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 as well as other international languages including Chinese and Korean. We also publish W-WAN's original articles on this page.

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

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Labels: Cinema (C-WAN)

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

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Labels: Essays

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

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Labels: Essays

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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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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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

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Labels: Online Counseling

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

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Labels: Essays

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

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Labels: Event Information W-WAN's Original Articles

2017.03.21 Tue

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Labels: Event Information Organizations OVERSEAs

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

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Labels: Online Counseling

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

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Labels: Event Information

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

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Labels: Online Counseling

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

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Labels: Organizations

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.

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Labels: Cinema (C-WAN)

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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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

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Labels: OVERSEAs

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

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Labels: Lecture

2016.12.13 Tue

QUESTION I am a house wife in my 40s having a 6 years old daughter. I have been troubled with my daughter. I sleep beside her. One night my daughter asked me a question in the bed. She said,” I wanted to be born as a man because a woman gets killed when she becomes around 20 years old. Is that right? I don’t want to get killed. How can I avoid it?” I couldn’t comprehend what she meant and asked her several questions. It seems that she became a

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Labels: Online Counseling

2016.12.01 Thu

Author: Maiko Kodaira Publisher: Kawade Shobo Shinsha (2016.9.13) What does “cultural intelligence” mean for woman? In order to understand why women’s dreams have not come true, we can investigate aspects of Japanese liberal arts culture. “Cultural intelligence” is a broad term that encompasses an array of elements from profound knowledge and intelligibility to must-read books, sophisticated hobbies and manners, and the “common sense” that guide

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Labels: 著者・編集者からの紹介 Reading

2016.11.29 Tue

While the Women’s Liberation Movement was flourishing in the 1970s, a meeting was held in Nagano. It was called “Lib Camp.” The number of women who attended the camp was about 300. Some came from Hokkaido in the Northern part of Japan, others came from Kyushu in the southern part. Some even brought their children. Those who wanted to attend the camp had to follow interesting directions. “Join by yourself. Use slow trains. Walk to the camp from th

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Labels: Cinema (C-WAN)