The Empowerment of Japanese Women, through Strong Female Characters of Anime Film

Throughout time, the role that Women had in the early twentieth century to the present has changed drastically and it has changed for the better. Japanese American Women residing in the United States, has experienced the evolution of their culture, tradition, values and their role in society. However though it seems as if there is no time in this ever so rapid society, they still continue to pass down culture and tradition through each generation. Some key terms that are crucial in order to understand the essay are, Issei, or the first generation, Nisei, the second generation ,and Sansei, known as the third generation.Over time the Women slowly moved away form being the average Homemaker and transforming into a respected and valued member of society.

I had a firsthand experience with the intricacies surrounding the issue of gender inequality in the workplace in Asia. I had a placement in one corporation in Hong Kong, and there was no female employee in the senior management. Although there exist legal apparatus to accord female employees equal opportunities at the workplace, many corporate risk legal suits for denying female employees their fair share of the job opportunities in the fear of losing their market. Social constructs and religious doctrines are so entrenched in Asian societies to the extent that accompany with many female senior employees can lose their market. Therefore, tackling the issue of gender inequality in the workplace should entail the analysis of all oppressive institutions in that society rather than tackling the problem of the inequality in isolation (Crenshaw et al., 2013).

In the recent history, feminism and pop culture have become more closely entwined than ever before. This can be partially because of the growing interest in culture studies as an academic discipline, but it can also be explained by the fact that, there’s a whole lot more popular culture to watch. Pop culture has become our common language, a universal way of uniting the world. Pop culture is also a key route to making the concept of feminism both resonant and relatable. In this paper, I am interested in the relationship and connections between pop culture’s representations of women and girls and the depiction of feminism through the lens of pop culture. There’s a

Not only did men have a higher pay, they would target women for sexual abuse, despite what they government says to be true. In 1909, the Meiji Government reported that although mill workers are given many working hours, they look out for the best of their workers. By employing single women for the majority, they give the opportunity for women to leave the industry once wedded, claiming factory work would only be temporary for them. As many of the females are young, the government believes that they are able to handle long lasting working hours because it is only a temporary job, compared to workers in the West (Document F). The Meiji Government intended its audience to be everyone; to show that the government has good intentions for the female worker, and provides better care of them than in the West. However, Sakura Takuji recalls her life differently as a mill girl. Not only were girls stuck with famine and disease, there were guidelines and punishments that proceeded during work, as well as sexual abuse from low-ranking supervisors who believed the women were easy targets as they were young and

In the 1880’s, America began seeing the first Japanese immigrants arrive in the Pacific Northwest. The Japanese came to this country searching for a better life. Many hoped to begin a new life in America where they could raise their families. There were others who came here merely to earn and save money only to return to Japan later on. The Japanese people who began their lives in America experienced little racism and discrimination, that is, before December 7th, 1941 when the country of Japan bombed the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. After this event, the Japanese-American people’s lives would change dramatically.

85). The discriminations caused harassment, name calling, and abuse towards the Japanese and even Canadian born of Japanese origin (Porter & Uyeyama, 1984). In addition, discriminatory legislations issued by the Canadian government prevented Japanese people from voting, entering most of higher education institutions, and higher professions (Sugiman, 2004, p. 53). These policies made people think that Japanese people do not deserve to have the minimum wage jobs and therefore they could not get living wages which resulted in most Japanese to buy a boat and work in the fishing industry (Porter & Uyeyama, 1984). Consequently, not being accepted in the Canadian society resulted in marginalization of Japanese people in Canada, prior to the

With the arrival of the Allied Occupation, the United States of America introduced many reforms to Japanese society. “Equality of the sexes, woman suffrage of 1946, all inequalities in laws was ended and high schools became coed” (Friedman). Since the 1950’s women have sought more individualized means to provide for themselves with a sense of well-being. The most evolving aspect of post modernization has been women’s attitudes toward marriage and the family system. Women have started to wait till later in life to marry and have placed education and or work as top priorities. Once married, however, many women now choice to continue to work especially after they work of child birth. The women’s role in the family is evolving and become more

Evidence of the cultural change that Japan experienced after WWII happened first in family dynamics. Children where no longer taught the ideas of a constitutional monarchy, but of democracy (O’ Donnell 3). From the state houses to school buildings, this form of government was implemented throughout the land and replaced the former concepts of the time. This change influenced the elderly the most. For years and years, these men and women were educated on the

The war provided radical new employment opportunities for women in the U.S. Many took advantage of those opportunities which led to an increased employment among American women. These opportunities contributed in defeating the stereotypical tasks of women such as cooking, cleaning, and motherhood. It allowed women to prove their leadership and worth by working in the military, in governmental departments, and in public transport. On the other hand, Japanese women were treated as objects and presented as gifts to Japanese military troops. They were known as comfort women and were forced into prostitution services. This reveals the differences of women’s roles in America and Japan. American women were offered more noble involvements, and were

Showa: The Japan of Hirohito, edited by Carol Gluck and Stephen R. Graubard, seeks to find the answers to many questions that are commonly asked about Japan and its history. As stated in the title, this book focuses on the Hirohito era in Japanese history from 1926 to 1989. In the Introduction, Gluck states that there were two main issues for Japan in the twentieth century, “how Japan came to aggressive war and then to macroeconomic might” (xi). The unstable relationship between Japan and the United States is also an underlying theme of the book. The three chapters to be examined in this paper are, “The Useful War,” “The People Who Invented the Mechanical Nightingale,” and “Japan Meets the United States for the Second Time.”

In the modern society that we know of today, the roles between man and women are considerably equal, but this balance is a relatively new occurrence that began taking form in the years of war. The advancing roles of women have taken huge leaps recently and are expected to advance even further in coming years, but in order to accurately predict future trends, society must recall the events in history that aided and created opportunities for the advancement of not only women but for almost all ethnic minorities and even the younger demographic. World War II was the historical event that gave women the greatest opportunity for social advancement. World War II provided employment and social advancement opportunities for women and ethnic minorities,

The Meiji Restoration marked a time in Japanese history that dealt with “domestic turmoil… national integration and unification” (Part 1 Intro). They went through the process of defending against westernization and actively taking part in international affairs. During this era, prefectures appointed by the emperor replaced the daimyo. The population doubled and quality of life improved. People moved towards a more urban lifestyle and by 1900, Edo was the largest city in world. Nevertheless, in the midst of all the growth, the attitude towards women and their roles in society remained stagnant. Japanese society treated women as subhuman instead of actual citizens due to the belief that they were

Japan is an unique oriental country in many aspects, especially in politics and economy, both western practices and traditional nationalism are coexisted in this country. The period 1890-1940 was just followed the Meiji restoration, and was typical in the history of Japan, at that time, Japan was on the way from a feudal country to a capitalistic country, called modernization. Many western practices were being more and more adopted, however, at the same time, traditional rules still had strong influences in Japan. Under this background, this report will discuss the Japanese cultural factors during 1890-1940 that influenced the disclosure

It is no secret that for centuries, the Japanese woman has been, to most observers, a model of elegance and graceful beauty. A picture of a kimono-clad, modest, and often silent woman has been plastered everywhere, allowing for the upmost passive subjection. If we look deeper into this image of woman, can we tell if this picture is complete? How do these women painted in representative images far in the modern world? The ideal woman in Japan is expected to be both a good wife, and a wise mother. Though these seem like reasonable expectations, there is a much deeper meaning to them that has shown signs of being outdated. During the 1800’s and 1900’s, women were subjected to society’s vision of them, and could not break free for fear of the

Equal rights were not granted to women until the Occupation Era following World War II. The modifications that were made to the existing Meiji Constitution gave women the same rights as men for the first time in the country’s history. Prior to that they were seen as servants, dominated by their husbands, in what can only be described as a master / slave relationship. The new Japanese Constitution of 1947 empowered the Japanese women for the first time in the countries history. Minorities were persecute throughout Japan’s past. Native Anglo’s were hunted down and slaughtered. The surviving numbers were driven north onto the smaller surrounding islands. The closed era of Tokogawa Shogunate tried to remove all of the diversity within society. Any thought other than the Shinto/Buddhist/Confucianism that dominated was society was expelled. The violent massacre of Christians during this period only supported conformity to the ideals of the ruling class. The stance they took on foreign thought and technology insured that no outside influences would affect Japanese culture. This view lasted over 200 years until the country was opened to foreigners again. The long period the Japanese spent with no diversity combined with the loyalty and honor themes of Bushido, made it impossible for them to accept diversity after the country was opened again.