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Jun 27, 20204 min read

Japanese First Wave Feminists- The Story of Kishida Toshiko


“If it is true that men are better than women because they are stronger, why aren’t our sumo wrestlers in the government?”

Kishida was born on the 14th of January 1863 in Kyoto, her parents Japanese cloth merchants. Growing up she went to a public schools that had been opened after the Meiji Restoration, here her interest in feminism began. When she was 18 her intelligence was recognised, she became the first commoner to work for the Empress Haruko at the Imperial House mostly working as a tutor, after two years she left to focus on her feminist activism. Kishida was a huge influence in Japanese First Wave Feminism.

In around 1882 Kishida began giving public speeches on the oppression of Japanese women, especially looking at oppression within their homes. This was a very controversial topic at the time, she was funded by the Rikken seitō (The Constitutional Party), a liberal political party in Japan, and was the first female who participate in speeches for this party, she became a well known as a skilled orator. Her speeches led her to being in several newspapers and well known across Japan for her activist work. Almost all newspaper coverage focused on her appearance and `un-lady like’ actions rather than her intelligence, skill or what she was actually saying. She also wrote a number of articles in various journals such as `Fiyū no Tomoshibi’ meaning `The Touch of Freedom’. She wrote about; the lack of freedom for women in Japan, how women were in danger and how women were enslaved in their own homes. Kishida wasn’t the first woman to speak publicly about women’s oppression in Japan, but she was the most well-known.

In October 1883 she gave a lecture in a theatre in Ōtsu city, outside Tokyo. This lecture was called “Hakoiri Musume” which means `Daughters Kept in Boxes’, this was a common phrase used to describe how parents would protect their daughters by keeping them in their homes. Toshiko explained how although most parents had good intentions by keeping their daughters in boxes, they were stopping their daughters living free and independent lives. After this speech she was arrested, her speech contained what the government deemed illegal content, such as; falsely saying things about the Japanese police, government, and people. She was charged of “insulting officialdom” and was sentenced to 8 days in Jail, but only spent 5 days there due to illness, she was fined 5 yen but cleared of all charges.

Women with the same beliefs as Kishida started to speak up in Japan in around 1878, even though there were a number of laws that made public speaking almost illegal. The Peace Police Law of 1890; denied women the right to join political parties, attend political gatherings, study political science and vote. The ‘Meiji Civil Code of 1898’ gave complete authority and control of each household to a specific male (this male altered depending on circumstances in each home), known as the 'head of the household', they controlled everything in the house such as the belongings of other people, all marriages and divorces, who and when people could have children, how the children would be brought up and the general day to day of the household. Many women would not have the option to join activist groups.

After her arrest Kishida continued to write for a newspaper called `Jogaku Zasshi’ but she stopped almost all public speeches and in 1884 she married to Nakajima Nobuyuki who was a liberal politician. Kishida died in 1901.

Meiji Restoration:

The Meiji Restoration happened in 1868, Japan had been run by a military government from 1603-1867 and many people felt there was a need for change. In 1868 there was a revolution and the country went back to being ruled by a Emperor, this Emperor was Emperor Meiji this change to the political system in Japan started the ‘Meiji period`.

Japan became more and more influenced by the West (mostly America and England) as trading was increasing. The awareness of a new western culture helped to start a new liberal movement in Japan, known as the “Freedom and People’s Rights Movement”. This movement was one of the most inspirational movements for feminists at the time. They saw the idea of increased democracy as a way for them to have a voice.

First wave feminism rough explanation

I find the 'waves of feminism' metaphor hard to get my head around, as there are no specific rules. Roughly the 'Waves of Feminism' help to categories how the feminist movement has progressed. The first wave feminism refers to the first time in a particular society were gender equality takes a step forward, such as laws that allow women to vote. Once the first wave has 'peaked', the second wave of feminism then beings, aiming to increase the rights of women further. There isn't specific rules that define when a wave has peaked, which is where confusion and debate lies. A lot of people agree that in most of the western world we are stepping into fourth wave feminism.

Peace Police Law:

The Peace Police Laws were put in place in Japan in 1894 and lasted until 1925. They were put in place as a legal way of supressing the growth of left and liberal political views.


Insulting Officialdom:

This means to speak against an 'organisation or government department, considered as a group'.- Oxford Languages Dictionary


References

Information on Kishida Toshiko:

Women’s Rights from Pas to Present; The Meiji Reforms and Obstacles for Women Japan, 1878-1927- Auther Lyn Reese and source: Sharon Sievers, Flowers in Salt: The Beginnings of Feminist Consciousness in Modern Japan-

Smith ScholarWorks, Kishida Toshiko and the Rise of the Female Speaker in Meiji Japan by Marnie S. Anderson- https://scholarworks.smith.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1002&context=hst_facpubs

Alexander Street Toshiko Kishida “Daughters in Boxes” Transcript interpreted by Rumi Yasutake- https://documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1001325826

Definitions

Japanese Politics

The Met, Japan, 1800-900 A.D.- https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/10/eaj.html

Asia for Education- Japan and the West: The Meiji Restoration-http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/main_pop/kpct/kp_meiji.htm

Human rights education in Japan, Cambridge Journal of Education- http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/29372/1/Human%20rights%20education%20in%20Japan.pdf

Meiji Restoration, Japanese History Written by The editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica- https://www.britannica.com/event/Meiji-Restoration

Jiyu Minken: The Freedom and Peopl’es Rights Movement by Michael Rieger- https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/jiyu-minken-freedom-peoples-rights-movement

Feminism

Feminism in media, A Brief Summary Of The First Wave Of Feminism by Tara Anand-

Pacific University Oregon- Four waves of feminism by Martha Rampton- https://www.pacificu.edu/magazine/four-waves-feminism



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