March 8, 2023

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

The International Women's Day in Japan reached a significant milestone on March 8, a hundred years after Japanese women's first action.

It was in 1923 in the age of prewar militarism when the first assembly of Japanese women took place. At that time, they were unenfranchised. Their meeting was ordered to close in only 40 minutes by the authorities. However, not giving in to the suppression, politically-conscious women kept gathering at someone's house and tried to follow the international women's movement.

In 1947, after Japan's defeat in the war, they held a Women's Day event in front of the Imperial Palace. In 1949, a Women's Day rally which was held at Tokyo's Hibiya Park repelled pressure and obstruction under U.S. occupation and successfully attracted 15,000 women from 117 organizations. They proclaimed a powerful resolve, "No more war! Maintain peace by the power of women!"

Today, Japan's postwar pacifism is standing at a critical crossroad referred to as the "new prewar days". It is necessary for Japanese women to unite more than ever before to influence politics, raising in a loud united demand, "Ready for peace, not for war!"

Japan ostensibly supports the demand for the "equality between men and women". In reality, however, deep-rooted gender inequality exists. Institutionally, both male and female workers can take childcare leave for the same length of time, but the percentage of men taking childcare leave remains much lower than that of women. The gender gap in wages reaches as much as 100 million yen in terms of lifetime earnings. The pressing need is for Japan to make efforts to raise its present dismal ranking of 116th in the Global Gender Gap Index.

Past related article:
> Japan ranks 116th in global gender equality, lowest among G7 countries [July 14, 2022]
> International Women’s Day events in Japan show solidarity against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine [March 9, 2022]