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.

New Year Message from WAN’s Director Chizuko Ueno

2018.01.24 Wed

Happy New Year! As usual, I’m wearing Japanese kimono for the annual New Year cosplay. Last year, we held a general meeting in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Its theme was “Making Society Starting from Private Things.” The idea to hold this symposium started from It’s Time to Talk about Social Activism, a book written and edited by Ms. Yuko Tanaka, president of Hosei University. The symposium discussed how we take the first step, instead of just complainin

Labels: Commemoration

Fairy Tale and Sexual Violence --- Prince’s Kiss Is Quasi-Sexual Assault! by Kazue Muta

Japanese

2017.12.31 Sun

In December, 2017, a man was arrested on a charge of quasi-sexual assault, for kissing a sleeping woman on the train in Osaka. Yes, many of us have an experiece of falling asleep on the train. If a stranger kissed you while you were sleeping? It would be such an indecent and disgusting act. This incident reminded me of the fairy tales of a sleeping beauty such as Snow White or Little Briar Rose, who awakened by the kiss of a prince. So I tweeted

Labels: Essays

Chizuko Ueno Lecture Presentation "The Future Path of Women's Lives - Neoliberal Reform and Gender -"

2017.12.19 Tue

　On Saturday, July 22, 2017, a lecture presentation by Chizuko Ueno was held in the city of Niigata, entitled “The Future Path of Women’s Lives – Neoliberal Reform and Gender –“. This was held commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Niigata Branch of the Japanese Association of University Women (JAUW) of which I am the branch chief. JAUW, founded in Tokyo soon after the Second World War, has since worked for advancement of Japanese women stri

Labels: Event Information

Ueno Seminar Lecture Series － Harassment at Workplace and Gender

Japanese

2017.11.28 Tue

The 34th Ueno Seminar of WAN December 21, 2017 Musashino City, Tokyo, Japan Lecture Harassment at Workplace and Gender Moderator: Yuko Time & Day: 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., Thursday, December 21, 2017 Venue: Meeting Room, 2nd floor, Sky Gate Tower, Musashino Towers 1 Naka-machi, Musashino City, Tokyo, Japan (2 minute walk from North Exit of Mitaka Station, JR Chuo Line) Social Program: A BYOB or a potluck party is planned to be held from 8:00 p.

Labels: Event Information Ueno Seminar

Call for Applications for ALFP 2018

2017.10.25 Wed

The Asia Leadership Fellow Program is currently welcoming applications for next year’s Asia Leadership Fellow Program (ALFP 2018). Initiated in 1996, ALFP is a joint program of the International House of Japan and the Japan Foundation that seeks to create a close, personal and professional network of public intellectuals in Asia, who share humanistic concerns about our fluid world and are dedicated to seeking out new paradigms through interactio

Labels: Event Information

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