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It's something I've been wanting to look into for a while now. I just started reading a book which seems to be a pretty good start; Reflections on the Way to the Gallows: Rebel Women in Prewar Japan. It's a collection of memoirs from progressive Japanese women. It has an introduction which explains the history of gender relations in Japan. Is anyone else interested in this topic and do any of you know of good resources?

I found this little blurb on the book, but I don't have much in the way of links.

In this book, for the first time, we can hear the startling, moving voices of adventurous and rebellious Japanese women as they eloquently challenged the social repression of prewar Japan. The extraordinary women whose memoirs, recollections, and essays are presented here constitute a strong current in the history of modern Japanese life from the 1880s to the outbreak of the Pacific War.

Wikipedia does have an article on feminism in Japan which looks pretty interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism_in_Japan

This site looks promising, but I haven't had a chance to look through it just yet: http://femjapan.pbwiki.com/

I don't understand what the poll things are for! Which one do I vote for! :gonk;

I haven't looked into statistics on the occurance of rape in Japan, but I would be very curious to research that. Japan has a history of rape which they have worked hard to bury and deny. During WWII the Japanese government set up what they called comfort houses which were basically brothels. They kidnapped women and children and forced them to live and "work" in these comfort houses. Essentially Japanese institutionalized rape through the comfort houses which served the men who served in the army during the war. In regards to the war itself, when the Japanese army reached Nan King, which was the capital of China at the time, the city surrendered and the soldiers were told to accept this surrender and to respect the cities citizens. They instead began to rape and massacure the people of Nan King. So much carnage occured during the time that the Japanese army occupied the city that this has become known as the rape of Nan King. Another interesting fact about Japan is that regardless of their status as a developed and thriving country, they are rated lower than any other developed nation in regards to human trafficking by the report that the US government puts out each year. Sex trafficking is a huge issue in Japan, although for the most part, it goes unrecognized as the abuse and exploitation of women and children has been so widely accepted. Whew...I didn't mean to make that so long, sorry.

Generally speaking, any cultures that hold the group in higher regard than the individual would focus less on individual achivement. I do believe that most Asian cultures are more group oriented.

Sorry about the poll, I was just being random and having fun with Japanese. The first option, ichiban desu, means it's number 1, the second option says I don't understand...although in retrospect I suppose I should have put at least one option in English.

Yeah, it's definately that there is less recognition of domestic violence and rape, not that there is a lower occurance of it. My Japanese professor warned women to be very cautious in Japan. He said that a former student of his had moved out there and started living with a man she met there. The man began demanding sex from her and beating her when she would resist him. She tried going to her neighbors and friends out there for help and their response was "well you're living with him right? than there is nothing we can do".

Savy Squirrel, I love and adore you and your topics. They always capture my interest, and provide useful information. I think i'm going to buy that book you mentioned earlier, as well as read all your articles.

Thanks so much!