Worldwide WAN

The Worldwide WAN (W-WAN) introduces activities of Women's Action Network (WAN) and feminist movements, etc. inside and outside of Japan. We translate selected articles in the main WAN website from Japanese into English, and publish those as well as W-WAN's original articles on this page.

Brief Report of Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2017

2017.10.13 Fri

“Self Portrait: Birth in 47KM” Directed by ZHANG Mengqi —Neither Paean Nor Requiem But Just an Expressive Portrait of Life Last weekend, I went to Yamagata City to see documentary films during the YIDFF, a biennial film festival. This year its program was composed of International Competition, New Asian Currents, Africa Views, Perspectives Japan, and some other screenings focusing on specific themes. I don’t remember how many times I have attende

Labels: W-WAN's Original Articles

To the World from WAGIC: A Feminist Project Originated in China

2017.10.10 Tue

Women and Gender in China (WAGIC), a new blog project, was launched in September 2017. Harriet Evans, Professor Emeritus of Chinese Cultural Studies of the University of Westminster, is one of the contributors. Evans is the founder and former director of the Contemporary China Centre in the Department of Modern languages and Cultures at the University of Westminster. For some decades, she has been well-known among Japanese scholars who study the

Labels: W-WAN's Original Articles

Film Review by Kiyomi Kawano — A Quiet Passion

2017.09.11 Mon

I was in shock. I could not even stand up from my chair after I watched this biographical film about the poet Emily Dickenson (Cynthia Nixon). During her life time, Dickenson (1830-1886) published only 10 poems, but after her death, her sister discovered as many as 1,800 of them. And of course her works have given enormous inspiration to people of later generations. She lived in reclusive isolation in her house in her small hometown of Amhe

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Featuring Movie Director Chieko Yamagami 3: To sisters living in this period “Sisters, Learn to Doubt First!: The Ideas and Activities of Kikue Yamakawa” Natsuko Nakamura

Japanese

2017.08.31 Thu

While Kikue Yamagami’s name may be familiar, few people know about her life and work. She was a contemporary with Fusae Ichikawa, Atsuko Yosano and Raicho Hiratsuka from the Taisho period to the Showa period, and she stood up to the social barriers that encumbered women. The documentary film, “Sisters, Learn to Doubt First!,” was planned and produced by the Kikue Yamakawa Memorial Society and directed by Chieko Yamagami as one of commemorative e

Labels: Cinema (C-WAN)

Temporary workers have opinions！

2017.07.06 Thu

This WAN website has a section titled “temporary workers have opinions!” In Japan, the number of temporary workers called “haken” has been increasing, perhaps reflecting the widening of social gap between the rich and the poor. It is said that being a full time employee with benefits is nowadays a privilege. The following is an article submitted on May 26, 2017 by Gashuraho, who had applied for a temporary position at a company and is now pro

Labels: Essays

YY-WAN Forum: Happiness Depends on Marriage Registration?

2017.06.19 Mon

I was invited to lunch by a division manager before my maternity leave and was chatting with him over tempura rice bowl. The following was a conversation between he and I. Manager: “Your pregnancy was such big news! Congratulations on becoming a mother.” I: “Thank you very much. I’m really looking forward to it.” Manager: “Have you already filed your marriage paper, by the way?” I: “No. We’ve discussed that and decided not to have our marriag

Labels: Essays

Concerning the forced resignation and ouster of Prof. Noriko Mizuta, Chancellor of Josai University

Japanese

2017.05.08 Mon

As friends of Prof. Noriko Mizuta of Josai University, who have trusted and respected her for years, we are greatly concerned about the disturbing news that she was forced to resign from her position as Chancellor at a board of directors meeting. Based on a one-sided report by Mr. Ono Motoyuki, who ousted her and immediately took over her position as Acting Chancellor, the mass media reported suspicions of inappropriate finances by her, which hav

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We want our Teacher Dr. Mizuta back!!

2017.05.07 Sun

We are a group of graduate students of Josai International University (Tokyo, Japan) affiliated to the Graduate School of Humanities, scheduled to submit our doctoral dissertations during this academic year and our thesis advisor has been Dr. Noriko Mizuta ever since we entered this university. To our surprise, on April 3rd, 2017, as the new academic year started, the University (Josai International University) sent a notification to Dr. Mizut

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Online English Counseling – “I would like to seek my emotional stability"

2017.05.07 Sun

QUESTION FROM READER I have been in the trouble of AC (adult children) problem and was treated bullying in school. My family is a kind of dysfunctional family. Mother has a strong distortion on gender issue and tries to justify her discrimination on my sibling by saying it is natural that mother is fond of son more than daughter. She, who ignores grandfather’s violence against grandmother and that of my brother’s against me, also believes wo

Labels: Online Counseling

Dear readers of the world wide WAN

2017.04.29 Sat

In the world of music many of the better recognized pieces have often been composed by men. However, in reality there were many women composers in the past that were prolific composers, brilliant musicians but often not acknowledged and many times in the shadow of their male counterparts. Over a 12 month period between 2015 and 2016, I researched and wrote essays about some well known women composers for the WAN web in Japanese. The series is ti

Labels: Essays

Toward WAN Symposium 2017 - Society Begins with You

2017.04.26 Wed

This year's symposium of the Women's Action Network (WAN) is scheduled to be held on Saturday, May 20 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, under the theme of "Society Begins with You: Push Your Boundaries." TANAKA Yuko, President of Hosei University will give the keynote speech, calling for action to change our society now. Various social actions and movements will be shared in the following presentations and panel discussions. The speakers include an

Labels: Event Information W-WAN's Original Articles

Call for Applicants for the 12th & 13th EGEPs

2017.03.21 Tue

Labels: Event Information Organizations OVERSEAs

Online English Counseling – “My friend is unaware that she is the victim of sexual harassment”

2017.03.16 Thu

QUESTION FROM READER I studied sexual harassment issues in a college course on labor laws, and realized that my friend seemed to be the victim of sexual harassment by her boss. This friend got her job only in this spring after graduating from junior college. She told me that she was forcibly invited for a dinner, taken to a massage lounge with him, and taken home by his car with no specific reason. I have come to believe it is a sexual harassmen

Labels: Online Counseling

The 13th Women’s Worlds Congress and 11th Doing Gender Seminar in Brazil granting benefits to participants

2017.02.21 Tue

Exemption from registration fee and financial support for stays in Florianópolis are two types of benefits that may be requested by participants in the 13th Women’s Worlds Congress and 11th Doing Gender Seminar. The registration deadline for assistance requests is 28/02/2017. According to the event’s general coordination, the following are eligible to apply for assistance: author(s) who have had papers approved for oral communication in the

Labels: Event Information

Online English Counseling -- "My co-workers started ignoring me and I want to quit my job"

2017.01.25 Wed

QUESTION FROM READER I have been working as a part timer at a nearby supermarket for 10 years. I started to be responsible for various things as a middle-level managerial worker. The store chief who has just started, however, seems to dislike me, makes trivial complains, and tries to correct me in front of the staff. It looks to me that, under his influence, other staff now avoid me and follow the chief’s orders only but not mine. One day, my c

Labels: Online Counseling

Chizuko's blog -- House of Raicho Hiratsuka

2017.01.24 Tue

The following is an edited translation of a blog article by Chizuko Ueno about her participation in a symposium held at Raicho no Ie, or The House of Raicho, which is a small museum in Ueda City featuring the feminist writer Raicho (1886-1971). I was invited as the key note speaker for a symposium with the theme Living a Single Life in Rural Areas, which celebrated the 10th anniversary of the founding of the venue, the House of Raicho. When I

Labels: Organizations

Review of movie "Freeheld," The Joy of Witnessing An Enlightening Love

2016.12.28 Wed

Laurel Hester, a dedicated detective for more than 20 years in Ocean County, New Jersey, U.S. meets a young woman called Stacie Andree, a car mechanic, and falls in love with her. Regardless the age and background differences, they develop a firm relationship as irreplaceable partners and get to buy a suburban house to live in together. But before long, Laurel is diagnosed with terminal cancer and finds out she has only six months left to live.

Labels: Cinema (C-WAN)

What is the way “a typical man” enjoys his life? 　By Orie ENDO

2016.12.25 Sun

“Why is this man still complaining about such a thing?” I was disguised by a post by a 79-year-old man on the agony column of The Asahi Shinbun issued 29 October. He said he couldn’t forget many women he had had relationships with in his youth, and all of them rejected him when he called them. He wanted to stop thinking about them and enjoy his life in the way a typical man does, but he just didn’t know what to do. I thought it was such a silly

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Heidi Hartmann

2016.12.17 Sat

Heidi Hartmann, a respected friend of mine, recently wrote to me on the presidential election in the US. She showed a serious concern about the world with President Trump. As one representative opinion on Trump, I would like to share her comment on the WAN website with her permission. About the author: a prominent Marxist feminist, author of “The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism.” Currently President of the Institute for Women’s Policy Re

Labels: OVERSEAs

"Young Japanese women are divided" -- Chizuko UENO gives a speech in Toronto, Canada

2016.12.13 Tue

What are you afraid of?, a documentary film by MATSUI Hisako that features WAN’s director UENO Chizuko and several other feminist forerunners in Japan, was screened at the University of Toronto in Canada on October 17. Ueno, who was visiting Canada for other conferences and speeches, appeared in the theatre in person after the film screening and answered questions by diverse audience. The various subjects of questions included different surname

Labels: Lecture