Until women gain suffrage in Japan

2022年10月23日

戦前から日本の女性たちも参政権を求めて戦っていました。そして、第二次世界大戦後、GHQによって婦人参政権はもたらされました。私たちはこの権利を得るために戦っていた女性たちのことを忘れてはいけません。そして、古の女性たちが日本を統治したように、いつかこれからも女性の真のリーダーが必要になる時がくるでしょう。(English) Japanese women had also been fighting for suffrage since before the war. Then, after World War II, women's suffrage was brought about by GHQ. So we must not forget the women who fought for this right. And just as the women of old ruled Japan, there will come a time in the future when we will need true female leaders.

Until women gain suffrage in Japan

How did women gain the right to vote, which we may take for granted?

Ordinary elections were first held in Japan in 1925.

As in the West at the time of the French Revolution, only men who paid a certain amount of taxes had the right to vote.

There was momentum for women's political rights at the end of the Meiji and Taisho Democracies.

However, the Security Police Law prohibited women from even listening to political standing speeches.

It was the struggle of many women that made it possible for women to have the freedom to participate in assemblies and for women to become lawyers.

Raiteu Hiratsuka of "Primitive, Women Was the Sun" formed the Seito-society.

*In 1911 (Meiji 44), Raityo Hiratsuka was founded as a women's literature company and a feminist organization. She published the bulletin "Seito" and energetically developed the women's liberation movement.

The New Women's Association (1919) by Fusae Ichikawa, Mumeo Oku, and others joined.

The Japan Women's Suffrage Association (1921) by Tsuneko Gauntlett and Ochimi Kubu Shira, which later became the Japan Christian Women's Suffrage Association, united the various groups.

The Women's Suffrage League, with Kiku Yamane as its director, founded the Japan Women's Association (1923), and the League for the Achievement of Women's Suffrage (1924) was formed.

The movement developed in terms of acquiring political and social rights for women.

However, they failed to obtain suffrage.

In 1931, the House of Representatives passed the bill to grant women's suffrage with conditions.

However, it was repealed due to opposition from the House of Peers.

It was not until after World War II that women were granted suffrage in Japan.

The first aldermanic election was held in an internment camp in Okinawa under the United States military rule.

In mainland Japan, a cabinet decision on women's suffrage in October 1945 by the Shidehara Kijuro Cabinet.

Subsequently, "the liberation of Japanese women through the imposition of suffrage" was included in the five central reform directives of General Douglas MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces (GHQ).

In November 1945, the Security Police Law was first repealed, and women's association rights were recognized.

Next, in December of the same year, the promulgation of the revised House of Representatives Election Law allowed women to participate in national politics.

In April 1946, the first postwar election for the House of Representatives resulted in the birth of Japan's first 39 female Diet members.

Then, in May of that year, following deliberations in the Diet, a proposal for a complete revision of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan was enacted.

The Constitution of Japan guaranteed women's suffrage with "equality under the law," promulgated in November and implemented in May 1947.

In the House of Councillors election held that year, Natsue Inoue, the first president of the Japanese Nursing Association, was elected.

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It would be a waste to squander the women's suffrage won through the many years of work and campaigning by our seniors and their sisters.

Think about the future of our country and express your will with your vote in the House of Representatives election.

Let's exercise this important right for the sake of our future!