which argued the pros and cons of bringing children into the workplace. There was also debate which was called the "ecological feminism debate" in 1985. In the next section, I briefly introduce the "ecological feminism debate." 2.3 "Ecological feminiem debate" in L985 Accord.ing to sociologist Yuko Sakurai, there is a relationship between feminism and. the ecological movement (Sakurai 1990: 120). Women who were involved in Ribu recognized the importance of ecolory because of the frrst oil shock,l0 which occurred in 1973. They looked over their daily lives in relation to items such as food. and. medicine, and saw that they depended on excessive chemicals and drugs. Thus \Momen sought alternative ways, such as organic food and natural childbirth. However, until the advent of "ecological feminism," no theory combined these two ideas' Aoki Yayohi, who is a feminist and an independent scholar, attempted the theorization of feminism and ecolog¡r, and called this "ecological feminism." In Feminism to ecology(Feminism and. ecology) in 1986 (enlarged in l-99411), Aoki claimed. the need to reinstate the "female principle" in order to bring 10 In ord.er to express opposition to the United States who supported Israel, Arab countries raised oil prices. tt This section quotes from the enlarged version. 59 women's liberation and environmental recovery together. In other words, Aoki highly values motherhood. and. believed assertion of the female principle is necessary for social change. Feminist sociologists, such as Chizuko lJeno ín Onna wa sekai wo sukueruka? (Can Woman Save the World?) in 1986, critiqued Aoki by claiming that her emphasis on motherhood reinforces conventional gend.erlsex roles. The debate between ecological and sociological feminisms was influential in 1985, being labelled the "ecological feminism debate." In this section, I map how Aokfs ecological feminism understands motherhood and the main issues in the "ecological feminism debate." 2.3.1 Ecological feminism According to Aoki Gotl [gg4 195-196), creation of life and everything in nature, human beings and. society consists of two balanced principles: the male principle and. the female principle. However industrialization and modernization, which started in the 16th centurSi, brought power and economy, which is said to have created an imbalance between the two principles, by promoting the male principle. As a result, nature and the body, which belong to the female principle lwere d.estroyed and alienated. Moreover, industrialization and modernization devalued and discriminated against women who embodied the female principle through their reprod.uctive function. Therefore Aoki suggests the reinstatement of the female principle including motherhood is essential for women's liberation 60 (4oti lgg4 ZO+-ZOÐ. In other words, to value motherhood and to provide social support for motherhood positively is necessary for women's liberation while this also brings about social reformation through attention to ecological change. 2.3.2 Can women save the worldi Although Chizuko Ueno critiqued ecological feminism on two grounds (Ueno 1g86b: 154-155). One is that ecological feminism is anti-modernization. Ueno argued. that, even if ecological feminism emphasises the "female principle," conventional gend.er relationships will never change because these are d,etermined. by the modern male culture. In other words, ecological feminism actually accepts the existing dualism in which culture and the economy (the male principle) are superior to and separate from nature and the body (the female principle) (Ehara 1985: 18). Thus Ueno stressed ecological feminism may even reinforce conventional "femininity" and "motherhood' which are constructed by the male dominant culture (Sakurai 1990: 129- 130). IJeno's second. point is that Aokls understanding that "women are close to nature because of their biological function" is an expression of maternal feminism (Ueno 1986b: 152, 160) which again reinforces gender/sex role assignment and sex discrimination against $romen. This is because ecological feminism's focus on women s biological difference accepts the notion that "there is fund,amental difference between men and women" 61 (Sakurai 1990: 130). Consequently, Ueno argues that it is impossible for women to save the world where men cannot (Ueno 1986b: 156). In addition, she suggests it is beneficial for women's liberation to pursue the sameness or minimalist stratery (Sakurai 1990: 131) and not to emphasise the difference between men and. women. Rather, to draw men into the so-called women's sphere such as the household and childrearing is effective for women's liberation (Sakurai 1990: 131). According to Sakurai, Aoki and. Ueno's position can be reconciled (Sakurai 1gg0: 181). They are both arguing that women take on some aspects of the male principle and that men take on aspects of the female principle. This will bring about a harmonious balance not only between men and women but also between the public and private spheres. The only difference between Aoki an¿ Ueno is how they und.erstand the female biological function (Sakurai 1gg0: 131): Aoki stressed it while Ueno believes that to emphasise the biological function reinforces conventional gender/sex roles' 2.4 Feminist analysis of childfree women in 1992 As we have seen, Japanese feminist scholars have been studying motherhood' Moreover, they have been focusing on motherhood and women without children in recent years. For example, feminist sociologist Chizuko Ueno (Ueno argued that motherhood is still valued for Japanese women 1986a: 62 104-106). However choosing to be childfree became one option for contemporary rñ/omen because various contraceptive methods are available (Ueno 1986a: 110). Thus Ueno welcomed having alternative options for women other than motherhood which eliminates compulsory motherhood (Ueno 1986a: 110). On the other hand, she believes that having more options also brings difficulty for women because they have to make their own decisions and take responsibility (Ueno 1986a: 111). Azumi Tsuge who is an anthropologist argued that motherhood has been reinforced for infertile women through the ad.vent of reprod.uctive technolory (Tsuge 1999: 189). Furthermore, Masami Ohinata discussed the impact of motherhood on women's lives from the perspective of the disciplines of psychology and 'Women's Studies in 1992. Her illustrative work Bosei wa Onna no kunsho desuka? (Is motherhood women's medal?12) includes interviews with both voluntariþ and involuntarily childfree \¡¡omen. In this section, I map how Ohinata understand motherhood and childfree women. 12 Western feminists and scholars have been arguing for some time whether or not motherhood is the source of women's oppression or women's power. Western feminists who have researched the experiences of childfree women include Leslie Cannold €OOf), Rosemary Gillespie (2003, zbOo), Yvonne Vissing (zOoz),Annily Campbell (rggg), Gayle Letherby (tgg¿), and Robyn Rowland, (tgSZ). Thus choosing to be childfree is a significant issue for Western feminism. For example, Gillespie (ZOOa) argues.that increased choices including education, câreer and contraception gave women the option of being childfree. Women in her study described their choice not to have children as based on freedom, valuing their relationship with their partner and a rejection of motherhood. Contrastively, Cannold (ZOOS) claims that many Australian women today do not choose to be childfree but they are "circumstantially childless," forced to abandon their desire for children because oflack ofchoice due to inadequate affordable childcare, family unfriendly workplaces or the inability to find a man eager to commit to e galitarian childrearing. 63 2.4.1 Is motherhood women's medal? Ohinata undertook this pioneering study in order to change Japanese attitudes which value motherhood for women to the exclusion of all other careers or achievement (Ohinata lgg2: 7). She recognizes, from her previous studies, that there is a tremendous gap between women who are mothers in reality and ideal motherhood. The prevailing understanding of motherhood is that women are willing to have children and then raise them without any d,iffrculties because of women's instinct. However in fact mothers struggle with child.rearing because motherhood is not a natural instinct. These \Momen's voices are hardly heard because of the strong pronatalist discourse drowning their voices. Thus Ohinata had the hypothesis that ideal motherhood. should also influence women without children (Ohinata 1992: 15). There are two parts ín fs motherhood women's medal? Part one consists of interviews with \áomen concerning the role of motherhood and part two is an analysis of how motherhood has been manipulated socially and culturally based on the interview material. Some of the conclusions drawn by Ohinata from her interviews are presented below, but the interview narratives are analysed in more detail in Chapter 5' 2.4.2 Lessons Ohinata draws from childfree women's e>çeriences Childfree women in Ohinata's stud.y expressed their various reasons for choosing to be childfree (Ohinata 1992: 1S2). Yet the women's voices are 64 tentative because their decision not to have children conflicted with their husband/partner's d.esire to have children and this made the vvomen uncertain of their decision. Thus Ohinata understands childfree women are far from d.eclaring a "birth strike" which is how mass media described women when the total fertility rate dropped to 1.57 in 1989. Furthermore, ohinata suggests reprod.uctive decisions are not only made by women but are also an important issue for men (Ohinata 1992:1S2'183). Nevertheless, from her interviews, Ohinata draws the conclusion that the patriarchal family system survives in Japan defrning women's primary role as motherhood (Ohinata lggzi 28Ð. Childfree women in Ohinata's study reported that they were constantly asked by women who are mothers why they do not have child.ren, making them feel uncomfortable and inferior (ohinata Lggzi 1g4). Moreover, women who are mothers participate in d.evaluing womcn who are non-mothers as not fully'fledged women, although ohinata suggests that there is no relation between being a mother and one's maturity (Ohinata ]Igg2 189). Indeed, she suggests that if mothers were fully-fledged and mature individuals, they would not push their values onto (ohinata others including their own children and women as non-mothers lgg1: ZOB-ZO4). As a result, Ohinata understands that not only mothers but women without children are also oppressed hy the belief that "motherhood is women's medal." Therefore she describes both women as mothers and non-mothers as "victims" (Ohinata 1992: 15). Finalty, Ohinata concludes that Japanese society is far from granting individualism to women, even if 65 this is an accepted value in contemporary society. Motherhood has been a central issue for Japanese feminism across the almost one hundred years of its existence, starting with the "maternal protection d.ebate" in the frrst wave and ending with Masami Ohinata's discussion about childfree v¡omen. According to feminist sociologist Michiko Asai, Japanese feminists necessarily focus on motherhood because l¡¡omen only achieve subject-hood as mothers (Asai 1990: 103'104). In other words, male dominant society d.efrnes women's subjectivity as occurring only when they become mothers. Thus Asai explains Japanese feminism's Iack of attention to women's subjectivity beyond. motherhood., apart from d.iscussions by Ribu (second wave feminists) who challenged the conventional role of wife and mother (Asai 1gg0: 104). Similar themes emerged in the women's "narratives." As I mentioned in the Introduction, the term "narrative" is used in this thesis to d,istinguish between my own empirical observations from the interviews that I conducted which are subjected to a content analysis in Chapters 4 and 5, an¿ other published interview material presented in books such as Ohinata's However first, the next chapter introduces the methods by which I analysed the "narratives" and my interviews' 66 Chapter 3 Methods: how the study was conducted we cannot speak for others, but that we can' and must, speak out fot others (Reinharz 1992: 16). In ord.er to understand Japanese men's and women's reasons for being child.free, I undertook an analysis of both existing narratives in published texts and conducted interviews. In this chapter, I introduce my methods: how I selected the narratives and interviewees, how I conducted and analysed both the narratives and interviews' Positivist quantitative method requires formulating hypotheses to be tested. However the freld of Japanese childfree \áomen is not suffrciently researched to yield useful hypotheses for testing (Jupp & Norris 1993: 40). Thus this stud.y takes a qualitative approach. I believe a qualitative approach enabled. me to transcend. the dichotomy inscribed in the view that men are the subject and. the oppressor, and women are the object and the victim' As a result, I believe that the d.iversity of women's experiences will be revealed through a qualitative approach. Furthermore, I believe a qualitative approach has the possibility of enhancing women's empowerment by making opportunities for social change. 67 3.1 Selecting the narratives and intenriewees In this section, I introduce how I selected the narratives and interviewees. 3.1.1 Selecting the narratives I located. four texts written between 1991 and 1998 which documented the reasons of childfree women and one text which included the accounts of childfree menl these texts \¡vere written by freelance writers, a scholar and a \¡vomen's group. The texts are ManamiYamada No kids woman: kodomo wo motanai josei tach no interview(No kids women! interviews with women who do not have childred (tggt), Masami Ohinata Bosei wa onna no kusho desuka?(Is motherhood a medal for womenZ) (fggZ), AyumiYoshida 'Kodomo (A wo motanai'to iu ikikataj naze hoshiino? naze hoshikunaino? way of life (tggg) without children: why you want or d.o not want to have childred and Group Amí Otoko tachino umu uma¿ai (Men's views on whether to have or not to have childred (rggg). In Ohinata and. Yoshid.a's texts, there are chapters where voluntary childfree women's narratives \¡yere distinguished from involuntary childfree women. Thus I selected 17 voluntary childfree women's narratives reproduced in yamad.a (eight women), Ohinata (four women) and Yoshida (five women). Moreover, in order to elucid.ate the specifi,city of childfree women's experiences, I have drawn from 10 childfree men whose interviews were in the Group Ami text. 68 3.I.2 Selecting the interviewees I adopted the snowballing technique to locate interviewees in and around Tokyo. I did this by contacting friends and acquaintances who have chosen not to have children.ls I invited them to speak about their experiences and to introd.uce me to anyone they knew who has also chosen to be childfree because I believe to speak about one's experiences and perspective in relation to reprod.uctive choice is a private and sensitive issue. Thus I felt interviewees would. feel more comfortable speaking to someone they know or to someone who is known to an acquaintance of theirs. Moreover, the snowballing technique suited my study because random sampling is impractical as it would not give a large enough percentage of childfree women within the sample. However the snowballing technique did not provid.e sufficient interviewees. Also in order to make the sample more d,iverse I decided to recruit both voluntary and involuntarily childfree women to my stud.y. I secured. contacts through The Women's Studies Association of Japan, the research institute for Gender studies, the Young Women',s Christian Association (YWCA), and women's centres which exist in most prefectures in Japan. I sent each of these an information sheet which briefly explained. the aims of the study and. the interview process (see Appendix 1). I also put a very small arlvertisement in women's newspapers such as Femin.ra I also searched the internet to locate childfree women' re I aimed to focus on voluntary childlessness rather than those with fertility problems. ra "Please involve an interviewfor the study about women without children. Privacy is protected." 69 As a result of these efforts, I recruited. ten women and one manl two through \ryomen's centres, three (including one man) from my friends and acquaintances, two through the research institute, three from the advertisement and internet search, and one whose name and workplace was provid.ed in a newspaper article I read. The fact that several women were recruited through women's otganízations no doubt influenced their more feminist-informed. approach to explaining their decisions to be childfree, as will be seen when comparing the results from the narratives and the interviews in Chapter 6. The interviewees'ages range from late 30s to early Ggs. Six of them \¡/ere legally married., three of them were cohabiting with a partner, two were single and one of them was divorced. This categorisation reflects the terms used by the women themselves in describing their marital status as married or de'facto or living with a partner, or how they named their husband or partner. The interviewees lived the cities of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and KYoto. 3.2 Conducting the intenriews In this section, I introduce how I cond.ucted the interviews: what approach I employed, and how I framed the questions. 3.2.t Semi-structured in-depth interview Given the limited. research in the atea,I adopted a semi'structured in-depth interview approach. In'depth interviews are called for in order not to miss potential reasons for womert's childfree choices. In-depth interviewing 70 enabled. me to access women's experiences, beliefs and values. It is a way of stud.ying how people recognise and experience their reality (Taylor & Bogdan 1gg8: 101). I paid attention to individual intervierüee's experiences, perspectives and belief, accepting their stories as they arose rather than trying to fit their accounts into particular hypotheses. Taylor and Bogdan describe the interview as mutual communication as follows: Indeed., the relationship that develops over time between the interviewer and. informant is the key to collecting data. ... An important part of interviewing is being nonjudgmental. ... In other words, if you want people to open up about their feelings and views, you have to refrain from making negative judgments about them or putting them down ..' paying attention means communicating a sincere interest ... paying attention also means being open to seeing things in a new and d.ifferent way (Taylor & Bogdan 1998: 99-101). I also adopted. open-end.ed. questions because this meant that the interviewee's experience was not presumed by me as the interviewer and I could collect many potential responses identifying a wide variety of experiences (Jackson 1993: 18). For example, if I asked the question "Do you feel positive about being chilclfree," I might receive the answer "Yes" or "No." Open-ended questions such as "I am interested in talking with people who choose not to have children. Could you teII me when you started to think that you \ñrere not going to have children?" or "\{'ould you mind telling 1t me what process brought you to accept a life without children?" guide the interviewee to speak about topics and avoid the interviewer leading the response with their questions (Taylor & Bogdan 1998:L02)' I composed twelve open-ended prompt questions, divided into three sections (see Appendix 2 for the interview questions). Part 1 asked about reasons for choosing to be childfree. Thus my first question was "would you tell me your story about how it is that you do not have children?" Part 2 explored the degree of certainty interviewees expressed in their childfree status. I asked "When did you realíze or decid.e that you defrnitely would not have children?" Part 3 aimed to explore childfree experiences with questions like "What do you think are the positive and negative aspects of having and not having children?" During the interview, I did not need to ask all twelve questions because answers sometimes covered unasked questions' For example, in response to "Would. you teII me your story about not having children?" many interviewees discussed issues concerning the certainty of their decision and their experiences. 3.2.2 How I started the interviews Interviews were conducted. at the interviewee's home or offrce, or the lvomen's centre, or a café. At the beginning of each interview, I introduced myself and. explained the reasons for the study. I also explained that I wanted. to listen to their own stories. Moreover, I emphasized that interviewees had the option of using a pseudonym and that I would be careful to disguise any d.etails that may identi$' them' After the n.) explanation for interview and signing the consent form (see Appendix 3 for the consent form), I started and taped the interview. 3.3 Analysing the narratives and interviews Both the narratives and interviews were in the Japanese language in their original form. Rather than translating the whole of each text, I initially coded and. analysed the Japanese language texts. Once I had selected extracts that illustrated. my categories, these were translated into English, with some commentary where the experiences or beliefs of the Japanese respondent is different from what a western reader might expect' 3.3.1 Content analysis for the narratives I employed a variant of content analysis which focuses on how language is (Taylor used. in the text and examines the patterns of language use 2001: 5'6) This technique reveals the implied messages and underlying assumptions which are not stated, clearly in the text, such as values and ideologies (Lupton L992:149). I identifred key phrases in each narrative, subsequently collecting them into four categories: "reasons for being childfree," "how certain they felt about their d.ecision," "how much they discussed their decision with their husband/partner" and "experiences of being childfree'" The first and. largest category, "reasons for being childfree," was divided into 73 seven sub-categories which related to the main reasonsl "parenting is diffi.cult," "chiLdren limit one's lifestyle," "childbirth and childrearing is not a valuable experience in life," "the value of the man-woman relationship," "no d.esire to have child.ren," "rejection of motherhood" and "no choice," meaning that the respondent did not choose their childfree state. In the section on women's certainty concerning their decision to be childfree, I identifred direct expressions such aS "I am confident about being childfree" aS "confident." If for example a woman reported that she would go ahead and have children if she became pregnant, it was identified as "Iess certain." In relation to how much women talked with their husband/partner about their childfree decision, I categorized clearly contrasting accounts into "discussed' and "never discussed.." When they used expressions such as "I/my husband said.," I classifîed this as "not much discussion" because discussion is interactive and one person saying something does not constitute an exchange of opinions. Among the experiences of being childfree, I included comments such as "many times my boss asked me why I do not have children" and "I think I am going to stay in a nursing home in my old age." 3.3.2 Listening to silences: writing women's stories For me, the most challenging task in writing and analysing women's interviews \ryas to identify women's silences and the meaning of these silences. For example, the interviewees implicitly referred to unequal gender relations, a frnd.ing which had hardly figured in the published narratives and which I was not expecting to arise in the interviews. In fact, 14 six women applied the feminist gender critique of "patriarchal compulsory motherhood" even if they did not use this specifi.c term. I came to realize that the interviewees are more concerned about gender issues at least in part because I recruited them through women's centres, a research institute and women's newspapers. In doing so I have captured a previously unrecognised (and possibly recent) discourse about gender equality' The next chapter discusses the published narratives by childfree men and women, which are then compared with the interviewees' experiences, revealing both similarities and differences between the two data sets. 75 Chapter 4 Childfree men and women in the nanatives The texts analysed in this chapter were published in the 1990s following the mass media description of the low total fertility rate in 1989 as the "I.57 shock-' and as an important social issue in Japan. Especially, texts by Ohinata and Group Ami responded to this social context. As I mentioned before, Ohinata questioned whether women have freedom not to have children when the "L.57 shock" is represented as women's rejection of motherhood (Ohinata L992:5); Group Ami wanted to know what men think about children because men's voices concerning declining fertility were absent from the mass media (Group Ami 1993:6-7). Interestingly, the study suggests that men's reasons for being childfree are very similar to women's reasons, but such a gïoup of men, recruited through a women's group, are likely to be unrepresentative. Indeed almost all of them believed the father had an obligation to share childrearing. The sections of this chapter are organized around the four themes identifred within the women'S narratives: "reasons for being childfree," "how certain they felt about their decision," "ho\¡/ much they discussed their decision with their husband/partner" and "experiences of being childfree" while the final section explores the men's narratives. 76 4.1 \{'omen'g reasons for being childfree The major reason women gave for being childfree was the difficulty of combining work and. family. They also felt that it is impossible to share child.rearing with their husbands/partners. Thus some of these women might be what Leslie Cannold would term "circumstantially childless" (Cannold 2005: 1G), not childless from a free choice but because of the lack of institutional support or men's willingness to share childrearing. They also mentioned that having child.ren is incompatible with their activities and social life. In other words, women suggested that there is a tension between their d.esires as individuals and the role of mothering, an issue raised by both first wave feminists and Ribu (discussed in Chapter 2). Moreover, a number of the women valued. the relationship with their husbands/partners and this led them to be childfree. However, these women expressed only a tentative commitment to being childfree because they identified a tension between women's reproductive autonomy and. Iistening to or following their husband's/partner's wishes. These reasons and the certainty with which women made their childfree decision are summaúzed in Table 3. 71 Table 3 Women's reasons and certainty conce¡ning their childfree decision Confident Less Uncertain Percentage confident mentioning this reason (N in brackets) Parenting is difiEeult'.... -+-ll-"/p-18) Prioritized work Makoto Kyoko I4arik-q-...--- Miyuk--i--.-- No support from Takako Mariko Kanako the husband or Reiko Miki extend,ed family Children limit one's Mari Makoto Mieko 4L% Q) lifestyle Takako Tamami Miwako Miki Childbirth and Takako Kanako 36o/o (6) childrearing is not a Kazumi Miwako valuable experience Michiko in life Tamami The valuing of Mari Makoto Kanako 2e% $) man-woman Hanae Miwako relationship No desire to have Mari Iku Kanako 29o/o (5) own children Kazumi Mieko (4) Rejection of Reiko Miyuki 23o/o motherhood Takako Kyoko No choice Iku Miki %%ø) Makoto Junko Total number of 5 4 8 t7 women 78 First, I will discuss the reasons offered by the \ñ¡omen for being childfree, followed by the factors which influenced their degree of certainty concerning their d.ecision. Following this, I introduce the women's childfree experiences. For example some \ñ¡omen reported that they have been told that they are not futly'fledged because they do not have children. 4.1.L Parenting is diffrcult Eight women referred to the diffrcutty of childrearing, refusing to become mothers because if they had children they would have to give up works. Some women ind.icating that this decision would be forced on them because they would have to take aII the responsibility for parenting with very little support. In add.ition, most women did not feel that they could share childrearing with their husbands and saw it as a burden to combine work and family. Makoto worked, as an office worker for 23 years. She had been married for 11 years and was 40 years old There is no environment in which women can combine work and family yet. At my office, you can take child care leave for a year but if you retnrn, you cannot go back to the same position even if you want to. So you have to quit. There are people who are combining work and family. But I have seen the diffrculty so I do not want to do that (Makoto in Yoshida 1998: f42). 79 For some women, the nature of their work and their commitment to it precluded children. Kyoko was working as an editor for a political party's newsletter. She was 32 and had been married for nine years' Her husband. was studying as a postgtaduate student and working part'time as a guard. Kyoko had seen her younger sister's difficulty in combining work (Yamada and childrearing even though she has support from her own mother 1991: 151): If I am going to have children, I could continue to work at the same office but editing is impossible. ... I want to work as an editor. Sometimes, I have to work until midnight. If I have children, I could not work like that. ... My husband is also busy studying so it is impossible to push child.rearing onto him (Kyoko in Yamad'a 1991: 16ù. Miyuki, who was 31 years old, was studying as she wanted to become an illustrator or caricaturist. She explained her reason for being childfree: I do not want to give up my dream. ... I thought combining studying or working and childrearing would be okay. But my friends who have children told me that I cannot have my own time, especially when children are small. It will be very hard for me not to have my own time (Miyuki in Yoshida 1998: 114). 80 Several \¡/omen mentioned that their husband's/partner's occupation and/or his lack of contribution to childrearing were barriers to having children. Kanako was 39 years old and teaching English at a cram school' Her husband was a part-time lecturer. Therefore she was the "breadwinner" (Yamada 1991: 10): If I had to raise children, I think I would have to sacrifi-ce myself' "' If I have child.ren, I feel constrained. I wilt take care of children to some extent because I have compassion but I wiII be tired ... finally, I wiII say I cannot work because of children and "I cannot work because of you" to my children. I think it will be a problem (Kanako in Yamada 1991: 21)' Takakols was 29 years old., working as an offlrce worker and had been married. for frve years. she had an abortion because she did not want to have children. Her husband was working at a bank from early morning tiII Iate in the evening: The one big reason that I do not want to have children is that I cannot share childrearing with my husband' If we have children, I have to have all the responsibility ... I have to change my whole life. I think that is unfair (Takako in Ohinatalgg2:144-t46,148)' rs Represented in Ohinata's text as T but given the pseudonym Takako in my analysis' 81 Mariko, who was 42 yearc old and. an associate professor, chose to be childfree because to share child.rearing with her husband Yusuke was impossible (Yoshida 1998: 160): Yusuke told me "I am not interested. in childrearing" so I understood he d.oes not want to have children... If he wants to have children, I was thinking that it would be good. to have children but I also wanted to work' I understand that I have to sacrifrce myself to some extent but if my husband will not take half the responsibility for childrearing, I did not want to do it all by myself. I did not want to sacrifice myself totally (Mariko in Yoshida 1998: 160). Reiko,ro who was 40 years old., does not want to have children because she cannot expect support from her extended family: I grew up in big family. My grandmother, great grandmother and her brother and sister were all living at my house' I was brought up by a Iot of people. I d,o not have people who would support me in child,rearing. I think it is impossible to raise children just by myself (Reiko in Ohinat a 1992: 155). Miki,17 who was 28 years old, also said that she cannot expect support from (Ohinata her family and that is one reason she d,oes not have children 19921 of Reiko' 16 She was anonymous in Ohinata's text, and I have given her the pseudonym t7 She was also anonymous in Ohinata's text, so I gave her the pseudonym of Miki' 82 t67). As we have seen, the main reason given by women for not having children in the narratives is the diffrculty of childrearing: four women expressed the impossibility of combining the dual role of work and motherhood, four women mentioned. woman's primary responsibility for childrearing seeing their husband./partner as unable or unwilling to share childrearing or noting that there rvere no other family members available to do this. What is interesting is that none of these women mentioned the possibility of child.care services, even to say that they are too expensive or unavailable. They appear to accept "the myth of three years old" that if they were to have children, they must look after them themselves. Takako, referred to her mother's diffrculties with childrearing: Why I cannot make the decision to have children is ... I am the eldest child of three. I have seen the difficulty for a lvoman who has children ... (W)tren my mother had my younger brother, her teeth became bad, she developed freckles and she did not look nice. My mother could not take care of herself because she was busy childrearing. Therefore I wondered. why women have children (Takako in Ohinatatgg2: 144). As implied in Takako's comments, the second main factor for women who choose to be childfree was a belief that children would limit their lifestyle. 83 4.I.2 Children Limit one'B lifestyle It seems that the proverb "A child cements a marriage" does not apply to the seven \Momen who indicated that chitdren are a limitation rather than a support for their relationships. These women saw children as an impediment to the lives they shared with their husbands, including their activities and social life. Mieko was 42 years old and had been working at a company for 20 years' She married when she was 24 years old. Mieko belongs to a union, a ski club, writes scenarios for television and radio dramas, and enjoys her life. She felt children would limit the activities she and her partner enjoyed as a couple: We would have to spend a lot of time with the children, so we would not have time to go out. Then we would not have many friends so we would tend to stay at home more and more, and we would' be frustrated (Mieko inYamada 1991:67). Takako and her husband. were very busy at work, so sometimes they met at a pub after midnight and had dinner together: If we had children, we cannot do things just to please ourselves. To be honest, a child is a d.isturbance (Takako in ohinata 1992:150). 84 Tamami was 32 years old, a primary school teacher and in the first year of her second. marriage. If she had children, Tamami thinks that she would have to give up her leisure time (Yamada 1991: 86). Makoto also described the importance of her personal pursuits to her quality of life, in her case flower arrangement, which she learned and taught once a week: If you have enough money, your quality of life is good. I do not want to reduce my quality of life because of children. If I can keep the level [standard, of livingl, it is okay ... I can take time for f],ower arrangement now but if I have children, it is impossible' Maybe you can continue to work but not continue with a hobby. I have to sacrifice my hobby if I have child.ren (Makoto in Yoshida 1998: 139,744). Miki also considered. that children would limit her quality of life' "I do not want to see a decline in my quality of life because of children'(Ohinata 1991: 157-158). Miwako, who was 40 years old, said "If I am very rich, I may think that it will be okay to have children'because money is required. for raising children (Yamad,a 1998: 135). Mari, a 33 year old flight attendant, simply said "We do not want to change our lifestyle ... If we have children, our life is going to change d.ramatically" (Yamada 1991:39,44)' These \Momen choose to be chilclfree in order to pursue their chosen lifestyle and hobbies, and. in some cases interests they share with their husbandsipartners. In other words, these ïYomen choose to be childfree because they value individualism, self-realization and companionate 85 role of motherhood. 4.t.g Childbimh and childrearing is not a valuable e:rperience in life In Japanese society as elsewhere, there are women who find childbirth a wonderful experience and they learn to love and be patient through child,rearing. I still remember that one of my friends told me that childbirth was the greatest experience in her life. While six childfree women referred to chitdbirth and childrearing as positive experiences, they still claimed that it is not essential for them, and this is a further reason they are childfree. Kanako spoke as follows: I think childbirth would be a great experience. However, I do not think I have to experience it because I am a woman. One cannot experience everything. One person catr have certain experiences but it is impossible to do everything. ... Therefore it is good that there are some people who choose not to have children (Kanako inYamada 1991:31)' Miwako also d.escribed her reservations about childbearing: But I d.o not think that childbirth is an extremely great experience' women have been d,oing it from the d.awn of time. So I sometimes think chitdbirth brings something good and it is a wonderful experience that I cannot imagine. Yet, I never wanted to try to have children ... It is no 86 $¡onder that to have child,ren is a big decision but not to have children rs also a big decision (Miwako inYamada 1991:134-135). Similarly, Tamami and. Takako expressed that to have children is an irreversible decision : I have had a lot of experiences. It was good for me even if I made mistakes. Once you have experienced lsomethingì yourself, you understand.. It is good that you can start again. But having children is a problem. Once you have children then you cannot say "WelI, I better not have children" (Tamami inYamada 1991: 80). My nephew is lovely. I can return him if I am tired of taking care of him. But I cannot do that for my own child. Childrearing is almost Ltke a 24 hours a day business ... If I have my own child, I cannot give it up (Takako in ohinata 1992: 148, L62). Kazumi was working in a temporary job. She and her partner had been together for three years as a d.e facto couple. Kazumi said "It is not that I do not have confidence to raise child.ren properly but I have confrdence that I wiII raise chilclren improperly" (Yoshida 1998:133). Michiko was 37 years old, a freelance draftsperson who had been married for three years to a Hungarian man. They live separately and meet a couple of 87 times a year. Michiko grew up near an American military base, so she played with African-American, other American and Korean children. She expressed. the view that childrearing is important and should be a social responsibility rather than individual task: The reason I do not particularly want my own children is maybe infl.uenced by the environment in which I grew up. If there are children, I think it will be good if someone raises them whether they are my own child.ren or not ... Childrearing is part of your life as well as marriage. It is not good if childrearing becomes your main life or you put a lot of emphasis on it ... I think to have children is to have human beings. I believe child.ren d,o not belong to parents but to society (Vtichiko in Yamada 1991: I7 3-17 4). It is very interesting that Kanako, Miwako and Takako viewed childbirth and childrearing positively. Yet, they do not see these experiences as essential for them. 4.L.4 The value of the man'woman relationship Contrary to the Japanese saying that the Japanese value the parent-child relationship above that of the wife-hushand, five women in the narratives claimed that they respect the man-\¡roman or husband-wife relationship more than the father-mother or parent'chitd relationship. For example, Mari stated: 88 Once you have children, there ate no more man-woman but only fathermother relationships. I do not like that relationship' My husband is gentle and he takes greatcare of me. So if we have children, he will be a fond. father. But I cannot accept that his focus would move from me to the children (Mari in Yamad a L99l: 44) ' Kanako seems satisfred with her life with her husband we are happy because we understand and accept each other. I think there is no space for children between the two of us (Kanako in Yamada 1991: 32). Makoto did not want to have child.ren when she married. After a few years' she felt it would be good to have children if she became pregnant' Yet she never conceived a child. Makoto and her husband never went to an infertility clinic for examination: (E)ven For me, my husband is more important than children. ... if I have child,ren, I will not just focus on the children (Makoto in Yoshida 1998: t47). Miwako had been married. for L7 years and for four years has managed a second,-hand. bookshop with her husband. Before they opened their shop, 89 she retired from primary school teaching and travelled around the world for two years with her husband: Newly married couples often say "I want to play," and "we want to en¡oy just the two of us a little bit more." We still have that kind of feeling (Miwako in Yamada 1991: ß2). Hanae was 31 years old, and a housewife. She met her husband when she was 18 years old: We would like to live focused. on each other wholeheartedly now and in the future. ... We would like to spend. our time just for each other (Hanae in Ohinat a 1992: 153-154). It seems that these women are expressing a variation of "romantic love" which pred.ominates in western discourse: "aîV intense attraction involving the ideali zatíon of the other within an erotic context... [which] carries with it the d.esire for intimacy and the pleasurable expectation of enduring for some unknown time into the future" (Jankowiak in Wilding 2003: 377)' Perhaps they are reflecting the Japanese convention that presumes that when a couple has children, the relationship between the man and woman will be supplanted by the parenting role (this is not such a strong presumption in western family discourses). In Japan, then, it may be less common that women see around them models of families where the partnership bond 90 remains strong even though there are children. In relation to this point, Takako said "I love my husband but to love his children is a different issue" (Ohinata 1992:150). 4.1.5 No desfue to have own children A further reason for remaining childfree for five women ïvas they do not have the desire to have their own children. Mari had abortions twice. She explained the reason why she did not to have children: I was pregnant right after our marriage. Yet, I had an abortion immediately because of my health. ... I had a second abortion... We talked about having children only when we wanted to. ... I did not want to have the child of my first pregnancy. ... I felt uncomfortable about having the abortion at the beginning. But when I considered it, I did not want to have children (Mari in Yamada 1991: 39). Takako does not particularly want to have her own children It is true that to raise children is to raise one's own self. It depends on the individual but childrearing brings tolerance. However I do not think that I have to raise my own children (Takako in Ohinata 1992: L4Ð. 91 Kazumi spoke frankly: I never imagined that I was going to have children in my life. Never' "' Precisely, I do not like children. ... We do not want to have things that we do not need. ... When we start to consider children, we wonder do we really want them or not (Kazumi inYoshida 1998: L22,136). Kanako thought she did not like child.ren before she became a cram school teacher but: I think I like children now since I have started to work as a teacher and meet child.ren. But I never think that I want to have my own children. I communicate with children enough (Kanako in Yamada 1991: 20)' Mieko simply said: When I was sick, I asked the doctor about whether I was infertile or not' But I was not. ... If I really wanted to have children, I might have to have artifrcial insemination but I do not want to have children that much (Mieko inYamada 1991:64)' Iku was 32 years old and had been with her partner for seven years' She manages an advertisement planning offrce with her friend, and also says: 92 Originally, I was not clear about children like right now. But if it is possible, I did not want to have them (Iku in Yamada 1991: 103). In the past, the expectation that all women will marry and have children means that women who did not like children presumably repressed their feelings and did what society expected. Several women in these narratives realized. they were not eager to have children and acted on that feeling, despite social expectations. Linked to this realizalíon are those women who said that childbirth and childrearing is not "woman's medal," not the greatest experience a woman can have while another two believe that raising children is important for women, but they do not need to be a biological mother. These women are all questioning the normative prescription that women will find primary fulfrlment and maturity in having and raising their own children. 4.1.6 Rejection of motherhood Similarly, four women expressed a strong rejection of motherhood based on their perceptions of their mother's experiences. For instance: My mother ofben said if you clo not have children, you are not fully'fledged. I did not like that and I opposed her in that I did not want to be a person like her (Reiko in Ohinat a 1992: I54). 93 Until I was in my middle 20s, I really did not want to be like my mother. She was a negative example. I said to her "I do not want to be a person like you" (Miyuki in Yoshida 1998: 110). Takako said. "I am afraid of kinship" (Ohinata t992: 146) which would restrict her role only to that of wife and mother. Kyoko was even more certain in her rejection of motherhood, framing it in feminist terms: My mother was blinded by patriarchy and she pushed it onto us during the childrearing process. ... My father ofben hit my mother because he was drunk. She just accepted. it. ... I opposed her very much (Kyoko in Yamada 1991: 156). Women expressed. their further reasons being childfree which was "no choice." 4.t.7 No choice A group of four women feII into the category of having "no choice" concerning their childfree state. Miki said that she cannot have children because of a "potentially inheritable disease" (Ohinata 1992: t57). Makoto did not have child.ren "by chance" and is now too old, to d.o so (Yoshida 1998: 138)' Junko explained. that "it would be appropriate to say that I could not have children rather than I choose to be childfree" because she wanted children but never became pregnant (Yoshida 1998: L7ù. Iku had surgery when she was in her 94 early 20si she lost much of her womb and so she cannot have children (Yamada 1991: 102-103). 4.2 w'omen's certainty about 6aki¡g the decision to be childfree Besides expressing a range of reasons for not having children, the women's narratives also provide a range of certainty concerning their childfree decision. 4.2.L \il'omen who were uncertain Even though these women expressed a range of reasons for choosing to be childfree, almost half the sample (eight women), felt uncertain about their decision to be childfree. In other words, their decision was tentative or temporary rather than d.efrnite (although the 'biological clock'has made the decision irretrievable for some women). For example, Kanako, Mieko, Kyoko and Michiko said that if they became pregnant, they would "have to have children," "maybe" would. have children or would have the child, even if it was financially diffrcult (Yamada 1991: 22, 66, t62,167). Miyuki's childfree decision is also temporary. "If I could have children, I would. Iike to have them. ... The problem is when wiII I make the final d.ecision" (Yoshida 1998: 118, 121). Miwako also described her hesitation about being childfree: I have been living as a childfree woman and I could change my mind 95 anytime because of my age. But I cannot leave it much longer because of my biological clock. So I sometimes consider it (Miwako in Yamada 1991: 135). Tamami said "I will have children if I become pregnant'' (Yamada 1991: 87) and discussed the role of her partner (Yamazaki-sad in her hesitation: I am really confused now. For example, Yamazaki-san said "Have children!" However I can say "no!" to him. His attitude is "I accept whatever you want" because "you have to use your own body." If I said ,,I am going to have children," he will answer "please do." ... I have to make my fi.nal decision soon (Tamami in Yamada 1991: 87, 95). 4.2.2 W'omen who were confi'dent Five women were unequivocal in their decision not to have children: "I cannot imagine that I will raise children. I only have energy for myself' (Kazumi in Yoshida 1998: L2Ù; "I cannot imagine having another family member" (Mari in Yamada 1991: 44); "We are proud to live together just the two of us" (Hanae in ohinaIalgg2:153); "I do not care that I do not have children' (Reiko in Ohinat a 1992: 155). Takako initially seemed to be clear in her d.ecision to be childfree. Yet like Tamami, her husband.'s attitude has created ambivalence. Takako said she would. consid.er having children if he would share childrearing with her: 96 I am confrdent with my decision that I am not going to have children. Therefore someone may ask what am I worrying about. I feel pain that I am not clear about my husband's feelings. If he wants to have children and says it is okay for him to move to a less busy section and we will raise child.ren together, I will think about having children. ... If he says he does not want children, probably I will feel relief (Ohinata L992i 152-153). 4.2.3 \{'omen who were less confide The four \ñromen who were not clearly confrdent offered reasons beyond their control for not having children. For example: I thought it is either okay for me to have or not to have children. I did not conceive accidentally. ... Some people who want to have children do so with treatment at an infertility clinic. I did not do that (Makoto in Yoshida 1998: 13S). I wanted to have children at the beginning but I never worried about it. Maybe I did not want to have children very much (Junko in Yoshida 1998: r7ù. Other people worried that I cannot have children [because of operationl ... I thought "whoopee, lucky me!" Yet I still frnd it strange to say "I do 97 not want to have children." This was a shock for me. I cannot easily say "I do not want to have child.ren' (Iku in Yamada 1991: 102-103, 109). Mariko also noted her husband's wishes, saying that if her husband wanted to have child.ren and she could. share childrearing with him, she "probably" would. have children (Yoshida 1998: L64). Furthermore, she explained: If we have children, I want him to take half the responsibility. If he promised. to do it, maybe I would have thought about having children. ... But I think I will not regret that I do not have children (Mariko in Yoshida 1998: 167). Given the importance of the husband's attitudes, in the following section I describe how women negotiate with their husbands/partners in relation to being childfree. Several women suggest that the childfree decision is not only a \ilomen's issue but also one in which men should be involved as Ohinata claims (see Chapter 2). 4.9 Discussion concerning children between the couple Tlpicatly women did not discuss and reach agreement about being childfree with their husband or partner. Figure 4.2 shows how much they discussed the issue and whether or not they reached a consensus with their husband/partner. As can be seen from the fîgure, only two of the eight women for whom this data is available had intensive discussions with their 98 husbands/partners, while one did not discuss the matter at all. These Japanese women's experiences contrast with the Australian women surveyed by Cannold who often discuss children as the "couple's common issue" (Cannold 2005:184). Table 4 Discussion between couple about child-free decision (N=tZ) Agreement No agreement Unknown Discussed Mari Miyuki Mariko Not much discussion Kanako Tamami Kyoko Takako Never discussed Kazumi Miwako Not known if there Michiko was discussion or not Mieko Reiko Hanae Miki Makoto Iku Junko Total 3 5 I 4.3.1 Not much discussion and no agreement Kanako, Tamami, Kyoko and Takako had limited conversations but did not reach agreement with their husbands: 99 He did not say so strongly but he wanted to have children at the beginning. ... He went to graduate school and afber one year he never talked about children because it seems he understood that he does not have the capacity to support children (Kanako inYamada 1991: 22-%)' I do not talk about children with my husband much. when we married, I asked him "How many children d,o you want?" and he answered "I do not like children." But I think it is not true (Kyoko in Yamada 1991: 14Ð. Tamami and Takako both reveal a level of misunderstanding between themselves and their husband.s/partners in relation to the childfree decision: He wanted to have child,ren for a while ... I wondered why he really wanted to have children. We never agreed' ... He really wanted to have children but sud.denly said "Let's live together, just the two of us" "' "You are more important than children ... if you do not want to have children, I do not want to force you to d.o what you do not want to do. I do not mind if you do not want to have children" (Tamami in Yamada 1991: 81' g6, 88). When he knew I was pregnant, he told me to have children. My younger brother said to him "I do not like women like my sister who do not have children" when they had a drink together. He answered "She 100 does not want to so I cannot force hey'' ... We do not have tifne to talk about the issue. I want to discuss it with him but he says "Let's drink frrst" and avoids talking (Takako in OhinataLgg2: 160,I52)' 4.3.2 Never discussed but agreed It may sound strange that women like Kazumi never discussed having children with her partner. Despite this, she felt she reached a consensus with her partner: When we talk about what we want to do in the future, children were never mentioned. We never said shall we have children and what shall we do if we have children (Kazumi inYoshida 1998: 130)' Miwako also never d.iscussed. having child,ren with her husband and she assumes his opinion from this silence: I did not think about my o\rrn children so seriously and I did not discuss it with my husband.. ... I never supposed that I would have chíldren' "' My husband. also never said that he wants to have children' "' But it seems like he would like to have child,ren when he sees them' He told (Miwako me it is okay now but we may feel lonely when we become old inYamada 1991: 132-ßÐ. 101 4.3.3 Discussion with agreement or disagreement However, some couples did discuss their childfree decision. Mari and her husband. Hiroshi sometimes speak about children. Whenever they talk about it, they agree that they do not want children: I sometimes spend, a couple of days with my niece' She is lovely' So I ask Hiroshi "I would like to have a child like Yuko [the niece]. Shall we have a child?" Then, he answers "do you think we could have a nice (Mari child.?" Finall5l I say "I do not think so. Let's not have a child" in Yamad a L99t: 44). (Yoshida Mariko also said, "we d.iscussed children after we vyere married' Lggs:160). yet both she and her husband did not like children much and presumably agreed to remain childfree (Yoshida L998: 160)' By contrast, Miyuki and her husband also discuss children but whenever they talk, they always disagree (Yoshida 1998: 119). These accounts suggest that when there was a consensus between the couple or when women knew their partner,s opinion, they were more likety to feel certain and comfortable with their childfree d.ecision. However the women in these narratives often guessed. at their husband.ipartner's wishes according to hints and even things left unsaid.. On the other hand., where there was no discussion and/or no consensus, lvomen reported uncertainty and confusion' In other word,s, as Ohinata suggests in a previous chapter, the childfree decision is not mad.e by women alone but also involves their husbands/partners. toz Women's tentative voices in relation to their childfree decision remind me of Carol Gilligan's "ethics of cate" (Giligan L982). She argues "For women' the integration of rights and responsibilities takes place through an understanding of the psychological logic of relationships" (Gilligan t982: 100). As Gilligan suggests, childfree l¡¡omen in these narratives made the d.ecision to be childfree by considering the (sometimes presumed) wishes of their husband/partner. For example, "I think men do not have reproductive rights in general because \ñ¡omen physically have the children' ... In my case, my husband does not force me to have children" (Mieko in Yamada 1991: 65), "I can exercise my rights as to whether I am going to have children or not but I wonder what my husband thinks about children. I would like to satisfr my husband.'s wish. ... I will be relieved if he says clearly that he does not want to have children" (Takako in Ohinatalgg2:152-153). Helen Hardacre researched. how Japanese couples make abortion d.ecisions (Hardacre 1997). In her study, as in these narrative accounts, men also claimed that the decision belonged to the woman and they were unwilling to discuss or negotiate the problem with the pregnant woman (Hardacre 1997: 130-131, 141). The question remains whether women should negotiate their childfree decision with their husbands/partners. If reproductive rights are fully women's rights, they do not need to concern themselves with their husbands/partners wishes and should feel confrdent with their own childfree decision. 103 4.4 Experiences of being childfree The frnal theme that I identified in the narratives was childfree experiences which were about old age and critique that they are being childfree. 4.4.L Old age According to a national survey concerning marriage and childbirth, only 19 per cent of couples answered that the reason for them having children is "children support old age" (National Social Security and Population Institute 2002: 10). Even so, some women in their narratives expressed concerns about old. age but most of them seem independent and have individualistic perspectives concerning their own old age. For example, Mari: I think old age is the same whether you have children or not' Even if you have children, you cannot expect them to look after you. If our parents said that they want to live with us, we do not want them to do so' I would. not want my children to have the same feelings (Mari in Yamada 1991: 52). Takako was saving money for her own old age People often say that if you do not have children, you will be anxious about your old age. When I frnished university, I already knew I did not want to have child,ren so I joined. an end.owment insurance scheme when L was 22. I think all I can rely on in my own old age is money so I am r04 preparing for it. Some people say if you do not have children, you will feel lonely but I do not think children are necessary to bring a richness of emotion to you (Takako in Ohinata 1992: L6I-L52). 4.4.2 Critique for being childfree Takako also expressed. the negative experience that her female married colleagues would often remark that she is not fully-fledged (Ohinata 1992:151). There are a lot of female worker at my offrce. Many of them have children ... When I make a small mistake, I am often told that I am not fulty-fledged [mature] because I d.o not have children (Takako 1992: 151). Mari also described pressure from others to have child.ren (Yamada 1991: 43) For instance: There are a lot of pressure to have children. ... I used to worry and thought please leave us alone because it is our business. Now I do not pay attention (Yamada 1991:43). FinaIIy, I briefly reflect on the main themes from these childfree women's narratives. It is ironic that there were so few discussions concerning children between the couples given that the second main reason for women 105 choosing to be childfree was that they value the relationship with their husband or partner. If women respect the relationship, one would imagine it would consist of d.ialogue. As noted above, one reason for the silence is the widespread belief that "women have the ultimate reproductive rights'" The next section discusses the men's narratives to further explore this issue. 4.6 Japanese childfree men's accounts It seems that masculinity and fatherhood have been in transition in recent decades in contemporary Japan. Previous studies point out that there are two discourses in relation to masculinity and fatherhood in Japan (Ito tgg6: ZB7). One is a traditional type of masculinity and fatherhood, in which a father is a bread.winner and a moral disciplinariani the other is a new type of masculinity and fatherhood., in which a father is involved in housework and child.rearing along with the mother. As discussed in Chapter 1, conservatives like Michiyoshi Hayashi (Hayashi 1996) insist on the importance of the traditional type of masculinity and fatherhood in Japan' yet the new type of masculinity and, fatherhood has been promoted at a national level in order to realize a gend,er equal society (Taga 2005l. 156). Moreover, some men organized fathers' childrearing groups such as "Otoko no kosodate wo kangaerukai" (Men Concerned. about Childrearing) in 1978 and "Otoko mo onna mo ikujijikan wo! Renrakukai" (Childcare Hours for Men and Women Network) in 1980 which demonstrate that men are actively involved in parenting (Masuno 2002:54). It may be said that those men belong to the new type of masculinity and fatherhood. They are not just 106 "being a father" but choose to "become a father" (Ito tggO: 303). On the other hand, there are some men who choose neither to be a father nor to become a father: men who choose not to have children. Childfree men's attitudes to masculinity and fatherhood have been given little attention. Japanese childfree men are absent from almost all previous studies. However, apart from the men who were interviewed by Yoshida, there is one interview text, by Group Ami, in which several men discuss their reasons for choosing to remain childfree. I examine ten men's narratives to explore their reasons for not having children, their level of certainty in being childfree and their childfree experiences in relation to their masculinity and fatherhood. As opposed to the \¡/omen whose narratives were discussed above, these men appeared unwilling to state their reasons or implied that they do not have the frnal decision to make about having children. Five men uttered a preliminary statement along the lines of "I do not have a defrnite reason for not having children." Although they went on to offer reasons for being childfree. This may suggest that fatherhood is not as important to masculinity as motherhood is to femininity, or that Japanese men are less able to articulate reasons in the emotional sphere. Even so, these 10 men were able to articulate reasons, the main ones being the "difficulty of childrearing," (four men) "desire to keep freedom," (three men) "having/not having child,ren is women's d.ecision or conditioni' (four men) and "do not ro7 want to repeat parent-child relationship" (two men) that they had with their own parents 4.6.L Parenting is difficult Interestingly, the most common reason to be childfree was the diffrculty of childrearing with many of these men accepting the feminist claim that they should share in childrearing with their wives/partners, perhaps even 50-50. However the men rejected. this as too arduous and too much of an infringement on their lifestyle or impossible to combine with their careers - just as the women discussed above suggested. Ryuichi was working as an offrce worker and he was 29 years old (Group Ami 1gg3: 54). He and his partner had been together for three and a half years as a de facto couple. Ryuichi took for granted sharing housework if the two of them were working (Group Ami 1993: 56). Actually, he cleans the house when he feels stressed. (Group Ami 1993: 64). Ryuichi loves children and he assumed. he would dote on them if he had his own (Group Ami 1993: 54-55). However he has changed his mind about having children since he started Iiving with his partner because he realized how difficult it was to combine work and childrearing (Group Ami 1993: 55, 57): I feel terror when I imagine having my own children. I think that because I am too busy at work. ... It would be very diffrcult if we had children. We are not sure whether we could put children into a 108 childcare centre or not. Even if we could put them into a centre, we wonder how we could manage to pick them up. My partner and I finish work late. ... To have children is impossible in reality' Moreover, it would be mentally and physically diffrcult to have children. I cannot imagine that I would have to take care of energetic children when I come home tired from work (Ryuichi in Group Ami 1993: 5?-58). Furthermore, Ryuichi knows childrearing is hard because he had seen his younger sister raising children. According to him, "her eyes are like dead frsh. I do not want to be like her" (Group Ami 1993: 67). Atsushi was 43 years old and teaching at a famous preparatory school for university (Group Ami 1993:24). He had been married for 17 years. For the last seven years he and his partner have been living separately although they are still a couple (Group Ami 1993:2ù. He talked about childrearing with reference to his partner who was concerned about social issues such as women's movement and employment rights (Group Ami 1993: Z7): Most men push childrearing onto their wives. But I have always thought it is impossible to do this to my partner. I think it is impossible to share childrearing 50'50 for husband and wife' I reckon it becomes 50'50 only when the man says he will take the whole responsibility. When you say "50-50," the main caretaker is the wife and the husband is the assistant. We have to consider and we need to 109 focus on childrearing and set our own life aside for a certain period' " ' We need special energy for childrearing. I need to prepare if I am going to become the main caretaker. I thought I have to prepare to have children. But I d.o not think I can accept it (Atsushi in Group Ami 1993: 28-2ù. Yutaka was a public offrcer and 39 years old (Group Ami 1993: 30). He and his partner joined. an amateur orchestra and travel overseas often (Group Ami lgg3: gõ-86). Yutaka expressed his reason for not having children: To have children means we have to take care of them. If we had children, we would have to make time for it. Then we cannot take care of each other much. ... Everyone takes it for granted that children can easily be taken care of but I do not have the confrdence to do that (Yutaka in Group Ami 1993: 33). Keiichi v¡as an editor, 33 years old and had been married for one and a half years (Group Ami 1993: 11). He and his partner do the cleaning and laund.ry together and then go out together on most Sundays (Group Ami lgg3: 15). Keiichi explained children in terms of social valuesl I d.o not have a clear reason not to have children. .. ' Everyone values having a better life and making money. Therefore it is no wonder some people think that it is easy not to have children. I do not want to make 110 people think that it is easy not to have children. I do not want to make a lot of money but I also think it is troublesome to spend time with children and feel it is easy not to have them (Keiichi in Group Ami 1993:11, 16). It is interesting that not only women but also men recognize that child.rearing is not easy mentally and physically. It is also interesting that these men also appear to see childrearing as their responsibility. As Atsushi d.escribed. it, if men put the whole childrearing responsibility onto their partner, they would never feel it is a burden. This is closely related to the second most common theme expressed by the men, the desire to keep their freedom. 4.6.2 Desire to keep freedom Again echoing the women's narratives, three men said they chose to be childfree to retain their freed.om without family responsibilities. Fumio was an offrce worker who was 32 years old (Group Ami 1993:67). He had been married for four years (Group Ami 1993: 67)i There are economic and housing problems' It is impossible to have another family member in this small two bedroom house. But I think these are excuses to justify not having children. The main reason not to have children is that I do not want to lose my freedom' ..' I could not go out to the theatre and drinking. ... You will have a similar answer if you 111 ask others the reason for not having children. They will tell you about economics and housing. Even if you say this and that, it is an excuse' I think that it is because they do not want to lose their freedom after all- It is the truth (Fumio in Group Ami 1993: 70). It seems that Ryuichi also does not want to lose his freedom including his time and money. He believes he has a very easy life because he is childfree (Group Ami 1993: 58): I take care of myself then I can enjoy things such as sitting.back and listening to music, and going to the fitness club. ... If we are going to have children, I have to become a househusband or change my work so that I can frnish at frve o'clock. I do not mind becoming a househusband because I like housework. But if so, my partner would need. to earn twice as much as she d.oes now. Otherwise it would be very diffrcult economically. I do not want to be unable to spend lots of money on my audio set (Ryuichi in Group Ami 1993: 58)' Yoshihiro was an offlrce worker and 50 years old (Group Ami 1993: 71)' He Ioves painting which is the most important thing in his life. Almost every (Group day he paints after work and goes out sketching at weekends Ami Iggg: 72). Yoshihiro and. his wife sharing living costs 50-50 (Group Ami r993i 72): rtz I am satisfred with my present life. If we have children, I have to stop my current lifestyle. I cannot imagine it (Yoshihiro in Group Ami 1993: 72). 4.6.3 Having/not having children is woman's decision or condition Masahiko was 40 years old. He had been working in the accounting section at a construction company for 15 years. Masahiko enjoyed working but he had to work weekends as weII. Therefore he retired early and planned to study accounting and, enjoys reading. Masahiko and his wife went out together when they were university stud,ents. she did not want to have children either: I am ind.ifferent to having children. I think to have or not to have children depends on the rwoman as most men see it (Masahiko in Group Ami 1993: 17). Toshihide was teaching at a vocational school and he was 44 years old. He and. his wife decided not to have children when they married 12 years ago (Group Ami 1993: 39): No children has been our principle since we were married. There was no policy for it. We just agreed. I never felt that children are cute' "' My wife seems to like to look at children but she does not want to have her own (Toshihide in Group Ami 1993: 40). 113 Others suggested. that the d.ecision was primarily the woman's, but several men offered more specifrc reasons. Particularly, their wives/partners were not physically strong enough to have child.ren. Yasufumi has been married for 16 years and. he was 42 years old (Group Ami 1993: 61). He was teaching art at high school part-time and he and his wife were managing their own cram school (Group Ami 1993: 61). He said "I do not have a defrnite reason not to have children' (Group Ami 1993: 65). Although then added: My wife was not physically strong. she is not too bad now. But when she was young, she had. trouble every day because of stress' This is one of my reasons not to have children (Yasufumi in Group Ami 1993: 64)' Yutaka also described his partner's poor health: She has physical problems. Of course if she has an operation, she could become pregnant. But I do not want to hurt her body. In the extreme case, there is a possibility that women die in childbirth' I do not want to have children at any cost (Yutaka in Group Ami 1993: 32-33). 4.6'4 Do not want to repeat parent'child relationship Just as some women mentioned that they rejected motherhood because of their mother's experiences, Yasufumi and Fumio also described their tL4 relationship with their parents as the reason to choose a life without children: I did not have a good relationship with my father from my earliest recollections and I suffered mentally. I worked through it in my own way but I am still uneasy about some aspects. If you become a parent, you have to repeat again and again what you suffered mentally. I have been thinking that it would be painful. My wife also had a parent-child conflict so \¡ve agreed. we are not going to have children (Yasufumi in Group Ami 19931 64). why I strongly do not want to have children is I did not like the parent-child relationship from the beginning. Don't you think parents and children are similar in their faults? I freeze when I see my ugly side in my parents. I have not liked my parents since I was small. If I had children, they would dislike me as well and I do not want to have another painful relationship (Fumio in Group Ami L993: 69-70). Other reasons that men gave for being childfree include not wanting to bring child.ren into tod.ay's society, not wanting to replicate oneself, believing that chilclren c|o not cement a marriage and so forth. Yet the major reasons vrere outlined above. 115 4.6 Certainty and. discussion with wife/partner In this section, I explore how men feel about their decision and how they negotiate it with their wives/partners. 4.6.L Certainty As opposed to the women's narratives, it seems that all these men are confident about their d.ecision to be childfree. Atsushi kept telling his partner "I do not want to have child.reni' (Group Ami 1993: 28) whenever his partner expressed that she wanted children (Group Ami 1993: 27). Similarly, Ryuichi's partner sometimes confi.rms his decision and every time he defrnitely states that he does not want to have children. Yet, he expressed. that he wants to keep choices open (Group Ami 1993: 60): I absolutely do not want to have children. But I do not want to have a vasectomy because it looks painful and I want to keep my options open because I do not know whether I might want to have children in the future (Ryuichi in Group Ami 1993: 59-60). It is interesting that Ryuichi is definite about his childfree decision but he d.oes not want to have a vasectomy because he wants to retain the option of changing his mind. Toshihide and his wife are not going to change their minds: 116 We tried to have children aft,er we had been married for three or four years. ... but only for a few days. ... [ttre age ofl 31 or 32yearc old is one of the turning points for women whether they are going to have children or not. Maybe that is why we tried to have children (Toshihide in Group Ami 1993: 4l). Tsukasa was 34 years old and a journalist (Group Ami 1993: 48). He was not only busy with his work but also undertook union activities (Group Ami lgg3: 48). While Tsukasa said "there is no clear reason why I do not want to have children" (Group Ami 1993: 49). Yet he was clear that he did not want to have children: I wond,er what am I going to do if she [his partner] seriously wants to have children. I will \ñ/orry a lot but probably I think I will refuse (Tsukasa in Group Ami 1993: 50). However if his partner became pregnant accidentally, Tsukasa thought there is no other option except to have the child (Group Ami 19931 52). As we have seen, men are confrdent about their childfree decision. Further, some speak of having discussed their views with their wives/partners in detail. rt7 4.6.2 Discussion with wife/partner Ryuichi has been discussing having children with his partner: I had taken it for granted that the woman changes to her husband's family name when she marries and women's happiness is to have children and. to raise them. But my partner asked whether we are going to register our marriage and whether we are going to have separate family names. ... I did not know there are such options. ... What I did not agree with concerned having children. My partner said "I want to d.o lots of things. Children are a disturbance." I was shocked from the heart "\['hat a cold woman she is" and I told her "You may lack gentleness and motherhood." ... But I came to understand her' Because of her insistence, I heard different people's opinions and read books. For example, motherhood is not instinctual for women. ... I have changed to become a member of the "do not want to have children" group without question (Ryuichi in Group Ami 1993i 66-57). Atsushi discusses many things with his partner (Group Ami 1993:26)' He knows his partner wants to have children but (Group Ami 1993i 26)i W'henever she expressed [her wish], I answered no to her. ... I do not think I explained the reasons why I did not want to have children (Atsushi in Group Ami 1993127-28). 118 Atsushi conclud.ed. that his partner now agrees with him in the decision not to have children (Group Ami 1993:27). (Group Fumio and, his wife enjoy talking about politics and gossiping Ami 19gg: G8). They were not intending to have children but his wife changed her mind because of her biological clock (Group Ami 1993: 68). Yet, Fumio has not told his wife of his opinion: In fact, early this year, I was forced to promise that we will have children' ... But I really did not want to. so I have been running from it. ... My wife blames me..."You do not think about it seriously'" ... I am hoping that she is going to give up about having children (Fumio in Group Ami 1993:69). Keiichi was happy in his marriage because he can enjoy daily conversation with his wife (Group Ami 1993: 15). However it seems he has not talked about having children: She also says that she is not going to have children. But I have not asked. for much detail (Keiichi in Group Ami 1993: 15)' Nor have Yoshihiro, Tsukasa and Yutaka spoken about children with their wives/partners (Group Ami 1993: 30, 50, 7l'7Ð. According to Yutaka, "She also thinks it is diffrcult to take responsibility for the next generation" 119 (Group Ami 1993: 33). Tsukasa avoids the discussion because he assumes that his partner wants to have children and he does not (Group Ami 1993: 50). These men are very comfortable about their childfree decision even when they had not d.iscussed the issue with their wives/partners. This contrasts with the \¡romen who were tentative about choosing to be childfree where there was little or no discussion with their husbands/partners. It is also interesting that men seldom had, discussions about children despite many of them enjoying conversations with their wives/partners about other topics' 4.7 Men's experiences of being childfree FinaIIy, I examine childfree men's experiences in this section, revealing some similarities with women's experiences. 4.7.1 Old age Just as several women spoke of the challenge from others concerning what they would do in their old age, so did several of the men. Most men did not worry about what they would do in their old age (not having a biological clock to force this consid.eration on them as urgently as women need to)' However' Yutaka and Toshihide were considering their old age: I will work until I fall down and d.ie in a ditch. Yet if you fall down, Yoü need to someone take care of you, so saving is necessary. I think I am L20 worrying too much (Yutaka in Group Ami 1993: 34-35). I think it will be okay to prepare for your old age including using the social security system. I do not have children so I have quite a lot of savings. I do not live in luxury and so save money. If there is enough social welfare and. I d.o not need to worry about old age, it is okay to (Toshihide spend. all my money. I feel I can look after my own old age in Group Ami 1993: 4I-42). 4.7.2 Critique for being childfree Just as childfree women are often told "You are only fully-fledged when you have children," Toshihide has also been told that "If you do not have children, you are not an adult." He retorts: There are people who are not fully'fledged even if they have children' "' I think if you are an adult, you are a\¡¡are of social issues and think what you can do about them rather than childrearing. I cannot believe that if you have children you become sensitive to environmental issues. They may have a feeling that they want to pass on a clean environment' But they say "I have to buy a car because I have children' (Toshihide in Group Ami 1993: 43). Similarly, Fumio experiences pressure from his parents: r27 My parents take for granted having children when you marry. So they often call me and ask "don't you have children yet?" I recently began to feel that marriage means to have children. Originally, I did not want to have children so I regret being married only because of this pressure to have children (Fumio in Group Ami 1993: 67-68). Toshihide and Fumio suggest that fatherhood is essential for men's adulthood and completion of the marriage. The hegemonic discourse on masculinity urges men as a husband/father to perform the proper gender role such as breadwinner, once they are married (Dasgupta 2003: I23)- The main reason these men chose to be childfree is the "difficulty of childrearing." This suggests they recogníze childrearing as their responsibility as much as it is their wives/partners. In this sense, it may be said that childfree men fit neither the "traditional t¡4pe" nor the "new type" of masculinity and fatherhood. In addition, most of them are not the sole breadwinner but rather they are in egalitarian relationships where they and their wives/partners both share housework and contribute economically to the household. Moreover, these childfree men are not working as "corporate warriors" who dedicate their loyalty and full energy to the company (Dasgupta 2003: 123) instead they enjoy various activities. Thus they belong to an "alternative t¡rye" of masculinity and fatherhood. However these childfree men are not willing to negotiate their own wishes concerning children. In this point, they may share with traditional Japanese masculinity a weakness in communicating emotions (Ito tgge : 326ß27). L22 In conclusion, in the picture provided through these published narratives childfree lryomen and men offer similar reasons for their situation. The difficulty which is less often the frnancial costs for childrearing, but the interruption to their lives with their partners and leisure activities. In addition, health considerations were important in some cases. Both the women and. the men imagined a situation where they woutd be involved in child.rearing and. saw that this would be hard to combine with their careers. Whereas many \¡romen expressed in their narratives that they cannot share childrearing with their husbands/partners, many men reject children because they accepted. (and refused) men's responsibility for sharing parenting. It seems that Miyuki exactly represents the women's voicesl "If you cannot expect your husband. to share childrearing, it will be very diffrcult for women who live today and want to do lots of things. If you have to take (Yoshida care of children and. your husband, you will be punctured' 1998: 203). Her excerpt is not so much a "rejection of motherhood' as a recognition of the feminist claim that compulsory motherhood forces women as wives and mothers to take responsibility for the domestic sphere, including caring for children and. eld.ers. In the next chapter, it will be seen that the feminist approach to understanding women's mothering role more fully informs the perspectives of the interviewees. r23 Chapter 5 Voices and silences from childfree \Momen in the interr¡iews My interviewees (10 women and one man) identifred a complex range of ideas in relation to their reasons for being childfree: in order to have autonomy, women's economic independence is necessaryi having or not having children is a woman's right not the government's decisioni and there is insufficient social support for childrearing. What is interesting here is that whether women recognize it or not, they are challenging uneçlual gender construction in Japanese society and prescriptive gender roles which feminists have been addressing. Specifrcally, women emphasize gender inequality in the private sphere where they have to do housekeeping. Women in the interviews also recognize that they have to take the whole responsibility for childrearing once they have children, because of gender/sex role assignment. Furthermore, these women stress their identity in terms of career rather than in terms of wife and motherhood. In other words, they create their identity by their own effort and ability rather than through motherhood which might be seen as given by biological determinism. Unlike childfree women in the narratives, the women in my interviews are willing to discuss and express their own perspective to their husband/partner including their opinions concerning contraception. They also expressed greater confidence with their childfree decision than did the L24 women in the narratives. Women rcalized this certainty to the extent of having an abortion or declaring that they would choose to have an abortion if the need arose. Even Kaori declared afber her fi.broid operation "I am really childfree!" A number of others \ryere similarly very positive about being childfree. In this chapter, I first introduce the 11 interviewees' short biographies in ord.er to place their experiences in context. Then I explore their reasons for choosing to be childfree. 5.1 Independence, equality and partnershiF: short biographies During the interview, the participants discussed their childfree decision in relation to their rich life stories. In order to understand the whole picture of each interviewee, I introduce a short biography of each. The order of these biographies is from most determined not to have children to most uncertain. õ.1.1 Rieko (age 37, freelance writer, living with a partner) Rieko has been told by many people that 'You are a \iloman so it is natural for you to have children" and she is used to it. Yet, what she cannot accept is that female baby'boomers tell her that it is better to have children even if she is not married. While she thinks they are trying to show that they are not prejud.iced against single mothers, in fact they are endorsing the ideology of universal motherhood. In discussing why she does not have children, Rieko said "I think most women who have children did not make a decision t2ú to have children. They do not pay attention to contraception and family planning. But when they became pregnant accidentally, they were already married so they have no problem with having children. That is why they go through childbirth." Rieko was born in a rural area. Her father was the breadwinner, her mother was a housewife who sometimes took paid jobs on the side, and she has a younger brother. Rieko's extended family also lived in the same area. Therefore she grew up with her grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins. According to Rieko, her family and relative were very traditional, especially her mother. When Rieko was an adolescent, she started to question the impact of children on her mother's life. Rieko recognized that her mother gave birth to her, and that she, Rieko had the same bodily functions as her mother. Yet she recalls feeling disgust at the idea that children are made by what mothers eat. Therefore Rieko felt that her disgust implied "hatred for the mother." After Rieko frnished high school, she started to work at a publishing agency and, went to live by herself. Rieko reported that as she matured, her d.isgust for her mother gradually vanished. Even so, she cannot accept the thought of herself creating another person. That is because if she had her own child, it would entail kinship relations, especially with in-laws, which 126 she rejects because of the work they made for her own mother. At the age of 25, Rieko became a member of the editorial staff of an organization. Around this time, Rieko started to become involved in women's issues, writing feature articles about Sex, contraception, pregnancy and childbirth. She also conducted questionnaire research with about 500 female read.ers about their childbearing intentions. Most readers answered that they had not planned to conceive the children that they had. Rieko was shocked that so many children were unplanned, even where women lvere well educated and knew about second wave feminism which asserted women's sexual liberation. In her late 20s, Rieko recognized that the discrimination and oppression against women was something she shared with her mother and grandmother. At this time, she left the organízatíon and became a freelance writer. Rieko was exposed to a wider range of women'S issues such as the plight of so-called Korean "comfort women."l8 Rieko has made connections with single women and single mothers and she is encouraged by them to live her own life. The Single Women's League was founded in 1967, because of the imbalance between men and women following World War II as many young men died in the war.1e The league fought the discrimination experienced by single women and campaigned for social reform such as of the tax system and social security for single \ñromen r8 During the World War II, women of Japan, Korea, China and the Philippines were kept under restraint and forced to work as sex slave for the Japanese army. re There were 600,000 more women aged between 15 to 25 than men aged between 20 to 30. r27 in their old. age. Rieko interviewed the members when the league was going to be dissolved in 2001 or 2002, due to the advanced age of the membership. According to Rieko, there \ryere members who were positive in their acceptance of a life without children. Rieko is sure that she is not going to marry because she is confrdent that she can support herself. However she reached a critical situation with her current partner in relation to having a child. Rieko's contraception failed when she was 29 years old - this she described as an "ultimate situation." Her pregnancy and. the thought of having a child shocked her. As a result of d.iscussion, Rieko and. her partner decided she should to have an abortion. She strongly believes that women have ultimate reproductive rights because men cannot go through pregnancy and childbirth. At the hospital, the nurses d.enigrated Rieko because she was not married even though her partner told them that "the chitd is from my sperm." Rieko said it was a good experience through which she came to understand how unmarried \¡¡omen who decide not to have children are dealt with in hospitals. Even though Rieko is "90 per cent sure" that she is "not going to have any child.ren," she is interested in adoption and supports childrearing for women. In fact, Rieko covered. for her freelance writing colleague when she could not prepare any copy, just before and afber chitdbirth. Rieko pretended that her colleague was working with her but Rieko was doing everything while the colleague was absent. L28 Rieko strongly believes in living the human relationships that she chooses. Her desire not to marry and her decision not to have children has a signifrcant impact on the way she lives her day'to-day life, and how she feels about her relationships with other people. 6.I.2 Akemi (age 40, government ofËcer, de facto) "I chose a life without children. I would like to participate in your study with an interview." This is how Akemi responded to my email. She was very polite and, sincere in her answers to the questions during the interview Akemi is the youngest child who has a brother and a sister. Her father ïvas an office worker who later became an academic, and her mother taught the tea ceremony. Akemi believes that she has a similar character to her father in some \ilays, preferring to read. a book rather than having fun with friends. Akemi asserts that "women also can hold leadership positions," she went to a girls' junior and high school where the principals \ilere female' Thus, from her perspective, she realized that there \¡/as no difference between men and \ryomen in terms of leadership. In high school, she experienced bullying such as being ignored. by her classmates, and this gave her a negative outlook on life. Yet Akemi learned many things from university life. For example, she joined a volunteer circle and came to recognize that volunteers could be irresponsible to some extent because they do not receive any money t29 for their work. Akemi read many of feminist sociologist Chizuko lJeno's books. Thus she was influenced by feminist ideas. Akemi also considered her future career and had a strong commitment to economic independence. Her senior friends told her that private companies segregate female employees, d.espite the existence of the Equal Employment Law. Therefore Akemi chose to become a government offrcer. Akemi did not intend to marry and even if she married, she thought she would not change her family name. Thus Akemi smiled when she admitted, "the reason why I married him is a mystery." In fact, she is not formally married but refers to her partner as her husband, describing them as "married but without the law." Therefore Akemi and her husband have different family names. She told her husband that it is impossible for her to have children because she is so busy with work. Akemi's husband understand.s her situation and he is very supportive in daily life, even doing more housework than Akemi on occasions. At Akemi's office, there are \¡¡omen who are combining work and family. Thus her co-workers often tell Akemi that it is taken for granted for women to have child,ren and life without children is meaningless. She pays no attention to such pressure from others, thinking that no one would tell her to have children now that she is 40 years old. However when Seiko Noda, who was 45 years old. and a member of the Diet, started having infertility treatment, some people told Akemi that it is still possible for her to have 130 children. Akemi replied that the pressure to have children is due to falling fertility in Japan and there are some countries where over-population is a problem. In these ways, Akemi has been developing her ov¡n perspective about her life and it has brought her confi.dence in her decision to remain childfree. 5.1.3 Yumi (age 44, ofEce worker, married) From the very beginning, in the issues that she had raised in her email message, Yumi showed that she was concerned about gender relations: "It is getting difficult to say that I choose to be childfree because the conservative backlash against !\¡omen is gaining power. I am in my 40s and have been married. I would like to send a message to society that there is someone who chooses not to have children." Yumi grew up in a nuclear family where there was a father, a mother and an older brother. However she was also close to her extended family (including about 20 cousins) because they ofben visited Yumi's home. Yumi said she loved babysitting when her very small cousin came to her place. When Yumi was attending primary school, she stood for captain of the stud.ent council. Yumi reflected that, even though she was not clear about gender issue at that time, she said in her speech that "The council is not only for boys, girls also have to be involved in it actively." Unfortunately Yumi was not elected at that time. She did, however, Iater become a council 131 member at junior high school. Yumi described. her marriage: "Marriage was not about having children and starting a family. My husband. and I agreed that it was living together for the two of us." She married her husband when she was 25 years old' A-fter few years into their marriage, Yumi confi.rmed with her husband that they were not going to have children. She fett confidence about her choice, but decided to make the fi.nal d.ecision at the age of 35. when she became 35 years old, she found that her decision was very frrm. Yumi expressed her d.etermination that, if she fell pregnant, she did "not want to have children." On the other hand, Yumi was concerned that her parents-in-law strongly expected her to have children. When her husband told his father "We are not going to have children because we have our belief," the father simply answered "That is frne, individual people have their own way." Since her marriage, Yumi has been working at the personnel section of a company where she has been "supporting working mothers in raising children." For example, she has been trying to improve working conditions for mothers by introd.ucing childcare leave. Yumi's co'worker took the leave and indicated. to Yumi that "It was not easy for me to combine work and family, but I have been able to keep working because you have supported me." Yumi was satisfred with her work and had confidence in her way of life. As she put it, "I do not regret my life." r32 When she participated in an infertility lvomen's self-support gtoup, Yumi told the group that "Each woman is able to have her own life even if she does not have child.ren. I have been experiencing a life without children." This expression gave insight and. courage to one of her friends who was suffering infertility. Yumi concluded the interview by saying that, "I want to do what I believe." As a result, she has deep confi.dence in her own self through making the decision to be childfree. 6.1.4 Ritsuko (age 46, PhD student, single) Ritsuko, at the beginning of her interview, conducted on a mid-summer afternoon, said "If I had [tfris] interview in my 20s or 30s, I would have said that the reason why I am single and childfree is to revenge my mother'" Ritsuko was born in a rural area where many people used to farm' However many of them sold the land and became office workers. Ritsuiko's father was the breadwinner and her mother lryas a housewife who sometimes worked. part-time. Ritsuko also had had a younger brother. According to Ritsuko, she did not und.erstand whether her parents loved each other or not because they had totally different values. When she was a teenager, Ritsuko thought that she would not marry in the future. Moreover, her mother was a traditional type who expected Ritsuko to do housekeeping, but did not expect this of her younger brother. Ritsuko felt it was unfair, thus she used. to have big arguments with her mother, and often felt hatred towards her own mother. 133 Women's Studies and. feminism are Ritsuko's lifework, which she became interested in when she was studying at junior college.zO Around this time, she also knew a feminist politician - Fusae Ichikawa whom I mentioned in Chapter 1. Ichikawa became a "role model'for Ritsuko, and had an impact on her life by demonstrating that there is an alternative life to motherhood. After graduating from junior college, Ritsuko was working full'time' Yet, in line with her commitment to Women's Studies and feminism, she was also involved in the ¡tromen's movement. Furthermore, Ritsuko later undertook four years of study at college and. grad.uate school by supporting herself, determined to become a feminist scholar. Ritsuko now und.erstand,s that marriage and having children was the only way of life for her mother's generation. Therefore Ritsuko has been challenging not only her own mother but also Japanese society, where motherhood and the wife/mother role is still valued over alternative lifestyles. 5.1.5 Neko Oikawa (age 46,1yricist, divorced) Neko Oikawa identified herself as a lyrist because she has devoted herself to her work for 20 years and this has led her to have a life without children. She is the only interviewee who allowed her real name to be used because of zo Tïaditionally in Japan, there are two years for junior college and four years for university (knãwn asìollege). Junior.ã["g" awards associate bachelor degrees which equivalent with the second year of the university course' L34 her pride and responsibility as a lyrist. Neko had a dignity which came from her pride in her profession. "I never made a defrnite decision that I am not going to have children. Rather, I did not have good timing." Neko answered to my first question as to why she chose not to have children. She was born and lived in Wakayama, in the western part of Japan. She did not want to marry and have children from a young age, even though she never hated children. Instead., she dreamt of becoming a lyricist, influenced by folk singers who she listened to as a high school student. According to Neko, she "could not sing or compose music so writing lyrics was the only choice." When she was 24 yearc old, Neko had a boyfriend. She pessimistically imagined that, if she married. him, she would have two or three children and a ted,ious life. As Neko could not give up her dream of becoming a lyricist, she went to Tokyo to realize her dream. After Neko started her new life in Tokyo, she and her boyfriend slowly drifted apart and she had a diffrcult time supporting herself ind.epend.ently for a while. Neko reflected that during this period she never met a man who offered to marry her and support her frnancially. Thus "there \¡/as no choice to have children" at that time. By the age of 29, Neko achieved success as a lyricist and could now enjoy some Iuxuries. She d.escribes herself as a perfectionist, driven by the fear of being accused of incompetence. 135 Although Neko had boyfriends in her 30s, she prioritized her work as she was ambitious and wanted. to put all her energy and time into writing lyrics. She understood. that a child would be a burden for her at that time. Thus, Neko said of this period that she chose not to have children. she is now more certain compared with the period when she was financially precarious. Neko married when she was 37 years old. Before marriage, she told her francé that she did not want to have children and, if he did not like that, he could. marry someone else. Neko believes that it is better to express one's own opinion even if it is not easy, because it is diffrcult to understand other people if we do not express ourselves. Moreover, she thinks it is waste of time to be silent and argue later. She and her husband later divorced for other reasons Neko's certainty concerning her d.ecision to not have children changed somewhat during her 40s, because she was running out of time to have children. She wond.ered whether she could have children when she heard that a 46 year old lady had a child and. often imagined what her life would Iook like if she had children. Neko concluded that she still does not want to have children. on the other hand, she has never felt 100% sure about her decision. However, she never rep¡retted her choice and feels that she always made good life decisions. 136 5.1.6 Yoshimi (age 48, freelance editor, married) ,,It is a exciting meeting!" Yoshimi exclaimed about our prospective interview when we met in front of Starbucks and went into the cafe' I was a little bit nervous because I wondered. whether we could talk quietly or not. Yet, Yoshimi spoke clearly and frankly about her own life story, including love and sexuality. My worry was found-less. Yoshimi was born out of wed.Iock in a rural area. Her father died when she was eight years old. so that Yoshimi grew up in a "broken family'" Her very mother depend.ed. on a range of different men. Even so, her home was poor. This meant that Yoshimi did not have money to pay for her school Iunch. she hid that from her classmates. Yoshimi also hid from them that she had only a single mother. In addition, Yoshimi's mother had repeated pregnancies, miscarriages and. abortions. Thus Yoshimi was afraid of sex and. pregnancy even when she was small. These childhood experiences influenced her desire not to have her own children' Yoshimi attended high school at night' She worked at a florist, in a bookshop and did accounting d,uring the day. Yoshimi liked movies very much and wanted to go to Hollywood. Thus after she frnished high school, she left her hometovrn, found. a job in the city and started to study English conversation at night. After three years of working and studying English' Yoshimi broke up with her boyfriend. She remembered her dream and decided to go to the United States. r37 In the United States, Yoshimi met her future American husband. She did not want to have sex with him because of her childhood experiences' However she started taking the birth control pill even though the negative information mad.e her feel uncomfortable about this. Yoshimi discussed her unease with her partner and he decided to have a vasectomy as he also did not want to have his own children. After Yoshimi and her husband married, they moved to Japan. She described herself as being like a d.emanding child and her husband like a mother for a couple of years after they married. For example, Yoshimi was easily angered, could not control her anger and took it out on her husband. According to Yoshimi, her childish behaviour was a test as to whether her husband loved her or not, could be with her or not and would leave her or not. Her husband accepted. her and told her "if you want to be arrgry' be angry'" She recognized that her husband. would never leave her and so came to really love him, including having sex with him. several years ago, Yoshimi had an affafu because she just wanted to have sex with another man which was evidence to her mind. that she had become an adult. Interestingly, Yoshimi no longer feared pregnancy and thought it would be good to have children if she became pregnant at that time. Accord.ing to Yoshimi, women who have children compare their life with hers. However she would not make invidious comparisons if she chose to have 138 children. She said that we have to understand there are avariety of women in societyi women who do not have children, women who are unable to have child.ren and women who have lost children. Furthermore, Yoshimi questions the unifred. image of the normal family as the couple, two children and a dog. She believes that it would be nice if everyone had their own style and accepted different family forms including families with and without children, single -p arent families and gayllesbian families. Yoshimi believes that half of her identity was made in her childhood and she Iooks at society from a child.'s perspective. Thus she is interested in children, especially the more than 30,000 of them who are living in institutions in Japan. Yoshimi is planning to teach English to some of these children and to befriend them. Consequently, her childhood experiences led her not only to a childfree life but also to a broad perspective on life and society. 6.t.7 Haruko (age 56, academic, married) Haruko and.I bowed to each other when we met at the station She took me to a family restaurant and we started the interview there. Haruko is the third child and has an older brother and a sister. Her mother's house \tras an old family house which the mother inherited from her parents. The mother's marriage was arranged by her parents and her 139 father changed his family name afber their marriage.zl According to Haruko, her parents were very "Iiberal." Her mother encouraged economic ind,ependence and. living in the "broad world" because she felt restricted by living for her own family. Her father respected a child's character rather than imposing masculinity or femininity based on the child's gender' For example, if a daughter wanted to pursue advanced studies, he accepted that just as he would tolerate an introverted son. Haruko said she had an excellent family. Thus she d.oes not feel the need to have children, the same way her parents did. Haruko went to a co'ed primary, junior and high school. She did not feel inequality between boys and girls even though boys'names are always called frrst in the attendance roll and only girls had to study home economics' After frnishing high school, Haruko moved. into her sister's family where she "experienced, raising children'by being involved in raising her nephews' At the same time, she started to study liberal arts at a women's university because she wanted. to learn about the "broad world." Haruko read many books on women's liberation which argued that motherhood was socially constructed. She fully accepted this argument' Haruko believes that economic ind,epend'ence is most important for her' She only wanted to marry after she established her career' "I d'o not care the 21 In cases where the only child is a female, there is a Japanese custom in which ,,adopt" but family a husband for their daughter. The couple inherit the parents'estate the man chãnges his famiþ name to that of his parents-in-Iaw. 140 whether you are male or female, yoü should be economically independent. lyhat is important is to set up a system which supports either the male or female who wants to become economically independent." Haruko also described her job hunting. "I felt there lvas a waII stopping me from frnding the job I wanted. ... I wanted to work where there is no sex discrimination," finally choosing to become an academic where she felt there was less sex d.iscrimination than in private enterprise. However, female students were not expected. to become academics at her graduate school. Many male lecturers believed that female stud.ents should marry men studying in the job. same area because this makes it easier for the female students to frnd a Haruko and. other female postgrad.uate students spoke to the chancellor to say that they were studying because they wanted to find jobs at universities an¿ become independ.ent as scholars. She said the chancellor was surprised to hear this. At last, Haruko found a university job and married, in her middle 30s. After Haruko became an acad.emic, she was busy researching and she prioritized her work as her choice. "I suppose women who become intellectuals have fewer and fewer children." Haruko believes the trend cannot stop as more women receive higher education and participate in the labour force. She feels that women hesitate to have children if it is impossible for them to combine work and family and they are reluctant to rely on their husbands frnancially. Thus she suggests that society has to make it more benefrcial for women to have children, for instance, providing t4L housing and childcare. According to Haruko, Japanese society has not changed and so the decline in fertility wiII continue. 5.1.8 Kaori (age 4T,managing own publighing company' remarried) Sitting in front of me, Kaori said at the beginning of the interview, "I am used to being an interviewer. But I feel nervous because I am the interviewee today." W'hen she said this, I felt tense because she is a professional interviewer. However I was relieved after a few minutes when Kaori started to talk cheerfullY. Kaori was born in a city and is the third of three daughters in a family of fi.ve. When she was small, her mother told Kaori that "You are staying at home because you d.o not have physical and moral strength yet and you cannot be independ.ent. But you have to leave home when you become an adult." Her mother's words always remained with Kaori and she felt deeply that she would.leave home when she grew up. Kaori married when she was 20 years old. and. a student. She said she now feels it is important to have her own career for her independence. Although she felt that marriage would mean independence from her parents in her 20s. Kaori's first marriage did not Iast. She found out that she \¡vas pregnant afber their relationship had ended and decided to have an abortion. "I worked. at an after-school care centre for schoolchildren for 13 years. So [my] motherhood. or my d.esire to have children is fulfîlled." This is how t42 Kaori brightly d.escribed her former career. She loved playing with children. Kaori also realized.that masculinity and femininity are constructed through child.rearing. For instance, if there is a boy who looks angty and a girl who is crying, adults ofiben assume that the boy is the assailant and the girl is the victim. Kaori thought that girls are raised to be dependent and if they cry' someone will always care for them. When Kaori d.escribed her second marriage, she was clear that "We wanted to have a partnership rather than reproduce the next generation'" She married her second husband who was also a divorcee when she was 39 years old. Kaori and. her husband had enjoyed single life since their divorces. However each wanted. to share their life with a partner. Kaori explained that shared memories are a signifrcant part of her happiness. For example, she can appreciate beautiful scenery by herself, but if she shares the experience with someone, she can talk many times about how lovely the scenery was. Kaori described their marriage as "Enjoyment in living together which we could not have when we were single. We have each other and can share the same experiences and memories." Following their marriage, Kaori and her husband enjoyed travelling and hosting parties at their home. Moreover, they decided to share their working life. Kaori had been working as a freelance writer. Thus they decided to start their own publishing company. While they had never argued before this, sharing the business meant frequent arguments. Yet, they are indispensable to each other and Kaori feels their arguments are more like a comedy than a tragedy' L43 "I did not positively choose life without children." Kaori experienced an unexpected pregnan cy after she remarried. She said that she would have had the child had she not miscarried.. If Kaori had a child, she felt that she could not love and care enough for her mother who moved into Kaori's home because the mother had suffered several cardiac infarctions. Kaori answered the question about how she could accept life without children saying "I have a full and. happy life no\¡r. ... I think I have a good relationship with my partner [augh]. I also work at what I want to be doing." She had a frbroid operation a few years ago and jubilantly concluded "I am really childfree!" For Kaori, having her own career and a good. relationship with her husband. is the key to enjoying a life without children. 5.1.9 Kayoko (age 56, manager of a group home, same sex partner) Kayoko indicated. frrstly to me that she was a lesbian and proud of her sexuality. In addition, she defrnes herself as childfree. Kayoko never sees herself as a "stepmother" even though her partner has children. Thus I respect her self-d.efinition and identifr Kayoko as childfree. Kayoko was born in the city and. was the second of two daughters' Her mother passed, away when she was a primary school student, and after that Kayoko's father remarried. She said she did not have her own space at r44 home and did not have any role model because Kayoko's father hit her often, and her stepmother ïvas partial towards her own children. However she did not have only dark experiences in her childhood. She loved to read books and enjoyed. listening to stories from older people. Kayoko also thought during those days that she would not marry in the future' Kayoko has been living independently since she finished high school, experiencing a range of jobs such as working at a club, and as a driver' "I was looking at the broad.er world and a way of life in which I would not need. to hide my own sexuality." Kayoko went on to describe her 20s' She came out of the "closet" and met various people, including her current partner in the United States.zz Her partner has children, which initially surprised Kayoko, as she had not met a lesbian with children prior to that' She is close to both her partner's children and to her partner's mother, who is in her ggs. The mother is positive about the lesbian relationship between her daughter and Kayoko. Kayoko made the point that "I like the more easygoing nature in the United States the country is more generous about providing education for migrants," because she was able to go to a city junior college without a visa when she was in her 40s. 22 Kayoko's partner is living in the United States. Thus they are living separately now, L45 Kayoko describe her partner as "wonderful." They have a lot of conversation and sometimes they argue. Kayoko and her partner believe that lesbian couples are well suited to raising children because there is no conventional gender/sex role between them. She was confident in her life as she concluded the interview "My identity is Japanese lesbian." 5.1.10 Ayako (age A[,housewife, married) "Do you feel hot?" Ayako asked and invited me into her house' It was midsummer and I was nervous because it was the first time that I had conducted. an interview at an interviewee's home. Ayako said that she would like to do the interview in her home because it is a private matter' Furthermore, she described. herself as a housewife even though she was a part-time administration worker at a university. As her email to me suggested, she was mature and sophisticated. Ayako grew up in a nuclear family - her father the breadwinner, her mother a housewife and an older brother. Since she was a child, Ayako had not liked girlish things such as skirts with frills and ribbons' She changed schools many times as her father was transferred by his offrce' Ayako Iearned. to ad.apt to a new environment quickly but her brother did not like changing schools very much. However, her childhood experiences impacted on Ayako in that she prefers being by herself. She also learned that it is not easy to raise a child if the family has to move around and change schools' r46 It seems that Ayako had. a fruitful university life. She referred to it many times during the interview. Her father thought that it was suffi.cient to send her only to junior college. Yet her mother overruled him so Ayako experienced four years at university. As a result, Ayako started to live with her brother and. enjoyed. campus life. Her brother's friends often visited their place and talked. about politics, which they were studying' Ayako's husband was one of her brother's friend,s and they came to know each other at that time. Ayako was interested in sociology and choose that as her major because of her brother and his friends'influence. From her lectures she learned about and, understood, gend.erlsex role assignment, remembering that she had to do all the housework at home. She thought it was unfair and she ofben had arguments with her brother. Ayako was also infLuenced by what she describes as the "unique" female lecturers at her university. she still clearly remembers a lecturer who was single, studied in the united States and was teaching economics. The lecturer said that her friends enw her career but she works so hard. Thus the lecturer told students, including Ayako that it is better not to envy others. Ayako was impressed by her way of life and what she said. Ayako graduated. from university and. started working for a market research company. She was thinking that she would have to leave her job if she had a child and. start to work again when the child greïv up. The company was very busy and Ayako sometimes had. to work until midnight. Her health d.eclined so she Ieft the offrce afber working there for frve years and started r47 working part-time for another company. At this time Ayako and her husband-to-be had been going out together for two years and were talking about marriage. When they decided to marry, Ayako encouraged her husband. to read books about househusbands and men sharing the housework. They married. in the 1980s and made a promise to each other. Ayako promised her husband that she would never live apart from him for more than three months. Her husband committed that they would have their own ind.ependent worlds, including a career and hobbies. Moreover, he promised that they would be equal partners in the marriage. A-fter a year of marriage, Ayako's husband had to transfer overseas. As she promised, Ayako left her part'time job to go with her husband. According to her, it meant she accepted traditional gender/sex role assignment in terms of prioritizing her husband's career. Her husband tried not to bring his business home afber work andAyako appreciated his efforts. Yet, she had to entertain her husband's clients because there were no Japanese restaurants to which he could take them. Ayako also had to attend functions at the branch manager's house as her husband's wife. In addition, Ayako v¡as often told by local men that she should have children soon. She also thought it was a good time for her to have a child but her husband believed it was dangerous to go through childbirth in a country where medicine is not ad.vanced. Thus Ayako bowed to his wishes. Moreover, she had a fibroid operation during this time after which her doctor recommended not to have children for at least one Year. r48 job When Ayako and her husband returned to Japan, she did not look for a because she was waiting to become pregnant. In addition, she admitted that she was afraid to have girls because they have to face more difÊcult decisions compared to boys. For example, girls must choose to become a housewife or to be single and keep working. Unlike Ayako's expectation, she could not conceive, saying "Maybe I cannot easily become pregnant'" She never used the expression "infertility." At this time, she avoided meeting her friend.s who had children because she felt uncomfortable if they told. her to have child.ren. Ayako also thought it would be nice to become a nun because "they have training, do not have desire, throw away sex and grow what they eat." Ayako believes that a woman is not a woman by virtue of her womb' She believes it is important for a woman to have her own income and pay tax because otherwise she feels she cannot to have her own opinion' In fact, Ayako stated. that she is hesitant in expressing her thoughts to her husband' Thus Ayako expressed. considerable ambivalence about her childfree state and her female embodiment. She was swinging between saying she was waiting to become pregnant but that she was afraid to raise a girl child, to renouncing her sexuality and becoming a nun' and she feels useless in society as a childfree housewife. However Ayako believes that she has a good relationship with her husband. "I think we love each other" - she said with a smile and frnished the interview. t49 5.1.11 Akira (age 62, academic, married) Akira is the only male in my study. He was also my first interviewee and I wondered whether I could. encourage him to speak about his childfree experience or not. After I visited his office, we chatted for a while instead of starting the interview immediately. I suppose it was Akira's intention to make me relaxed. Akira was born d.uring World War II. His parents moved with him and his old.er sister to another city in order to escape the bombing. Akira's younger brother was born there and. his father passed away. After the war, the family came back to the city of Akira's birthplace where they stayed in an institution for a couple of years because they had lost everything. Akira did not remember being conscious that he had a single parent and never had unpleasant experiences even though there was a lot of discrimination against single parent families. "I cannot cook sophisticated d.ishes but I can fry and a bit more. I think it would. be nice to open a restaurant after I retire. Cooking is good, isn't it?" Akira had mad.e his own lunch as long as he could remember. He explained that it had not been his mother's intention for him to do that. Yet, he had to because Akira's mother was working full-time. He learned knitting and sewing at school and., as a high school student, made trendy trousers by using a sewing machine at home. It seems that Akira was not prepossessed with the traditional masculine gender/sex role stereotypes. 150 "I have been thinking a lot of things lately" Akira said. He said a radio program started him thinking about children when he was a university stud.ent. The program was an interview with a young couple who were atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima. Akira said he did not made his childfree d,ecision at that time. What he clearly remembers is that the couple stated that they were not going to have children because there was a possibility of having a d,isabled child. Akira also read books about communism and $romen's liberation in those days. However he said he was not infLuenced by these thoughts and saw himself as an independent thinker. Akira also met strong-willed women, women who were independent and established their own career in a male centred society in his 20s and 30s. According to him, many of them are single as a result. "I like children", Akira said, noting that he enjoys looking aft,et his nephews' For example, he taught them English, took them to kindergarten and bought a computer for them. Akira took care of them because his nephews were lovely an¿ their father was very busy. Also, he has been contributing to the Foster PIan and United. Nations Children's Fund (UmCpf) for 20 years. However, Akira was clear that he did not want children of his own! "I have confid.ence not having my own children. I do not have any wish to have my own children." Akira had several jobs, d.escribing himself as a very "convenient mart'' for 151 women because he could. look after himself. However, he thought he was "too advanced" and girls did not understand and accept him. Akira did not intend. to marry, but when he was in his 30s, he and his girlfriend found that they could only secure a mortgage to buy an apartment if they were married' Accordingly, Akira and. his girlfriend registered their marriage at the ward office, Akira suggesting "I suppose I did not have any resistance to the marriage at that time." However, they just invited their family out for dinner and they did not take any photos. After the marriage, Akira's wife became pregnant unexpectedly' He d.escribed. it "T do not know what went wrong' Maybe it was a miscalculation." They did not discuss the matter at all and his wife had an abortion. Akira's fathe¡in-law recently passed away and Akira learned of his wife's unhappy childhood. Akira believes that he now understand why his wife never d.iscussed having child.ren with him. Yet he believes that if his wife had wanted to have children, he would have sought a divorce. At the beginning of their marriage, Akira's wife was working. Akira made dinner when she came home late. He also cleaned the bathroom because he said that his wife was "sloppy." Akira's wife later became a homemaker and now takes care of her mother at both her mother's home and the nursing home. Thus Akira has started. to consider his own old age. Akira described his ideal d,eath as gripping the computer mouse and dropping dead in the morning. He d.oes not want to make someone take care of him, so he r52 has been exercising at a gym. Akira imagines that he is going to die of cancer. However he does not want pain so he would consider taking a potassium cyanide capsule and committing suicide. Akira imagined his wife outliving him in a luxury nursing home. "I \ñras ofiben asked why I did not have children. But people are never asked why they d.o have child,ren." This question is like a greeting in Japan, people understanding parenthood as the "right way of life." Akira tells his stud.ents that you cannot ask the question "why don't you have children" in other countries such as the United States. According to Akira, he is a "feminist." He thinks that his female students are more eager to challenge society. They delay marriage because there are no suitable males' On the other hand., male students are "$reaker" and unwilling to support females. In fact, one of Akira's stud.ents wants to become a househusband because he Iikes housework and wants to be supported economica[y by his wife' Akira does not und.erstand why the student is studying at graduate school' "I was working as a salary'man and. my employers respected individual freedom. ... I was not und.er many of the restrictions in Japanese society' Maybe it was fortunate for me." Akira closed his story by referring to his career, suggesting that individualism was the keystone of his life and this led to his life without children. 153 6.2 Reasons for not having children Table 5 compares the interviewees' reasons for being childfree with those given by the women in the narratives discussed in the previous chapter. The reason shared in common by women in interviews and narratives is that "parenting is d.iffi.cult." However the interviewees gave greater weight to "gender inequality" and "individualism" which is of equal importance to social diffrculties of having children. For instance, women in the interviews understand that once they have children, their relationship with their husband/partner would fall into the stereotypical gendered pattern. Yumi said "If we have children, our relationship would then become one of gender/sex role assignment." Women in the interviews also reject that their identity is determined biologically through motherhood. Instead, they construct an individual identity as professionals and this is where they put their energy. For example, Kaori said "I want to have my identity where I can exercise my ability." A further difference between the narratives and the interviews is in relation to the reason that women had "no choice" about having children. Half the women in the interviews indicate that a childfree d.ecision is very complex as Gayle Letherby and Catherine Williams argues "A stereotypical view of people without children is that they have decided once and for aII that they don't want children or that they are unable to have them,' (Letherby & Williams 1999: 72ù. There is also an important d,ifference between women in the interviews and narratives in that the former mad.e their childfree decision in consultation with their husband.s/partners while in the latter only two did so' r54 Table 5 W'omen's reasons for being childfree: interviews and narratives compared (N in brackets) (N=17) Reasons Interviewees (N=10) Narratives Implicit or e:rplicit understanding of 60% (6) %% (4) gender inequality Individualism 60% ß) ñcuLt-i- (õ,)-- 41:/el8).. -Parç.n-trr-rg-iç-.d.i-f ãaZs *Prioritized work 60%6) t7% ß) *No support from the husband L0%Í) 23o/o (5) or extended family Social difñculties 70% g) L7%ß) (environment, economy, etc) No desire to have own children 4Oo/o (4) 2e%6) Negative influence of the mother 10% (1) 2e%6) Cannot be a "good. enough" mother 30% (3) II%Q) Fear or disgust of pregnancY and 30% (3) 5.8%(1) childbirth No choice 50% (5) n%@) The following sections are divided so that the frrst section discusses the main reasons shared. by both interviews and. narratives: parenting is diffrcult, the social difficulties for childrearing, no desire to have own of children and so forth. Then, the second section moves on to a discussion of the major ïeasons given for choosing to be childfree in the interviews: a rejection of gender inequality and a desire to express oneself as an individual rather than in the social role of mother. 155 5.2.L Parenting ls difficult: prioritized work As the previous chapter showed one of the major diffrculties identified by women in the narratives was the incompatibility of work and motherhood' Five of the interviewee's also said that they prioritized work and that it is difficult to combine this with childrearing. This accords with the experience of professional working mothers with full-time careers who were interviewed by Liddle and Nakajima (Liddle & Nakajima 2000 | 292-296). Neko oikawa, who has been working as a lyricist for 20 years, stated at the outset of the interview "I never decided not to have children. Yet it was never the right time." she continued to tell her life story and how she put her energy into her work: I achieved. success as a lyricist by the age of 29... I was really busy in my 30s. ... I often said that a lyricist works from home so you can have both work and family. Actually, there lvere lyricists who were combining work and childrearing. But I wanted to work 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. I did not want to say "sorry, I cannot go to the studio and have a meeting today because my child is crying." I did not want to have that kind of situation. I married when I was 37 years old. ... I told him that I am not going to have children. ... I prioritized my work above my maternal feelings. I thought if I have a child, it would control my work. I was afraid that I may resent the chitd. So I did not choose to (Neko, have children. I highly valued my work especially in my 30s age 156 45, Iyricist, divorced). Neko focused. on her work rather than marriage and children, realizingthat if she had. a child, she would have to take the whole responsibility and this would. prevent her devoting herself to her work. In addition, Neko knew that she cannot expect support for childrearing from her extended family. As a result, she chose not to have children. Akemi values ind,ependence and job security. One reason why she is a government officer is she will never be dismissed if she is working properly. Akemi expressed her perspective on work and children: I understand that there are a lot of problems if I have a child. For example, I can put them into a day-care centre but I cannot leave them in if they have the flu. ... I have changed my view since I started to work. Although I knew senior women who combine work and childrearing but I cannot imagine having a child in my present situation. I had to work overtime and weekends in my frrst section. ... If I had asked whether it is okay for me to flrnish work at frve o'clock every day and pick up my child at the d.ay-care centre or if I can go to day-care centre in the middle of work because my child hae a fcver, I would not wish to cl,o this. I would not say yes. I do not want to change my present lifestyle in which I work overtime until I am satisfred that the job has been completed.. I prioritize my work above all (Akemi, age 40, government 167 officer, de-facto) though she Akemi recognízed that work and. family is incompatible even its work works at a government office which is relatively female-friendly in practices. Akemi understands that if she has a child, she has to prioritize is a the child. In other words, Akemi's reason for choosing to be childfree whole rejection of motherhood in which the woman is expected to take the responsibility for children. Haruko always prioritized her academic job: diffrcult I wanted to be independ.ent and to become an academic. It was the for me to find a university job. I was 34 years old and I married marry' following year. ... I wished. to have economic power frrst and then because ... You are excited. about your research around 35 years of age you frnd your own style of stud.ying and. researching. ... Thus I chose go to the stud.y, which was what I wanted to do. I had a chance to to an United States as a visiting fellow at that time. I was also invited I think if international conference in paris when I was in my late 30s. ... decisions we have found. our own work, we have to make priorities and (Haruko, age 56, acaclemic, married)' be lost if Haruko could see opportunities to pursue her career which would into researching she had child.ren, and. chose the former, putting her energy 158 and studying overseas. Ritsuko is completing a doctorate in women's studies. she prioritized women,s stud.ies and. feminism as her lifework rather than marriage and having children. She was involved in feminist activities, worked for an international agency for women and supports herself: I met potential partners but I am devoted to my own life' So I did not put my enerry into marriage and having children. I always prioritized my lifework. ... I think I had a potential partner at every turning point but I always had to make a choice. I focused on my life and I could not pay much attention to marriage and children (Ritsuko, age 46, PhD student, single). Yumi also felt that she "cannot combine my lifework and having children'" yumi had been looking for her "lifework" since her 20s, frnding it in her 30s: to support women from a d.ifferent position and angle. For example, Yumi is working in the personnel section at a company. She introduced the Childcare Leave Law into the company and assists female co-workers in combining work and. family. Yumi believes that in this support for working mothers, she is also raising the next generation. She thinks it suits her better than having her own children. In addition, Yumi works as a volunteer guide at a women's history's museum attached to a women's centre. This activity gives her a different perspective on women and society' 159 Given that these women prioritized work over motherhood, a number also saw themselves as providing for their own old age. Ritsuko said: I have been thinking about my old age since I was in my 20s' I am not concerned whether my d,ead body is discovered in a very small room or if I die in a ditch at that time. I will register for a service, which looks after single people. I have joined the national pension fund and pension insurance. I have been preparing for the end of my life (Ritsuko, age 46, PhD student, single). Akemi understands her old age is a negative aspect of being childfree' Although she is not pessimistic about it: The demerit of being childfree is old age, of course' But even if you have your o\¡vn children, your old. age is not necessarily rosy. I worked in a welfare section before and could see the actual conditions in nursing homes. Thus I can confirm this. ... But I think it is not good to rely (Akemi, overmuch on the welfare office, so I have to save money properly age 40, government officer, de'facto). Akira noted that: My friend who has children told. me that they cannot expect their 160 child.ren to look afber them in their old age. So I think there is no difference whether you have your own children or not. My wife's mother moves between her own house and the nursing home, and my wife helps her. Without her d.aughter's help, my mother-in'law would have to stay in the nursing home. Thus it is certain that you have more options if you have your own children (Akira, age 62, academic, married). However he is not Pessimistic: I never wavered. in my decision lto being childfree]. I also never regretted. it. I seem to remember my mother telling me that I will regret not having children when I am old' It wilt be okay if I move to a nursing home while I am stitl fit. But it is expensive to have your own to offi.ce and nurses permanently waiting on you [aughsl. so I have do not save my pension. I need. to prepare for it. Even if your children take care of you, they will take care of your dead body. we cannot (Akira, expect this. we have to think of another way age 62, academic, married). For Neko, Akemi, Haruko Ritsuko and. Yumi, the key word is "priority"' They put their enerry into their work or study. They think it would be diffrcult to combine both work or study and family. These frve women are career oriented., not only for economic reasons but also for their 161 independ.ence and self-development. In this sense, these wornen are independent ind,ividuals who are far from a woman who defines herself through her social roles and obligation to others (l,i¿dte & Nakajima 2000: 280). After a d.iscussion of the personal reasons for rejecting motherhood, the chapter returns to this tension between individual expression and social expectations, discussing interviewees' rejection of gender inequality and search for individual fulfrlment. 6.2.2 The social difñculties of childrearing As we have seen in the previous section, Neko and Ritsuko prioritized their work or study rather than motherhood.. Yet this choice was forced on them due to the lack of social support for childrearing in Japanese society: The childrearing environment for working women in Japan is not good' you do ... once a \¡voman has a child, she has to pay a lot of money. ... If (Neko, not have suffrcient money, you are unable to employ a babysitter age 45, Iyricist, divorced). It is difficult for me to have child.ren even if I have a partner. I am a post-grad, I am in my mid 40s and there is no social support system for a single mother in Japan (Ritsuko, age 46, PhD student, single). years' Yoshimi has been happily married to her American husband for 23 being a One reason why she does not have children is her mother's hard life, 162 poor single mother: I think society should provide economic support for children. I believe so. Otherwise, only children who have rich parents can live properly' children who have poor parents cannot live adequately. Children are born without their own will. I did not want to have children because there is no economic support for children in poor families. we [yoshimi and, her mother] could not access social security because my mother had a male partner. We could not have any economic support for only that reason (Yoshimi, age 48, freelance editor, married). yoshimi's shame concerning her family led her to believe that society should take economic responsibility for children. Although, of course, this has not happened and she does not want her own children' Kayoko offered several reasons for not having children' She did not see childbearing as a central element in her life. Kayoko also noted that her "economic circumstances were diffrcult" : If I could afford, to have children, I may have had them. I wonder whether I considered children or not. I may now consider having children using social support. But I could not think about it in my 20s' I might have made a d.ifferent decision, but I had to think about money rather than child.ren (Kayoko, age 56, manager of a group home, same 163 sex partner) Rieko is a freelance writer and she has been living with her partner' Rieko also expressed realistic reasons for not having children: I would not like to have children by myself because there is a housing problem. I do not want to increase my workload which would be required if I had children. ... Those are my reasons not to have children (Rieko, age 37, freelance writer, living with a partner)' Kaori mentioned. another inhibiting social factor, the current problems in schools Circumstances for raising children are bad. It is diffrcult to raÍse child,ren properly. ... There are problems in schools and these have a great deal of influence on children (Kaori, age 47, managing publishing company, remarried). Similarly, Ayako expressed concern over the terrorist attack in a subway of stationzs and felt that she could not raise children in such a situation social chaos Neko, Ritsuko, Yoshimi, Kayoko and Rieko mentioned the lack of social by za This event which is referred to as the "subway sarin affair," occurred in 1995 religious group Ohm. t64 support for childrearing, including child-care and housing. Moreover, Kaori and Ayako expressed concern about problems with education and in the broader society which discouraged them from having children' In contrast to these socially focussed reasons some women simply had no desire to be mothers 6.2.3 No desire to have own children Kaori, Haruko, Rieko, Ayako and Akira emphasized that they did not want to have children. Kaori's work as a staff member at an after school care centre for children influenced her decision not to have children of her ownl I was with primary school children every day for 13 years. so my desire to have child.ren is satisfred.. I know their sweetness and bitterness, and the pleasantness for childrearing. I have not raised children by myself. But I spent long hours with children ... so I have seen how children change. ... I experienced the joy of raising children in my work so I thought it was okay not to have children [aughsl. Maybe it influenced. me. I enjoyed playing with children. I had physical contact with them such as putting them in my lap and on my back. ... I enjoyed being with children (Kaori, age 47, managing publishing company' remarried). 165 Kaori understands that childhood is short and once a child glows up' n'o one pleased to carries them in their arms or on their back. Therefore Kaori was as have physical contact with children. Furthermore, she sees motherhood For being related to a more general desire to raise and nurture something' this example, many men and women love to raise flowers and plants. In career' sense, Kaorls d.esire to have children was fulfrlled by her former others in the sample also expressed their nurturing desires through their contact with other mothers' children. turned Not aII exposure to children was positive however, Haruko was also children off having child.ren by the experience of helping to raise her sister's when she was living with her sister's family: living I have an older sister and. she has two child.ren. ... when I was with my sister I experienced child.rearing. I understood what child.rearing is like. Thus I did not persist with my desire to have sister's child.ren. ... I had alread,y experienced childrearing through my children (Haruko, age 56, acad'emic, married)' is no Haruko's sister told. her "It is fine if you have children or not' "'There that these difference whether you have children or not." Haruko reflected word.s also influenced her a lot. She continued: I think I do not have a strong d,esire to have my own children' My 166 sister's and. brother's children are lovely. I did not consider having my own children. But if I had my own children, I think I would be selfish. I do not want to love only my own child.ren and be indifferent to other's children. I think if you have your own children, you will desire for them to live your way (Haruko, age 56, academic, married)' What is interesting here is Haruko clearly visualized that she would be selfrsh if she had. her own children, wanting them to live out her dreams or valuing her own child.ren above those of other people, and this is unacceptable to her. Thus Haruko chose to be childfree as a way to avoid being selfish. Rieko andAyako do not particularly like children: (Rieko, I do not like children afber all. I do not like children aged 37, freelance writer, living with a partner). When I decided to be involved in your research [this studyl, there is a key word, "motherhood," lin the summary of the study] I wondered whether I am motherly or not and found that I do not like children much' If I liked children, I would want to have them at any cost' " ' I think I do not like child.ren much (Ayako, age 44, housewife, married). By contrast, Akira likes children but is he is not interested in having his 161 own. I like children. I look after children often. ... I do not dislike children' ... I do not think about the advantages and disadvantages of not having children. In other words, I do not have an interest in children' I am confident in not having child.ren. I do not have any reason to have children. No. But it does not mean that I am not interested in children (Akira, age 62, acad.emic, married). Besides doting on his nephews and. supporting children through UNICEA Akira also supports his stud.ents in their careers and in their moral concerns as I mentioned in his biography. However, while Akira has been involved with children in various ways he never feels he is a father' Akira perceives his role in relation to child.ren, includ.ing his students, as that of uncle, foster parent and teacher. However these interviewees do not have their own children' Some, particularly Haruko and Akira d.o have important relationships with children. A number of women in the narratives refLected' on the negative influence of their mother, only one interviewee gave this reason - Yoshimi who grew up with a mother struggling to make ends meet as a single parent. 168 õ.2.4 Negative influence of the mother Yoshimi did not want to have children because of her negative experiences growing up in a "broken family" in which her mother was physically and mentally absent: My mother suffered when she was raising me. Thus I thought I was a burden for her. She was very young. She was 2! yearc old when she gave birth to me and she was 28 years old when my father died' It was very diffrcult for her to be independent because there were not many jobs in those days. So she was dependent on men in some way. But she did not have luck and she was always troubled with money problems' She did not have freedom because of me. She went out even if she regretted leaving me at home alone. I wanted her to be happy. she was not angry when she was happy. Children want to be loved unconditionally by their parents. So there was a tension as I wanted my mother to be h.ppy and I wanted. her to love me. I felt I was a burden for her even when I was a child. so I tried to be a good girl in front of her. ... I reckon I was not brought up in a warm family. So I feel I do not want to have children (Yoshimi, age 48, freelance editor, married). Yoshimi described a "miserable and unhappy" childhood with no "happy memories." However Yoshimi never really hated her mother' She said "I have always thought about my mother. I worried about her and felt 169 warmth coming from her. My mother is my mother. She is absolute' No one can replace her. She is part of me. My mother is still my most beloved and hateful person for me. I think so." similarly, some women felt that they could not be good mothers 6.2.6 Cannot be a "good enough'-'mother Kaori, Yoshimi, Haruko and, Akira said they choose to be childfree partly because they could not be a good mother/father. Kaori referred to the responsibilities parents have for their children: If you are going to raise children, we lKaori and her husband] think we have to take responsibility for providing them with career possibilities. For example, if they want to become an astronaut' we \ryould like to support this wish. We think we have a responsibility to make their dream come true. Moreover, we think about our age and income when our children turn 20. We thought that we cannot meet these responsibilities (Kaori, age 47, managing publishing compan)¿, remarried). Yoshimi now believes that she could raise happy children. Yet when she married she was too immaturei I was an adult-child. ... I think I could not have had children when I 170 married my husband. If I had, I would have made a mistake and the child would not be happy (Yoshimi, age 48, freelance editor, married)' Haruko discussed child.ren from a human development perspective: I thought it would be okay to have children. But life is not so easy. You sometimes worry about it. I also worry about my life. when human beings gro\¡t/, they have conflict with their parents. There is a rebellious stage as weII. At times teenagers may view their parents coldty. Maybe they are anxious about their studies and maybe they worry about their own appearance. They have a lot of worries because they are so sensitive. But that is adolescence. It is diffrcult to become an adult, you have to pass through these times. If you have your own children, you have to worry again. when I think about children philosophically, I think it is either okay if I do or do not have children (Haruko, age 56, acad.emic, married). Haruko said that "philosophically'' she is happy to have or not have children' However she also appears to have avoided motherhood because of the worries and conflicts associated with parenting, especially when children are adolescents. an Akira offered. as his main reason for choosing to be childfree that he is not adequate model for children: t71 I do not think I am a loser. I did well in my studies and I was popular among girls. I think my life is not too bad. But if I had my own child and they asked me, "Dad, I have a problem. How am I going to live my Life?" I fett sure that I would have trouble giving an answer. I have not faced serious problems in my life. I have not lost my way and have never considered suicid.e. But I have also not enjoyed every day. I was thinking a lot of things like this. If I have my own child and they lived a life like mine, it would. be good, maybe. ... But if I was asked how to live life seriously, I could not answer. For this reason, I should not have children (Akira, age 62, academic, married). Akira has a strong sense that fathers should be able to provide serious guid.ance to children in relation to philosophical questions. We have seen that Kaori, Yoshimi, Haruko and Akira pictured themselves as parents vividly - but negatively. In other words, when they thought about children, they thought about how they perceived themselves as a parent. However these reflections also reveal that they have thought deeply about good parenting, they value it and respect children's needs' Another reason several women gave for not having children of their orfi/n v/as the negative feelings they associated with pregnancy and childbirth' 172 6.2.6 Fear or disgust of pregnancy and childbirth Fear and disgust at either pregnancy or childbirth was a reason offered by Yoshimi, Rieko and Haruko. Yoshimi's direct and negative experience of her mother's pregnancies, miscarriages, and abortions mad.e her fearful of having her own children: My mother had. many unwanted. pregnancies. I knew about it although I was only a child. I sometimes went to see the doctor with her and I saw her miscarry. Since my childhood., I have thought pregnancy is awful. My mother had repeated unwanted pregnancies and she had to have abortions. Thus I thought pregnancy is sad. My mother seemed to want to have child.ren without thinking through the consequences. You need money for an abortion and we \ry'ere poor, very poor. I vaguely felt that pregnancy was terrible. so I did not think about childbirth and having children myself. Grad.ually, I recognized that I should not (Yoshimi, do anything which lead.s to pregnancy. Absolutely not age 48, freelance editor, married). Yoshimi's mother's experiences were also the subject of rumour because she was a single mother and. had boyfriencls. Thus Yoshimi had no positive images in relation to reproduction in her childhood and this made anything concerning sex taboo for her. This led her to feeling unable to consummate her relationship with her American husband in the initial stage of their 173 marrlage. Rieko's negative feelings about childbirth arose when she was a teenager and resulted from her hate of her mother: I recognized that I could have children when I was an adolescent. I was a high school student I think. I realized that I had the same bodily functions as my mother and I could become pregnant- ... I recognized that ... I was born from her. What I ate would' pass to the child and make their body, and then, I could. separate the child as it is different from myself. I felt dread.ful and d.isgusted by this. It sounds unusual because I spoke unpleasantly. But I think [other] girls feel more or less the same. Society teaches that pregnancy and childbirth is wonderful, mysterious and a woman's privilege. Therefore women pretend that they do not feel disgust. I felt disgust accidentally so I thought about it seriously. ... I felt bad that something different would come out from myself. It is okay if it is totally different from myself' But it was an intolerably bad feeling that it was made by what I ate. This was during my ad.olescence. Maybe it was hatred for the relationship I had with my mother (Rieko, age 37, freelance writer, living with a partner). Even though Rieko's unfavourable feelings toward her mother faded away, she still does not want to have her own children. Haruko lived with her older sister when she was a postgraduate student and L74 her sister's childbirth infLuenced Haruko's childfree decision: I was present at my sister's childbirth. It was so hard. I thought I cannot do that. Labour pain. If you really know about childbirth, Yoü would not do it [aughsl. Maybe it is better not to know much [Iaughs] (Haruko, age 56, academic, married). Instead of being influenced by the popular and medical discourse about the joys of pregnancy and. childbirth Yoshimi, Rieko and Haruko responded to the experiences of women close to them. 6.2.7 Those with "no choice" to have children It is diffrcult to separate those who are "circumstantially childless" from those who are "willingly childless." The experiences of flrve women who identifred barriers to having children which rwere beyond their control are presented, as having had no choice in remaining childfree. Kaori believes there is a "right season" to have children: It is strange expression but I think there is a best season for childrearing llaughsl. There is a certain time that your friends marry and have children, isn't there? So children's ages are similar. When we gather, they become like brothers and sisters. It is fun. There is a right season for your enjoyment in your life [aughsl. I missed the time. It L75 would be good to become a mother when I was 41 years old and I could absorb energ"y from young mothers. But I think it would have been more fun to raise children when I was in my 20s (Kaori, age 47, managing publishing company, remarried). Like Kaori , Haruko felt that she missed the right time for childbearing: There is a right timing to have children. ... \{hen you have children at 35, it is said. to be "old age childbirth." ... Many women have children around.40 nowadays. But I worried about having children over the age of 35 (Haruko, age 56, academic, married)' Medical claims that it is difficult and dangerous for a mother to have "old age chitdbirth" influenced. Haruko to believe that there is an appropriate time to become a mother. Akemi also felt that her age was a barrier and that her decision might be different if she was still in her 30s: We make sure of the contraception so I think there is no possibility of me becoming pregnant. But if I did, I think I would have an abortion because I am already 40 years old.. In addition, I was not happy in my childhood to see that my classmates'mothers were young but my parents were old (Akemi, age 40, government offrcer, de-facto)' r76 Ritsuko was "childless by circumstance," a string of events which included not meeting the "right man": I do not have children but I have not made the decision to be childfree. You think about children when you have a partner. ... I would have had children if I had met a man who understands me (Ritsuko, age 46, PhD student, single). What is interesting here is that this comment expresses a tensron rn Ritsuko's childfree account. In not frnding the "right man," her childfree state sounds like a conditional choice. On the other hand, elsewhere in the interview she says she has made a decision to focus on her own lifework and she is not going to marry and have children. As Ritsuko's story suggests, the childfree "d.ecision" is made up of many complex reasons, events and sub-decisions relating to each woman's o\¡rn will and situation' to Ayako, who did not become pregnant when she and her husband decided have a child, did not use the word "infertility" during her interview as I mentioned in her biograPhY: I suppose I tried not to think about not having children until I accepted this interview. I never decided not to have children but in fact I could not have them. I continued, to hope for a child until I turned 40' How 177 can I say it, no\M I d,are not have the infertility treatment and have a child. I let nature take its course and I could not have children as a consequence (Ayako, age 44, housewife, married). Ayako went on to explain her reasons for not seeking a medical assessment. She is not sure if it is desirable to find out what the cause of infertility in a couple is, citing a friend whose husband was found to have the problem' I wond,er whether it is good thing to frnd out who caused the problem' If you have infertility treatment, you wiII frnd who has the problem' It is okay by me if I am the cause of the problem but I wonder whether my husband could accept it if he is the cause (Ayako, age 44, housewife, married). As Ohinata (tggz:1g2-1g3) suggests, if a man frnds that he is infertile, he may lose his masculine pride and this impacts on his relationship with his wife. Ayako has also seen lovely couples who do not have children, and this helps her accept life without children. Moreover, there is no pressure on her husband. or herself to prod.uce children for famiþ succession, this being the obligation of the first-born son. While I have included Ayako's experience in this "no choice" category, I would like to emphasize that she and her husband made the decision not to have infertility treatment and thus to remain child.free. In other words, they have chosen to accept a life without children' As Ayako's story suggests, choosing to be childfree is "an active and ongoing r78 process" (Vissing 2OO2: 5). Women in the interview shared the above reasons concerning their decision to be childfree with those offered by the women in the narratives. The interview made it much clearer how complex and multiple these reasons are. As Yoshimi said., "frrst of all, my reason for choosing to be childfree is not singular." As a result, there are contradictory themes in some interviewees' accounts. Ritsuko at one point said she has not met the "right man" and at another point that she always prioritized Women's Studies and feminism as her lifework. Others combined elements of "choice" with conditions of circumstance, choosing to focus on their careers while young and then finding themselves in their 40s, that it is too old to have children- Some rejected. the experience of childbirth but others pointed to social conditions that mad.e childrearing impossible in the present circumstancesl lack of workplace support and assistance from husband/partner. However the question remains whether women would have children even if the social cond.itions \ilere made ideal. For example, social support for childrearing being relatively suffrcient such as family allowance in ltaly (Funabashi Igg420). Yet, Italy's totally fertility rate is one of lowest recorded in the world (Funabashi 1994: 20). The next section explores the influence of feminism on women's decisions, even if only indirectly expressed in their rejection of unequal gender relations. L79 5.3 Awareness of gender relations some of my interviewees used strong feminist language to deplore gender inequality while others asserted. that their own worth as individuals led them to choose to be childfree. As discussed previously, these themes were much less pronounced in the narratives, due in part to the recruitment process for the interviewees. This section explores the impact of feminist ideas on a rejection of gend.er inequality, a desire for individual fulfiIlment, in career or in an egalitarian partnership, and an expression of this egalitarianism in joint d.iscussion and decision-making concerning having children. S.S.L Rejection of gender inequality Accord.ing to the public opinion survey concerning a gender equality society (Cabinet Offrce, Gend.er Equality Bureau) in 2000, there is a tremendous gap between men and. women in relation to d.omestic duties in Japan. Table 6 shows the proportion of each household task undertaken by wives, husbands, children and whole (extended) family. It dramatically illustrates the primary responsibility wives take in households. 180 Table 6 Gender gap in domestic duties: who does different domestic duties in Japan (Percentage of families in each category) Wife Husband Children Whole family Other Cooking, 86.6% r.4% o.7% 9.7% l.4o/o washing and cleaning Taking care ú6.3% 2.8o/o 38.0% o.2% of children Taking care 55.8o/o 4.9% L.t% 32.7% 3.3% ofparents source: cabinet ofËce, Gender Equality Bureau (zooo: Figure 17'19). Japan's unequal distribution of household labour is much more pronounced than it is in other d,eveloped. countries. Table 7 shows this comparison in relation to household. tasks. Most d.ramatically Japanese husbands do virtually no cooking but 99.7% of wives do. 181 Table 7 International comparison of responsibilities for household tasks (Percentage of families in each category) dishes Cleaning Laundry Preparing meals Washing Wife Whole Hus- Wife WhoIe Hus- Wife Whole Hus- Wife Whole Hus- family band family Band family band family band 82.7 10.8 Japan 2.3 85.5 9.7 1.6 90.õ 5.0 r.4 99.7 6.0 3.0 13.0 õ0.0 32.2 US 8.7 56.9 32.3 8.1 68.0 22.r 16.6 57.3 23.6 20.4 28.5 48.ã Sweden 7.6 44.1 44.4 6.8 67.3 24.1 t4.8 49.4 34.2 8.4 43.8 44.2 Germany 1.1 68.7 33.8 2.1 84.7 II.2 6.8 67.2 24.2 L7.3 34.7 37.3 UK b.D 58.1 28.9 4.6 76.r t6.7 t4.6 52.6 29.9 Source: Cabinet Ofñce, Gender Equality Bureau (ZOOZ:72-76\ Table 8 d.emonstrates that Japanese men also have the lowest participation in childcare, even compared with women who are in paid employment who spend four times the amount of time doing childcare as do men' In other developed countries men do about half as much childcare as do employed women. r82 Table 8 International comparison of time spent in childcare (Minutes per ¿ay spent by people in each category and country) Japan US Sweden Germany UK (zoor) (rggs) (rsgr) (rgsz) (rgsg) Men 25 33 70 59 90 Women 62 130 L24 (full'time paid employment) Ltz Women 93 118 r42 193 (part'time paid employment) Women 218 106 26t 175 202 (full-time housewife) Source: Cabinet Offrce 2006 (Table no.2'2-20) Gender inequality resulting from gender/sex assignment is deeply rooted in contemporary Japanese society, as these data show. Women in this study saw this as unfair and it led, them to choose to be childfree' They commented. on the obligations of women to care for husbands, children and relatives. In addition, \¡¡omen in the interviews noted that even their mother or aunts who experienced domestic violence stayed in relationships. Some women in the interviews also experienced as unfair, situations in which brothers received special attention or treats, or were given better educational opportunities than their sisters. These experiences of discrimination led the women to reject motherhood, in the belief that their husbands or relatives would be no different in their expectations of mothers than people were in previous generations' 183 Yoshimi and Haruko presented an indirect critique of conventional gender relations in Japanese society. They wanted their husbands to be involved in child.rearing but found. that their husbands were not eager to have children and were not interested in being involved in childrearing: He [Yoshimi's husband] told me "If you want to have children, I will help you. A woman makes the decision whether she is going to have children or not. But I suppose I am not going to become a good father" (Yoshimi, age 48, freelance editor, married). As a result, Yoshimi's husband had a vasectomy. Simiraly, Haruko stated: If he [Haruko's husband] had been eager to have children, I would ask him to do childrearing (Haruko, age 56, acad,emic, married)' Akira also believed that the d.ecline in fertility would not be reversed with a subsid.y for childbirth but also saw men's involvement in housework and childrearing as necessary. Yumi, Akemi, Rieko and Ritsuko presented a more forceful critique of gend.er inequality. Yumi was aware of the Iitcrature which notes that when \¡¡omen have children, their income and power diverges from that of men: I would never choose a husband who doesn't help with the housework' "' 184 If we have child.ren, our relationship would then become one of gender/sex assignment (Yumi, age 44, offrce worker, married). Yumi concludes that in this situation of gender inequality "It would be good to have children if I were a man." Similarly, Akemi notes: If I ... really d.o not need, to d.o anything in the home, like a Fapanesel man, it would be okay for me to have children. But such a role is not raising child.ren. What shall I call it? If someone takes the whole care of my children, then I am only their guardian (Akemi, age 40, government offrcer, de -facto). Akemi is echoing the Ministry of Health and welfare campaign for men's involvement for child.rearing in March 1999: "Men who don't do childcare' lve don't call dad' (The Minister of Health and Welfare 1999 in Roberts 2002: 77-78). Others reflected on the unfairness of their mothers' lives as evidence of gender inequality. Rieko grew up in a rural areal My community and. relatives took it for granterl that women look after elderly parents. So no one asked. why my mother has to take care of her parents and parents-in-Iaw. What makes me most sad is that my mother accepted it and she believed it was what made her valuable as 185 well. So she looked after my grandparents with great conviction' My mother washed my grandfather's nappy lwhen he became incontinent] while she was carrying my baby brother on her back. My mother was like that. She never complained or questioned it (Rieko, age 37, freelance writer, living with a partner). Not only did Rieko reject the role her mother played in relation to children and parents'in-law, she was also angry at her mother's passive acceptance of that role. Rieko also rejected her mother's wish that Rieko herself would unquestioningly take up the traditional gender role, disciplining Rieko to do SO Not surprisingly, my mother tried to teach me the traditional role. ... Her discipline was so strict that I became a motherly girl at primary school. My classmates brought their school aprons with missing buttons to me because I could. sew. ... I could sew on buttons even before we learned it in home economics at school. I washed dishes before I went to school. If I said I did not want to wash dishes, my mother asked. me if I would. prefer to hang out the clothes instead. My mother disciplined. me like that. ... I thought housekeeping was her work but she pushed it on to me. So I felt I was Cinderella and she was the stepmother. She was disciplining me in preparation to become a futly-fledged woman in the future (Rieko, age 37, freelance writer, Iiving with a partner). 186 Rieko learned. the tasks associated with the expected gender role, so much so that when Rieko was in class four, her teacher wrote in Rieko's academic report "f always see what a wonderful wife Rieko is going to be in the future"' However, Rieko did not internalize her mother's wishes and her teacher's expectation. Rieko did not accept that she should do her mother's work, and expresses resentment at her mother's hard discipline: I have seen gend.er inequality all my life until I reached my 30s' Then, I asked myself calmly why would I want to have children. I concluded that I really did not want to have kinship obligations. I did not like the ties of kinship I had as a child when I grew up in my rural atea.... If I have children and if they also have children, kinship connections are going to continue. I think I do not want to do that (Rieko, aged 37, freelance writer, Iiving with a partner). Rieko further explained why she rejected these kinship connectionsl I do not want to spend energy on relationships that I cannot choose' I do not like uncles. But you cannot ignore kinship ties. If you have many family relatives, you have many contacts. ... You cannot neglect relatives in the rural area. I could not satisfu the social expectations and. I d.o not like these expectations. I want to choose my relationships partner)' (Rieko, age 3'. , freelance writer, Iiving with a t87 Again Rieko rejects the expected kinship roles for a \iloman as a daughter-in-law and a mother-in-law. She is particularly aware of the expectation that she will take care of elderly parents, both her own and her husband's. However, to Rieko, it is not that she is irresponsible regarding her relationships. Rieko always takes care of her partner and her friends' Ritsuko echoes Rieko: My father is a second son and. my mother belongs to his family as a wife. lVhen we went to my father's eldest brother's house at New Year and so on, my mother worked like a slave. The men and his sisters who belong to another family were enjoying themselves eating and drinking' I thought it was unfair. My aunt suffered domestic violence from her husband but she did not divorce her husband. Another aunt who married. my father's older brother also had trouble but respects her son as the heir (Ritsuko, age 46, PhD student, single). Not only did Ritsuko criticize her mother's unquestioning acceptance of the "good. wife, wise mother" role, Ritsuko also remembered bitterly the gender discrimination she experienced as a child. For example, her brother receiving treats of various sorts that she was deniecì': My mother did not force my brother to do housework but it was compulsory for me. I was very opposed to it (Ritsuko, age 46, PhD 188 student, single). As she was expected only to go to junior college while her brother \ryas encouraged to do four years of university, Ritsuko took matters into her own hands: I knew there ywas a special entrance examination for an adult who rs working. ... I thought I can go to four years university if I work and save money (Ritsuko, age 46, PhD student, single). Actually Ritsuko went to junior college, worked full-time and saved money an¿ then enrolled in a four years university course. Ritsuko's anger at the d.iscrimination she experienced from her mother led Ritsuko to hate her mother. Ritsuko has seen a wife's role, which she perceives as unfair, passive and unjustifiable. Her mother and aunts accepted their roles and never Ieft their husbands even though some of them suffered violence. Moreover, Ritsuko criticizes her aunt for raising her son in the same tradition that her husband. was raised in. Therefore Ritsuko implied that, if women want to stop discrimination and violence against them, it is especially important for women who are mothers to teach their sons that women havc to be respected the same as men and violence is not acceptable. Consequently, Ritsuko was never interested in marriage and refused it' Her main reason for not having children is rejection of the wife and mother role 189 Akemi,s father also had a tendency for domestic violence There was d.omestic violence in my family. So my childhood was not necessarily bright. I und.erstood that to establish a parent-child relationship is not always positive (Akemi, age 40, government officer, de-facto). Akemi also noted that her mother's lack of economic independence meant she had to stay in the violent relationship. Therefore Akemi values economic independence highlY. Yumi extend,s the comments made by Rieko and Ritsuko concerning their rejection of their mothers' self'effacing and subservient role, to identifir her brother as her role model: My role model was not my mother but my old'er brother who has a good know academic record and was captain of the student council' I did not like what I wanted to do until I was in my 30s. But I did not want to be my mother. she took care of her parents, parents-in-Iaw and her relativcs including about 20 of my cousins (Yumi, age 44, office worker' married). did Yumi judges her mother's passive, selfless life unfavourably: "My mother 190 not have any pleasures of her own." Rieko's, Ritsuko's and Yumi's awareness of conventional gender inequality brought them to choose a life without children. In addition, given the role of mothers in reproducing passive motherhood. in their daughters, they see that daughters can stop this vicious cycle of gender inequality by choosing to be childfree, or even remaining unmarried, as did Rieko and Ritsuko' Ritsuko and. Kayoko also commented. on the contraceptive pill in terms of gender implications, claiming contraception was also the man's responsibility: Actually, although the baby is born from the woman's body I still think it is not reasonable that men force v¡omen to take responsibility for contraception (Ritsuko, age 46, PhD student, single)' Men have forced women take to the responsibility of contraception. ... I think it is your choice whether you choose the oral contraceptive pill or not. The pill puts aII the responsibitity for contraception onto the \Ãroman (Kayoko, age 56, manager of a group home, Same sex partner). 6.4 Individualism rather than being a wife/ mother As d.iscussed in the previous section, five women prioritized their career over family and so chose a childfree life. Five women went further than this, 191 comparing the identity they achieved through individual achievement with that of the ascribed role of a wife and mother 6.4.1 Human being rather than gendered being Ayako expresses her preference for self-realisation as her desire to be a human being before being a gendered being: I have been thinking that I would. like to be a human being before being a man or a \¡roman. ... It is said that a man becomes an adult when he supports his own family. If a woman becomes an adult when she has a child., I d.o not mind that I am not an adult. ... However, I wonder whether it is important to have and raise your orñ/n children' For instance, Teresa of Calcutta was fuII of motherhood (Ayako, age 44, housewife, married). Ayako here d.raws on an alternative mod.el of personhood, of adulthood' Teresa of Calcutta \áas a social mother rather than a biological mother. Akemi would also like to be respected as a human being rather than as a woman. I want to be a human being rather than a woman. ... I would like to be accepted and evaluated for my education and the ability that I have as the result of my efforts. ... WeIl, I experienced sexual harassment at my L92 workplace and I had trouble. I went to the sexual harassment servrce but it was hushed up. It was terribly unpleasant. so when I say I do not want to be consid.ered a woman in my caree\ I speak from my heart' I could say in relation to my identity as a woman that this is what I want when I am part of a couple with my husband. ... I think working in the government is not very good because it is a male chauvinist organization (Akemi, age 40, government offrcer, de'facto). Akemi clearly understood that sexual harassment occurs because co'workers see her as a woman rather than a worker. She minimized the difference between men and, women and applied the male standard to herself, as do the "sameness" feminists. Akemi works very hard and does not want to have children. she recognized herself as a woman only in her relationship with her husband. 6.4.2 Creating identity through career Neko also believes that having children is not her identity' She values highly her identity as a lYricist: in other I d.o not think that having children is my identity. My identity, words, my core identity is my work. I have written around 1,000 songs' Someone told me that as a lyricist I leave my works in the world, so it is the same as having children. But I do not think so. My work is my work and. it is another kind of self. Lyricists write songs by contract. 193 'We write when there is an order using our skill. So it is totally different from having children. But I really enjoy writing songs (Neko, age 45, lyricist, divorced). Neko d.raws a distinction between the biological function of motherhood, and the skill and effort involved in writing lyrics. while she expresses some ambivalence concerning her d.ecision not to have children, she concludes: I never regret my decision because ... I think to regret my decision means I made a mistake and deny who I am (Neko, age 45, Iyricist, divorced). Kaori chose to strengthen her marital relationship through developing a business with her husband: Our aim in marriage was to choose a partner to enrich our later life rather than to build a social unit and reproduce the next generation. ... We wanted something apart from children that cements a marriage' We discovered that our relationship is not going to develop if we are only having fun. So we started. this business. I was a freelance writer and working at home with my niece for about a year. Then my husband (Kaori, retired, from his company and now we do our business together age 47, managing publishing company, remarried)' 194 Kaori also d.escribed business as her strength, even though she is wistful about not having children: I do not think my id.entity is to have children. I never think so' I would have my identity where I can exercise my ability [laughs]' I believe to have children is one of life's pleasures and opportunities' I regret that I did not experience childbirth and childrearing because I am a woman. But having child.ren is not my strengÉh (Kaorí, age 4'.1, managing publishing company, remarried). White Haruko comments on the disadvantage of being childfree, worrying that there is "no bond' with one's husband who remains "more or less, an other" and that there is no family to offer help in the last resort, she still emphasises that one's identity is chosen: You can choose your identity. ... It is okay if you want to make your identity by having child.ren (Haruko, age 56, academic, married). A_kemi, Neko, Kaori and. Haruko suggest that a shift from woman's identity as a wife and mother to that of career woman was a choice open to them because they have received higher ed.ucation and they participate in the Iabour market. However Akemils story points out that gender inequality persists in the workplace, even for childfree women, as they experience tension between individualism/career and motherhood as a social role 195 whereas men do not. 5.4.3 Alternative womanhood other than motherhood "woman's Some of the interviewees also rejected the idea that motherhood is med.al," offering other ways of defrning womanhood, based on a sense of shared oppression or shared, experiences with other women' Rieko asserts a that she feels she is a woman and. this does not relate to whether she has child or not: I am a woman even if I do not have child.ren [aughs]. I feel strongly a that I am a woman. I am glad that I am a woman. I want to be born woman next time. ... I used. to associate a negative meaning with being a woman in my childhood and into my early ad.ulthood. But I changed my views when I realized the sex discrimination and oppression my grandmother, my mother and, I experienced. I was in my late 20s at that time. I felt a connection of sisterhood with my grandmother, my mother and other women who are fighting against sex discrimination her and oppression. ... I define a woman as someone who understands and position in society, who can share other ïvomen's pain and feelings, form who objects to discrimination. These things enable a woman to with solid.arity with other \áomen (Rieko, age 37, freelance writer, living a partner). Rieko d.erives her sense of womanhood, through her reading of women's 196 history. Through their shared oppression, she can find and accept sisterhood with her mother even though her mother strongly internalized the wife/mother role and expected Rieko to accept it. Rieko believes that women's solidarity can overcome women's differences. For example, she feels sisterhood with the so-called Korean "comfort women" because she shares a \¡roman's experiences with them. (see Ritsuko cites Fusae lchikawa, a founder of Japanese feminism Chapter 2) to make her point that a woman d.oes not have to have children to be fulfrlled: I do not think a woman is a woman because she has children' If I believed. so, I would. have had children at any cost. I think I am unconsciously influenced by Fusae Ichikawa that there is a way of life other than motherhood (Ritsuko, age 46, PhD student, single). Ritsuko continued: There are lots of women in this world and,I am indifferent as to whether I have child,ren or not. I d.o not regret that I do not have children (Ritsuko, aged 46, PhD student, single)' One aspect of women seeking fulfilment through individual achievement concerns a d.esire for egalitarian partnerships. Thus a number of r97 interviewees rejected motherhood as they fett it would destroy the equality they felt with their husband/partner. This notion of a companionate marriage was also expressed when the interviewees discussed their thoughts about having child.ren with their husband.s/partners, the incidence of such discussion being much higher among my interviewees than the women whose experiences were reported in the narratives discussed in Chaptet 4' 5.5 Mutual agreement Discussion with their husbands/partners allowed some women in the interviews to resolve their own ambivalence concerning whether or not they should. become mothers. This is a significant difference with women in the narratives. 5.5.1 Resolving the ambivalence concerning a childfree decision when she married, Yumi thought she had to have children, even though she understood her marriage was in ord.er to live with her husband in a comfortable lifestyle. she was not clear about having children so she simply spoke with her husband: After three to frve years of our marriage, I asked my husband "Are we going to have children or not?" He replied "It is okay for us not to have children." ... I learned that "It is okay not to have childreni' from my husband's words. This discussion was decisive (Yumi, age 44, office worker, married). 198 Rieko and her partner did not intend to have children but Rieko became pregnant unexpectedly. Therefore they discussed the situation: What I remember about our discussion was that he told me "I can imagine living with you together in the future but I cannot imagine children with us. I cannot imagine it." ... I also never imagined having my own children and living with them. I understood that I did not want to have child.ren. I also thought that I did not need to engage with my feelings that abortion is not good and. causes guilt (Rieko, age 37, freelance writer, living with a partner). Consequently, Rieko decided to terminate her pregnancy and remain childfree going When Ayako and. her husband married, they promised that they were to be equal partners. In Ayako's equality discourse the man also has his reproductive rights. After deciding not to have children when her partner was transferred. overseas and the doctor's recommendation not to have children for a year following her frbroid' operation, Ayako and her husband discussed the possibility of fertility treatment. Yet they decided that: There are problems for infertility treatment, aren't they? For example, a \ñroman's health is affected because of the hormones and a man also 199 has to go to the hospital. we wondered whether we would like to have children at any cost. We thought it would be okay if it is due to a natural cause that we could not have children (Ayako, age 44, housewife, married). As I have noted before, another reason Ayako did not want them to have the infertility treatment was the possible challenge to her husband's masculinity if the problem lay with him. For these various reasons, Ayako and her husband accepted a life without children: I suppose eventually I started to think that there is life without children. I think I have a good relationship with my husband. He is my best friend who I can talk to about everything. ... I think we love each other but just d.o not have children [aughsl (Ayako, age 44, housewife, married). Yumi, Rieko and Ayako came to re-conceptualise gender relations through d.iscussion with their husband.s, considering that it was not essential to womanhood or to their relationship with their husband/partner for them to become a mother. Kaori alread.y understood their marriage to be more about companionship and an equal partnership before d.iscussing the issue of children with her husband: 200 whether I had a miscarriage. A-fter that, I spoke with my husband as to good not to we would. try to have children or not but thought it would be was to have child.ren. ... we agreed the main reason for our marriage (Kaori, have a partner, not to have children and raise them as a family age 4'l,managing own publishing company, remarried) Akemi and her husband agreed. to have children before their marriage' Akemi However they reconsid,ered Akemls situation afber they married' clearly expects her husband to take her views into account: not Before our marriage, I agreed to have children. ... But we could so busy' imagine having children after our marriage ... my offîce v¡as "' understand My husband. knew my working situation so he seemed to that ,'we do not d,are to have children' (Akemi, age 40, government offrcer, de'facto). not wanting Neko, Yoshimi and, Haruko also had always been clear about early in the child.ren and, had. d.iscussed their views with their husbands relationship. As I mentioned. in the biography, Neko told her husband to Haruko frnd another woman if he wanted to have child'ren' Yoshimi and What these also found that their husbands did not want to have children' they did not \¡¡omen's stories suggest is that some women Ïvere clear that before want child,ren, and. conveyed. their d.esire to their husbands/partners 20L marriage. Others clarifi.ed their own position through discussion- However all of them saw the issue of children as one that involved both members of the partnershiP. This section explores the interaction of the themes of rejection of gender inequality, individualism and mutuality in influencing women to choose life without children. Anumber of the interviewees rejected the role of wife and mother as necessarily one of gender inequality, while endorsing that of professional worker or equal partner in a companionate relationship as impossible to achieve alongside being a mother. My interviewecs share with sameness feminists the belief that women should have access to the same rights and roles as men at work. Several also suggested that if women had the same role as men in parenting it would be much easier for women to combine work and family. However, none of them seriously considered what some d.ifference feminists, such as the ecological feminists have suggested - that men should change their behaviour and value motherhood. and nurturing more highly than anything else in society' With sameness feminists, they describe their identity as arising from being a human being or from their professional achievements' As a result, I feel that my interviewees would. reject attempts to label them "victims" or "circumstantially child.Iess" because they have chosen their path' In this way, women in this study seem only slightly aware that their choices are framed by the failure of Japanese society (along with other developed countries) to provide the institutional supports which would allow women to 202 simultaneously be both mothers and professionals, both nurturers of the next generation and pursue their own self'realisation. The relationship between the rejection of gender inequality and the pursuit of individual achievement, which barely surfaced in the narratives discussed in chapter 5, are also not themes which Japanese feminists are addressing, at least not in connection with choosing a childfree life. 203 ChaPter 6 Conclusion: the challenge of childfree \¡vomen to motherhood in Japan The presumption that gender properly and inevitably reflects biological sex is evid.ent in many areas of Japanese society. For example, until the early 1990s, home economics was compulsory only for girls in schools' Until the mid-1980s, it was a prevalent practice among private companies to encourage women to quít work after marriage or childbirth' The "myth of three years old" reinforces the idea that mothers should take responsibility for their child.ren until the child is three years old to ensure the child's healthy growth. Even if mothers returned to paid work, they did so in so-called part'time work where they were d,enied access to the social insurance, promotional opportunities and bonuses which full-time workers received. It is often said that "A woman is fully-fledged when she became a mother," and this is almost a proverb in Japan. This suggests that woman's maturity is evaluated. according to whether she has a child or not' Thus' especially married v¡omen who are non-mothers, are criticized as selfish and having no regard for others. Many other practices and beliefs defrned of women's primary role as wife and. mother and emphasized the importance motherhood for women. Despite the prevailing ideology, Japan has one of the lowest fertility rates in 204 the world, standing at I.26 in 2005. As discussed in Chapter 2, since the Meiji period (f SOg - lg1rÐ women's motherhood has been a great concern of the state in terms of Rosalind Pollack Petchesky's "population policy'' (Petchesky 1990:116'117). In recent years, the Japanese government has responded to the low fertility rate with policies which attempt to increase it, for example the Angel Plan in 1994 and the New Angel Plan in 1999 which committed the government to increasing day-care centres and extending their hours (Cet¡ 2003:116) (see Chapter 1). Even so, Japanese women tod.ay tend to delay marriage and childbirth. Some women remain childfree even if they are married.. It was this situation which led me to wonder about childfree woment why they choose not to have children given the prevailing pronatalist discourse about motherhoodi what the childfree experience means in Japanese societyi and how such women identifii themselves as women given they do not "fulfiÏ' their biological destiny. These questions have guided my study of Japanese childfree women' Motherhood. has been a central issue since the dawn of Japanese feminism' Japanese feminists have critiqued the practice of motherhood in patriarchal society. Yet, on the whole, they have endorsed women's commitment to motherhood. First wave feminists such as Raicho Hiratsuka, Akiko Yosano and Kikue Yamakawa argued about the value of social support for motherhood: Hiratsuka suggesting the state should support this essential contribution to social reproduction, Yosano arguing that frnancial assistance from any source und.ermined women's independence and Yamakawa calling 206 for a socialist state in which childrearing was not undertaken in the private family so that mothers could participate in the economy' The second wave feminists also addressed motherhood, criticizing it as a compulsory institution for Japanese women. They claimed that under patriarch¡1 women would never be fulfiIled as wives and mothers, the patriarchal system also denying women's sex and sexuality. Thus, Ribu did not reject motherhood per se but the way it is practiced in patriarchal society. Ecological feminists, as difference feminists, asserted the importance of motherhood. as an expression of the female principle which needed to be introduced into male d.ominant society, but they advocated nurturing of humans and. the globe as the obligation of both men and $romen' Thus as (ueno ueno says "Japanese feminists never relinquish motherhood' 2002i t6ù. However, Japanese feminists have paid much less attention to childfree women and women's subjectivity achieved beyond motherhood' Feminist psychologist chikako ogura claims that involuntary childfree v/omen are invisible to Japanese feminists who have conducted no signifrcant studies or analyses of childfree women because they have taken for granted marriage and having children as women's destiny (Ogura 2001: 200)' Even Ohinata' who is the major feminist academic voice on childfree women has a tendency to see women as "victims" of motherhood. 206 Although feminists have remained. largely silent, the phenomenon of childfree women has become a topic of discussion in popular texts and ne\Mspaper articles, and is a preoccupation of conservatives, as reported in Chapter 1. While some articles suggest that women do not choose to be childless, others feature women enjoying a childfree life. An article in COSMOPOLITANrepresents a childfree couple as enjoying their life, their "alternative choice" as it was described (Sfroji & Nakazawa in COSMOPOLITAN2OOS: 109i see also Ohuchi & Yamada in Grazia 2004)- Popular columnist Junko Sakai's Makeinu no toboe(The grumbling of losers) challenges the common Iabel of "Iosey'' which is given to single women who are over the age of 30 and childfree (Sakai 2003d. The book provoked an emotional response from housewives which indicates that "both working single women and homemakers with children suffer a certain feeling that something is lacking in their lives" (Japan Echo Inc 2004: l-2). Moreover, Sakai clearly stated her reason for being childfree in Shoshi (Declining fertility) (Sakai 2003b), claiming that marriage, childbirth and childrearing is not a "ty¡lical woman's life course" any longer nor are they "attractive" for women who have higher ed,ucation and economic independence. Sakai enjoys her childfree life, despite the government's sense of crisis concerning the declining fertility rate. These popularisations of the lifestyle choice of being childfree may help explain the different results in the narratives and the interviews. As discussed in Chapter 5, childfree women in narratives in the 1g90s were tentative about their decision, sometimes because there was Iittle d.iscussion with their husband/partner concerning whether or not to 207 have children. The women in the 1990s did not offer the same range of reasons as the women I interviewed in 2005. women in the 1990s narratives reasons included diffrculties associated with childrearing, the limit that children place on one's lifestyle, childbirth and childrearing is not being seen as a valuable experience in their life and the rejection of motherhood based on their own mother's experiences. In summary, it could be conclud.ed, that these women in the narratives were more "circumstantially childless" (Cannold 2005: 16) than voluntarily childfree' By contrast, my interviewees d.rew on other discourses, in particular the feminist discourse, to frame their childlessness as an affirmation of gender equality at least as much as a rejection of the difflrculties of mothering in a society which does not offer family-friendly workplaces, affordable and suffrcient day'care or husband/partners who share in the parenting' A majority of the interviewees explain their decision in terms of rejecting gend.er inequality, which was only referred to by a quarter of the women in the 1990s narratives. Furthermore, the women in the 1990s narratives tended to frame gender inequality as a private concern while the interviewees in 2005 saw it as a social issue. The interviewees saw motherhood. as inevitably bringing gender inequality to their relationship, requiring them to abandon their careers and economic independ.ence and. associated independence of thought in order to stay at home and care for not only children but also in-Iaws and to be vulnerable to domestic violence and other forms of abuse. Some interviewees explained 208 their reasoning in terms of asserting their "humanity" over their ,,womanhood.." "I would have my identity where I can exercise my ability" (KaorÐ, "My core identity is my lryork" (Neko); "I would like to be a human being before being a man or a woman" (Ayako); "I want to be a human being rather than a woman" (Akemi). In a number of cases the interviewee's experiences of gender inequality as children were refracted through a feminist lens to allow them to review childhood experiences - no longer rejecting mothers who had internalized their subordination but seeking a sisterhood of understanding with them by which the lot of all women could be improved. Despite the backlash from conservatives (as discussed in Chapter 1), these women at least relied much more on a feminist d.iscourse to make their life choices and explain their social situation. some, like Ritsuko explicitly refer to pioneering feminists such as Fusae Ichikawa or use feminist terms such as "the sex/gender system." While others still saw their femininity as an expression of their partner's valuing of them in a heterosexual relationship (for example Akemi), others rejected. the identity of a male-identifred woman and sought their womanhood. in a universal sisterhood. Thus Rieko, echoing second wave feminism Ribu, defrnes a woman as "someone who understands her position to in society, who can share other women's pain and feelings and who objects discrimination. These things enable a woman to form solidarity with other women." Nevertheless, in their decision to remain childfree at least these women pursued. a private solution to the social problem of gender inequality. 209 Instead of aiming for a gender equal parenting relationship or raising boys and girls to value gender equality, these women chose not to have children so that they could preserve their egalitarian relationship with their husband/partner. The degree of open discussion and sense of gender equality in their partnerships is also another significant difference between the women in the 1990s narratives and those I interviewed in 2005. As Kaori described the purpose of her second marriage: "To have a partner rather than reproduce the next generation," she and her husband cementing their mutuality by starting a business together This study explores the voices of a small but growing minority of Japanese women who are childfree. There is much more to be discovered about why and. how \¡vomen choose life without children. The feminist study of Japanese childfree women's experiences and views has just started. I hope it wiII develop further in the future. 2to Appendix 1 THE UNIVERSITY OFADELAIDE AUSTRATIA Yuko Nakamura Gender Studies and Labour Studies School of Social Science Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Iævel 3, Tbwer Building, 10 Pulteney Street The University of Adelaide sA õ005 AUSTRALIA TELEPHONE +61 I 8303 3805 FACSIMILE +61 I 8303 334õ yuko. [email protected]'au Hajimemashite My name is Yuko Nakamura. I am currently studying a Master of Arts at The University of Adelaide. What is mv project? I am researching childfree women and motherhood in Japan. My interest concerns the ways in which motherhood influences the lives of women who choose not to have children. I would like to conduct an interview with 10-15 men and women who choose to be childfree. What can you expect in the interview? I witl make contact with you to arrange an interview at a time and place that suits you. The interview will take about an hour. I will ask you questions about your experience of being childfree, for example, when you started to think that you were not going to have children? I hope it will be like a conversation, not questions and ans\¡¡ers. I wiII tape record and transcribe the interviews if you agree. However I will protect your personal details. 2tL How will your privacy be Protected? I am obliged. and. committed to protect your privacy by Adelaide University's ethical requirements. I will not describe your real name, but use an assumed name in the study. Furthermore, I will not reproduce any of your personal details that may obviously identify you. If you would like to have a copy of the transcript and./or the tape recording, please confirm this on your consent form. You do not need to explain me the reason for withdrawal. Withdrawal is possible up to 3 months after the interview. How can you provide assistance? This project counts on net-working. If you have a friend or acquaintance who are childfree and interested in participating in an interview, please ask them to contact me on +61 8 8303 3805(offrce hours) or at yuko. nakamura@student. adelaide.edu. au Please do not hesitate to contact me or ask any questions at any time. If you would like to discuss the issues but are unwilling to speak with me, please contact my supervisor Professor Chilla Bulbeck on +61 8 8303 4864 (offrce hours) or at [email protected]. au Thank you for your corporation, Yuko Nakamura 2t2 Appendix 2 1. Reasons for choosing to be childfree l.l Would you tell me your story about how it is that you do not have children? !Parents !Husband !Work lFriends !Childrearing npducation EHousing EEnvironment lOhildcare centre nChildcare leave lOther J 1.2 Please tell me all about your family you grew up in. Who earned the household income? Who did the household tasks and childrearing? If mother worked: Did that influence the amount of domestic work she did or other members of the household did? If no mention about father: Is there any domestic work your father did? J 1.8 Are your mother and father role models for you in any way? Talk about the things that you have in common and the differences. J 1.4 I would like to know about your work history. YVhat sort of paid work have You done in the past and now? J 1.5 Sometimes children receive both formal and informal messages about motherhood, fatherhood and gender at school. Looking back what sort of messages did your school present? 2t3 2. Childfree process and certainty 2.1When did you reahze or decide that you would not have children? J 2.ZHave you discussed having children with your partner? If yes: Tell me about those discussions. If no: Do you feel that you know your husband's opinion about children? How did you come to know his feelings? J 2.3 Have you eveï reconsidered about having children? If yes: Could you teII me when and what made you do so? If no: Is there anything that you can imagine would change your decision about having children? J 2.4 In Australia compared with Japan, there are many more women who take the contraceptive pill and have sterilization surgery. What do you think about using contraceptives? J 2.5 Although I think this is a hard question, would you tell me what would you do if you did become pregnant? For men:Although I think this is a hard question, would you tell me what would you do if your wife becomes pregnant? 2t4 3. Being childfree and childfree ex¡lerience 3.1 From your own perspective, what do you think are the positive/negative aspects of not to having children? P: Looking back, have you had the sense that you felt either good or bad because you do not have children? J 3.2It seems that there are quite a lot of women including infertile women who feel "I want to have children because I am a woman." It may be said that to have children is woman's identity. How do you understand your identity as a woman? For men: It seems that to support a wife and children is man's identity. How do you understand your identity as a man? 2t5 Appendix 3 THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE AUSTRALIA Yuko Nakamura Gender Studies and Labour Studies School of Social Science Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Iævel 3, Tbwer Building, 10 Pulteney Street The University of Adelaide SA õOO5 AUSTRALIA TELEPHONE +61 88303 3805 FACSIMILE +61 8 8303 334ã vuko.nakamura@student. adelaide'edu.au Consent Form for Participants Study of the experiences of being childfree in Japan as part of the research undertaken by Yuko Nakamura for her Master candidature in Gender Studies at the University ofAdelaide. I have been provided with information concerning the aims and purposes of the research' I am aware that my participation is completely voluntary and that: O I am free to withdraw from the research up to 3 months after the interview, and that I do not have to give a reason for doing so. o I am under no obligation to reveal information or discuss issues if I do not wish to do so. o The information I provid.e may be quoted within the thesis and other academic publications and works. o The interview will be tape recorded and transcribed. 2t6 Please indicate your consent below: I do/do not wish to Particþate. (please circle whenever in I would/would not like a copy of the reeults applicable) If you said yes, please write in your postal ad'dress or email address' Signed ParticiPant ... 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