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.

Essay by Orie Endo　　The Words That I Care about [No. 3] 　　Whose “Oku-san”?

Japanese

2016.05.14 Sat

I was cooking in the evening with the sound of the TV in the background, when a funny use of words caught my ear. I looked at the screen and saw a nervous-looking sturdy young man in a dark suit standing there. He had said, “I decided to tell the truth after talking to [my] ‘oku-san’ * and parents.” According to the program, he was a professional Yomiuri Giants baseball player, who had been involved with gambling on baseball, although in an inves

Labels: Essays Reading

Lecture on “Simone de Beauvoir and her feminist thought in Mexico”

2016.05.08 Sun

On May 19th, Professor Karine Tinat at the Colegio de Mexico, anthropologist and sociologist, specialist in gender studies, will give a lecture on “Simone de Beauvoir and her feminist thought in Mexico”. Simone de Beauvoir died in Paris on April 14th, 1986, thirty years ago. A long time has passed since then and, however, fresh footprints still appear in certain feminist souls that Beauvoir stamped. This lecture will be divided in two parts. Fi

Labels: Event Information

A Boy Suffocated in a Plastic Case

2016.04.30 Sat

A Boy Suffocated in a Plastic Case In Fukui Prefecture, north-central part of Japan, a father locked his son in a plastic case and left him dead. It’s a tragedy. According to the police, the father said he had had no choice but confine his son “to punish him.” Also, he allegedly told the police that he hadn’t meant to kill him. His remark is a typical excuse for child abuse. The case was about 80 cm i

Labels: 発達障害かも知れない子供と育つということ Essays 連続エッセイ

Strongest Earthquakes since 2011 Trigger Anti-/Pro- Nuclear Power Argument

2016.04.28 Thu

Two of the Japanese traditionally conservative weekly magazines, which were known for their equally hateful headlines against Korea and China in recent years, apparently came out with quite different stances on nuclear issues. This year marks the 5th anniversary of 3/11 Tohoku earthquake and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Not a few TV programs and newspapers reported that many survivors of Fukushima are still forced to live away from their

Labels: W-WAN's Original Articles

My Decent Work Declaration

2016.04.20 Wed

This is one of the articles in a series of “My Decent Work Declaration,” contributed to WAN’s HP as part of a promotion for the upcoming WAN Symposium 2016. As the cherry blossoms came into bloom again this year, my career as a working mother reached as long as eight years. In retrospect, those were the days far from easy, since I have been working fulltime while mothering two children. In a working environment of the present time long and dev

Labels: Event Information

Online counseling in English: "My mother does not accept my relationships."

2016.04.17 Sun

QUESTION FROM READER The problem is about my mother. After having lived by myself for 7 years during college life, from this April I returned to live with my parents again. Four months before this, mother knew that I have a boyfriend who was like just a male friend and a lover. He is a foreign student. Once we happened to fall into a love relationship but tried to keep good friendship as he has a woman whom he wants to marry. I love him and can’

Labels: Online Counseling

DECENT WORK ― The Theme of WAN’s Symposium 2016

2016.03.29 Tue

A symposium organized by the Women’s Action Network, with the theme of “decent work,” will be held in Tokyo on May 21. The phrase “decent work” is advocated by the International Labour Organization as its goal for the 21st century. Panelists consisting of researchers of “decent work” will discuss what it means based on their own experience as workers. (The discussion will take place in the Japanese language.) The following is the purpose st

Labels: Event Information

Online counseling in English: "Should I return to my home country for my sick mother?"

2016.03.21 Mon

QUESTION FROM READER Having been living in Tokyo for 13 years and working here for 10 years, I had been planning for acquiring Japan’s permanent residency in the near future. But then comes the misfortunes. Recently, my 62-year-old mother, living with my 78-year-old father in Hong Kong, was diagnosed with late-stage cancer. My mother was temporarily discharged, and is now active and able to carry on most pre-disease activities. I have special an

Labels: Online Counseling

JWLI Call for Applications

2016.02.08 Mon

The Japanese Women’s Leadership Initiative(JWLI), founded by the Fish Family, invites emerging and ambitious women leaders from Japan for a four-week special leadership program (September 6th, 2016 to October 4th, 2016). The purpose of the program is to empower Japanese women who aim to become efficient leaders and to create positive social change and innovation in Japan. Four Japanese women have been selected each year. Selected fellows will

Labels: Event Information お知らせ Other

Movie Review: Freedom Writers

2015.11.29 Sun

Acquiring Their Own “Words” and “Voices” to Change Their LivesErin Gruwell, a novice high school teacher, comes in charge of a class composed of “at-risk” students. Growing up in slums where violence and murder happen every day, the students segregate themselves into the racial groups and fight against each other in the cycle of hatred, just like adults do outside of the school. They have no hopes in their own lives and no enthusiasm to learn. N

Labels: Cinema (C-WAN)

“Force against terrorism only ends up generating new terrorism” --- OVERSEAs is now acting! Stop the “Galapagos bill” which ignores world trends!

2015.09.20 Sun

On August 28th, 2015, before massive protests around the Diet Building on the 30th, a press conference was held by “OVERSEAs-PEACE for World,” an organization of Japanese living abroad fighting against the security-related legislation, which enables the use of collective self-defense right.The three founders of OVERSEAs – Yukiko Takei, Yuki Nakamizo, and Shin Yamaaki — attended the conference. Inspired by the many protesters and protest groups ac

Labels: Organizations OVERSEAs

California Scholars Rally Against Japan’s Proposed Security-related Bills on Aug. 27, 2015

2015.08.31 Mon

A wave of protest is brewing at home and abroad. According to the Association of Scholars Opposed to the Security-related Bills (ASOSB), a large number of scholars from over 100 universities both in Japan and overseas have released statements against the government-sponsored security bills now under deliberation in the Diet. One call to action was issued on August 27 by Keiko Yamanaka, a scholar at University of California, Berkley, and some othe

Labels: Organizations W-WAN's Original Articles

“We Refuse Abe’s Politics” – Call for Action at 14:00 (German time) on August 15th, Saturday

2015.08.14 Fri

ACTION: “We Refuse Abe’s Politics 0815” “Nein zu ABEs Politik 0815”Date: Saturday 15th AugustTime: 14:00 (German Time)Let's wave placards!Venue: In front of your house, in your house, in your office, etc. Take photos of your action and post them to Facebook.FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/1614472758832999/Placards: Japanese, German (Download from here.)[Declaration]On 15th July, The Japanese Lower House steamrolled security bills which a numb

Labels: Event Information

Speech by Mana Shibata, SEALDs

2015.08.03 Mon

Speech by Mana Shibata SEALDs (Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy)Tokyo, Friday, July 24, 2015Good evening. I am Mana Shibata, a college junior.I am here to read a letter I wrote to Mr. Shinzo Abe.Dear Mr. Abe, I am filled with deep rage and despair toward you.Your forced passage of the security legislation at the Special Committee in the Lower House could be called a coup d’etat. In Okinawa, you have set residents against each other

Labels: Organizations W-WAN's Original Articles

Japanese Youths Crying out for Democracy and Peace: SEALDs

2015.08.01 Sat

Cries of fury are reverberating in front of the National Diet Building in Tokyo, as protesters demonstrate against Prime Minister Abe's security bills that would allow the Japanese self-defense force to fight overseas for the first time since WWII. Leading the protest every Friday evening is a youth group called Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy (SEALDs), whose presence has drawn much attention from the media:"Students protest plann

Labels: Organizations W-WAN's Original Articles

The Legacy of Frida --- Film Review by Natsuko NAKAMURA

2015.06.30 Tue

The legacy of Frida Kahlo was uncovered 50 years after her death.The Japanese photographer, Miyako ISHIUCHI captures the real life of Frida Kahlo as a woman.This film depicts “the record” and “the memories” of the two women and how their lives have crossed.Frida Kahlo is one of the most famous female painters in Mexico. She was highly recognized as a surrealism artist in Europe as well. She lived her life positively despite her physical disabili

Labels: Cinema (C-WAN)

2015.05.29 Fri

A Critical Moment: Sex/Gender Research at the Intersection of Culture, Brain, & BehaviorOctober 23-24, 2015 – Early Registration Ending June 30UCLA, Los Angeles, California WEBSITEhttp://www.thefpr.org/conference2015/Confirmed Keynote Speaker is Dr. Anne Fausto-Sterling, Nancy Duke Lewis Professor Emerita of Biology and Gender Studies, Brown University, and author of the pioneering books, Sex/Gender: Biology in a Social World (2012) and Sexing t

Labels: Lecture

"Anshin (security) pouch" for disaster-preventing produced by women's group "Ami∞Amu"

2015.04.30 Thu

Recommended by Chizuko Ueno"Ami∞Amu", a woman's group at Setagaya-ku that tries to create "local disaster-preventing network" has produced "Anshin (security) pouch."Scissor, portable flashlight, garbage bag, safety pin…14 items in total are included.It is hard to prepare each of those items by yourself!The pouch is designed by a woman's group "nui nui" that embraces women's handmade work. It is lightweight, compact and easy to carry around. For y

Labels: M-WAN

The Widening Gap between Increasing Criticism and Growing Ignorance (2)

2015.04.30 Thu

Absurdity in the Sankei’s Campaign and the Asahi-BashingUrgent Symposium for the Final Solution of the Comfort Women Issue Held in TokyoOn April 23, 2015, the South Korean and Japanese organizations who have been working to resolve the comfort women issue jointly held an “urgent” symposium and press conference at the House of Councillors assembly hall in Tokyo, in order to reiterate a new proposal before Prime Minister ABE Shintaro visited Americ

Labels: W-WAN's Original Articles

What’s New! on WAN as of April 22, 2015

2015.04.22 Wed

Continued Screenings of “What Are You Afraid of?”A documentary film about the Japanese post-war feminism which was directed by MATSUI Hisako and supported by WAN, has been screened in various cities on different occasions since it was introduced at the Aichi International Women's Film Festival (AIWFF) in Nagoya on September 6, 2014.A recent screening was held in Kyoto on April 9, which was followed by a talk between UENO Chizuko and NAKANISHI Toy

Labels: What's New