I can see this as a quiet kind of power, but not one that really functionally changes traditions.

The question is if the young women of Japan are interested in changing Japan and willing to consciously work towards this change. I’d say the answer is typically “no”. Their choices (freeter, parasite singles, even working w/o marriage, etc. etc.) are changing Japan socially and economically, but that isn’t the goal of their actions. Without a willing to organize and even sacrifice for a movement (both largely absent from Japanese society at the moment), the changes you’re looking for aren’t going to happen. It would take women organizing as voters and demanding change. But Japanese in general are pretty apathetic towards governance issues (even if a higher percentage vote than in the USA), so I wouldn’t recommend anyone hold their breath. Heck, it’s only been the last election or so parties even thought about putting out issue oriented platforms. Btw, there’s a book on women and politics called “Bicycle Citizens” by Robin LeBlanc.

Smart post, RTN. There’s really nothing in any of the numbers, Alex, that tells me that attitudes toward women are changing. Women may indeed have many material needs met–as does a great portion of Japan–but the stats don’t bear out that they suddenly have greater choices–other than to opt out of traditional roles completely, and this is only possible because they continue to have money to allow them to opt out.

This is what I meant when I said that I find Chamber’s thesis too sunny. Hills, I find too bleak. I’ll look at LeBlanc. She’s trained in fieldwork, which sounds good.

Chambers is rather patronizing. She says that Japanese women got “smart.” Why? Because they are choosing self-indulgent, lives without children or commitment to anything, which I would guess might describe Chambers’ own life. Maybe that’s why she calls it smart.

Meanwhile, we are to assume that previous generations of Japanese women, the ones with kids who don’t have LV prominently printed on everything they wear, are stupid and helpless?

I see a dead-end pseudo-feminism here, and the projection of provincial Western stadards on Japan. I guess that sells, even if it seems dated.

And of course, Japan is changing dramatically, as are many countries.

So far as the Masako book, I can’t understand the interest in modern royalty. But she has great material comfort, and she had many choices available to her. If she made the wrong choices, well join the club! Still better than being born in a Mongolian village.

[...] Mockett from Japundit introduces a new book, Kickboxing Geishas, about contemporary Japanese women’s role in changing the society. Oiwan [...]

I do sympathize with Princess Masako. But I also think the entire royal family in Japan is a dehumanizing institution for those at the center of it. At least she had a choice in the matter and must have anticipated some difficulties prior to agreeing to the marriage if she was as smart as she is purported to be. (I am aware that she was given assurances that didn’t pan out and that there is a disproportionate burden placed on her to produce a male heir.) In contrast, the Crown Prince leads a life highly detached from the real world on a personal level and had no choice in the matter from birth.

Yes, Ryo, it is dehumanizing. I would agree with you there.

I also wanted to say, again, that for the most part, I really liked Chambers’ book. It’s sensitive, thoughtful, well-written and engaging. She also doesn’t shy away from any subjects–she turns her eye equally to the sex trade and to “charismatic housewives.” I didn’t read her work as something put forward by an anthropologist, but by a reporter. Read as a cultural exploration, it’s a real treat (and I commend her for tackling the Japanese language).

What I don’t quite get is how Japan is undergoing a revolution led by women. I see a revolution in Japan led by its great material wealth–the boundaries between classes came down substantially in the 70s and especially the 80s. In school, I remember all the International Studies students joking that Japan was the only true socialist country in the world.

But I don’t see how society has been changed on a fundamental level. In fact, I sort of worry for Japan’s future, given the low birth rate. And this is why I think that the real changes have yet to come.

Going back to Alex’s initial and I now realize very thoughtful comment, it is true that some group has always ruled Japan. Right now, it looks to me like the countr is in the hands of a number of 50 to 60 year old men. The women are reacting to them. Where the power will lie in another 30 years or so is really the question to me.

I don’t think Japan will ever change. Men will always rule the roost here.

Tomojiro — Thanks for taking the time to write!

It’s true what you say about men in their 20s and 30s–the ones in my family, for example, are markedly different than their fathers. Then again, many more younger men are able to travel out of Japan, or at least have an interest in doing so.

As for traditional leftist philosophies falling out of favor– this is true here in the west.

“The burst of the bubble economy and the following change in society was one of the best thing what happened in the post war history, in my opinion, but there are too much politicians and social critiques who regards these changes pessimisstic.”

That’s the great thing about historical events that appear on the surface to be highly negative in nature (like the defeat of Japan in World War II, the oil shock, the bursting of the bubble economy, and more). They almost always seem to spawn positive changes in their wake. And the kinds of changes that do take place are more often than not resistant to efforts by conservative politicians to turn back the clock.

Something tells me I will never become one.

“the tiniest bit of sympathy” for Masako.

Ah….OK. I will give her some sympathy. I have an unlimited supply. Still, the girl with no future in the Mongolian village gets more.

“–or thoughtful discussion”
Time constraints limit the amount of thought, discussion or both that I can give any issue. I, on the other hand, am amazed at the amount of thought and discussion that otherwise apparently busy people do give to the problems of royal living. That should be, in my opinion, way down at the bottom of the list for things to think about. I assume they get so much attention because they provide cheap entertainment, a real-life soap opera – like so much of what we call “news.” I could line up a billion women tomorrow who would give their left leg to have Masako’s problems.

I agree with tomojiro regarding the traditional feminist/leftist views. Japan, if they are lucky, will find their own way. The excerpts from the Chalmers book made it sound as though she was playing to an audience. She’s a prolific writer, and that doesn’t allow much room for subtlety.

The dropping birth rate is common to almost all developed countries. I assume the country will be topped off by Chinese immigrants, for better and worse.

Finally, JP, that picture shows a man who is clearly in need of a new barber. The hair throws off his whole ensemble.

tomojiro54 wrote: “Younger generations of women in fact deteste or despise feminist movements.”

I deal with a lot of younger women. They don’t detest or dispise feminist movements. Are you (badly) generalizing an entire age-range of women or can you provide some proof of this assertation?

Honestly – I’m boggled by the statement, not particularly pissed at it.

Nope. Do younger generations dispise and detest feminist movements?

That’s a really broad statement there – that’s why I would like to know if anyone can back it up. It just seems… off.

Marie – interesting angle; the book pitch. Aimie Lau, in the amazon.com blurb about the book, wrote, “Kickboxing Geishas is a knockout! Veronica Chambers punches through the ’shoji screen’ that separates the true lives of Japanese women from the stereotypes that surround them.”

But the same amazon.com blurb has something from Publisher’s Weekly, “With compassion and warm wit, the author talks to successful Japanese women—from hip-hop superstars to senior corporate executives and entrepreneurs—about their education, careers, personal lives and aspirations, and about the social norms they face as they carve out a bold new existence in a country wedded to tradition.”

So… is she only talking to ’successful Japanese women’ and we’re suppose to extrapolate what… um… ‘normal’ (?) women are doing or are the women suppose to act as a pastiche of modern, younger generations of women in general?

Guess I’m trying to figure out how broad she’s tossing the interest net… . My intuition is the publisher is gunning for the ‘Bust’ and ‘Bitch’ magazine crowd but I haven’t received the book yet so who knows what the hell I’m talking about (again).

[...] was amused to read about “charismatic housewives” in the Veronica Chambers book, Kickboxing Geishas. In brief, Chambers explains: By definition, charismatic housewives live in rich neighborhoods, eat [...]