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.

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

The Widening Gap between Increasing Criticism and Growing Ignorance (1)

2015.03.31 Tue

Prime Minister Abe’s Unsuccessful Efforts to Whitewash Japanese Wartime AtrocitiesFor the past several weeks, I have had some English articles sent, forwarded, or referred to by my friends or via SNS. All of them were about atrocities the Japanese Imperial Army committed. I would like to review them to express my particular concerns about the widening gap between rising criticism about Japanese government’s attitude toward the comfort women issu

Labels: W-WAN's Original Articles

March 22 National Rally Voiced “No!” to Abe Administration

2015.03.24 Tue

About 14,000 people gathered in Hibiya Park, Tokyo, on Sunday March 22, and marched around the National Diet Building and the prime minister 's official residence. They demonstrated against Shinzo Abe's major policies over rights to collective self-defense, nuclear reactors restart, new U.S. military base in Henoko, Okinawa, and Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrecy and so on as was indicated by a variety of boards they held. Th

Labels: W-WAN's Original Articles

Foreword for Chinese Edition of “Woman-Haters: Misogyny in Japan”

2015.02.28 Sat

Chizuko’s Blog No.82February 9th, 2015A Chinese translation (in the simplified Chinese characters) of my book “Woman-Haters” has been published. I have learned the Chinese title is 『厭女症』(Woman-Hater Syndrome). The following is what I wrote as the foreword for this Chinese edition. Also a Korean translation is now under way.“Woman-Haters: Misogyny in Japan”Written by Chizuko Ueno(Kinokuniya Shoten, 6/10/2010)Buy this book (jump to an Amazon page)＊

Labels: Book (B-WAN) Other

A Movie in My Memory All About My Mother directed by Pedro Almodóvar

2015.02.28 Sat

Review by SiriaFascinated by a Woman’s Strong Way of LivingWoman is strong.That was my first impression of this movie. Woman is strong. The heroine, Manuela, is a single mother who lost her son Esteban in a car accident. He died on his birthday of all others.She has grieved his death for days until she makes up her mind.She decides to go to Barce

Labels: Cinema (C-WAN)

Online petition: Please do not approve the re-opening of nuclear power plants!

2015.01.31 Sat

Sign a petition to the Governor of Fukui Prefecture Issei Nishikawa: “Please do not approve the re-opening of nuclear power plants!” “Do Not Re-open Nuclear Power Plants Any Longer!” Fukui Prefectural Residents’ Petition Executive Committee has been working on a signature campaign to send the petitions to the Governor of Fukui Prefecture not to approve the re-opening of nuclear power plants. Please join the petition. Online petition is available

Labels: Event Information Organizations Team Zero Net (for nuclear-free world)

A human chain for "Women's Peace" issued a red card to the Abe administration.

2015.01.30 Fri

Over 7,000 women and men dressed in red gathered and surrounded the Diet forming a human chain to raise their voices for peace and to say "No" against the runaway Abe administration on January 17th, 2015. They consider a wide range of policies pushed under the Abe administration as pro-war, especially the approval of the right to collective defense. Wearing red comes from the Icelandic Redstocking movement. The protest chain

Labels: Event Information Ueno Seminar Other

Why don't we show our desire for a nuclear-free future through everyday shopping?

2014.11.30 Sun

★The story behind the birth of Biwa Tea from Iwai-shima Island★There is an island called Iwai-shima in Kaminoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Since the plan to build a nuclear power plant on its opposite shore was made public in 1982, about 90% of the residents in this heart-shaped island have been against the construction. Women in the island started sanchoku group in order to strengthen the economic basis (foundation?) of the community so that they

Labels: Team Zero Net (for nuclear-free world)

NAWA Axis for Peace – Project 2014

2014.11.29 Sat

NAWA Axis for Peace – Project 2014By Environmental Artist, Dr. Mariyo Yagi in New YorkDr. Mariyo Yagi, Environmental Artist believes the starting point of human culture was a twisting grass into a rope. In Japan, when rope is ritually used, it is called Nawa. The Nawa is the spiral structure itself, which has been documented in the micro and macro of nature from DNA to Cosmos. In ancient Japanese, na means “you” and wa means “I.” She calls “Nawa

Labels: Event Information

Sent a Letter of Protest against the Absurd Ad that Encourages Sexual Harassment!

2014.10.31 Fri

Written by Kazue MutaA disgusting ad encouraging sexual harassment was printed on page 5 of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper (page 10 of the Osaka Head Office version) issued on September 23, 2014.. It is a fully-colored ad of the first issue of MADURO, a magazine for men in middle to senior age, which features a Sean Connelly look-alike male model. The ad is a tie-up with the sound equipment manufacturer, Bose, featuring their headphones as the copy

Labels: What's New

A Social Mechanism that Binds a Definition: The Reappropriation of “Housework Harassment” in Japan.

2014.10.06 Mon

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Labels: Essays

In the Muddy Waters of Historical Revisionism: Isolated from International Society (Part 3)

2014.10.05 Sun

by Kazuko Itō, Lawyer and Human Right ActivistExcerpt from her Blog(Part 1)(Part 2)Unusual Criticism by UN Human Rights Top OfficialHigh Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, who is retiring the position in September 2014, made a public statement to criticize the Japanese government’s response to the issue of wartime sexual slavery on August 6th. It is unusual for a UN top official to criticize Japan so harshly. It made me feel the seriousn

Labels: Essays

In the Muddy Waters of Historical Revisionism: Isolated from International Society (Part 2)

2014.09.30 Tue

by Kazuko Itō, Lawyer and Human Right ActivistExcerpt from her Blog(Part 1)Most women who were forced to be taken as sex slaves were minors. If Japanese politicians really believe that under-age girls, who were living their lives threatened by knives and guns during Japan’s military occupation, were all voluntarily and arbitrarily drafted, then they lack common sense and overall sensitivity to human rights. Worse than that, they seek to downpla

Labels: Essays

In the Muddy Waters of Historical Revisionism: Isolated from International Society (Part 1)

2014.09.24 Wed

by Kazuko Itō, Lawyer and Human Right ActivistExcerpt from her Blog August 15th was the anniversary of the end of the war … Why did not Prime Minister mention Japan's responsibility for the damage during the war? Yesterday was the anniversary of the end of the war. Prime Minister Shinzō Abe attended the Memorial Ceremony of the War Dead, which was held by the government. In his address of the ceremony, neither did he mention Japan's responsibilit

Labels: Essays

“The Coming of the New Class Society: Gender Matters” Chizuko Ueno’s Presentation at ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 2014)

2014.09.11 Thu

ISA World Congress of Sociology (Facing an Unequal World: Challenging for Global Society) was held in Japan from July 13thto 18th, 2014. The Congress is held once every four years and over 4,000 sociologists gathered in Yokohama, Japan this time..Program Informationhttp://www.isa-sociology.org/congress2014/Chizuko Ueno, chairperson of WAN, made a presentation at the Opening Presidential Panel, under the title of “the Coming of the New Class Socie

Labels: Lecture