In the late nineteenth century, Japan created all of the machinery of a modern nation-state -- a Constitution, a legal code, capitalist industry, and an army and navy. The slogan guiding this programme was fukoku kyohei, "a wealthy country and a strong army". As part of this process, there was extensive discussion of the family, which was to form a crucial link in the chain of loyalty from subject to emperor. Women's contribution to this family was encapsulated in the phrase ryosai kenbo, "good wives and wise mothers". Implicit in the conjunction of these two slogans was a process whereby women were constructed as passive supporters of militarism, whose major contribution to the state was through their maternal function.

In opposition to the conjunction of maternalism and militarism, many feminists tried to show the `natural' links between feminism and pacifism. Both pro- and anti-militarists referred to women's maternal function in their attempts to mobilise women, and these discussions may be used to examine the limitations of a feminism based on essentialism and maternalism. Some women, however, saw that the creation of a new feminine identity which went beyond passivity and maternalism could provide a more effective challenge to militarism.

For most women, their contribution to the new state revolved around the concept of ryosai kenbo (good wife, wise mother). In the thirty years from the Meiji(1) Restoration to the promulgation of the Civil Code, thinkers of all shades of the political spectrum made an explicit connection between power relations in the family and in the state. All of these thinkers linked patriarchal power with monarchical power, but praised or criticised this relationship according to their political orientation. Liberal theorist Ueki Emori identified the patriarchal power of the family head (koshu) with the autocratic power of the monarch (kunshu). Those who grew up in an autocratic power structure, he argued, failed to develop independence and autonomy. Ueki's ideal democratic state was based on individuals rather than families -- each individual would act autonomously and responsibly. At the other end of the spectrum, Hozumi Yatsuka's ideal state was based on Confucian concepts of loyalty -- the wife's obedience to her husband, filial piety (oya koko), and loyalty to the Emperor (chukun).(2) Confucian ideals similar to those espoused by Hozumi Yatsuka were eventually adopted in the Meiji Civil Code.

Not only did power relationships in the family reflect those in society at large, but the family became a crucial link in the chain of loyalty from subject to Emperor. Each family was ruled over by an autocratic father who was responsible for each family member's loyalty to the Emperor. Although there was limited male suffrage (universal male suffrage was not achieved until 1925), women had no political rights, and married women had no right to individual property. The ryosai kenbo slogan shaped all discussion of women's contribution to Meiji society, so that women who wished to challenge this ideology had to create a new vocabulary in which to frame such a challenge. Any criticism of the family was an implicit challenge to the basic authority relations of the state, and Popular Rights campaigner Kishida Toshiko was arrested in 1884 for her criticism of the family system. Not only did Kishida criticise the family system, she also described women as political actors who could have rights and responsibilities outside the home, and outside the protective "boxes" in which genteel daughters were raised.(3)

Ryosai kenbo ideology did, however, give women a positive role within the family. They were to be responsible for the welfare of children, and were to receive a suitable education for this purpose.(4) For many Meiji women this seemed like a dramatic improvement in perceptions of their role in society. There was, however, a clear class bias in this ideology -- only middle-class women had time to devote all of their energies to childcare. The majority of Meiji women were employed in such work as agricultural labour, factory work, or prostitution, and only middle-class women had the benefit of domestic servants. The Japanese government also failed to back up this ideology with any welfare measures similar to those adopted by, for example, the British government in the early twentieth century.(5)

One strand of thought used ryosai kenbo ideology to argue for monogamous marriage, to challenge double standards of sexual morality, and to argue for women's political participation in public life. Such groups as the Japanese chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (Nihon Kirisuto Kyo Kyofu Kai) and the Red Cross, stretched the meaning of ryosai kenbo to include women's nurturing activities in society at large. Members of the Kyofu Kai petitioned the first Diet on these issues in 1890, and challenged a ruling which attempted to prevent women from observing Diet proceedings. These Christian-influenced women were generally pacifist in orientation, and linked this to women's supposedly naturally peace-loving nature. Despite a conservative emphasis on marriage and the family, they were also trying to redefine the relationships between men and women, and between women and the state. Their philanthropic activities brought them into contact with factory workers, prostitutes, and other women who could not be confined to the domestic sphere.

The implications of the policy of fukoku kyohei, "a wealthy country and a strong army", became apparent with the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-5, the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, and the subsequent spread of Japanese imperialism through South East Asia. The Aikoku Fujin Kai (Patriotic Women's Association) was founded by Okumura Ioko in 1901. The Patriotic Women supported the war effort through charitable activities, superficially reminiscent of the Christian groups. But where the Christian-influenced groups had used participation in charitable activities to argue for women's political rights, the Patriotic Women's Association failed to challenge women's lack of rights in the political sphere. The creation of the Patriotic Women's Association was, then, a logical extension of the conjunction of the twin slogans of fukoku kyohei and ryosai kenbo.(6)

Imperialism was an important focus of the new nation state, as Japan attempted to prove its status with respect to the European powers. By the fourth decade of the Meiji era, military imagery pervaded popular culture. In addition to newspaper reports on the conflicts with Russia and China, this influence was evident in plays, poetry, and even woodblock prints.(7) In one issue of Kokumin no Tomo (The Nation's Friend), a journalist laments that:

Everything has become militarised (sensoka) -- plays, lectures, poetry and songs, fashion and games -- everything has become militarised.(8)

By the time of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-5) magazines carried advertisements for such products as "Victory" tooth powder. Nishikawa Fumiko reported in the socialist newspaper Chokugen(Plain Talk) in 1904 that even geisha in the Yoshiwara area were adopting names connected with Japan's colonial ambitions on the mainland.(9)

In the early twentieth century the weekly Fujo Shinbun (The Women's Newspaper) spoke to progressive women in its discussion of education and professions for women.(10) However, a close examination of Fujo Shinbun's writings on women and war reveals an essentialist view of women. Several editorials described women's `naturally' peace-loving nature, and described the ideal feminine attitude to war:

In other words, all women, at all times, are the supporters of peace, and the protectors of humanity. They should follow the right path, with common sense, and must attempt to calm society with the love which flows from the spring deep in their hearts.(11)

Other editorials lamented the sadness of war, considered the plight of the bereaved families of soldiers, and called for aid for such families.(12)

In Fujo Shinbun, however, there was never any real opposition to the Russo-Japanese War. Rather, it was seen as a necessary evil -- something to be regretted, but supported where necessary.(13) Fujo Shinbun was supportive of the charitable activities of the Aikoku Fujin Kai, and several articles and editorials glorified the efforts of nurses, referring to sei naru kangofu (saintly nurses),(14) and to nursing as "the most highly valued profession for women".(15)

It is easy to point to contradictions in these writings about women and war -- an affirmation of women's `peace loving' nature coupled with a glorification of the sacrifices of nurses and bereaved families. This contradiction, however, is even more apparent if we examine the visual subtext of the newspaper. As the conflict with Russia deepened, pictures of middle-class women such as Shimoda Utako and Hatoyama Haruko were replaced with famous generals and admirals. Children's drawings reproduced in the newspaper now depicted soldiers with guns rather than princesses. One page has a line drawing of a military-style cap juxtaposed with flowers. The subtext is always patriotic and pro-militarist.

There were two problems with the view of women's nature as `naturally' or `essentially' peace-loving. First of all, such a dichotomous view of human nature left little room for change. If men are naturally aggressive and women are naturally peace-loving, then we are locked into an eternal see-sawing between these two extremes.

On a more concrete level, if women's nurturing qualities and their mothering role are emphasied, then war provides the ideal opportunity for the exercise of these qualities. Women could prove their femininity by crying for their lost husbands and sons, supporting the war effort through charitable activities, and by travelling to the front as nurses, in the same way as men proved their masculinity on the battlefield. Femininity could thus be used to support militarism, as such writers as Cynthia Enloe(16) have recently documented. A form of feminism which identified femininity with nurturance could not break this nexus. In Japan, the creation of the quintessentially feminine profession of nursing had been relatively recent, and was closely linked with the creation of a modern military.(17)

There were several anti-war poems written at the time of the Russo-Japanese War, the most prominent of which was "Kimi shini tamau koto nakare" ("Do not give up your life for the Emperor") by Yosano Akiko. Yosano was castigated for the publication of this poem. The poem was described by a literary columnist as "an expression of dangerous thoughts which disparage the idea of the national family", and Yosano was described as "a traitorous subject, a rebel, a criminal who deserves the nation's punishment".(18)

It seems that Yosano's placing of personal loyalty above loyalty to the Emperor was what made the poem treasonable:

Do not offer your life.

The Emperor himself does not go to battle.

The Imperial Heart is deep;

How could he ever wish

That men shed their blood

That men die like beasts,

That men's glory be in death?

Dearest brother,

Do not offer your life in battle.

Mother, whom father left behind

This past autumn,

Suffered when

In the midst of her grief

Her son was called away...

Other women's anti-war poems at the time of the Russo-Japanese War were similar in their focus on private experiences of grief at odds with the prevailing mood of patriotism.(19) The female narrators of these poems were constructed as passive observers of militarism. Although this private suffering was not linked to a political critique, there was radical potential in the mere suggestion that private and public interests could be at odds. Since the earliest years of the Meiji period, the words family and state had always appeared in conjunction, with the implication that family interests and state interests were identical.

Implicit in discussions of women and war in Meiji society were nascent theories of gender, and the relationship of women to the state. Until now, most discussion of women had placed them firmly within the family, but the writings of socialist women were to reconsider the meaning of gender, and the contribution women could make to the state. They were able to conceptualise a relationship between individual and state which was not mediated by the family.

Although the word `socialism' had started appearing in Japanese publications as early as the eighteen seventies,(20) the first socialist groups were not formed until the late eighteen nineties. As this was the time when Japan's imperialist ambitions started to become apparent, it is hardly surprising that the first socialists were concerned with issues of pacifism versus militarism. Indeed, Kotoku Shusui's book on imperialism predated Lenin's by several years.(21) A commitment to pacifism was signalled by the resignation of Sakai Toshihiko and Kotoku Shusui from the Yorozu Choho (Complete Morning Report) in 1903, over their opposition to militarism.(22) They used this opportunity for the establishment of the Heiminsha (The Commoners' Society) and its newspaper, the Heimin Shinbun (The Commoners' News). A concern with pacifism was apparent in the socialist newspapers Heimin Shinbun, Chokugen (Plain Talk), Hikari (Light), and Shinkigen (New Age), and Sakai's family magazine Katei Zasshi (Home Magazine). According to Totten, the Heimin Shinbun criticised militarism in the following terms:

This journal carried many anti-war articles, the main theses of which were as follows: (1) war is contrary to the way of human love and subverts the just principles of society; (2) war benefits the bourgeoisie but sacrifices the common people; (3) the House of Representatives which approved the war represents the landowners and capitalists, not the common people; therefore we are against war and the very existence of our army.(23)

What has been neglected, however, is that a consideration of gender was one -- albeit small -- element of the pacifist writings of Sakai, the early Kotoku,(24) Kinoshita Naoe and others. Several of these male socialist journalists wrote and gave lectures on "Women and War" and "Women and Politics". Although sometimes slipping into an essentialist position on women's peace-loving nature, they were universally critical of the Patriotic Women's Association's support for militarism. Such criticism was voiced by both Kinoshita Naoe(25) and Kotoku Shusui.(26)

In a speech to the Socialist Women's Seminar (Shakai Shugi Fujin Enzetsu Kai), Kotoku pointed out the contradictions of a state which expected women to devote their energies to the war effort, but denied them basic political rights:

In Japan, the relationship between women and politics is a very strange one. When there is a war, suddenly women are told to devote their energies to the state because they are Japanese subjects. But, up till now women have been said to have no connection with politics, and have even been prohibited from listening to political speeches! It is strange that no women lament the fact that they are manipulated at the whim of man and the state, and are told to sacrifice their own needs by a society and laws based on masculine principles. So this is the state of women in this twentieth century civilized nation, this first-rate nation, this Imperial Japan!(27)

Article Five of the Peace Preservation Law of 1900 prohibited women from attending or holding political meetings or joining political parties. That is, they were politically confined to the domestic sphere, but their public support for the war effort could be sought where necessary.

Kotoku stated that women would be better off working for world peace than supporting the war effort, and suggested that helping the hundreds of thousands of female factory workers might be a more lasting occupation than short-term (he thought!) work as a war nurse. Kotoku even blamed war -- with its emphasis on masculine physical strength (wanryoku) -- for the low position of women in society, and predicted that women's position would only improve with the eradication of war, and the advent of a society which did not value physical strength.(28) Kotoku also attempted to extend the definition of politics to include what goes on in the home. The following passage is interesting in its cautious challenge to existing stereotypes. Kotoku wavers between trying to take women out of the kitchen, and trying to bring politics into the home:

The aim of politics is [the achievement of] a comfortable life for all people. If the basis of a good life is a good kitchen, then there must be a relationship between politics and the kitchen, therefore women also have a connection with politics. While women have ignored politics and followed the words of men, they have had their needs and rights trampled on. If they can't protect their own rights and needs, how can they promote those of their husbands and children? In order to become a "good wife and wise mother" first of all learn about politics and participate in politics. Don't say "I could do it if I were a man", rather say "I must do it because I am a woman". You should demand political rights without feeling inferior to Western women, and without being scared of being labelled as "impudent" (namaiki). Strike out into the world of politics and demand the return of the rights which have been snatched away from you.(29)

One (male?) writer with the pseudonym `Yanagi' in Katei Zasshi also challenged the idea of otokorashisa (masculinity). `Yanagi' stated that such `masculine' qualities as decisiveness (ketsudan ryoku), courage (yuki), and chivalry (gikyo shin) were not suitable for all situations. They were more suited to feudal, samurai society than to a humane society based on equality:

[These values] are not necessarily good. In other words, I do not think that these values should be the standard for judging people and their behaviour...

[In such values] I can find no trace of equality or charity, so that it seems to me that these values are steeped in a philosophy of submission as found in the class divisions of a feudal society.( 30)

An interesting aspect of some early socialist writings is that political ideology was sometimes portrayed in gendered terms, although this may have been no more than a rhetorical flourish for the benefit of female readers. In the Heimin Shinbun (The Commoners' News) of 1904, Nishikawa Fumiko explained why socialism was congenial to women. Like Kotoku, her challenge to existing feminine stereotypes is somewhat ambivalent:

When you mention socialism, there are many people who understand it as something violent, but socialism is in fact a set of ideas (shugi) deep in mercy. Thus, I believe that women, who are naturally gentle and full of sympathy must agree with socialism, and women's [voices] will be heard on certain points. I think that the power of women is stronger than has been supposed, and women should give up being shy and reticent, and devote all their energies to socialism.(31)

Because women were prohibited from holding or attending political meetings or joining political parties, journals were now the major form of political expression for women. Katei Zasshi had been established by Sakai Toshihiko in order to promote socialist ideas among women, but socialist women soon established their own journals. The first of these, Nijuseiki no Fujin ( Women of the Twentieth Century), was established in 1904. Its founders -- Imai Utako and Kawamura Haruko -- were connected with the socialist group Heiminsha. Although the journal does not display a clearly articulated socialist philosophy (understandable when few overseas socialist works had been translated into Japanese and the history of socialist thought within Japan was relatively short), there was a willingness to consider women as workers, and in roles which could not fit easily into the framework of "good wives and wise mothers". As it was the height of the Russo-Japanese War, several articles were devoted to a consideration of "Women and War."

Imai Utako -- the journal's editor -- was mildly critical of the activities of the Patriotic Women's Association and pointed to the dangers of excessive excitement about Japan's military engagements on the mainland.(32) She warned that Japan must also take responsibility for what happened after the war with Russia. Imai did, however, give positive evaluation to the Patriotic Women's Association's charitable activities, and the activities of nurses, and was not above shedding tears for bereaved families.

As mentioned above, writers in Nijuseiki no Fujin challenged the view that all women's activities were covered by the label ryosai kenbo in their emphasis on the various kinds of work performed by women.(33) One (anonymous) writer challenged the notion that war was a purely masculine matter by showing how women had contributed to wars in various ways throughout history, using the examples of such women as Florence Nightingale and Joan of Arc.(34)

In 1907 Fukuda Hideko established the fortnightly socialist women's newspaper Sekai Fujin (Women of the World). Fukuda's commitment to socialism was more explicit. The woman who had in her youth been involved in the Osaka Incident (a plot to send explosives to Korea as support for Korean nationalism) now renounced violence but, nonetheless, in her autobiography stated her hatred of imperialism and "expressed her firm determination to keep fighting against the monopoly of power by politicians for as long as blood flowed in her".(35) Fukuda's commitment to pacifism was reinforced in her novel Warawa no Omoide (My Memories), summarised thus by Ushioda:

There is a consistent anti-war theme as her characters constantly question the need for war and the terrible waste and suffering which result from it. Interwoven with the anti- war theme is the author's strong belief in the necessity of economic independence for women and the desirability of a socialist type of economic system.(36)

An early issue of Sekai Fujin (Women of the World) carried Fukuda's scathing attack on the Patriotic Women's Association, which seems to echo Kotoku's position in 1904:

Everyone, from members of political parties to the general public, praises the Japan Women's Patriotic Association, whose activities began with the Russo-Japanese War, and whose tens of thousands of members are women without political rights under Japanese Law...

Are these women, whom Japanese law has already said have absolutely no power in the society, now to be appointed to carry out state functions under the very same legal system? In the midst of the `success of the Women's Patriotic Association' -- of all this glory and recognition for women -- it should be remembered that women are not free. The `success' of women who are not free is the success of slaves.(37)

Although Sekai Fujin also carried columns on cookery and sewing, the title of the journal (Women of the World) signalled that women's interests went far beyond the confines of the home -- indeed to the whole world. Readers of Sekai Fujin were kept informed of pacifist, feminist and union activities overseas,(38) and the internationalist emphasis of the journal provided an antidote to the excessive nationalism of the times. Sekai Fujin closed down in 1909 after severe police harassment, having been banned several times.

In 1911, the journal Seito (Bluestocking) was established by Hiratsuka Raicho. Despite the fact that Seito was predated by several socialist feminist journals, it is the Bluestockings who have received most attention in English-language scholarship on early Japanese feminism.(39) Several major strands of feminist thought appeared in the pages of Seito. Maternalist feminism, under the influence of Swedish writer Ellen Key, was represented by Hiratsuka Raicho and Yamada Waka. Anarchism was represented by Seito's second editor Ito Noe, who translated several of Emma Goldman's articles into Japanese.(40)

Socialist thought was represented in Seito in the writings of the young Yamakawa (Aoyama) Kikue, and in one article by Fukuda Hideko,(41) Yamakawa had several debates with Ito Noe on issues of prostitution and abortion,(42) and participated in the famous debate on "motherhood protection" (bosei hogo)(43) with Yosano Akiko and Hiratsuka Raicho. It is worth digressing to mention this debate, for the meaning of motherhood in Japanese society is crucial to an understanding of feminist debates on pacifism and militarism. Both pacifists and militarists attempted to mobilise ideologies of motherhood.(44) The "motherhood protection" debate revolved around State assistance for supporting mothers, with Yosano taking an individualist position that no woman should bear children until she had financial independence. Dependence on the state, she argued, was no better than dependence on an individual man. Hiratsuka argued that motherhood had a social meaning, and that there was no shame attached to receiving state protection when the realities of women's situation made financial independence impossible for all but the most fortunate or talented. For the purposes of the present discussion, what is interesting in this exchange is the different views of motherhood, and the different views of the relationship between women and the state. Hiratsuka discussed the social meaning of motherhood:

The mother is the source of life, and when a woman becomes a mother, she moves from the realm of private existence to an existence which is part of society, the nation, and humanity. For this reason, the protection of the mother is not just a matter of individual happiness. Rather, because it ensures the livelihood of the child, it is necessary for the whole of society and all of humanity.

Because the maternal function has such a social meaning, I think it is mistaken to equate the demand for State protection for a mother who, through childbirth, has lost the ability to work, with `the care of the aged and disabled in institutions'. Even if there is such a similarity, this is no reason for denying protection to such women.(45)

Hiratsuka's emphasis on the social meaning of motherhood threatened to collapse oppositions between domestic and public spheres, but she fell into the trap of equating the needs of the child with the needs of the mother -- a common feature of conservative propaganda. Yosano was perceptive in pointing to the dangers of an excessive glorification of motherhood:

Hiratsuka gives motherhood `absolute respect'. I do not think that being a father or mother is the most highly valued part of human life. For this reason, I am opposed to kenbo ryosai shugi. Of course I do recognise that being a mother or father is one aspect of human life which has its relative value. But I do not think that becoming a mother is the means for a woman to achieve supreme happiness.(46)

Socialist feminist Yamakawa Kikue's contribution to this debate placed the other two writers in historical context. Yamakawa identified Yosano with the "women's rights" (joken) movement espoused by Wollstonecraft and others in late eighteenth century Europe. Such ideas as individual rights, educational freedom, equal employment opportunities, financial independence, and suffrage were congenial in capitalist society, explained Yamakawa. Hiratsuka, on the other hand, represented the "mother's rights" (boken) theory of Swedish feminist Ellen Key. Maternalist feminists recognised the sacrifices made by women under waged labour in the capitalist system, and attempted to compensate for these sacrifices. Key and her followers had, said Yamakawa:

gone beyond the [women's rights campaigners] in recognising the problems brought about by capitalism, but [have] no program for basic political change -- rather they rely on policies of financial assistance which only provide partial solutions.(47)

Yamakawa recognised the strengths of both arguments, while cautioning on the dangers of maternalism. Yamakawa noted that neither Yosano nor Hiratsuka challenged the capitalist system,(48) and stated that only the destruction of existing economic relations would solve these problems. She put the demands of the other two writers in historical perspective, and changed the terms of the debate by considering strategies for political change.

The Seito group, however, was distinguished by an almost complete lack of interest in issues of war and peace. Hiratsuka herself notes this lack in her autobiography. She quotes Saika Kotoko as the one Seito writer who voiced concern about the First World War (albeit in biologically essentialist terms):

Who was it who said that if it were women who stood on the battlefield, then war would surely stop -- no woman could bear to watch the cruelty of war. That is absolutely true! How could women, who live for love and mercy, be able to kill? I believe that women, who have the ability to be mothers, would never be able to line up on the battlefield and witness the spilling of blood.(49)

Former Seito members went on to participate in various types of feminist activity, including suffragist and labour activism, and other feminist literary journals. The influence of maternalist feminism, however, was to leave a troubled legacy in nineteen thirties Japan, as we shall see below.

Some themes of socialist feminist thought were continued by former Heiminsha member Nishikawa Fumiko in the journal Shinshin Fujin (New True Women).(50) In the popular press of the time, Shinshin Fujin was presented as a rival to Seito, but this is denied by Nishikawa. Although (following her husband's renunciation of socialism) Nishikawa no longer called herself a socialist, her writings on peace show a continuity with those of the early socialist writers.

Nishikawa's devotion to pacifism was shown in the dedication of a whole issue of Shinshin Fujin to the peace issue. Nishikawa explicitly linked family and State, calling for a "democratization" of the family, and a "maternalization" (boseika) of society. Unfortunately she did not elaborate on what this "maternalization" would involve.(51) Nishikawa extended the definition of politics to include what went on in the home,(52) and linked reform of the family with reform of society at large:

We think it most important to raise the consciousness of women, and we will study all things from the standpoint of women, for the purpose of (on a large scale) bringing peace to the world, and (on a small scale) improving everyday life. We will devote our energies to this purpose, for the sake of the home, for society, and for the peace and happiness of mankind.(53)

Nishikawa questioned the sexual division of labour, and predicted an end to the `male-centred' ideologies which limit women's activities:

I believe, without doubt, that men have a thoroughly male-centred philosophy. This philosophy will, of course, follow the same fate as such ideas as `humans are the centre of the universe' and `the earth is the centre of the universe' -- such a philosophy will certainly fall apart. At this stage, however, such ideas still lurk in the hearts of men.(55)

She saw the necessity of changing masculine as well as feminine behaviour, and criticised "old-fashioned men" who had failed to change as women were changing. Men were said to be "ignorant" (mukyoiku) in emotional matters, and education for ryofu kenfu ("good husbands and wise fathers") was just as essential as ryosai kenbo kyoiku ("education for good wives and mothers").(56) In later writings, Nishikawa praised the contribution of European feminists who had "humanised" (jindoka) politics,(57) and lamented that Japan had not yet produced a great feminist pacifist leader. This is still a long way from a Marxist or feminist analysis of imperialism, but writers like Nishikawa were able to envisage a new kind of society -- a society not based on militarism -- and a new relationship between the sexes -- one not based on domination and subordination.

Socialist women formed the Sekirankai (Red Wave Society) in 1921, and prepared for the celebration of Japan's second May Day. Their manifesto was written by Yamakawa, whose intervention in the motherhood protection debate appears above. Yamakawa, as we have already seen, had little time for essentialist feminine stereotypes, and made explicit links between capitalism and imperialism, employing the language of class war:

We declare war on capitalist society, a society which does not permit us a life beyond that of slavery -- salaried slavery outside the home and familial slavery inside the home. This is a society which has driven many of our sisters into prostitution, and for the sake of its own aggressive ambitions has taken away our beloved fathers, lovers, children and brothers -- a society which for the sake of its own greedy profiteers, greets the proletariat of other countries with artillery and slaughter...You, our sisters, who love justice and humanity, join the socialist movement!(58)

The Sekirankai was disbanded after six months -- probably because most of its leading members had been arrested in various incidents.(59) In 1922 some former Sekirankai members formed the Yokakai (Eighth Day Society) and prepared to celebrate International Women's Day on March 8th.

In 1922, Article Five of the Peace Preservation Law was modified allowing women legally to attend political meetings, although they were still prevented from becoming full members of political parties. Both liberal and socialist feminists had campaigned for several years for the abolition of Article Five, and this small amendment represented only a qualified victory.

Some members of the Shinfujin Kyokai (New Women's Association) which had been formed by former Seitosha members Hiratsuka and Ichikawa in 1920, established the first suffragist organisation (Fusen Kakutoku Domei) in 1925.

Ichikawa Fusae and the suffragists initially espoused a pacifist philosophy, and justified women's suffrage on the grounds that women would work to abolish political corruption and promote peace.(60) However, Ichikawa's concentration on the end of suffrage, and her failure to examine critically the means towards that end, left her politically vulnerable, as became apparent in her later cooptation. She may also have been influenced by the example of Britain, where women had, it seemed, attained the vote in recognition of their contributions during World War I, although the real explanation probably had more to do with conservative hopes that women would be anti-socialist.(61)

In 1930, a limited bill for female suffrage in local government elections passed the Lower House, only to be rejected by the Upper House. But after the Manchurian Incident(62) in 1931, the country was gradually mobilised into a state of readiness for war, and there was little scope for discussion of feminist issues. By this stage, discussion of pacifism and feminism was no longer a theoretical matter. All Japanese women had to decide whether or not to support the war effort, and how to survive in a state which gave ultimate priority to military matters.

In the nineteen twenties, all of the left-wing political parties and unions had established women's divisions.(63) Although there were discussions about "work among women" similar to those carried out at this period in the Communist Party of Australia;(64) the prohibition against women becoming full members of political parties necessitated the creation of separate women's organisations. The factions and splits of the proletarian parties were, however, reflected in the women's divisions.

At the time of the Manchurian incident, the centrist Musan Fujin Domei (Proletarian Women's League) attempted to mobilize feminist opposition to Japanese encroachment into China. The Proletarian women planned a day of speeches on the theme of "Women and War", but were unable to enlist the support of other socialist or suffragist groups. The Proletarian women put out their own statement opposing militarism, which explicitly rejected the emotionalism and passivity which had often been a feature of pacifist feminism since the publication of Yosano Akiko's "Kimi shini tamau koto nakare".

War is not a matter of individual likes and dislikes. It is something forced on us by the ruling class. For this reason it is no use saying to our husbands, brothers, and children `do not give up your life for the Emperor' (kimishini tamau koto nakare). We must say to the promoters of war: `Do not wage war! Do not kill proletarians for the sake of your own profits!!'(65)

From January 1932, some Proletarian women (including Kondo Magara of the Musan Fujin Domei) co-operated in a joint suffrage committee, since Kondo felt that the interests of women could not be served by factionalism.(66)

Fascism was criticised at annual suffrage conferences, largely thanks to Proletarian members of the joint suffrage committee. Although suffrage conferences made several feminist demands relating to women's political participation, the only feminist demands which were realised in nineteen thirties Japan were those which reinforced women's maternal function.

The creation of the second nationalist women's organization in 1932 -- the Kokubo Fujin Kai (Women's National Defence Organization) marked a strengthening of the bonds between femininity and militarism. Whereas members of the Aikoku Fujin Kai had generally been middle-class women, the Kokubo Fujin Kai developed into a mass organisation, mobilising women of all classes, right down to the village level. In addition to fund-raising activities, a major activity of the Kokubo Fujin Kai was farewelling departing soldiers.(67)

The weekly Fujo Shinbun initially voiced some opposition to the Kokubo Fujin Kai, on the grounds that the existence of such an organization promoted a normalization of military matters. Pacifist ideas in the women's newspaper were still expressed in essentialist terms:

All women -- as mothers -- pass through nine months of pregnancy, hover at the brink of life and death on bringing this new life into the world, then must suffer for at least twenty years in bringing up this child to be an adult. War, however, makes hundreds of thousands of these lives into cannon fodder. It is natural that women would want to avoid this. Women are naturally pacifist and anti-militarist.(68)

The platforms of suffragist and socialist groups called for the introduction of a Boshi Fujo Ho (Mother and Child Assistance Act) and, in 1934, a committee was formed to lobby for such policy. This was similar to the issue debated in the `motherhood protection debate' of 1918, but the subject gained urgency when so many "good wives" were becoming war widows. The ideological construct of the nuclear family supported by a male breadwinner had come under severe strain.

The Committee for the Promotion of a Motherhood Protection Act(69) included suffragists, former Sekirankai member Kondo Magara, and former Seito member Yamada Waka. Yamada had been responsible for early translations of Ellen Key, but her thought had taken a decidedly conservative turn. She was opposed to abortion and had already clashed with Kondo on such issues as contraception.(70)

Kondo's participation on this committee shows her pragmatism. She used suffrage conferences and this committee as a platform for promoting moderate socialist ideas. The following (rather rambling) passage shows Kondo's ambivalence about emphasising motherhood in the climate of nineteen thirties Japan:

There is nothing wrong with being moved to feelings of sympathy, compassion or mercy by the problem of mother-child suicides. It is a different matter, however, when these feelings become the basis for a movement, and the spirit behind legislation.

There is no need for the worship of motherhood (bosei sanbi)...

Rather than saying `Protect motherhood because it is something noble' this State, which is built by the people, should protect both motherhood and fatherhood.

Nowadays, the members of the Movement for the Creation of a Motherhood Protection Act demand, support, and call for the protection of motherhood. Could we not say that the fact that the State does not provide such protection, is proof that the State does not belong to the people?

When there is a war, and there are not enough soldiers, there are calls to bear children and to multiply. [In such times] mothers with children will be given financial assistance. Does this also come under the name of respect for motherhood, and protection of motherhood?(71)

This was written for the journal Fusen (Women's Suffrage) in October 1934. Kondo was perceptive enough to realise that such measures as a Mother and Child Assistance Act were most likely to be granted in war time, when the family unit was being threatened. She also recognised the contradiction involved in "protecting" mothers and children, in order later to sacrifice them for the war effort. The Mother and Child Protection Act was eventually passed on 31 March 1937, to become effective on 1 January 1938. The Act provided assistance for a mother (or grandmother) and child when the father had died, deserted the family, or become ill. A Bill for the assistance of families of soldiers sick, wounded or killed in war was passed on the same day.(72) The state now looked after widows,(73) in place of the absent fathers. Other actions of the regime were avowedly pro-natalist. Ishimoto Shidzue suffered imprisonment for her promotion of birth control, which implicitly challenged the pro-natalist policies of the state.(74) Mothers were given awards for producing large numbers of children; though an Abortion Act was introduced in 1940, this was only on eugenic grounds.

Socialist writer Yamakawa Kikue continued her criticism of militarism into the nineteen thirties. In 1935, Yamakawa noted with alarm that students of a certain girls' high school had named Hitler and Mussolini as their most respected politicians -- in response she pointed out how little the Nazis had done for women.(75) She also watched with concern the co-optation of former suffragists into the war effort -- and called for them to think carefully about their actions.(76)

The last suffrage conference was held in 1937, and the name of the suffragist journal was changed from Fusen (Women's Suffrage) to Fujin Tenbo (Women's View).(77) Saito quotes the following article from Fujin Tenbo in 1937, which seems to mark the turning point where suffragist leader Ichikawa committed herself to support for the war effort:

Once things have come this far there is nothing we can do but let things go to their conclusion. We have a duty to build our future happiness from the troubles of the present situation. It has become more difficult to achieve women's suffrage, but the reason for demanding women's suffrage is so that we can contribute to state and society from a women's point of view. If women devote their energies to overcoming the present national emergency, their achievements will be for the purpose of achieving the aims of female suffrage [i.e. women's participation in society], and may be one step towards the attainment of suffrage for women.(78)

Ichikawa's autobiography gives the impression of someone whose involvement went deeper and deeper,(79) without realising how her co-operation unwittingly legitimated militarist policies.

In 1939 Fujo Shinbun which, until now, had been at least cautiously critical of militarism, printed Ichikawa's call for the unification of all women's groups under government guidance,(80) and the existence of the National Women's Defence Organization was taken as a fait accompli. Fukushima Miyoko reports that this edition of Fujo Shinbun carried a photograph of a tank on the front page for the first time.(81) In 1941 several women's journals were forced to close down, and Fujo Shinbun closed down voluntarily.(82)

Saito Chiyo has written that for feminists in wartime Japan there were only three alternatives: opposition and subsequent imprisonment, retreat, or cooperation.(83) Ishimoto Shidzue was only one of several activist women imprisoned in the nineteen thirties. Hiratsuka, and many of the socialist feminists chose retreat. Hiratsuka evacuated to Ibaraki,(84) and socialists Yamakawa Kikue and Kondo Magara retreated to wait out the war.(85) Ichikawa Fusae and Yamada Waka were co-opted, and historian Takamure Itsue's research was funded by the governments.(86) As we have seen above, only quasifeminist demands such as a Mother and Child Protection Act were listened to.(87)

The events of the nineteen thirties represent an impasse for feminist thought and activism in Japan -- a large part of which may be blamed on government suppression of feminist thought and activity. We should also, however, examine critically the terms of discussion of feminism and pacifism. Ideologies of motherhood were so powerful in pre-war Japanese society that even feminists often found it difficult to go beyond these parameters in their discussions. Although many feminists assumed a natural link between pacifism and maternalism, it was often maternalist feminists who were co-opted by the militarist state.

Motherhood -- bosei -- is one of the most over-worked words in the Japanese feminist vocabulary and it is worth attempting to deconstruct this deceptively simple term.(88) Does motherhood refer to women's reproductive capacity -- a material reality which must be considered in social policy? This was the position taken by socialist feminists. Or does motherhood refer to those nurturing qualities which should be part of any humane society, but need not be monopolised by women?(89) Perhaps this was what Nishikawa Fumiko referred to when she called for a "democratization" of the family and a "maternalization" of society. Or, on the other hand, does motherhood refer to an idealized representation of femininity -- a view of women as self-sacrificing creatures whose primary role is motherhood? From this point of view, the maternalist feminist position comes uncomfortably close to the ideology of militarist regimes which require women to produce more children and care for the sick and wounded, particularly when an emphasis on grief and bereavement reinforces notions of feminine passivity.

Hindsight shows that an essentialist philosophy which refuses to examine the difficult question of the relationship between gender and militarism can never ultimately challenge militarism. Although they failed to form a sustained movement in opposition to militarism, the writings of some socialist feminists showed a questioning of essentialist notions of gender, a rejection of passivity, and a consciousness of class. I will let Yamakawa Kikue have the last word on the limitations of a pacifism which depends on an essentialist view of women's "peace-loving" nature:

The refined kind of movement which calls on the peace-loving instincts of women to prevent war is, in short, nothing more than an amusement of peaceful times. Even though women may love peace and hate war, their socialization has strongly cultivated the habit of sacrificing one's personal emotion and personal benefit for the common benefit of the society one belongs to -- for what is believed to be just. In every society in every age without exception, we can observe women's attitude of self-sacrifice and martyrdom. With the same passion and excitement that they have devoted to their child's upbringing, these women show no regrets in offering their children on the altar of war, in the name of justice and the common good. A simplistic maternal love, and an attachment to a peaceful home life is preparation for the act of sacrifice to the greater needs of the group.(90)

GLOSSARY:

Aikoku Fujin Kai (Patriotic Women's Association): established in 1901.

Chokugen (Plain Talk): early socialist newspaper.

Fujin Tenbo: journal of the Women's Suffrage League; name changed from Fusen. Fujo Shinbun (Women's Newspaper): established in 1901 by Fukushima Shiro; appeared almost continuously until 1941.

Fukuda Hideko (1865-1927): Socialist feminist pioneer; member of Movement for Freedom & Popular Rights; imprisoned after the Osaka Incident; member of Heiminsha; founder of socialist women's newspaper Sekai Fujin.

Fusen Kakutoku Domei, full name: Fujin Sanseiken Kakutoku Domei (Women's Suffrage League): formed in 1925 by former members of the New Women's Association; led by Ichikawa Fusae.

Heimin Shinbun (Commoners' News): Socialist Newspaper.

Heiminsha (Commoners' Association): early socialist organisation.

Hikari (Light): early socialist newspaper.

Hiratsuka Raicho (1886-1971): Founder of Seito; member of New Women's Association.

Ishimoto (Kato) Shidzue (1897-): early campaigner for family planning in Japan; known as "Japan's Margaret Sanger".

Ito Noe (1895-1923): Anarchist feminist, second editor of Seito, murdered by police in 1923. Katei Zasshi (Family Magazine): Socialist Family Magazine founded by Sakai Toshihiko.

Kishida Toshiko (1864-1901): Member of Movement for Freedom and Popular Rights in 1880s; early feminist.

Kokubo Fujin Kai (National Women's Defence Organisation): founded in 1932.

Kondo (Sakai) Magara (1903-1983): daughter of Sakai Toshihiko; founding member of Sekirankai & other socialist feminist organisations; member of Musan Fujin Domei & joint women's suffrage committee; participated in campaigns for state assistance for mothers in 1930s.

Kotoku Shosui: Early socialist who later converted to anarchism; author of book on imperialism; executed in 1911 for his part in supposed plot to assassinate the Emperor; although misogynist in his private life, some of his texts show interest in feminist ideas.

Musan Fujin Domei (Proletarian Women's League): Centre left women's organisation formed in 1929.

Nihon Kirisuto Kyo Kyofo Kai (Japan Women's Christian Temperance Union): founded in 1886; celebrated centenary in 1986.

Nijo Seiki no Fujin (Women of the Twentieth Century) (1904): early socialist women's journal. Nishikawa Fumiko: (1882-1960); member of Heiminsha; founder of Shinshin Fujinkai; editor of Shinshin fujin.

Sakai Toshihiko: early socialist sympathetic to women's issues; founder of Katei Zasshi; father of Kondo (Sakai) Magara.

Seito (Bluestocking) (1911-1916): feminist journal founded by Hiratsuka Raicho; responsible for some of the most memorable language of early Japanese feminism -- Hiratsuka's "In the beginning, Woman was the sun..." and Yosano's "Mountain Moving Day".

Seitosha (Bluestocking Society): organisation of women connected with the journal Seito. Sekai Fujin (Women of the World) (1907-1909): early socialist feminist newspaper founded by Fukuda Hideko.

Sekirankai (Red Wave Society): Socialist feminist organisation founded in 1921; members included Yamakawa Kikue and Kondo (Sakai) Magara.

Shin Fujin Kyokai (New Women's Association): founded in 1920 by former Seitosha members; precursor of the Women's Suffrage League.

Shinshin Fujin (New True Woman): journal founded by Nishikawa Fumiko in 1913.

Takamure Itsue (1894-1964): Anarchist feminist historian; editor of journal Fujin Sensen.

Yamada Waka (1879-1957): Former prostitute and member of the Bluestockings; translated several of Ellen Key's works; headed the Motherhood Protection League.

Yamakawa (A oyama) Kikue (1890-1980): Major socialist feminist theorist.

Yosano Akiko (1878-1942): Poet, critic, member of Bluestockings & writer on women's issues.

Yoykakai (Eighth Day Society): Socialist Women's Organisation formed to prepare for celebration of International Women's Day in 1922.

NOTES

(1). The Meiji period spans the years 1868-1912, and covers the years when the machinery of the modern Japanese nation-state was put into place. The Meiji Constitution and Civil Code were effective until the end of World War II. Although generally rejecting the Japanese dating system, which is based on the reign of Emperors, I use "Meiji" as a convenient shorthand for the period spanning the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

(2). Ueki Emori, "Ika naru minpo o seitei subeki ka", Kokumin no Tomo, Hozumi Yatsuka 1891, "Minpo idete, chuko horobu", Hogaku Shinpo, No 5 (August 1891); reprinted in K. Yuzawa, ed. Nihon Fujin Mondai Shiryo Shusei, Vol 5, 1976.

(3). S. L. Sievers, Flowers in Salt: The Beginnings of Feminist Consciousness in Japan (Stanford Univ. Press, 1983) 61-2. It was possible for Kishida to tour the country making speeches as part of the campaign for Freedom and Popular Rights, before the promulgation of the 1889 Law on Political Assembly and Association. This Law was superseded by the 1900 Peace Preservation Law, Article Five of which prevented women from holding, or attending political meetings, or joining political parties.

(4). The phrase ryosai kenbo is attributed to Confucian scholar, Nakamura Masanao. Takamure Itsue has traced the development of this ideology, a curious amalgam of Confucian and European ideas, Josei no Rekishi Vol 2. (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1975) 79-83.

(5). Anna Davin, "Imperialism and Motherhood", History Workshop Journal, No 5, Spring 1978.

(6). The activities of the Patriotic Women's Association are discussed in detail in J. Mitchell, "Patriotic Women's Groups in Pre-War Japan" (Unpub. thesis, Univ. of Adelaide, 1986).

(7). Donald Keene, "The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-5 and its Cultural Effects in Japan", in D. H. Shively ed. Tradition and Modernisation in Japanese Culture (Princeton Univ. Press, 1971) 121-175.

(8). Kokumin no Tomo, No 235, 46.

(9). Nishikawa Fumiko, "Yoshiwara Kenbutsu no Ki", Chokugen, 11/8/1904, reprinted in Amano Shigeru, ed. Heiminsha no Onna: Nishikawa Fumiko Jiden (Tokyo: Aoyamakan, 1984).

(10). Murakami Nobuhiko, "Fujin Mondai to Fujin Kaiho", Iwanami Koza Nihon Rekishi, No 18 (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1972).

(11). "Fujin to Heiwa", Fujo Shinbun (9/11/1903).

(12). "Aikoku fujin kai ni nozomu", Fujo Shinbun, No 91 (3/2/1903); "Shokugyo o ataeyo -- shussei gunjin no tsuma ni", Fujo Shinbun (14/3/1904).

(13). "Sen ka wa ka", Fujo Shinbun (19/10/1903).

(14). "Gaikoku hei to kangofu", Fujo Shinbun (21/9/1900).

(15). "Kangofu: mottomo kosho naru onna no shokugyo", Fujo Shinbun (9/5/1900).

(16). Cynthia Enloe, Does Khaki Become You? (London: Pluto Press, 1983).

(17). Suzuki Sumuko, "Jugun Kangofu", Jugoshi Noto, No 3, (1979) 11-8. Suzuki traces the development of modern nursing in Japan, from the domestic conflicts of the early Meiji period, through the Japanese Red Cross's involvement in Japan's conflicts in Russia and China. Suzuki mentions that Florence Nightingale was idolised in Japan until the xenophobia of the nineteen thirties, and my reading of women's magazines of the early twentieth century confirms this. Suzuki's article reminded me that the construction of the Florence Nightingale legend is, of course tied to the Crimean War.

(18). Published in the literary journal Myojo (Venus) September 1904, English translation in N. Bamba and J. F. Howes Pacifism in Japan, the Christian and Socialist Tradition (Kyoto, Minerva Press, 1978). The ensuing controversy is traced in Jay Rubin, Injurious to Public Morals: Writers and the Meiji State (University of Washington Press, 1984), 55-59.

(19). Otsuka Kusuko "Ohyakudo Mairi", Taiyo (November 1905) reprinted in Yamada Seizaburo, Puroteraria Bungaku Shi, Vol 1 (Tokyo: Rironsha, 1977) 128: Chifuku Hanako (1904) "Chochin Gyoretsu to Roba no Koe", Muroo Shinpo (12/9/1904), reprinted in Maruoka Hideko, Fujin Shiso Keisei Shi Noto, Vol 1 (Tokyo: Domesu Shuppan), 51-2.

(20). G. Totten, The Social Democratic Movement in Pre-war Japan (Yale Univ. Press, 1966).

(21). Kotoku Shosui Teikoku Shugi -- Nijoseiki no Kaibutsu (Imperialism -- the Spectre of the Twentieth Century, 1901). See E. G. Notehelfer, Kotoku Shosui: Portrait of a Japanese Radical (Cambridge University Press, 1971) 82-5. Kotoku showed how nationalism could descend into jingoistic patriotism, but his explanation of imperialism relies on humanistic notions rather than economic explanations.

(22). Bamba & Howes, op cit.

(23). Totten, op cit., 28

(24). I am, of course, referring to the early writings of Kotoku, before he espoused a philosophy of "direct action". Until recently, few writers about these male socialists have considered their writings on gender, or have taken the time to search for their articles in such feminist publications as Katei Zasshi or Sekai Fujin.

(25). Kinoshita Naoe, "Sameyo Fujin", Chokugen (April 1905), also quoted in Amano Shigeru, ed. Heiminsha no Onna Nishikawa Fumiko Jiden (1984), 330.

(26). Kotoku Shosui, Fujin to Seiji, speech given to the socialist women's seminar, summarised in Heimin Shinbun (22/5/1904); full text in Katei Zasshi, No 6 (1904), 17-22.

(27). "Fujin to Seiji", ibid.

(28). "Fujin to Senso", Katei Zasshi, No 3, 6-10.

(29). "Fujin to Seiji", op cit.

(30). "Iwayuru `Otokorashisa' to iu Kotoba", Katei Zasshi.

(31). "Fujin no honsei to shakei shugi", Heimin Shinbun (20/11/1904) also reprinted in Heiminsha no Onna: Nishikawa Fumiko Jiden.

(32). Imai Utako, "Fujin to senso", Nijoseiki no Fujin, No 2 (1904), 2-3.

(33). Imai Utako, "Ikeru Fujin", Nijoseiki no Fujin, No 1 (1904), 4.

(34). "Fujin no Senso", Nijoseiki no Fujin, No 3 (1900).

(35). Fukuda Hideko (1905) Warawa no hanseigai, quoted in Sharley Conroy Ushioda, "Women and War in Japan: The Case of Fukuda Hideko", Peace and Change: A Journal of Peace Research (Fall 1977) 11.

(36). Ushioda, ibid, 11.

(37). Sekai Fujin, No 2 (Jan 15, 1907), translation in Sievers (1983) 114.

(38). Sekai Fujin, No 6, 45; No 13, 100; No 16, 124; No 28, 247, No 30, 271; etc., (page nos. refer to facsimile edition).

(39). Nancy Andrew, "The Seitosha -- An early Japanese women's organisation 1911-1916", in A. M. Craig, ed. Papers on Japan (Harvard); Lippit, Noriko Mizuta, 1975; "Seito and the Literary Roots of Japanese Feminism", International Journal of Women's Studies, Vol 2 No 2; Pauline Reich and Atsuko Fukuda, "Japan's Literary Feminists -- The Seito Group", Signs, Vol 2, No 1 (1976); Sievers (1983), Chapter 8. It is only in the last two decades that the existence of Japanese feminism has filtered into English-language scholarship on Japan, despite a tradition of feminist history within Japan which goes back at least to the nineteen thirties. Even in Japan, until recently, some writers still placed the birth of Japanese feminism with Hiratsuka and the Bluestockings, but the recent publication of collections of feminist documents and facsimile editions of early feminist journals means that the history of Japanese feminism has become much more accessible. English language scholarship is catching up slowly, and Sharon Sievers' pioneering survey of Meiji feminism deserves mention, along with Patricia Tsurumi's study of anarchist feminist historian Takamure Itsue (see below). For an overview of Japanese feminism from Meiji to the present, see my "Feminist Politics in Japan", New Left Review (Jan-Feb 1988), and citations therein.

(40). Seito, Vol 3, No 9, supplement; Seito, Vol 3, No 11, 53.

(41). "Fujin Mondai no Kaiketsu", Seito, Vol 3, No 2, supplement, 1913.

(42). Seito, Vol 5, No 8, 30; Seito, Vol 6, No 1-2.

(43). Summarised very briefly in D. Bethel, "Visions of a Humane Society: Feminist Thought in Taisho Japan", Feminist International, No 2 (Tokyo, 1980).

(44). Carmel Shute, in her study of pro- and anti-conscription propaganda in Australia shows how both sides attempted to mobilise women through appeal to essentialist notions of women as mothers, in terms reminiscent of the Japanese writers examined in the present study: "Whilst the propagandists of the two opposing sides varied their line according to which particular barrow they were pushing, both presumed the existence of a natural universal, feminine type or character. Morever, propagandists also differentiated in their appeals to women by defining them (unlike men) primarily in respect to their position in the family, as mothers, wives, daughters or sisters." "`Blood Votes' and the `Bestial Boche': A Case Study in Propaganda", Hecate, Vol 2, No 2 (1976), 8. See also C. Shute, "Heroines and Heroes: Sexual Mythology in Australia, 1914-1918", Hecate, Vol 1, No 1 (1975) 7-22.

(45). Hiratsuka Raicho, "Bosei hogo no shucho wa irai shugi ni arazu -- Yosano, Kaetsu Joshi e", Fujin Koron, Vol 3, No 5 (1918), reprinted in Nihon Fujin Mondai Shiryo Shosei, Vol 8, 232.

(46). Yosano Akiko, "Nendo Jizo", Taiyo, Vol 24, No 7 (1916). Reprinted in Nihon Fujin Mondai Shiryo Shosei, Vol 8, 234.

(47). Yamakawa Kikue, "Yosano, Hiratsuka Ryoshi no Ronso", Fujin Koron, Vol 3, No 7; Reprinted in Nihon Fujin Mondai Shiryo Shosei, Vol 8, 241.

(48). The writings of anarchist feminist Takamure Itsue (around 1930) in the journal Fujin Sensen were in some ways reminiscent of Hiratsuka's emphasis on women's artistic creativity, and women's maternal function. Indeed, Takamure and Hiratsuka became friends and admired each other's work. Takamure, however, realised that a transformation of society was necessary before women could realise their full potential. Her ideal society was based on small, autonomous communities where women shared responsibility for childcare, rather than being dependent on men or the state. See Patricia Tsurumi, "Feminism and Anarchism in Japan: Takamure Itsue 1894-1964", Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, Vol 17, No 2 (Apr-Jun 1985), 2-19.

(49). Saika Kotoko, Seito, Vol 5, No 10; quoted in Hiratsuka Raicho, Genshi Josei wa Taiyo de aria, Vol 2 (Tokyo: Otsuki Shoten, 1971), 568-70. The Fukin Haiwa Kyokai was formed around this time by former YWCA members -- its major activity seems to have been collecting signatures for petitions. Dorothy Robins-Mowry, The Hidden Sun: Women of Modern Japan (Westview Press, 1983) 268.

(50). Shinshin Fujin was established in 1913, and published for just over ten years. Few issues of this journal survived the Tokyo Earthquake of 1923, but Nishikawa's writings have been collected as an appendix to her autobiography: Amano Shigeru, ed. Heiminsha no onna: Nishikawa Fumiko Jiden (Tokyo: Aoyama Kan, 1984).

(51). Aims of the Shinshin Fujin kai, Nishikawa Fumiko Jiden, 137.

(52). "Fujin to Shakai Mondai", Shinshin Fujin (1/3/1920), Jiden, 261-271.

(53). "Fujin to Heiwa", Shinshin Fujin: Heiwa go, (1/10/1914).

(54). A tarishiki onna no yuku beki michi, quoted in Jiden, 377-8.

(55). ibid.

(56). Nishikawa Fumiko, "Nihon shorai no katei", Shinshin Fujin (1914) reprinted in Heiminsha no onna: Nishikawa Fumiko Jiden, 244-47. The phrase ryofu kenfu was also used by a writer in Fujo Shinbun, No 159; and by Kanno Suga in Muroo Shinpo (15/4/1906). Thanks to Helene Bowen for pointing out Kanno's use of this phrase.

(57). "Fujin to Shakai Mondai", Shinshin Fujin (1/3/1920), Jiden, 271.

(58). Sekirankai Manifesto, quoted in Ezashi Akiko Sameyo Onnatachi -- Sekirankai no Hitobito (Tokyo: Otsuki Shoten, 1980) 23-4; also translated in J. Shapcott, "The Red Chrysanthemum: Yamakawa Kikue and the Socialist Women's Movement in PreWar Japan", Papers on Far Eastern History, No 35 (March 1987) A.N.U.

(59). Kondo Magara, Watashi no kaiso (Tokyo: Domesu Shuppan, 1981).

(60). Saito Chiyo, "Feminizumu to Senso", Agora No 24 (20/5/1981), 50-51.

(61). R. Evans, The Feminists (Croom Helm, 1977) 223. The collaboration of the WSPU with the military state is detailed in Cliff, (1984): "By the time Britain declared war on Germany in 1914, the WSPU was about the most chauvinistic organization in the country. Christabel [Pankhurst] proclaimed that `the success of the Germans would be disastrous for the civilization of the world, let alone for the British empire'. In the following months, the Pankhursts led a national drive to recruit women for the munitions industry, and on the 15 October the Suffragette was renamed Britannia." Class Struggle and Women's Liberation, Bookmarks, 1984, 124.

(62). On 18 September 1931, Japanese troops fired on the Chinese, who had supposedly set off explosives on the S. Manchurian railway. By January 1932, the Japanese army had gained control of Manchuria, culminating in the declaration of the puppet state of Manchukuo in March 1932.

(63). Totten, 362-3.

(64). cf. Joyce Stevens, Taking the Revolution Home: Work Among Women in the Communist Party of Australia: 1920-1945 (Melbourne: Sybylla Press, 1987).

(65). Cited in Suzuki Yoko's survey of the responses of left-wing women to the Manchurian incident; "Manshojihen to musan fujin undo", Jogoshi Noto, No 3, (1979) 58-66. Sandra Wilson, as part of a study of "Popular Responses to the Manchurian Incident" (Unpublished PhD thesis, Oxford), has conducted a content analysis of women's magazines for the year 1931. Her conclusions concerning the attitude of Fujo Shinbun are remarkably similar to my own. See also Watashitachi no rekishi o tsuzuru kai, eds. Fujin Zasshi kara mita 1930 nendai (Tokyo: Dojidaisha, 1987).

(66). The Musan Fujin Domei was criticized by right and left factions of the proletarian movement for its cooperation with the suffragists. They countered that they realised that all of women's problems could not be solved by the suffrage, but that it was necessary to bring "class consciousness" to the suffragists, and seize all opportunities for struggle on behalf of working women. Suzuki, op. cit., pp. 60-61.

(67). The National Women's Defence Organization is discussed in detail in Mitchell (1986).

(68). "Heiwa shiso to aikoku shin", Fujo Shinbun (February 1937); reprinted in Fukushima Miyoko, "Shokan fujo shinbun ni miru 1930 nendei no fujin Zasshi no teiko to zasetsu", Agora, No 24 (20/5/1981).

(69). Formed on September 29th, 1934. Nihon Fujin Mondai Shiryo Shosei, Vol 10, 174.

(70). Kondo Magara, "Ningen botoku!", Sanji Chosetsu hyoron (May 1923), reprinted in Kondo (1981), 188-194.

(71). Kondo Magara "Bosei hogo seitei undo no kiso", Fusen (October 1934) reprinted in Kondo (1981), 173.

(72). Dee Ann Vavich, "The Japanese Women's Movement: Ichikawa Fusae, A Pioneer in Women's Suffrage", Monumenta Nipponica, XXII (1967), 3-4.

(73). In this context, M-A Macciochi's comments on gender and fascism are suggestive: "The seizure of power by fascism and nazism uses as levers the martyred, baneful and necrophiliac femininity of the widows and mothers of men killed in the first world war, and the femininity of Woman as reproducer of the species (which is now associated with female madness), "Female Sexuality in Fascist Ideology", Feminist Review, No 1 (1979).

(74). Ishimoto Shidzue, Facing Two Ways: The Story of My Life (Stanford Univ. Press, 1985), Afterword.

(75). Yamakawa Kikue, Nachisu to Fujin, Yomiuri Shinbun (5/12/1935), in Suzuki ed. Yamakawa Kikue Josei Kaiho Ronsho (Tokyo: Iwansami Shoten), 71-2.

(76). Yamakawa Kikue, "Seifu no Josei Choyo", Asahi Shinbun (24/6/1939), in Suzuki ed. 132.

(77). Sano Noriko, "Women's Movements in Wartime Japan", Feminist International, No 2 (1980).

(78). Saito, op cit., 50-1.

(79). Ichikawa Fusae, Jiden senzen hen, (Tokyo: Shinjuku shobo, 1981), Chapters 7 and 8.

(80). Ichikawa Fusae, "Fujin dantai no tosei o", Fujo Shinbun (January 1939), reprinted in Fukushima (1981).

(81). Fukushima (1981), 137.

(82). Ibid.

(83). Saito (1981), 52.

(84). Hiratsuka, op cit.

(85). Saito (1981), 52; Ezashi Akiko, Sameyo Onnatachi -- Sekirankai no Hitobito (Tokyo: Otsuki Shoten, 1980), 49.

(86). Tsurumi (1985).

(87). Yamazaki Tomoko, The Story of Yamada Waka: From Prostitute to Feminist Pioneer (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1986), 152. The experiences of Ishimoto and Yamada highlight the contradictions of state attitudes to reproduction and motherhood at this time. Dissemination of contraceptive information was prohibited, but an abortion law was introduced on eugenic grounds in 1940. The Kokumin Yo sei ho (National Eugenic Law) was said to be modelled on the Nazis' Eugenic Law.

(88). As Aoki Yayoi has pointed out in her recent book on motherhood, bosei `motherhood' is too often equated with josei `female'. Aoki Yayoi, Bosei to wa nani ka? (What is Motherhood?). (Origin Shuppan, 1985). Several recent Japanese books focus on concepts of motherhood (including the abovementioned "motherhood protection debate"), and aspects of social policy connected with women's reproductive capacity, suggesting that this is still a controversial area for feminist thought in Japan.

(89). According to Claudia Koonz, this splitting of society into a "feminine" half which retained the qualities of gentleness and nurturance, and a "masculine" half which could afford to ignore these qualities was precisely how Nazi society functioned, Mothers in the Fatherland: Women, the Family and Nazi Politics (Methuen, 1988).

(90). Yamakawa Kikue, "Mansho no Josei", Fujin Koron, (Nov. 1931), in Suzuki, ed. 45.

Illustration (Anti-war graphics from Hikari newspaper)