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Japanese Women: Lineage and Legacies Asia Program Japanese Women: Lineage and Legacies Edited by Amy McCreedy Thernstrom October 2005 Available from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars One Woodrow Wilson Plaza 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20004-3027 www.wilsoncenter.org ISBN 1-933549-02-5 Cover Photos: “Crown Princess Masako Holds Her Daughter,” © Eriko Sugita/Reuters/Corbis “Businesswoman,” © Getty Images The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, established by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a living national memorial to President Wilson. The Center’s mission is to com- memorate the ideals and concerns of Woodrow Wilson by providing a link between the worlds of ideas and policy, while fostering research, study, dis- cussion, and collaboration among a broad spectrum of individuals concerned with policy and scholarship in national and international affairs. Supported by public and private funds, the Center is a nonpartisan institution engaged in the study of national and world affairs. It establishes and maintains a neutral forum for free, open, and informed dialogue. Conclusions or opinions expressed in Center publications and programs are those of the authors and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center staff, fellows, trustees, advisory groups, or any individuals or organizations that provide financial support to the Center. The Center is the publisher of The Wilson Quarterly and home of Woodrow Wilson Center Press, dialogue radio and television, and the monthly news-let- ter “Centerpoint.” For more information about the Center’s activities and publications, please visit us on the web at www.wilsoncenter.org. Lee H. Hamilton, President and Director Board of Trustees Joseph B. Gildenhorn, Chair David A. Metzner, Vice Chair Public members: James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress; John W. Carlin, Archivist of the United States; Bruce Cole, Chair, National Endowment for the Humanities; Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Condoleezza Rice, Secretary, U.S. Department of State; Lawrence M. Small, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution; Margaret Spellings, Secretary, U.S. Department of Education Private Citizen Members: Carol Cartwright, Robert B. Cook, Donald E. Garcia, Bruce S. Gelb, Charles L. Glazer, Tamala L. Longaberger, Ignacio E. Sanchez Contents Introduction 1 Amy McCreedy Thernstrom PART ONE Lineage and Change: The Imperial Family and the Debate over a Female Emperor Royal Roles, Wider Changes: Understanding Japan’s 13 Gender Relations from a Historical Perspective Hitomi Tonomura Imperial Succession Panic: The Politics of Gender, 27 Blood and Race in Contemporary Japan Takashi Fujitani Why Should a Feminist Care about What Goes on 44 Behind Japan’s Chrysanthemum Curtain? The Imperial Succession Issue as a Metaphor for Women’s Rights Barbara Molony PART TWO The “Modern” Woman and Motherhood Japan’s Frozen Future: Why Are Women Withholding 57 Investment in Work and Family? Chikako Usui SEABED PETROLEUM IN NORTHEAST ASIA: CONFLICT OR COOPERATION? Feminism as Industrial Policy in Japan 69 Margarita Estévez-Abe Baby Strike? Reflections on Ideology and Realities 80 in Women’s Lives Merry White WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS Introduction Amy McCreedy Thernstrom Program Associate Woodrow Wilson Center’s Asia Program he imperial throne of Japan is one of the most conservative of insti- tutions, and throughout its legendary 2500-year history has rarely T been mentioned in the same breath (much less paragraph) with terms such as “gender equality.” But now the Chrysanthemum Throne has not produced a male heir since 1965, and faces extinction if the prohibition against a female emperor is not scrapped or modified. This crisis has sparked a lively discussion in Japan among the general public, media, and pundits over how it should be resolved. Even feminists, who have remained aloof from discussion of imperial matters (seeing the throne as a remnant of Japan’s militaristic past), have entered the debate. This report is one of few academic publications in English to examine the succession question—including historical origins and modern policy ramifi- cations—and to use it as a springboard to a discussion of issues of broad sig- nificance to Japanese women. Although the cloistered royal household is often seen as remote from the concerns of everyday life, the authors in this report show how the succession issue has become an important symbol to a society still struggling to reform traditional institutions. The essays in this volume address issues such as fertility decline, the veneration of mother- hood, and national pride, in relation to both the imperial system and to Japan more generally. The report is organized in two parts. The first three essays focus wholly or partly on the issue of imperial succession. Crown Princess Masako, who gave up her position as a successful diplomat to marry the crown prince, epitomizes the choice between career and family with which many Japanese women feel confronted, and whether her three-year-old daughter will be allowed to inherit the throne has aroused broad interest. The essays here treat the succes- sion issue with historical depth not usually found in English, and address a wide range of contentious questions: To what extent should Japan’s previous eight female emperors be considered precedents in the current deliberations? JAPANESE WOMEN: LINEAGE AND LEGACIES 1 What does Japanese “tradition” consist of, and how has it been used (or manipulated) by different contributors to the succession debate? What solu- tions to the crisis are possible, and do they necessarily spell victory for advo- cates of equal rights for women? The second section of this report looks at women’s issues more broadly, especially the topic of declining fertility. Like Masako, Japanese women are sometimes criticized by media and government officials for delaying marriage and childbirth. Depopulation will (it is claimed) lead to a labor shortage and increase the burden of Japan’s aging society. Pundits and government officials have offered a myriad of suggestions, from providing tax breaks for bearing children to establishing daycare centers. The three essays in this section help sort through these numerous policy ideas, as well as examine the motivations, challenges, and desires of working women. Are government policies effective? Why do Japanese women see a career and motherhood as incompatible? How is the Japanese situation similar to that of other industrialized countries, and can Japan look abroad for solutions? Lineage and change: The imperial family and the debate over a female emperor Is the idea of a female emperor too radical for a society as traditional as Japan? As explained by Hitomi Tonomura of the University of Michigan, women were not disqualified from the throne until 1889, a prohibition extended by the Imperial Household Law of 1947. As a historian of premodern Japan, Tonomura describes the reigns of six previous female emperors in the years 592-720, as well as two female emperors in the 17th and 18th centuries. These rulers have figured largely in the current succession debate, and in the deliber- ations by a 10-member advisory panel appointed by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (due to give its recommendations this fall). According to Tonomura, the female emperors are often wrongly presented as having been mere “stop gap” rulers who abdicated once a suitable male heir came of age. In fact, there often were male heirs available when these women took the throne—often amid bloody power struggles—and “royal qualifica- tions derived just as much from the mother as from the father.”Moreover, far from mere puppets, “female emperors reigned and ruled with full legitimacy and power.” Only in relatively recent history did women become “absorbed into male-centered systems of residency, economy and politics” that were part of the Chinese androcentric model, Tonomura contends. Although Japanese leaders imported many Western systems and ideas dur- ing the Meiji era of the late 19th century, they chose to reject the example of England’s Queen Victoria amid the prevailing sentiment of danson johi (respecting males and despising females). Yet there was a lively debate at the 2 WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS time. Though the “twisted exclusionist logic based on women’s inferiority is obsolete,” many of the arguments heard today (on both sides) resemble those of 1889, Tonomura explains. Tradition and institutional stability still loom large, though today’s advisors acknowledge the crucial importance of public support. The vast majority (more than 80 percent) of Japanese people support a female emperor—and, as Tonomura asserts, “despite the near-allergic disdain among certain circles for the imperial institution, the Japanese people in general, or at least the media, seem to be highly interested in the royal family’s affairs.”Many argue that any pressure on Masako to produce an heir violates her human rights, and that the Imperial Household Law is inconsistent with the constitution, which states that “laws shall be enacted from the standpoint of the essential equality of the sexes.” But is the core of the debate really the question of women’s rights? According to Takashi Fujitani of the University of California at San Diego, a close reading of the panel’s deliberations shows a remarkable absence of any discussion of gender equality, as do the reference materials provided to the advisory panel by Koizumi’s office. “While Koizumi’s advisory panel has hesi- tated to make an explicit connection between female imperial succession and gender equality, it has made it absolutely clear that the imperial bloodline must be preserved,”Fujitani writes. In other words, decision makers will allow female succession because they must, to save the imperial line from extinction. Yet a female emperor can still be used to promote motherhood and family val- ues, as can be seen from the history of other nations in which female reigns have not necessarily coincided with increased opportunities for women.
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