Ambiguous revival: a study of some ‘new civic movements’ in Japan

Abstract

Japanese democracy and the traditional systems and values of governing Japan are in crisis. Nevertheless, this article argues that this context has also witnessed the consolidation of new democratic practices and new civic movements which prove the vitality of the Japanese citizenry as a political actor. This article examines the reinvigoration of citizens' movements and the impact upon them of the images and concepts of 'alternative' groups and self-managed coops, and various problems associated with them. The third and fourth part shows how alternative ideology also permeates traditional movements in Osaka and Hokkaido, but also how these civic groups have been exploited for inner power struggles by elites in Fukuoka and Kobe. Finally, the last part of the article examines how alternative groups have found their way into the political platform of national political parties, and ponders the future of new civic movements in Japan.

Vitalizing Democracy at the Grassroots: A Contribution of Post-War Women’s Movements in Japan

“…Second-wave feminism came to prominence in Japan with the first meeting of the women's liberation groups 8 in October 1970 [71], 154). The women's liberation activists condemned the traditional gender roles of wives and mothers, regarding these categories as nothing more than mechanisms to oppress women [59], 235).…”

“…7 Association of University Women (AUW, daigaku fujin kyokai) established in 1946; National Federation of Regional Women's Organizations (NFRWO, zenkoku chiiki fujin danntai renraku kyogikai) set up in 1952; Kusanomikai which was established in 1955 to protest against re-militarization in Japan; and New Japan Women's Association (NJWA, shin nihon fujin no kai), which was formed in 1962 to campaign against nuclear weapons [36], 7-14). 8 The meeting was organized by such groups as the Women at the Front (onna sensen), A Preliminary Committee for Women's Liberation (josei kaiho junbikai), and the Group of Fighting Women (gurupu tatakau onna). Two hundred women participated in it [53], 211).…”

“…She exemplifies how politically powerless women develop the social networks useful in creating their political resources and how they establish their political activism in the communities through their gendered roles as mothers and wives. In Japan, as some previous studies have pointed out [48,8,27,74,23], there are a variety of women's action groups which rarely take up feminist issues as they lack gender consciousness. Activists of such groups do not see themselves as "feminists", and they are even sometimes guided by male leadership.…”

“…Most of these previous studies highlight a specific movement or some special groups in the overall post-war Japanese women's movement, for example, voluntary political activities in the 1970s [60], second-wave feminist movement [62,11]: 140-143, 185; [4,10]; Gelb), a wider range of current women's organizations [43,23,54], the peace movement between 1945 and the 1950s [74], and the consumer movement at present [48,8]. Mackie [50], 120-231) covers the Japanese women's movements throughout the post-war period.…”

“…In English language publications, there are 13 works related to this field, which can be divided into two groups according to their subjects. In the first group, the authors investigated the Japanese women's movements in terms of organizational scale and structure, ideology, activities and campaigns, and then they clarified the distinct nature of the movements by presenting various aspects of women's activism [62,11]: 140-143, 185; [4,10,48,43,8,50,74]. In the second group, the authors focused on the interaction between the women's movements and political institutions to examine the influence of the movements on politics [60,27,23,54].…”