Gender Policies in Japan and the United States: A Book Review

Introduction

While much is known about women's issues and women's activism in the United States, very little is known about the women's movement or women's rights in Japan — and that is one of the reasons Joyce Gelb wrote her book, Gender Policies in Japan and the United States. She also set out to compare the women's movement in Japan with the women's movement in the U.S. On page 2, she explains that she did so to provide "the first comprehensive comparison of policy processes and change in Japan and the United States," particularly as those changes related to domestic and social policy decisions. She also wrote the book to "remedy" the dearth of scholarly research on the advancement of women's rights in Japan.

In particular, Gelb focuses on equal employment, reproductive rights, and domestic violence — the three main points of interest in this book, which was published in 2003. This review will examine Gelb's narrative and data, with greater attention to her findings regarding Japanese women, since that information is far less available in contemporary American literature.

History of the Japanese Women's Movement

When did the women's movement begin in Japan, and where does it stand today in terms of progress? According to Gelb, the first Japanese women's movement emerged before 1900, as women in Japan sought the right to vote and the freedom to choose whether to have an abortion. That original movement was most visible in an upper-class feminist group called the "Bluestockings," whose journal was called Seito (Gelb 28).

The most recent feminist movement in Japan began in 1970, Gelb writes (p. 29). The main issues women advanced at that time were: (a) opposition to restrictive abortion policies; (b) legislative changes in nationality laws that would permit "foreign children to gain citizenship through mothers and fathers (previously only through fathers)"; (c) better education and employment opportunities; (d) greater political representation; and (e) the passage of "an equal employment law."

In 1989, Japanese feminists and activists placed sexual harassment — known in Japanese as sekuhara — on the table for public debate and action (Gelb 30). Public attention to these issues grew when the Tokyo Bar Association established a hotline for sexual harassment against women, and Japanese women won two widely publicized lawsuits against companies that had practiced sexual harassment. Meanwhile, domestic violence against women was also brought to public attention, and women's shelters were established across the country.

Legislative Milestones in Japan

On page 74, Gelb explains that an important piece of legislation was passed in the Japanese Diet (parliament), due in part to women elected to that body. In 1999, the Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and Protecting Children was enacted. This was described as the "first major result" of women joining forces with like-minded colleagues and sympathetic male legislators in the Diet to pass meaningful progressive legislation.

Gelb also writes (p. 118) that the "final policy" enacted in Japan as a "tool to balance work and family life" was the Basic Law on Gender Equal Society, also referred to as the Law for Cooperative Participation of Men and Women in Society. Passed in 1999, this legislation is one of 16 "basic laws" enacted to "address fundamental issues of the state system creating connections between the Constitution" in Japan and the legislative process itself. It represents dramatic progress in the rights and standing of women in Japanese society and government. More background on Japan's legislative framework can be found through Britannica's overview of Japan's government and society.