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This article discusses an overview of Japan's, and specifically Tokyo's, history with hip hop and how it influenced culture beginning in the late 80's through now.

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Named for the New York neighborhood that gave birth to a legion of world-famous names and a renowned style of rap, this nightclub in Shibuya hopes to follow in the footsteps of its American namesake as a meeting ground for Tokyo's new and established talent.

Located in Shibuya, this record bar draws Tokyo's fashion and music communities to sit amongst vintage décor, sipping inexpensive drinks while listening to carefully curated old-school tracks.

Touting itself as Tokyo's "home of hip hop," this outpost is the physical manifestation of WREP, a 24-hour, 365-day radio station dedicated to the genre. Founded by Japanese hip hop star Zeebra, this intimate space for live DJ sets keeps the party going until five in the morning.

Often shortened simply to "Vision," this megaclub in Shibuya hosts both domestic and international acts, packing partygoers into three floors of electronic, rap, and house music.

Yoyogi Park

This famously serene park has a duality to it. Every Saturday, rappers and hip hop fans from across the city and beyond gather for a freestyle-rap block party. Established by artist Ill Effects, the series provides a fun musical interlude for visitors wandering between peaceful Meiji Shrine and their next destination.

Or check out...

A pioneer of the 24-hour internet radio stations for Japanese-inspired lo-fi hip hop, ChilledCow features soothing tunes that will ease you into a tranquil state with smooth beats and an anime-style backdrop that changes every 12 hours.

Born in Yokohama to musically inclined parents, Tokyo-based rapper Leon Fanourakis achieved national fame at just 17. Now signed to Tokyo hip hop label 1% (ONE PERCENT), he released his latest album, , in early 2019 to industry-wide acclaim.

Founded by radio host Jayda B., this feminist collective focuses on promoting women DJs, rappers, and hip hop artists in Japan and throughout Asia, as well as throwing parties and events for female creatives in Tokyo.

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The Rise of Tokyo's Global Hip Hop Scene

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Named for the New York neighborhood that gave birth to a legion of world-famous names and a renowned style of rap, this nightclub in Shibuya hopes to follow in the footsteps of its American namesake as a meeting ground for Tokyo's new and established talent.

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This article makes a list of female artists that discuss feminism in their works.

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By Martina

Voice Up Japan already touched on the issues that the Body Positive movement has to face. But other beauty standards affect women's appearance or behaviour. The most obvious is the obsession for kawaii. A trend born in the 70s among Japanese students who preferred a more naive calligraphy has shifted into an aesthetic of girls wearing pastel-colored shirts decorated by ribbons and acting cute, innocent, obedient. The tendency of adopting a kawaii behaviour has its roots in the social relations between men and women in Japanese society. "Since men's position in society is getting weaker, guys might want to feel stronger by going for women who just accept their opinions" states a young men interviewed by Kei of Asian Boss. Strong women have to act submissive in order to please fragile men. But is it always like this?

While for a J-pop global ambassador like Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, the world of kawaii and Harajuku is an escape from the strict rules of society, other idol groups seem to adopt that aesthetic just to reinforce the stereotype. However, the music industry is more diverse now and we find interesting artists who feel free to express their pride and empowerment. This happen especially in the genre of rap or r&b, which has given us a good representation of those strong women who are frightening privileged men.

These are the most interesting personalities in the scenario of female J-rap this year. Better keep an eye on them.

Elle Teresa

Born in 1997 in Shizuoka Prefecture and raised by a family of dancers, Elle Teresa was the most eccentric teenager in her town. She found relief in clubbing, where she had the chance to meet local DJs, producers and rappers. Her main influences are anime characters, especially Sailor Moon's warriors, who are "pretty cute but strong". This is exactly how she is: a woman who doesn't deny totally the kawaii, but turns it into a weapon rather than a shield. Elle refuses to act masculine, like many female rappers tend to do, but uses her femininity wisely and confidently. What is also impressing of Elle is her sense of humor. In her song "Bulma" she requests a neglectful boy to give her more attention: "I play Bulma and you Vegeta. Let's go and find the Dragon Balls!" In the music video, she is dressed as a Playboy cover girl, but her moves are not too provocative. She doesn't care. Elle is a girl who just wants to have fun.
BULMA VIDEO
Iri

Iri is a singer/songwriter, who includes different genres and rap influence in her distinctive melody. She comes from Zushi, a pleasant town along the Shonan Coast, and was a self-taught guitarist in college. In 2014 she won an audition organized by Nylon Japan and Sony Music and soon started her career. Her songs were used for commercials or as soundtrack of popular shows such as Terrace House and this summer she opened for Western musicians like Corinne Bailey Rae. The most peculiar feature of her music is her voice. It's deep, far away from the high pitched voices we're used to listen in mainstream J-pop. Someone commented her video "Wonderland" like this: "I honestly thought the singer was a guy (because of the voice)." Iri is redefining standards in J-pop not only by mixing genres, but also proving that a deep-toned voice can also represent a woman's voice.
WONDERLAND VIDEO
Chelmico

The duo was formed in 2015 by Mamiko Suzuki, born in 1996 and raised in Tokyo, and Rachel Watashiga, born in 1993 and raised between Yokohama and Missouri. In 2016, they released their first album, followed by an EP and their sophomore album titled "Fishing" just came out last August. They write and compose rap songs, but are open to other sounds. In their song "Player" from their first album "Power", they alternate fast rapped verses with more melodic refrain supported by guitars, drums, trumpets, which are rare to find in today's trap hits. Their visuals are also interesting. The video for Player they play both the gamers and game characters. In "Balloon", released in July, they explore the space in the role of two astronauts. Both the gamer and astronaut are roles underrepresented by women and the fact that Chelmico enjoy playing with those scenarios adds more value to their work.
BALLOON VIDEO
Akko Gorilla

Akko Gorilla - together with Yayoi Daimon, which is next guest in this article - is one of the most explicit rappers in the Japanese scene. She considers herself a Feminist (her Instagram bio states: "RAPPER/DRUMMER/FEMINIST" rigorously in capslock) and published her first major-label album, called "GRRRLISM" in 2018. Recently, Akko Gorilla was chosen from the #NoBagForMe Project for their first campaign and helped promoting a new packaging design for tampons.

The song which gives the title to her album, starts with lines sung in English: "My body / my choice / my face / my choice / my hair / my choice / my color / my choice / my happy / my choice / my voice / my choice / my life / my choice" which is a universal feminist slogan. This song is denouncing gender inequalities and the stigmas regarding a woman's body and appearance. It's an empowering hymn to the freedom of choice every woman must have.
GRRRLISM VIDEO
Yayoi Daimon

Yayoi Daimon will make history for being the first woman to legitimize twerking in Japan. As her fellow rapper Akko Gorilla, Yayoi Daimon declares herself a "JAPANESE FEMINIST" (in capslock in her Instagram bio). The two also released a song and music video together, called " No Bra".

Yayoi Daimon started in 2010 as a dancer and then became member of the band "rhythmic". In 2012 she left the group to start her solo career which soon lead her to perform nationwide. In August this year, she released a groundbreaking song called "#KETSUFURE", Japanese term for "twerk" (literally "shake your ass"), accompanied by this music video. She also started a #ketsufure challenge which saw many fans engaging in it.. Although twerking is now popular and understood in Western countries, this topic is completely new for Japan. It might take a while for it to be totally digested by Japanese audience, but a feminist artist's goal is to provoke and Daimon is doing it right.
#KUTSUFURE VIDEO

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How Female Japanese Rappers are Discussing Feminism | Voice Up Japan

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By Martina Voice Up Japan already touched on the issues that the Body Positive movement has to face. But other beauty standards affect women's appearance or behaviour. The most obvious is the obsession for kawaii. A trend born in the 70s among Japanese students who preferred a more naive calligr ...

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Yayoi Daimon: “I’ve survived this men’s society for a long time”

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Yayoi Daimon is a loud-spoken feminist and a rapper in Japan's  field of hip hop. She is completely self-sustained, writing her own lyrics, making music, producing the music, and doing her own choreography. The link to her website is here: https://www.yayoi-daimon.com//

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Le premier média dédié aux femmes et aux LGBT+ dans le hip hop

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Yayoi Daimon: “I’ve survived this men’s society for a long time” - Le premier média dédié aux femmes et aux LGBT+ dans le hip hop

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As a teenager, Yayoi Daimon performed as a hip hop dancer in various clubs in Osaka. She then joined the all-girl band Rhythmic before going solo in 2013.

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Zoomgals is a group of all female rappers that started a collective to rap online over Zoom after the COVID-19 pandemic started. It was initially formed to be reminiscent of old-school rap battle tournaments, and they eventually started collaborating to make music together.

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If you haven't seen/heard this yet, I envy you because this is so urgent and exciting that the first time is the best time. (But don't worry, it'll still hold up the 323rd listen, trust me, I know.) Just be warned though that if you're viewing this on your phone, the fire just might burn your hands, so be careful...

With that in mind, turn your volume up as loud as it can go and hit the play button on "GALS" by hip-hop supergroup Zoomgals, joined by special (awesome) guest Yayoi Daimon with an unlikely but welcome cameo of Japan's esteemed academic sociologist Shinji Miyadai!!!

Dang, I feel like my whole soul just got vaccinated. This is one of the best blasts of positive energy I've gotten out of this batshit yea r. I like it so much that it makes the craziness of 2020 mostly worth enduring, especially when you consider this year's circumstances are largely what's led Zoomgals to come into existence.

To help introduce Zoomgals to those who are new to them, I'll try my best to offer what I can explain and lead you to other sources better able to fill out the greater context. Zoomgals are a fresh collective that started by chance in May of this year as COVID 19 spread worldwide. As the need for all of us to lockdown and stay home turned the Earth into a planet of hermits, rapper valknee (Who's an idol fan and also written rhymes for Lyrical School!) assembled a who's-who of rising gals in the Japanese hip-hop world for a collaborative zoom call. So yeah, gals on a zoom call, ya dig?

valknee posted the result collab on her YouTube channel and the next thing you know, a well-known online personality (who evidently assumed they were Korean) raved about them and the gals became viral sensations that thankfully for us have taken on being a full-time supergroup. Thanks Covid! Thanks online personality! And thank you Zoomgals!

Besides Valknee, the other masters of rhyme in Zoomgals are Tajima Haruka, ,, Marukido, and AKKOGORILLA, who we've actually covered on the blog before, highlighting her positive messages of personal freedom. Now you're probably like me and a little overwhelmed by all these fantastic artists that just got thrown at you, so for an elaborated profile of who everybody is, I'd strongly encourage each of you to visit Ryo's blog This Side Of Japan and check out this through article about each member of the group!

So now I hope you're as stoked as I am about the upcoming (and hopefully less corona-ish) new year and looking forward to seeing what exciting things Zoomgals will be springing on us with their refreshing blasts of positive vibes and sisterhood. You should follow them on twitter if you aren't already, look up their tunes on digital platforms and check out their, and hopefully they'll keep rewarding us their much-needed energy for the extended future. Keep zoomin'!

https://twitter.com/zoomgals/status/1334082380420714496

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Zoomgals Are A Conference Call Of Energizing Awesomeness

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If you haven't seen/heard this yet, I envy you because this is so urgent and exciting that the first time is the best time. (But don't worry, it'll still hold up the 323rd listen, trust me, I know.) Just be warned though that if you're viewing this on your phone, the fire just might burn your hands, so be careful...

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chelmico is rapper duo that focuses on female empowerment with a fanbase of mostly young girls. This interview focuses on what they're doing to keep making music during the pandemic.

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Although this group isn't specifically a hip hop group, they are feminists, and breaking boundaries by being a completely female heavy rock group that uses elements from different styles as well.

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The thought of Japanese music usually conjures images of taiko drums, or more contemporary styles like radio-friendly J-pop. Stereotypes about Asian music writ large are a bit more pernicious - classical music and caricatures like " Gangnam Style" and " Kung Fu Fighting" remain dominant in the cultural imagination. But three Japanese women are on the path to change people's perceptions of Japanese music, and they're doing it with guitars in their hands.

Tricot ( pronounced "tree-ko") are a three-piece rock band from Kyoto, featuring Ikkyu Nakajima on lead vocals and guitar, Hiromi Sagane on bass and Motoko Kida on guitar. The badass women released their sophomore album, AND, in March, a follow-up their 2013 full-length debut, THE. Tricot have been gaining attention online since their latest release and caught a big break. Days after Instagram launched its music channel, Tricot were the second featured musician, behind only the Roots. No one was more surprised than Tricot, who called it "unbelievable" on their Facebook page.

But when you hear Tricot rock, their big moment is totally believable. These women are going to be huge.

Tricot are a far cry from traditional Japanese music or bubblegum J-pop. They play intricate math rock with almost velvety vocals over hard-hitting, interlocking guitar parts. And they have so much energy it's impossible to tear your eyes away. That energy is based, largely, on the trio's unbreakable bond.

Nakajima and Kida grew up together in Shiga, a suburb of Kyoto. They were in the school band but didn't play together until three years after their graduation, when they formed Tricot with Sagane. Sagane grew up in Kyoto, and didn't even pick up the bass until her senior year of high school. The three were in different bands until 2010, when they were 21, at which point they formed Tricot.

Tricot has a big sound from its steadfast core. They went through a number of drummers since they formed, and the process has only revealed to them the power of their chemistry. They are a sufficient unit, perfectly in sync artistically. They started out with no drummer, but soon brought onboard percussionist Komaki. He left the band recently, just before the band started working on their second album.

"Tricot was originally formed by the three of us and there were many things only we could understand and share," Nakajima told NME. For their latest album, Tricot recruited a handful of drummers for guest spots. "When we went back to being a trio, we realized we had the freedom to work with whichever drummers we wanted to. We had certain people in mind for certain tracks," Sagane told Instagram. The shifting lineup offered opportunities for a different sound on each track.

Taking on stereotypes: Tricot defies two sets of stereotypes. The first is the one of Asian musicians - that they focus solely on classical music and don't often gravitate toward rock. Tricot are also challenging stereotypes of female musicians. It's an unfortunate rarity in the music world to come across women who specialize in math rock, a genre that All Music defines as "dense and complex, filled with difficult time signatures and intertwining phrases." There are always, exceptions - Marnie Stern, Rolo Tomassi or Deerhoof - but the stereotypes persist nonetheless.

"Women are still almost nonexistent in heavy or hardcore music," Noisey's Hannah Ewens wrote in November 2014. "It's as simple as that." But Tricot are tearing down the appalling assumption that women can't do - and some even argue, don't like - math rock, though Tricot aren't necessarily making their music with that assumption in mind.

"I don't know ... I think it's rock," Kida told NME when asked if they considered themselves math rock. "We don't set out to make complex songs, but people say our music is complicated. In our songs there are many elements and gimmicks from various genres, which might be confusing. We just enjoy making songs."

And we enjoy listening. Tricot are shattering the stereotypes of both Japanese music and female musicians, and their latest album is a testament to their pioneering ways.

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Three Badass Japanese Women Are Shattering Stereotypes About Asian Musicians

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The thought of Japanese music usually conjures images of taiko drums, or more contemporary styles like radio-friendly J-pop. Stereotypes about Asian music writ large are a bit more pernicious - classical music and caricatures like " Gangnam Style" and " Kung Fu Fighting" remain dominant in the cultural imagination.

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Valknee is a rapper who uses her femininity in her style while putting empowering messages in her lyrics. She also helped to found Zoomgals.

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Meet Valknee, the Tokyo-based Rapper Rapping on Zoom

Meet Valknee, an up-and-coming rapper hailing from Kanagawa! Drawing inspiration from artists like Tsunku and Rhymester, Japanese idols, and K-Pop stars, Valknee is blowing up the music scene with her unique, anti-mainstream sound. Through empowering lyrics and a trap-heavy production, Valknee blurs the lines between sexy and cute while spitting fire bars. Rest assured, she's definitely not the average Jane of SoundCloud rappers.
Please introduce yourself!
My name is Valknee (pronounced Valnee) and I'm a Tokyo-based rapper.
In previous interviews you've mentioned that idols are musical influences. So, why did you decide to become a rapper instead of an idol?
I have a complex about my looks so becoming an idol was not something I ever thought about doing! Now that I think about it... Maybe I just thought it was because of my looks. I actually wanted to be an idol producer. I became a rapper when I began doing more band-related stuff.
Tell us about Zoomgals, the rapper collective you're a part of.
I was getting frustrated because I couldn't go out because of the Pandemic in March 2020. So I thought, why not do a collab on one of those [rap battle type] bragging tracks that rappers are known for?
Aside from the collective, who else would you want to collaborate with?
I would love to produce a song for the Japanese idol group Morning Musume and collaborate with American rapper Ppcocaine.
What do you want to convey with your music?
Love yourself even when life isn't going all that well, and do what you want to do no matter your age.
How would you describe your personal style?
It incorporates the sparkly, princess-like elements I fell in love with in primary school, and the local anti-social teen street styles that are pretty ubiquitous in Japan.
Do you ever feel like your personal style clashes with the type of music you make?
[Yeah, there probably is.] I'm super lazy, so I like to get clothes from my friends and have them style me. But the music is all me, so I think the clash happens there.
Your songs "DIARY" and "GALS" (a Zoomgals production) really push the boundaries between cute and sexy. Have there been any negative responses?
I haven't had any direct criticism, but it might have alienated listeners who are into my hardcore tracks and aggressive lyrics.
What are some of the challenges of being a female rapper? Is being Japanese a factor?
It's hard getting people to play my music, lol. I think it's the same in every country, but the sexism in the Japanese hip-hop scene is still pretty ingrained.
Top 5 fashion must-haves?
Hand sanitiser, lip balm, acne cream and my smart phone and earphones for listening to the radio.
What are your future goals and dreams?
I want to make the lives of the young people who listen to my music easier.
Any last words?
Listen to my music! I'd really appreciate it.

Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
Introduction and questions by Choom.
Images courtesy of Valknee.

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Meet Valknee, the Tokyo-based Rapper Rapping on Zoom

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Meet Valknee, an up-and-coming rapper hailing from Kanagawa! Drawing inspiration from artists like Tsunku and Rhymester, Japanese idols, and K-Pop stars, Valknee is blowing up the music scene with her unique, anti-mainstream sound. Through empowering lyrics and a trap-heavy production, Valknee blurs the lines between sexy and cute while spitting fire bars.

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Awich is a rapper who grew up listening to American Southern rap, and was inspired by their sound. She makes her own music, but she's also in the Japanese hip hop crew Yentown.

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is a badass rapper from Okinawa, Japan, who actually didn't see herself as Japanese until recently. Okinawans are an indigenous people, Japan colonized their island similar to how the States colonized Hawaii. Her hometown is equipped with a dark past that currently houses some of the biggest U.S. military bases in Asia, directly influencing her love and attraction to hip-hop.

Awich's musical journey began when she took a trip to the CD rental store and discovered Tupac's All Eyez On Me. Writing poetry at the age of 9 and rapping at age 14, she made the decision to relocate to Atlanta to go to university. There, she met her future husband (who was murdered) and became pregnant with her daughter. She states, "All her friends are my fans, she's proud. She's like 'don't come to the school or they'll go crazy! We can't have class if you come.'"

Awich is the only female member of Japan's famed Yentown collective, who she describes as "the best in Japan." The crew consists of producers, rappers, designers, ultimately all friends and 'brothers'. Most recently, she released her new single titled "Shook Shook," , her first for Universal Music Group, with a cinematic visual to match.

Flaunt caught up with Awich via Zoom to discuss her upbringing overseas, the new single,her upcoming EP "Partition", joining Yentown, Black Lives Matter, and more!
Being from Okinawa, Japan, what was the household like growing up?
My experience in the household is a little different from others in Japan. Okinawa's an island, far down South off the mainland of Japan. We used to be a kingdom. We had a war with Japan back in 1609 and we lost, so we became a part of Japan. Okinawa has a totally different history and background, different dialects. It wasn't really strict in my home, but me rapping and making hip-hop, my parents were really freaking out. They didn't know what it was, they didn't want me to do it.
At what point did they finally accept it?
I kept doing it secretly until one day, they talked about me in the newspaper. [laughs] "A Young Female Hip-Hop Artist Direct From Okinawa Trying To Do Big Things," I was 15. Hip-hop was a fairly new thing in Japan and in Okinawa, so they're really interested in people who were into that culture. They wanted to talk about the youngins, like me. My aunt called me, "did you see the newspaper today?" It had pictures, that was fun. I'm in the newspaper, and it's not about me committing a crime. It was a good article, so they couldn't say anything, people praising me for what I do. Later in high school, my dad came to me and apologized. He said "I didn't even ask you why you like it, why it fascinates you so much. I didn't ask you anything, I went off what I heard." He thought hip-hop was gang music, drugs, sex, money, without knowing what it was.
How was it going to school in Atlanta? Was there a culture shock?
Somewhat, but not so much. Living in Okinawa, 20% of the whole island is U.S. military bases so I was exposed to a lot of American culture. That's one of the reasons I was fascinated with hip-hop in the first place. The soldiers come from all over America, because it's the military. I had a friend from Atlanta, and music from the South was really poppin'. Soulja Boy, T.I., Usher, all the mainstream was Southern hip-hop. I felt prepared for whatever was there.

It's funny because you have to go to the mainland of Japan first, before you can go to the States. Tokyo felt more foreign to me. People in Japan are starting to embrace my music and who I am, but I really didn't feel Japanese until recently. Of course, we speak the same language, everybody looks up to and wants to be in Tokyo, but I didn't feel I could be introduced as Japan's #1 female rapper. I couldn't imagine it because I couldn't even call myself Japanese until recently. Now they're embracing me and showing me so much love, I really appreciate it. I'm starting to understand I'm a part of this country, I can be a representative for the girls, or anybody here.
How did you start to gain your fanbase?
Definitely when I started to work with Yentown. One of the members of Yentown, kZm, he's like my little brother. I wanted to work with him, but I was nobody. He sat down with me and asked "so what do you want to do?" I said "well, I have this music I'm working on." I let him hear it, and he was shocked with what I had. I was excited. He said "yo I really have to introduce you to our producer, the leader of Yentown," his name's Chaki Zulu. One of the closest friends and coworkers I have.

Chaki came a couple hours later, and Chaki doesn't go anywhere. I heard from all the people in Tokyo: "Chaki don't show up, never ever." But kZm was so passionate about my music and working with me, he convinced Chaki to come out that day. He came, he's like "let me hear your music." I said "it's playing right now." He's like "this is you?" You have to come to my studio." From then on, we started to work. He'd pull some money from somewhere to work on the album with me. I'm very appreciative of what they did for me.
How does it feel to be the only girl in Yentown?
It feels good. I'm one of the older people in Yentown. I'm the newest member, but they look up to me because of my age. They give me a lot of respect. I want more girls coming into the crew and doing it together with us.

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Awich | A Badass Female Rapper From Okinawa, Japan - Flaunt Magazine

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is a badass rapper from Okinawa, Japan, who actually didn't see herself as Japanese until recently. Okinawans are an indigenous people, Japan colonized their island similar to how the States colonized Hawaii. Her hometown is equipped with a dark past that currently houses some of the biggest U.S.

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Seito Magazine- Japan's First Feminist Magazine

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Seito Magazine- Japan's First Feminist Magazine

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This article discusses the early feminist movement in Japan and the publication of the first feminist magazine that focused on educating women on their rights.

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First issue of the magazine 'Seito.' The cover was designed by Chieko Naganuma. Courtesy of Okumura Naofumi.

Contemporary Japanese feminism can be linked to Seito, a magazine considered as feminist but not described as such by its creators, published on the first of every month from 1911 until 1916. The magazine initially focused on feminine literature, but its orientation gradually changed to embrace the themes of women's liberation and gender equality. Seito, its name inspired by the Bluestockings movement in England, became the forum for debate on topics as modern as oppression caused by patriarchal institutions and the demystification of family and sexuality. Rather than having a political aim, its ambition was for women to become aware of their rights.

Success beyond intellectual circles

The first issue was released in September 1911, edited by Raicho Hiratsuka, with a team of four other writers having all graduated from Japan Women's University. Seito' s contributors included poet and women's rights activist Akiko Yosano and novelist Nobuko Yoshiya. Such prominent writers allowed the magazine to enjoy a good reputation, especially with intellectuals, and to widen its audience across the country, to women hungry for change in the highly prescriptive context of the late Meiji era.

The magazine was monitored closely by the Japanese Interior Ministry, because it contravened the 1900 Peace Preservation Law that forbade any criticism of the system in place. This monitoring led to the censorship of two issues. In 1915, Raicho Hiratsuka passed the role of editor of Seito on to anarchist Noe Ito. The latter expressed various thoughts on abortion, free love, and prostitution in the magazine. However, the old members began to move away from the publication, and Noe Ito decided to conclude this venture a year later in February 1916.

Nevertheless, Seito's heritage is still asserted today by women's rights activists, who regularly use images printed in the magazine over a century ago to get their messages across.

Members of 'Seito' around the time of the first publication. Raicho Hiratsuka is on the far right side. Courtesy of Okumura Naofumi.

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'Seito', the First Japanese Feminist Magazine

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First issue of the magazine 'Seito.' The cover was designed by Chieko Naganuma. Courtesy of Okumura Naofumi. Contemporary Japanese feminism can be linked to Seito, a magazine considered as feminist but not described as such by its creators, published on the first of every month from 1911 until 1916.

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This article discusses how the queer movement in Japan was given hope by a ruling that the same-sex ban on marriage was unconstitutional. However, this ruling didn't actually change any policies or the lives of the queer people living in Japan.

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What's Next for LGBTQ Rights in Japan After a Landmark Court Ruling

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While the ruling does not legalize same-sex marriage, and doesn't apply across the country, it is the first of its kind in Japan.

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Japanese Influences on American Hip Hop Culture

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Japanese Influences on American Hip Hop Culture

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This article discusses how Japanese fashion influences hip hop culture all over the world, including in America, the center and origin of hip hop.

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I was in the middle of my university years when I first truly fell in love with the Japanese fashion label Comme Des Garçons. Back in 2008, I had just completed an exchange semester abroad in Copenhagen, and the fashionable Danes had affected the way I'd seen myself, and how I wanted to be seen by others.

Later that year, when the Comme Des Garçons x H&M collaboration dropped in November, I gave myself an early birthday present and waited in line for the collection, wondering if my student budget could really afford these lower-priced pieces, curious what the competition would be like once we entered the store. But another thought crossed my mind - would I have the confidence to pull off such bold, black, deconstructed looks on the tame streets of Toronto? Or would my style choices be considered too avant-garde?

When you see a Comme Des Garçons garment up close, your whole world changes. The way you perceive clothing suddenly shifts. A casual jacket with an asymmetrical pocket or a misplaced dart opens up a world of possibility. Growing up as the daughter of a tailor, I wondered how such clothing could even be made. What happens when you move the seam over here, add a frill here, flip the fabric, sew it, and reverse it over there?

Designed by Rei Kawakubo and launched in the 1970s, Comme Des Garçons is known for radically reinterpreting the human form. The clothing is genderless, unapologetic, rebellious. Some might call Kawakubo's work startling, ugly, confrontational and even alienating. Why, then, does the brand have such clout with hip-hop artists?

During the mid-aughts, I noticed Comme Des Garçons becoming more mainstream. Artists like Kanye West, Pharrell, Jay-Z and Drake were coming out decked in Comme Des Garçons' more casual pieces - notably the Comme Des Garçons PLAY sweaters and t-shirts, which launched in 2002, known for its red heart-shaped logo with two bold eyes. Drake would later commission Filip Pagowski, creator of the PLAY logo, for the artwork behind his album Views.

Today, Comme is not only at the forefront of the avant-garde runway but it's also a gamechanger in streetwear, and is part of a larger connection between North American hip-hop artists and Japanese design. This trend may have well started in the early 2000s with Japanese clothing brand A Bathing Ape (BAPE). Pharrell Williams, who had met Nigo, the creator of BAPE, was partly responsibly for bringing BAPE's bright, youthful aesthetic to North America because it matched his own fashion sensibilities.

Americans "clamoured after the Japanese brand A Bathing Ape the same way that the Japanese had obsessed over American style."
W. David Marx, author of Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style

In 2005, Pharrell and BAPE collaborated on the Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream clothing lines, channelling nostalgic 90s anime and kawaii-style illustrations for their printed shirts. In 2007, Kanye joined forces with artist Takashi Murakami to creatively push boundaries with the album art for Graduation. A few years later in 2014, Pharrell collaborated with Comme for unisex fragrance GIRL, solidifying the way contemporary Japanese art, design and style were slowly seeping into the North American consciousness - and becoming a coveted aesthetic in hip hop.

In Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style, author W. David Marx claims that Americans "clamoured after the Japanese brand A Bathing Ape the same way that the Japanese had obsessed over American style in the preceding decades." While Japanese designers assimilated casualwear from the U.S., they also perfected it with attention to detail. The American market had soon fallen for Japanese denim, oxford shirts, and the more fashion-forward-but-still-casual began chasing detailed looks from Comme Des Garçons' other more accessible labels like BLACK, Shirt, and Tricot.

For a brand that challenges the status quo, it may seem surprising that celebrities are drawn to Comme Des Garçons. The pairing of Comme and hip-hop might be odd at first glance, but luxury streetwear is a growing category. Comme Des Garçons continues to infiltrate the American streetwear scene, collaborating with brands such as Nike, Timbaland, Converse and Supreme, putting its signature experimental twist on these household urban names.

Recently, Florida-based R&B artist Twelve'Len modeled the Comme des Garçons Ganryu line, a short-lived collection designed by former Junya Watanabe patternmaker Fumito Ganryu, for the Miami boutique UNKNWN; the "forward-thinking casualwear" brand announced it would shutter earlier this year. From afar, the clothes might look ordinary, but the real magic lives within each item's quirky seams. Hypebeast compared the Ganryu line to Twelve'Len's own eclectic musical style, which is influenced by everyone from 50 Cent to Marvin Gaye in an "unlikely combination that somehow works."

While collaborations with streetwear brands are still in heavy rotation to this day, Comme was parodied and brought to further fame when A$AP Rocky wore a now infamous Comme Des Fuckdown toque in the "Goldie" video back in 2012. Designed by Russ Karablin of SSUR, the line was seen as a "slap in the face to all the high fashion stuff...You know, like, calm the fuck down!," Karalin said in an interview with Vice. The parody, approved by Comme Des Garçons CEO and husband to Kawakubo, Adrian Joffe, is the perfect meshing of high and low fashion.

A few years later, the celebrity world embraced the renegade sensibilities of Comme Des Garçons at the 2017 MET Gala, which celebrated Kawakubo's work in conjunction with her exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art earlier in the year. (I trekked out to New York to see the show, and it was well worth it.) As a business, CdG generates $220 million USD in revenue annually, but operates autonomously. As someone who has been quoted saying "I work in three shades of black" and "I do not feel happy when a collection is understood too well," Kawakubo has been able to stick to her vision while cultivating one of the biggest names in fashion.

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How Japanese streetwear became hip-hop's best friend - A.Side

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I was in the middle of my university years when I first truly fell in love with the Japanese fashion label Comme Des Garçons. Back in 2008, I had just completed an exchange semester abroad in Copenhagen, and the fashionable Danes had affected the way I'd seen myself, and how I wanted to be seen by others.

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The laws in Japan about graffiti and vandalism are much stricter in Japan than in America, so there isn't as much on the streets. This article discusses the culture of those few graffiti artists and the art they create.

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The graffiti and street art scene in Japan was late to develop compared to other parts of the world.
This article provides a general overview of both sides, the main writers from illegal graffiti and their respective crews, as well as those considered to be the most prominent Japanese urban artists /muralists in the last decade. It also serves as an analysis of technique, execution and style most commonly used by them and the reason for these methods of action. The Japanese society and its repressive regulations play a key role in the understanding of this type of public artistic expression.

One of the few publications that we can find about graffiti in Tokyo, begins its prologue by asking this question: "Does urban art exist in Tokyo?" and they affirm that it does, but insist that the strict laws against vandalism and the conservative Japanese culture have almost completely suppressed this scene.

As we know, the Japanese generally like to keep things clean, neat and nice so graffiti is not something the country, or at least the government, likes to show off about. The word "graffiti" in Japanese translates to rakugaki [落書き], a term used to refer to the type of doodles that children make on class desks.

It might seem from our European /American perspective that Tokyo and Japanese cities in general are places full of lights, signs, colours, advertisements. An overwhelming world as far as visuals are concerned. But the truth is that this world of colour can only be found in certain parts of the city - the rest of the metropolitan area is sadly grey and anodyne. Finding both classic illegal graffiti and legal mural in Tokyo or other large Japanese cities, like Yokohama, is almost an impossible task.

In order to find them, we have to explore into the smallest and most remote alleys or visit the bridges of large roads on the outskirts of the urban areas. Graffiti in Japan is almost non-existent, and in recent years even more so, and here we are going to talk about some of the reasons why.

Feeling of community and respect for the public property and public spaces

High penalty fees and even jail sentences

High surveillance [lots of security cameras]

Severe cleaning policies ["face wash" facing the new international tourism and the future Olympic games].

In an interview, the Japanese graffiti artist SAYS, answered the following regarding the differences between the graffiti scene in his country and the rest of the world:

It is funny to appreciate the meaning that graffiti has for this society shown in a video of some famous youtubers who live in Tokyo. In the video they made a summary of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in the city of Tokyo, in which Adachi and the Kabukicho area in Shinjuku were mentioned. In the most dangerous of them, it was cited that the reasons for this were that: there was high crime, due to drug gangs, the presence of a lot of garbage in the streets, even that there was a prison in the area and above all lack of security cameras [which makes it a more ideal area for writers]. But it was also pointed out that another reason for this danger was that it was full of what they described as "scribble" pejoratively [showing a electricity boxfull of stickers and tags] next to some bottles scattered on the floor.

In an interview with the author of one of the best Instagram accounts with documentation of Japanese graffiti, he mentioned how the national police operate facing illegal graffiti:

In the center of Tokyo, the neighbourhoods in which the most accumulation of graffiti can be found are Shibuya, Harajuku and Shinjuku. Also considered the most chaotic, "dirty" and crowded in all of Tokyo. And lately we can find lots of tags and stickers in the considered as the new "hipster", "bohemian" neighbourhoods like Koenji or Shimokitazawa.

The funny thing is that a large part of these pieces (or at least the pieces that stand out the most) which attract the most attention or play with new techniques are usually made by foreign and not native artists. These international artists probably make the most of their short stay in the city bombarding as much as possible, with numerous large pieces and stickers.

Acclaimed American graffiti artist MQ said in an interview:

GRAFFITI CREWS

Finding native graffiti artists is a bit more complicated. Even so, there is the group [crew] 246 in which are the best known Japanese graffiti artists in the country, apart from a few foreigners, who join them to create the best plan to painting and find the best locations in town. This crew has been in charge of bombing [ An act of painting many different walls inside one city area or train within a very short timeframe. To "hit". Graffiti bombers are prone to using simpler styles, tags or throw-ups, because speed is an important factor. It can also mean - to go out writing] practically all the shutters of establishments in the city, both in the center and in the suburbs. Although unfortunately in recent years they are not that active as they once were in the 90's and the 00's.

In articles written about graffiti in Tokyo in which this crew is mentioned, some members stand out who are currently very difficult to find, since these pieces have already been erased. However, new graffiti artists have gained popularity, taking over a large number of commercial shutters and party walls in the city such as MINT[o].

Or writers who operate on their own like Livla, ECY or BIEN with their peculiar typography, with very simple and easy to identify letters or SCOTCH and SOS with much more sophisticated tags. They are some of those that we can find in almost every corner of the city.

But as we have said, the most important graffiti group in Tokyo is called 246[which includes members from Japan as well as the United States, Mexico and Taiwan], including names such as: MQ, SODUH, PEAR, RESQ, SAYM, YU andZOMBRA.The most important of them in Japan, for being the founder and currently being one of the most present on the scene is WANT[O].

He has giant geometric block letter pieces painted in nearly every ward in Tokyo. Using flat exterior housepaint, he rolls out giant geometric grotesk capitals; he usesspraypaint to outline the letters and add a drop shadow. Popping up along most major train lines and on top of buildings seen from the highway driving in and out of Tokyo, these pieces have both a scale and frequency that is staggering.

The same can be said of writer SECT's treatment of huge portions of Sangenjaya and Futako-Tamagawa, back-to-back stacked throw-ups lining the Den-en-Toshi line train tracks. The hastily spray-painted strokes loop from side to side, the overspray doing half of the work from the can being held back half a foot from the wall and finished off with a few quick outline strokes.

Other names that we can find associated with this crew are: Tom, Blake, Rust[o], Noe246, False, Dart, Howa, Mkue, Mowa, LPS, GKQ, HYPE, EKYS or SAUTE.

The American graffiti artist NOE246 said about this crew:

Another crew that has been written very little about but is very present in the current scene in the form of throw-ups and stickers is 24K /24Killaz, among which we can find names such as: HENKA, GNASH, BAMS, JSONE, SPEWM, SHAKA, DART, SOLAR, PHOBIA, XEME ...

All of these writers typically have the same style, with readable and simple throw-ups. A throw-up sits between a tag and a bomb in terms of complexity and time investment. It generally consists of a one-color outline and one layer of fill-color. A throw-up is designed for quick execution, to avoid attracting attention to the writer.They are usually Bubbles [Bombs /Bubble Letter] without muchornamentation. And thanks to their constant bombing and repetition of pieces, they have become one of the most respected crews on the Asian continent.

INDEPENDENT GRAFFITI WRITTERS

We can also find on the streets of Tokyo a great extent other world-famous international graffiti artists, who in general take advantage of their visit to the Japanese city because of their individual exhibitions, to leave their mark on the city.

UFO907. American, who, taking advantage of his 2016 exhibition, bombarded the entire city with his characteristic alien character, in multiple shapes, sizes and formats.

REMIO Artist originally from a very small island in Norway, currently based in Los Angeles. He has come to the city of Tokyo several times to hold solo exhibitions such as the 2016 "FREE HABIT" one-day art show in Harajuku. And his solo exhibition "Cereal milk" in Daikanyama at Jinkinoko art gallery, in 2019.

LISTERAnthony Lister is a contemporary Australian artist. Lister helped pioneer the street art movement in his home city as a teenager and is considered Australia's premier 'street artist'. His scrawling, figurative style employs charcoal, acrylic, spray paint, and oil. Last year he had an exhibition titled Rude Words at Megumi Ogita Gallery in Tokyo.During the visit at the capital for his first solo show, Lister also did some interventions around the city which caused his arrest and subsequent stay in prison for 12 days.

Japanese:

TOKYO IS YOURS. A way between graffiti and "character". We can describe it as graffiti by using spray or marker as a medium, but it is not a tag but a quote. He has been bombarding the slogan at least since 2014, of which we have proof thanks to an article by TimeOut Tokyo where they compile some of the best pieces by this still anonymous artist. Recently [late 2020] he had a solo show at the Kimpton hotel in Shinjuku.

AKIONE, One of the few women we can find on the national graffiti scene. With her recognisable character of a kawaii girl. We can find it both in spray and in numerous stickers. In her most elaborate pieces, she experiments with wildstyle,where the convoluted and interlocked letters, arrows, spikes and other decorative elements merge into one another making it difficult to discern what has been written. The complex pattern of letters and other forms creates dynamic abstract images where letters can only be detected by professionals. She also uses elements of anime, and manga.

SHART / BAHK each with its characteristic animal character, a whale and a dog. They are two very young brothers who collaborate together on multiple occasions, both using graffiti and stickers, and their creation of fanzines stands out. They recently made a mural together against racism at a shutterof a Shibuya establishment [Shibuya Legal Wall Project]

﻿ ZERA With a funny cartoonish face character.

HENOHENOMOHEJI / HENOHENOKUTSUJI Figure that is composed of the seven hiragana characters "he, no, he, no, mo, he, hee", which are used to draw a face.

山田 丸 [Yamada Maru] KHN With two characters, a stick man with a crown and a kind of helmet, it can be found on numerous occasions, but especially in Yokohama area.

PREDOMINANT TECHNIQUE:

Can we see the difference between styles in different countries? Does each country have its dominant style? Maybe yes. Each style requires a technique and what is more important, a certain execution time. Making a tag is quick and easy, while a wildstyle requires greater skill when using the spray and more quietness to carry it out. In general, it requires the use of more colours and a more elaborate technique, something that is not needed in throw-ups and antistyle [those types of graffiti trends that voluntarily try to produce a neglected or even grotesque result.]. In Japan, curiously, the most prominent styles are, in terms of the spray technique, these last two. And the use of the tag and the sticker are very widespread.

It is probably due to the short time that writers have to make their pieces. For this reason, it is very rare to find more elaborate pieces [other than in legal murals].

On the other hand, stickers are easier to find, especially on billboards and traffic signs [since it is the fastest form of Street art that exists when it comes to intervening on the streets]. There are multiple accounts on Instagram dedicated exclusively to sticker art [stickers, usually with the artist's signature or symbol /character] from Japan. But we can also find stickers from famous international writers such as the omnipresent BNE, or CROD, ARES, D * FACE, ATOMIKO. [1] Benet business-card-sized BNE 参上 (BNE has arrived) stickers are an omnipresent aspect of the Tokyo streetscape. Composed of screenprinted vinyl backed with an industrial adhesive, they do not come off easily like the works of other writers who use peeledback paper 'Hello, My Name Is' stickers and United States Postal Service Priority Mail address labels. Tokyo retailers have taken to scraping the stickers off with a razor as chemical compounds don't seem to work very effectively.

NOE246 says in his interview that stickers are a widely used tool especially in cities as populated as Tokyo.

﻿Ian Lynam, author of the book Parallel Strokes, 2008 in which he analyzes graffiti and its typography, affirms that Tokyo writers have been influenced in terms of technique and ways of doing it by American crews such as MSK. He says that the two also coincide in terms of quantity and placement of their pieces.

As he explains, these crews have basically focused on producing as many signatures and throw ups as possible, leaving aside the more " pictorial " aspects of graffiti. It is therefore more about a type of language, a form of communication between all the members of the various groups, than art. How it was done and where is more important than what. The location is very important, the riskier it is, the more social relevance the writer will achieve.

It is a form of wild communication, which the general public does not recognize, but is obliged to live with it, since it is in the public sphere.

Finding more elaborate pieces in the city is practically impossible. We can only find this type of piece on the outskirts of big cities, generally in abandoned buildings or skate parks [ e.g.: Tetsuwan X Park Inage Naganuma en Chiba], where graffiti artists can paint more relaxed and have more time to develop their creativity.

There are some walls in the city [belonging to private establishments] that allow it to be practiced with the permission of the city council and they usually invite international urban artists to capture their works such as the Manhattan Records store in Shibuya, Design Festa cultural space in Harajukuor the space located in Shintora Village [Toranomon Hills].

Large pieces [made illegally] in the city center can be found in very specific locations such as Udagawachō street, Shibuya, just behind the Manhattan Records store, or the famous abandoned building behind the post office of the city at Miyamsu Zaka street in Shibuya as well. These locations have been painted and tagged for almost a decade by both local and international writers.

Another interesting artist is QP, not as legible as the other writers on the scene, since he uses a mixture of letters and symbols, and always monochrome. He plays with all kinds of formats and locations and also does many projects for galleries.

URBAN INTERVENTIONS

While on occasion we can find tags and throw-ups, street art or what we qualify as urban intervention ]such as sculptures, installations, adbusting( the practice of altering and making satirical interventions on public, corporate or political advertisements. It's marked by humor, satire and often sharp criticism of certain societal issues, most often consumerism.)...] is completely non-existent. Even practices as widespread in Europe and the United States as paste up[ Wheat paste or flour paste is an adhesive made of flour or starch and water. It's used to glue paper-based images to a wall, giving a name to a street art technique] or stencil[ Stencil pieces are made with stencils made out of cardboard, paper and other materials that help create a nice, figurative image quickly and well. The pre-prepared design is cut out and then transferred onto a wall with a spray or roll-on paint. Easily repeated on different walls.], are practically non-existent in Japan. That's the reason why the most prominent pieces that we can find around town are from foreign street artists.

The only example found of this last type of practice has been this anonymous artist who transforms the so famous garbage cans in Japan that are placed next to the drink dispensing machines, placing arms, mouths... and somehow humanizes them [although being done digitally, we do not know if it can be classified as urban art...]. All his digital interventions carried out since 2016 can be found both in his Instagram profile and in his eponymous book published in May of this same year 2020. It is an example of only virtual public art [only through images and a screen] without being materialized.

The characteristic mosaics of Space Invaders [French urban artist] can still be found in many streets of the city. Probably the most famous of them is the character of Astroboy placed in a passage in Shibuya. In Naka Meguro next to the river you can find another one with motifs from the country such as Mount Fuji. These curious mosaics have been placed over the years in 1999, 2002, 2010 and 2014.

Artist based in Hamburg, Germany. He carried out a project in 2019, placing stencils with characters of Japanese children throughout the city. In Koenji for example, we can still find a large number of them.

An interesting artist from Japan, who we could include more in the sphere of street art than classic graffiti is Diego [SIDE CORE],part of the @ everydayholidaysquad. Altogether they have made numerous interventions in the city, but one of the most interesting is the placement of "fake" signs around the city, in which you can read "Forbidden to paint graffiti" with a somehow artistic design that includes the figure of the legendary Keith Haring.

This continuous repetition of posters prohibiting the playful use of public space is sometimes as annoyingas advertisements. No smoking, no parking bikes, no skateboarding... On the streets we can find almost the same number of signs prohibiting the practice of graffiti as skateboarding.

It is curious to see the relationship that exists between the practice of skateboardingand graffiti, since 90% of graffiti artists have practiced it sooner or later. This is due to the fact that both graffiti and skateboarding are activities adopted as a lifestyle, they combine a feeling of freedom and rebellion against the established; they are two determining languages in the visual vocabulary of young people as a way of appropriating reality. The two manifestations imply situations of risk, play and occupation of the public space and entail a first-instance bodily experience.

The development of skateboarding and graffiti in the field of design confirms how the same element is valued differently depending on the medium and context: it is illegal on the streets, artistic in galleries, and a question of fashion and identity in clothing. Both activities involve years of preparation and practice, creativity and originality, experiential learning and improvement.

A "Hall of Fame" can be found in the Tetsuwan X Park Inage Naganuma skate park, in the province of Chiba. The pieces are much more elaborate there and are constantly being renewed by all kinds of artists on the national scene.

Graffiti, Skateboarding and Design invites us to reflect on the invasion of "legal" paid advertising and graffiti, which occupies the same space, but becomes a criminal act. Similarly, the practice of skateboarding is illegal or discriminated against in a street scene, but commercially accepted when it comes to sell products and accessories necessary for its execution.

For example, the well-known Japanese brand UNIQLO launched in 2020 a collaboration called UNIQLO UT URBAN WALLS, in which we can find designs on t-shirts, bags and stickers by artists such as D*FACE, LADY AIKO, André Saraiva [artist whose work was recently buffed from the public space].

INTERNATIONAL JAPANESE ARTISTS

Does this mean that Japan does not have great artists who dedicate themselves to graffiti legally? Or how the media likes to label them: street artists or muralists? Of course not, there are many Japanese artist of incredible talent. Some of them are very famous even on social media and are not afraid to show their image in public. However, the vast majority of classic and illegal graffiti writers in Japan prefer to stay anonymous when it comes to advertising their image.

On the other hand, this type of practice being generally legal, artists enjoy more time to produce their pieces and promoters/organizers provide them with large spaces and good quality materials. Many of them live outside the country and curiously, in this category of "muralist" artists we find a greater number of women.

One of the most recognized graffiti artists in Japan, heavily influenced by Twist's work, paints characters very similar to McGee's. He started out as a skater [he belongs to the Tokyo skaters group called "T19" and is also a member of "Ryokudokai, RDK]. In 2013 he gave an interesting interview, in which he mentioned that practicing skateboarding had helped him to get to know the city in other completely different way and find the best "spots" to capture his work. He discovered graffiti after moving to the United States when he was 17. His work can be seen in a wide range of media, from murals, canvases and clothing brands. Characters [traditional Japanese style] usually appear in his work that show a combination of humor and melancholy on their faces, providing a unique vision of the world, using a characteristic illustrative and cartoonish style.

Raised in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo. Besides doing classic graffiti, he also designs and creates objects with the characteristic image of his hooded characters. In 2019, he released the cartoon "Il Bros". He is also a member of "MSC", a Japanese rap group based in Shinjuku. He has made several murals at Manhattan records building in Shibuya, collaborating with other artists such as KAZZROCK or ALEX FACE.

Lady Aiko is a Japanese artist born in Tokyo and based in Brooklyn, New York. In a largely male-dominatedscene, Aiko is an influential figure in contemporary urban art. "It's hard to be a woman and a graffiti artist", she once said about being a woman in the street art scene. As a consequence, her work, inspired by her identity and her experience as a Japanese woman, tries to give visibility and recognition to women and girls and to achieve gender equality.

She has large-scale works installed in cities like Rome, Italy, Shanghai, China, and Brooklyn, New York. She uses stencils and spray paint, brushes, collage and silkscreens, to create feminine pop art style wall murals. Pink, purple and gold colours predominate frequently, to add femininity to her designs. Highly respected on the international graffiti scene, she even worked with Banksy on "Exit Through the Gift Shop" in 2010. Her works were part of the 2017 URBAN NATION museum opening exhibition in Berlin. In 2018 she performed Lady Go! her solo exhibition at the Tokaido Hiroshige Museum in Shizuoka City.

Kami and Sasu are a Japanese street art group [and sentimental couple] who paint murals that we could qualify as more "decorative", with flower motifs based on mandalas and geometric games; they usually use peaceful shades of sky blue and whites. This street art duo like to imagine that their art provides the backdrop against which the human dramas of Japanese society unfold.

Born in Shiga, Japan in 1976. The concept of his artistic style is "the coexistence" of two opposites such as past and future, stillness and movement, evil and justice. He also performs improvised and dynamic live painting shows around the world and always draws a large audience. In 2015, he was invited to the well-known art festival, POW! Wow JAPAN. Since 2016, he resides and works in New York, where his art and style continue to progress. In June 2019, he held his first solo show in New York, entitled "COEXIST" at the Compound Gallery in the Bronx. Recently [2020] he has participated in the Kawasaki Street Art Project, an urban festival that we will talk about later.

Shiro finds herself, along with Aiko, among the growing number of women in graffiti and street art who are claiming her place in a male-dominated society with her work. She was born in Shizuoka, a port city in Japan, and resides in New York.

Shiro was never known for being a writer; she quickly switched into legal art works and commercial projects, like the ones she has done for major organizations like Gap and the NBA, but she doesn't see her work as less subversive to the world around her. This rebelliousness is especially true when it comes to the sexuality displayed in the murals and by her main character, Mimi. Her job is not for everyone. Some say that she only makes pretty drawings compared to the intrepid, often dangerous performance art that is graffiti writing. But others think that her work effectively exhibits fundamental elements of hip-hop, uniquely interpreted through an Asian filter.

Her vibrant images of her, reflect her love of Hip-Hop culture and old school graffiti, revolving around her original character "Mimi", a strong and dynamic model of femininity.

Her artwork is excellent examples of her fusion of Japanese aesthetics and old-school New York graffiti. She often participates in more community mural projects. In particular, she strives to work directly with children in slums and ghettos around the world.

She was born in the United States and raised in Tokyo, where she studied design and illustration. In 2009 she began her journey by moving to Barcelona, Spain, where she met and learned to love urban art. She began experimenting with techniques such as graffiti and large-scale murals. Her work is the living reflection of a child's creative spirit, using soft, bright and warm colours to express her young spirit. Mina Hamada's art began to flourish when she met Zosen [an Argentine /Spanish urban artist]. It was at this point that she defined her style through various collaborations established with Zosen and other artists from around the world.

With a style in which colour, rhythm and improvisation are the main characteristics, Mina transmits her good vibes through free and organic forms. Her work is reminiscent of the artistic current of Fauvism, in such a way that it could be a reinterpretation of it. This movement defended the supremacy of feelings and the state of mind through the free use of colour, and we can perceive the same emotional role in her pieces. She was the artist chosen by Koko magazine for the cover of their publication dedicated to Japanese street art.

About the author:
Elena Calderón Aláez, a graduate in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage at the Complutense University of Madrid. She was an active member of the ST.A.CO group (Street Art Conservators of the TEI of Athens) during her Erasmus scholarship in Greece (2014-2015 academic year). Her final degree project was focused on the conservation and restoration of works by the artist Eltono in Madrid. In 2017 she finished her Master's degree in Conservation and Exhibition of Contemporary Art at the UPV of Bilbao with thesis about Interventionist /Appropriationist Urban Artists in Spain. She is currently part of the Street Art Cities community, where she has documented murals from cities such as Bilbao, Stockholm, Reykjavik, Maribor and currently Tokyo. She has published several articles in the online magazine MURAL, researching about art in the public space.

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GRAFFITI CULTURE IN TOKYO: THE STREETS ARE YOURS - sabukaru

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Graffiti in Tokyo exists, you just have to know where to find it. This article provides a general overview of both sides, the main writers from illegal graffiti and their respective crews, as well as those considered to be the most prominent Japanese urban artists /muralists in the last decade.

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This article discusses contemporary feminism in Japan and the women that are helping to further the movement as it extends into modern day.

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On Oct. 21, 1970, hundreds of women marched through the streets of Tokyo, an occasion that is often referred to as the birth of the women's liberation movement in Japan.

The movement, called ūman libu (women's lib) in Japanese, was eventually adopted by women who embraced the concept of feminism, striving to define, establish and achieve political, economic, cultural, personal and social rights for women.

It's based on the principle of the "personal" being "political," and manifests itself in such diverse issues as marriage and abortion to the U.S. military presence in Okinawa and the "comfort women" who were forced into sexual servitude in wartime military brothels.

Instead of being applauded for their achievements, however, the media continued to label feminists as "unattractive, hysterical" women - a negative image that persists to this day.

The Japan Times talks to four key women in an attempt to discover what the future holds for women in Japan.

Mitsu Tanaka, acupuncturist

Mitsu Tanaka | SATOKO KAWASAKI

Mitsu Tanaka was one of the leading members of the country's women's liberation movement in the early 1970s.

In just one night, she wrote a manifesto titled "Benjo Kara no Kaiho" ("Liberation from the Toilet"), which called for women to stand up and free themselves from male sexual oppression. Published in 1970, it became arguably the most famous manifesto of the domestic women's liberation movement.

Why toilet? Tanaka says she chose the word because it was a derogatory expression that described women as little more than repositories of men's bodily fluids. It originally stemmed from the word " kyōdō benjo " ("public bathrooms") that was used with disdain toward promiscuous women and those engaged in prostitution.

As far as men are concerned, the manifesto says, women were condemned to be "mothers" or "whores."

"I realized that men only saw women as a convenience - either as mothers or 'toilets,'" Tanaka says. "While it might have been difficult (to stand up to men) as individuals, it ultimately became possible when women stood together, side by side."

Tanaka was sexually abused as a child by a man who worked for her parents' restaurant. Just 5 or 6 years old at the time, she had no real idea of what that man was doing and it was only later that she realized what he had done was despicable.

"I blamed myself, but you can't live your life in self-denial," Tanaka says. "I realized I needed to accept myself for who I was. The problems I suffered directly connected me (to the women's liberation movement)."

Tanaka looks back on the 1960s and '70s and remembers how repressed women were back then - the way they talked, the way they dressed, everything centered around what men viewed as "feminine."

"We couldn't be who we really were because we were women," Tanaka says. "We were living the lives of women who didn't actually exist and that anger spread through the female community."

The demonstration on Oct. 21, 1970, was the start of a series of activities organized by the country's fledgling feminists, including a "lib camp" in Nagano Prefecture in August the following year, where about 300 women gathered from all over Japan to discuss various issues related to being a woman.

In 1972, the women opened Lib Shinjuku Center, which not only served as an administrative center for their activities but also became a refuge of sorts for women with problems that ranged from obtaining contraception and abortion to divorce.

A unique aspect of the domestic women's liberation movement was that the founding members did not create a pyramid organization. While Tanaka is believed to be one of the movement's leading members, she stresses that each woman was there as an individual and all she did was invite people to participate. She likens it to current protest groups such as Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy, which has individual students participating without a specific leader.

"The liberation movement was based on the desires of individuals," Tanaka says. "It was about how we wanted to live our own lives, think about what we wanted and decide what we wanted to do on our own. We were already doing this (in the late 1960s and '70s) but people couldn't understand what we were about back then."

Much of Europe and the United States were experiencing gender equality movements in the late 1960s and '70s, demanding such things as equal employment opportunities and abortion rights. Women protested against the Miss America beauty pageant and tossed bras into a trash can as a sign of independence from men.

Some believe that Japan's liberation movement was imported from the United States, but Tanaka denies this was the case.

The women's liberation movement in Japan was not about winning equal rights with men, she says. Instead, it addressed the fundamental repressed role that women were forced to play, and called for liberation from their sex.

Tanaka notes that measures such as burning bras or refusing to wear makeup did not interest her because the domestic women's liberation movement focused on how to be yourself.

"It's never black or white," Tanaka says. "Sometimes you might want to wear makeup, other days you might not. We were ordinary women just trying to live our lives truthfully."

In 1975, she visited Mexico to attend the U.N. World Conference on Women and ended up living there for more than four years. During her time in the Central American nation, she gave birth to a son as a single mother. After returning to Japan, she studied acupuncture and has since worked as an acupuncturist.

Tanaka has more recently been involved in opposing the plan to relocate Futenma air base in Okinawa to the Henoko district.

Tanaka felt compelled to get involved after seeing a photograph of a young girl who had been killed by a U.S. military truck in 1965.

She now leads tours to Okinawa to show people from the mainland what the situation is like in the southern archipelago. She has led three tours so far, with another planned for November.

"I can't believe I didn't know what was happening in Okinawa for 70 years," Tanaka says. "I am embarrassed, and that is why I decided to do something about it. It is not about seeing how many people I can gather. ... Whether it is 10 people, 100 people or by myself, I will never stop going there."

Chizuko Ueno, sociologist

Chizuko Ueno | SATOKO KAWASAKI

Sociologist Chizuko Ueno grew up watching her mother languish in an unhappy marriage. Ueno's mother would often complain that she couldn't file for a divorce because of her children - even if she wanted to.

Ueno sympathized with her mother at first, but eventually understood that she would continue to be unhappy even if she remarried. Ueno's mother was miserable because of the institution of marriage.

Therefore, Ueno did what her mother couldn't - never get married.

"There is nothing wrong with loving someone - that itself makes your life rich," Ueno says. "However, marriage based on monogamy is the root of all evil. A sexual relationship becomes one based on ownership. Marriage is especially repressive for women."

The first wave of feminism in Japan began in the early 20th century, with writers such as Akiko Yosano and Raicho Hiratsuka, who founded the women's magazine "Seito" (literally, "Bluestocking"), leading calls for a spiritual revolution. The second wave of feminism took place around the period of the women's liberation movement in the 1970s.

The 1975 U.N. World Conference on Women was a major turning point for feminism throughout the world, including Japan. It led to the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 1979 that requires all member states to ensure equal rights for women and take measures in all fields, including enacting legislation for the advancement of women.

Japan ratified the convention in 1985 and a couple of legal frameworks were codified around the same time. In 1984, the Nationality Law was revised to allow Japanese nationality to be obtained through an individual's mother, while an equal employment opportunity law was enacted the following year. These developments ultimately led to the adoption of the gender equality law in 1999.

Ueno remembers those days when sexual harassment was frequently used as a tool to reduce tension in the workplace and groping on trains went unchecked.

"It is hard to say that feminism changed society but it did change some things," Ueno says.

Ueno is one of the pioneers of women's studies in Japan and retired from her 18-year career at the University of Tokyo in 2011. She fought for her sex in the field of academia and is often referred to as "bilingual" in both female and male languages, acting as an "interpreter" between the two sexes.

"You have to speak the language to get your message across ... so I learned to speak like a male," Ueno says. "I am known as a woman of logic and I try to break it down and explain things to men in a way that they could understand."

Toward the end of the 20th century, perspectives appeared to be - slowly but surely - changing. As Japan entered the 21st century, however, feminism experienced a powerful backlash.

"In the beginning, I thought the backlash was evidence of the growing feminist activity and was even secretly a bit proud," Ueno says. "However, it turned out to be a lot fiercer than we expected and it actually did quite a lot of damage."

Local municipalities canceled lectures by feminists because of their "biased" viewpoints and the central government cut budgets for public women's centers nationwide.

In 2005, Shinzo Abe of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party headed a group of lawmakers to "investigate radical sex education and gender-free education."

Today, the prime minister has vowed to create a society in which "women can shine," recently enacting a law to increase the percentage of corporate female executives to 30 percent by 2020.

At the same time, he and the ruling LDP-Komeito bloc steamrolled a bill through the Diet that enables employers to use temp workers - of which about 70 percent are women - for as long as they wish.

"Neoliberalist politicians (such as Abe) are so understanding of gender equality because of one thing - they want females in the workforce because women are the last resources," Ueno says. "They no longer say women should stay inside their homes because they want women to have babies and work."

Ueno is currently the head of Women's Action Network, a nonprofit organization established in 2009 to provide various information related to feminism and to connect individuals and groups, both private and public, to improve the situation for women. The group has also begun digitalizing and archiving women's magazines to be stored as important historical documents for future feminists.

"One day, I hope to hand over the baton of feminism to the next generation," Ueno says.

Minori Kitahara, writer

Minori Kitahara | SATOKO KAWASAKI

Growing up in the 1970s and '80s, Minori Kitahara saw feminists as the object of ridicule and scorn. Perhaps that is why so many people ask her why she became one.

To Kitahara, however, becoming a feminist felt like a natural thing to do.

"I initially became interested in feminism because I was frustrated about the difficulty of living in this world as a woman," Kitahara says. "I think that frustration is what gets many feminists started. I watched women such as Chizuko Ueno show their anger in public and grew up realizing that it is OK to speak up."

Society and the media have played a role in painting feminists in an unflattering light, depicting them as unattractive, hysterical women or women who possess radical thoughts.

Having studied feminist claims and studied books written by a wide variety of women since she was in elementary school, Kitahara attempted to become a "likeable feminist."

It was an idea, however, she quickly abandoned.

"It is impossible to be a feminist who is liked," Kitahara says. "No matter how nicely you phrase your words, you are still, in effect, speaking out against men. People say that feminists are responsible for their negative image in the press, but I don't think this is the case. I think the negative image (people generally have toward feminists) reflects the prejudice society harbors toward such women."

Kitahara has definitely pushed the boundaries further by becoming the first female owner of an adult-goods shop for women in Japan called Love Piece Club. At her showroom in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward are rows of colorful dildos and vibrators, lubricants in cute packaging, and books and DVDs on sex. The products are available online.

Kitahara says that discussing women's sexual desires in a positive note is often difficult in the world of feminism, since some of the key issues women take up are related to sexual harassment and violence.

"It's difficult to talk about victimization in sex crimes and women's sexual desires in the same breath," Kitahara says. "I wanted to create a safe place for women's desires."

Like Ueno, Kitahara recognizes that the pace of change has been slow.

Kitahara points to endless examples, especially in the world of politics.

In recent research, Kitahara found that the first female politician to give birth was Tenkoko Sonoda in 1950. Shockingly, she says, the next woman to have a child as a politician was Seiko Hashimoto in 2000 - half a century later.

When Hashimoto became pregnant, she was criticized for taking time off to give birth. As a result of her situation, however, both chambers of the Diet revised their rules to allow women to be absent from public proceedings to have a baby.

Still, very few women have had children during their time in office. Since Hashimoto, only nine women have given birth while in office, including Seiko Noda at the age of 50.

"Women have been pressured into giving up their careers if they can't work like a man," Kitahara says. "Corporations, the LDP and the world of politics have excluded women and turned this world into a wretched state. That said, I think people are finally beginning to recognize the merits of having diversity in the workplace."

Even on a more basic level, sexist comments made by fellow lawmakers appear to continue unabated.

Ayaka Shiomura, a female Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly lawmaker, last June faced sexist jeers such as "Why don't you get married soon?" as she discussed women's policies.

LDP member Akihiro Suzuki later admitted making the remark on marriage but Shiomura says that others were involved. No further investigation was conducted by the local government to identify any other hecklers.

And in August, Kagoshima Gov. Yuichiro Ito also made a sexist gaffe, asking prefectural government education board members if there was any point teaching women the sine, cosine and tangent trigonometric functions in high school.

While deploring a clear reluctance on the part of men to change, Kitahara says women are now beginning to stand up for themselves.

Women, whether they call themselves feminists or not, are no longer letting men off the hook with sexist remarks, sexual harassment, derogatory statements and groping on trains.

"You don't need a license to be a feminist, but I think the number of individuals interested in feminism is on the rise," Kitahara says. "It is up to each individual to choose whether to call themselves feminist or not, but the fact is that these women are feeling the pain of other women. Men have now been handed their homework - it is up to them to do it."

Hisako Matsui | SATOKO KAWASAKI

Hisako Matsui, film director

Director Hisako Matsui had avoided tackling the world of feminism in film for a long time.

But when Kimiko Tanaka, former managing editor of women's magazine Wife, saw a short film Matsui had created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the magazine, she asked the director to document the activities of her fellow feminists.

The request eventually inspired Matsui to make a documentary titled "What Are You Afraid Of?"

"It was fate," Matsui says. "Feminism was not something I had thought much about when I was younger. ... Thinking about it now, I realize I'm also feminist in my own way."

The film includes interviews and video footage of 15 women at the center of the domestic women's liberation movement. The documentary shows how the women's liberation movement and feminism developed in Japan through the words of the women who led the evolution.

It covers such diverse themes as child abuse, marriage, rape, nuclear energy and war.

For instance, Matsui talked to Tomoko Yonezu, who became physically disabled at the age of 2 because of polio. As a woman with physical disabilities, Yonezu vehemently opposed a bill that would legalize the abortion of fetuses that were likely to have mental or physical disabilities. The proposed legislation was later scrapped.

"I wanted to capture the expressions of each of the women in the film to show how powerful their words are," Matsui says.

Prior to the documentary, Matsui has directed three films that also focus on women: "Yukie" (1997), which tells the tale of an elderly couple in an international marriage dealing with Alzheimer's disease; "Oriume" (2001-02), which is based on a true story about a family's struggles with dementia; and "Leonie" (2010), a film about Leonie Gilmour, mother of renowned sculptor and architect Isamu Noguchi.

"In every film I have created, I have always considered how women live," Matsui says. "I didn't take an ideological approach but, instead, listened to the stories of each woman in order to shed light on issues related to feminism. Rather than forcing my own views onto the audience, I want people to be able to make a personal connection by recognizing parts of the film that reflect their own lives."

The director spent about four hours with each woman and because so much of the footage ended up on the cutting room floor, she also published a book under the same name.

"I chose the title ("What Are You Afraid Of?") because so many women live in fear, trying not to upset the status quo in a male-dominated society - both at work and at home," Matsui says. "I want the audience to realize that it's OK to live life without fear. They should be able to live a life in which they are true to themselves."

Matsui's initial impression of feminism was not exactly positive. At first, she thought feminism was an ideology that was based on a judgmental perspective, which rejected everything and focused on turning against men to establish women's rights.

Talking to these women, however, changed her perspective.

"After meeting the women, I realized that diversity is the key because they themselves are so diverse," Matsui says.

Completed in August 2014, "What Are You Afraid Of?" has been screened both at home and abroad since last September. Working on the film certainly opened Matsui's eyes to a few home truths that had been staring her in the face.

"I realize I've been stuck in a male-dominated society," Matsui says.

"It was easier for me to avoid conflict because that is what I had to do to survive in the (film) industry," she says. "I don't deny my past but I believe that's why I think I can act as a bridge between the feminists and the next generation."

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On Oct. 21, 1970, hundreds of women marched through the streets of Tokyo, an occasion that is often referred to as the birth of the women's liberation movement in Japan. The movement, called ūman libu (women's lib) in Japanese, was eventually adopted by women who embraced the concept of feminism, striving to define, establish and achieve political, economic, cultural, personal and social rights for women.

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Fetishization of Black Americans by Japanese People

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Overview of the Feminist Movement in Japan

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The general election for Japan's lower house last October was the first since the act on "promotion of gender equality in the political field" three years earlier. Yet the number of women elected to the 465-seat House of Representatives actually fell-to 45, down two from 2017, when Japan ranked 163rd among 193 countries for gender equality in politics. Feminists wanted the act to require parties to field equal numbers of male and female candidates. But after fierce opposition from right-wing Diet members, it only requires political parties to make "every possible effort."

Translated by Charles Goulden.
This essay continues our exclusive collaboration with Le Monde Diplomatique, monthly publishing jointly commissioned and shared articles, both in print and online. To subscribe to LMD, go to mondediplo.com/subscribe.

Only 9.7 percent of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) candidates were women. The center-left Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), the main opposition party, had 18.3 percent women. The Communist Party (JCP) did better with 35.4 percent, and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) had 60 percent, though only nine candidates in total.

Feminism in Japan dates back to the end of the 19th century, when women demanded easier access to education and greater political rights. As part of modernization during the Meiji era (1868-1912), primary education became compulsory for all from 1872; an 1886 decree required prefectural authorities to provide secondary education. Most universities, however, only accepted women after 1945, and even then, until 1995, most women attended two-year junior colleges. Everyone in Japan remembers the scandal, in 2018, when Tokyo Medical University (private) admitted that it had been reducing female applicants' entrance exam scores for years. (Japan has a very low percentage of female doctors by international standards.)

Women began demanding the right to vote as soon as "universal" adult male suffrage was granted in 1925. But in 1941, the World War II forced them to disband their campaign organizations and join the Patriotic Women's Association, and, in 1942, the Greater Japan Women's Association (membership compulsory for all aged 20 or over). This was a considerable setback.

Despite postwar democratic reforms, the conservative right's virtual monopoly on power (the LDP has been in government almost continuously since 1955) was an obstacle to progress on gender equality, adding to the stagnation in social attitudes and politics.

Even so, there have been signs of change in recent years. In January 2021, Akiko Matsuo, founder of the feminist publisher Etc.books, opened Tokyo's first feminist bookshop. In March 2019, Matsuo and feminist writer Minori Kitahara had launched Japan's #MeToo #WithYou movement, calling for demonstrations against the acquittals of four men accused of sexual assault.

Rapists acquitted

Nagoya District Court had acquitted a man accused of repeatedly raping his daughter between the ages of 13 and 19, saying there was "reasonable doubt that it was not impossible for her to resist." Shizuoka District Court had found another man not guilty of raping his daughter between the ages of 12 and 14 because her testimony was "unreliable."

Current Issue

Fukuoka District Court acquitted a middle manager of raping a female colleague after getting her drunk on the grounds that he was unaware of her state. And Shizuoka District Court acquitted a man of raping a woman after beating her, saying he could not have known that her unresponsiveness did not signify consent.

The first three were eventually convicted on appeal, after the demonstrations. Since then, monthly protests known as Flower Demos have become a forum where victims of rape and incest can speak out. As Kitahara explains, "Thanks to WithYou, we can finally hear and believe them. We just needed a safe space for them to talk. Now we have a place where everyone can tell their story, and show solidarity."

Feminists' struggle to reduce Japan's tolerance of sexual and domestic violence began decades ago, as sociologist Chizuko Ueno describes. The women's movement is fighting discrimination: An association formed in 1999 to "condemn sexist comments by Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara"and eliminate them from the public domain, ranks such comments by other public figures. In 2021, equal first place went to Yoshiro Mori, a former LPD prime minister, and Mio Sugita, an LDP Diet member known for her anti-feminist and anti-LGBTQ remarks, who had said the 2019 acquittals were justified because women lie about sexual assault.

110,000 signatures in two days

Mori, who was head of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizing committee, provoked worldwide outrage in February 2021 with remarks about "talkative women" prolonging meetings. A petition launched the following day calling for "appropriate sanctions" against him collected 110,000 signatures in two days. A Kyodo poll found that 60 percent of Japanese believed he should step down as committee head. A number of Olympic sponsors and celebrities distanced themselves from his remarks, and more than a thousand volunteers refused to help out during the Olympics. Despite Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's support, Mori was forced to step down, the first time an LDP heavyweight had resigned over sexist behavior.

On February 6, the Choose Life Project livestreamed on YouTube a two-and-a-half-hour forum titled "Don't Be Silent," hashtag (in Japanese) #WomenWhoRefuseToKnowTheirPlace. Twenty-five writers, publishers, NGO members, and activists were invited to comment on Mori's remarks, especially his statements (less publicized abroad) that women were "competitive": "When one raises her hand and speaks, they probably think they should speak, too." He added that the committee included seven women, but "luckily they all know how to behave." The participants agreed that the LDP was incapable of bringing about change, and that it was time for them to speak out.

The younger generation is more open, and more engaged on issues such as the environment and the work/family balance. Activist Tamaka Ogawa says she joined the women's movement after receiving insults-such as "filthy feminist" ( kusofemi)-over a 2013 article defending working mothers.

That's a major issue in Japan, where the birth rate is falling, the population is aging, and many young people are in precarious, low-paid jobs. Less than 3 percent of children were born out of wedlock in 2020, and the decision to marry still largely depends on the man's ability to provide, though attitudes are starting to change.

The post-World War II socioeconomic structure forces women to choose between family and career. The M-shaped curve showing women's participation in the labor force-rising with age, falling after marriage or the birth of a child, rising again as children grow up-has shifted: Women now tend to first drop out of the workforce at 30 instead of 25. Between Us, We Cover the World

Since 1986 it has been illegal to require women to resign when they marry or have children (most companies once made female employees sign a contract agreeing to this). But even today, only 38 percent return to work after their first child, despite government campaigns since 2012 to promote a better work/family balance.

'Career' and 'non-career' workers

In 1985 the Diet ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (CEDAW) and adopted an equal employment opportunity law. But company bosses circumvented the legislation by inventing a two-track system with "career employees" ( sogoshoku), who could qualify for promotion, and "non-career employees" ( ippanshoku), who could not. Women had to choose their track when they were hired, but opting to be a "career employee" meant accepting long work hours and frequent relocation to provincial offices, like their male colleagues, making it hard to balance work and family life.

Only around 9 percent of middle managers in companies are women, and at senior management level the figure is much lower. Government figures show the pay gap between men and women has fallen from 40 percent in the 1990s to 24.5 percent in 2020 (compared to 16.5 percent in France). But this is due more to a drop in men's pay over the last 20 years than a rise in women's pay. And women often have precarious jobs (part-time, short-term, temporary, etc.) paying less than 55 percent of men's average salary, a trend that is growing.

This is partly due to two laws passed in 1986. The first introduced a personal allowance of ¥380,000 ($3,300) for income tax on one spouse's earnings, provided the other spouse's earnings did not exceed ¥1.03m ($9,000)-the kind of pay that comes with a part-time job, mainly affecting women. The other legalized temporary contracts, banned until then. Applying to 13 sectors in 1986, 26 from 1999, and all since 2015, this law has mainly affected women and young people.

This highlights the government's mixed messages on women's place in society against a background of neoliberal reforms. In December 2012, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe presented increasing women's labor force participation as a key structural reform to revitalize the Japanese economy, saying he wanted to create "a society in which all women shine." Feminists remained skeptical. Though the LDP victory in last year's election was a setback for Japanese women, with fewer female candidates elected than in 2017, the #MeToo movement is inspiring women to mobilize against sexism. But there's a long way to go.

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The general election for Japan's lower house last October was the first since the act on "promotion of gender equality in the political field" three years earlier. Yet the number of women elected to the 465-seat House of Representatives actually fell-to 45, down two from 2017, when Japan ranked 163rd among 193 countries for gender equality in politics.

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Essay About Japanese Women Finding Empowerment Through Hip Hop

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How American Hip Hop Influenced Japanese Culture

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Even though the prime minister of the Olympic Committee in Japan resigned after being called out for sexist comments, sexism still runs rampant in Japan. This article explores the reasons why.

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A day after former Tokyo Olympics boss Yoshiro Mori made global headlines with his sexist comments, Momoko Nojo, 23, helped start a petition calling for action against him. "The aim wasn't his resignation," says Nojo, whose petition - co-created with 10 other women - took two days to collect 100,000 signatures. "I felt we needed to do something, because until now we, as a society, have accepted these kinds of comments."

Mori - an 83-year-old former prime minister who had told a Japanese Olympic Committee meeting that women talked too much - resigned a week later (pictured above). When broadcasters and newspapers reported that he had handpicked another man in his 80s as his replacement, young women called for a transparent process, resulting in the appointment of Seiko Hashimoto - a much younger, female, former Olympics Minister - instead.

The move was seen as something of a victory for women. But Nojo, who is the head of a youth group called No Youth No Japan, says Mori's resignation doesn't come close to tackling the overall problem of gender inequality in Japan. "Companies criticised Mr Mori's comments, but some of them have less than 1% female board members, and that needs to change," she says.

Risa Kamio, an elected member of the Setagaya City Council in Tokyo, agrees. "To me, Mr Mori was only the tip of the iceberg. It was like a whack-a-mole game. People criticised him because he came out to be whacked, but there are many other moles," she says.

The topic of gender equality keeps making headlines in Japan, for all the wrong reasons. Indeed, just a few days after Mori resigned, the ruling party hit the news again by announcing that, while it was willing to allow women to attend its all-male board meetings, they would not be allowed to speak.

These high-profile incidents come despite well-publicised policies aimed at promoting women's representation in society, including an ambitious target announced in 2015 for women to hold 30% of leadership positions by 2020. And the incidents coincide with a steady drop by Japan in global gender equality rankings; the World Economic Forum describes the country's gender gap as " the largest among advanced economies ".

Momoko Nojo, pictured here carrying her petition, says it was important to speak up about Mori's comments (Credit: Momoko Nojo)

While more women have indeed joined the workforce, many remain in part-time or non-career track roles, which will not allow them to access the top jobs. In the private sector, the number of female managers rose to 7.8% in 2019, but that is still nowhere near the 30% target, which the government has quietly pushed back to 2030. And in politics, women make up just 9.9% of lawmakers in parliament's more powerful lower house - ranking Japan 166th out of 193 countries.

The result is that men still dominate business and political leadership in Japan, policies that really meet women's needs are slow to emerge and - in some quarters - misogyny continues to thrive.

Why people don't speak out

Part of the reason comments like Mori's have gone unchallenged for a long time is because of society's unspoken etiquette: in general, people don't get into arguments, particularly with their elders. "Japan is a country where people find it difficult to speak out regardless of your age or gender," says Nojo, whose petition helped force out Mori. "If you do, you could be seen as selfish."

It's the Japanese concept of "reading the air" - kuuki o yomu in Japanese. Even if you find someone's remarks sexist, many choose not to confront the issue, so that the situation doesn't become awkward. That has allowed Mori and others like him to perceive their remarks as acceptable. In the past, even if these leaders were criticised, they were able to apologise, bid for public sympathy by saying, "My wife (and/or daughters) told me off", just as Mori did - and get away with it.

That's why many older women expressed support for Nojo's petition; many said they felt partially responsible that incidents like this kept happening because they didn't speak out in the past.

"I want to say loudly that it's not only Japanese women who are angry about those sexist remarks," points out Komazaki. "The majority of men, including lawmakers, think these sexist comments and actions by Mr Mori and the [ruling] LDP are unthinkable."

While generational change will help, he adds, some older men have already updated their attitudes though interactions with grandchildren or younger colleagues, and realised that acceptable attitudes and perceptions surrounding gender have changed.

'One person cannot fight alone'

As people update their attitudes, social media is also increasingly offering a platform for Nojo's generation to voice opinions, - and more crucially, for them to be taken seriously by stakeholders, like the Olympic sponsors.

Yet pressure from younger members of society needs to be combined with new policy - and messaging - from the top.

Entrenched gender roles mean many women step off the career track when they have kids, missing out on leadership opportunities (Credit: Alamy)

When Japan's new leader, Yoshihide Suga, took office in September 2020, he named just two women in his cabinet (Credit: Alamy)

Kamio doesn't know how long it will take to reach a better level of gender parity, pointing out that despite some changes, social attitudes mean that boys and girls are still raised differently. "As a mother of a boy, I keep reminding myself how important it is to make him help with housework," she says.

But journalist Shirakawa says Mori's forced resignation represents significant progress, noting that had it happened even a few years ago, he might have been able to simply apologise and keep his job.

And unlike previous generations, Nojo and Tanaka - two women in their 20s - say they aren't concerned about the repercussions of their activism as they look for jobs. But even they aren't ready to enter politics. "I know someone has to do it," says Nojo, "but I don't feel like I can be happy if I become a politician," adding that she may have been affected by what she sees in the political arena and how hard she thinks it would be to thrive there.

A survey by research body Dentsu Institute, meanwhile, showed that while people increasingly want the gender equality issue addressed, they expect it to take a long time; participants estimated that it would take 24.7 years before women make up 30% of Japanese company management, and 33.5 years for women to make up half of national lawmakers.

Underlining the slow progress, late last month, yet another high-profile Olympic official had to step down over sexist comments. Creative Director Hiroshi Sasaki suggested it would be appropriate to dress Japan's plus-sized celebrity comedian, Naomi Watanabe, up as a pig for the opening ceremony and call her "OlymPig".

We still have a long way to go.

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A day after former Tokyo Olympics boss Yoshiro Mori made global headlines with his sexist comments, Momoko Nojo, 23, helped start a petition calling for action against him. "The aim wasn't his resignation," says Nojo, whose petition - co-created with 10 other women - took two days to collect 100,000 signatures.

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