Hiratsuka Raicho

Raichō Hiratsuka

Hiratsuka Raichō ( Japanese 平 塚 雷鳥, the first name Raichō is very often found in the historical Kana spelling ら い て うfor classic Japanese Raiteu ; * February 10, 1886 as Hiratsuka Haruko in Tokyo ; † May 24, 1971 ) was a Japanese author, Journalist , political activist, and as such a pioneer of feminism in Japan .

Life

She was born the second daughter of a senior civil servant. After starting her studies at Nihon Joshi Daigaku in 1903 , she came under the influence of contemporary currents in Western philosophy as well as Zen Buddhism , which she practiced herself.

The feminist Swedish author Ellen Key , from whom she translated some works into Japanese, had a particular influence on her . After graduating from university, she worked for Narumi Women's English School , where she in 1911 Japan's first only created women's writing magazine Seito-sha (青鞜社, bluestocking -Gesellschaft founded), to its authors, among others, Ito Noe and the well-known poet and feminist Akiko Yosano counted. The motto of the magazine was "In the beginning the woman was the sun" (原始 、 女性 は 太陽 で あ っ た genshi, josei wa taiyō de atta ), a reference to the Shinto creation myth .

Under the stage name Raichō (雷鳥, literally "thunder bird", but also the Japanese name of the Ptarmigan ), she began to demand a spiritual revolution for women. In the early years, the magazine's focus shifted from literature to women's issues, including open discussions on female sexuality, sexual abstinence, and abortion. The magazine soon became well known for this and the censorship authorities banned some issues.

In 1914 Hiratsuka began to live openly in a wild marriage with her younger lover, the artist Hiroshi Okumura , had two illegitimate children with him, and finally married him in 1941.

The publication of the magazine was discontinued in 1941; however, its founder had already established herself with her as one of the leading figures in the young Japanese women's movement .

A study conducted in 1920 into the working conditions of women workers in Nagoya textile factories strengthened their political resolve. She founded the New Women's Association (新 婦人 協会shin fujin kyōkai ) with the women's rights activist Fusae Ichikawa .

It is largely due to the activities of this group that Article 5 of the Police Security Regulations, which prevented women from membership in political organizations and holding or attending political meetings, was abolished in 1922. At that time, however, women's suffrage was out of the question in Japan.

One controversial debate led by Hiratsuka centered on the fact that men with STDs should not be allowed to marry. This unsuccessful campaign remains a controversial point in Hiratsuka's career as it joined the eugenics movement of the time, suggesting that the spread of STDs had a "deteriorating impact on the Japanese race".

For the next two decades, Hiratsuka withdrew from the public a little because she was in debt and her lover had health problems. However, she continued to write and give lectures.

In the post-war years she reappeared as a figure of the peace movement. One day after the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, she traveled to the USA with the writer Yaeko Nogami and three other members of the Japanese women's movement (婦人 運動 家 fujin undō-ka ) to demand that US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles create a system, that allows Japan to remain neutral and pacifist.

Hiratsuka continued to advocate women's rights and in 1963 founded the New Japanese Women's Association (新 日本 婦人 の 会shin Nihon fujin no kai ) together with Nogami and the well-known artist Chihiro Iwasaki , which is still active today. She continued her literary and lecturing activities until her death in 1971.

As a leading figure in the women's movement in the early 20th century, she influenced numerous other people, such as B. the feminist Korean author Na Hye-sok ( 나혜석 ).

Works

• 円 窓 よ り( Marumado yori , 'The view from the round window')
• 原始 、 女性 は 太陽 で あ っ た( Genshi, josei wa taiyō de atta , 'In the beginning the woman was the sun')
• 私 の 歩 い た 道( Watakushi no aruita michi , 'The road that I walked')
• 母性 の 復興( Bosei no fukko - a translation by Ellen Karolina Keys The Renaissance of Motherhood )
• 愛 と 結婚( Ai to kekkon - original author ?, Love and Marriage )

See also

• Feminism in Japan
• Fusae Ichikawa
• Ellen Key
• Akiko Yosano

literature

• 父 が 子 に 送 る 一 億 人 の 昭和 史 ： 人物 現代史(The Story of One Hundred Million People of the Shōwa Period from Father to Child - Modern Biographical History), Mainichi Shimbun Press, 1977.
• Sumiko Otsubo: Engendering Eugenics: Women's Pursuit of Anti-VD Marriage Restriction Law in Taisho Japan , Ohio State University Press.

Web links

• New Japan Women's Association

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus, Hiratsuka is the family name, Raichō the first name.