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Parts of this chapter were previously published in Taeko Shibahara, “‘Not Only for the Welfare of the Nation but for the World and Humanity’: The Interwar Suffrage Movement in Japan,” Journal of Women’s History 24, no. 2 (Summer 2012): 62–68. Copyright © 2012 Journal of Women’s History. Reprinted with permission by Johns Hopkins University Press. 5 Using Their Initiative at Home and Beyond Suffragists’ Wartime Activism, 1931–1941 I thought that we Japanese women became not only women of Japan but also women of the world. Regarding this evolution, I have an earnest request to Japanese women. That is, we have to recognize that we are “women of the world” and we have to have firm faith accompanying this recognition. Hayashi Uta, “Kôkaijô: Gunshukukaigi kara kaette” [Open Letter: Coming Back from the Disarmament Congress] It is our earnest desire to have our co-workers abroad recognize and be acquainted with the work, insignificant perhaps but nevertheless assiduous effort, of the Japanese women. We sincerely hope that the day may soon come when we too may be more fully equipped to work not only for the welfare of the nation but for the world and the humanity at large to which one-half of the human race [women] belongs. Ichikawa Fusae,1 “An Introductory Note” J apanese feminists were gaining confidence in their role in the international suffrage and feminist movements by the beginning of the 1930s; however, international political developments struck a hard blow against the suffrage movement. In the period following the Manchurian Incident in September 1931, Japan emerged as a totalitarian, militaristic state.2 The incident was followed by a further invasion of the Chinese mainland and military takeover of northeastern China, which eventually led to the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). Faced with mounting criticism from abroad, the Japanese government gave up on international cooperation, 104 Chapter 5 withdrawing from the League of Nations in 1933. Domestically, following the collapse of the Minseitô party’s Wakatsuki Reijirô (1866–1949) cabinet in December 1931 and the assassination of the next prime minister (Inukai Tsuyoshi of the Seiyûkai party) by young naval officials in May 1932, government through political parties was severely limited and replaced by oligarchic nonparty cabinets, which were eventually controlled by the military.3 A retired admiral, Saitô Makoto (1858–1936), was asked to form a “national unity” cabinet by Saionji Kinmochi (1849–1940), one of the Meiji leaders. At this time of national crisis, most people appear to have supported the formation of the Saitô cabinet rather than a parliamentary democracy. The enthusiasm or otherwise of the population for given policies in this period is difficult to gauge accurately. Civilians had not been involved in the decisionmaking process that led to the militarization of Japan despite elections, since the Meiji Constitution gave supreme command to the emperor, who was expected to give legitimacy to reports from advisors, including army and navy chiefs. In addition, military men had significant influence in forming or disbanding government cabinets. For example, among forty-three cabinets headed by thirty prime ministers between 1885 and 1945, half of the prime ministers were military figures, and between 1930 and 1945, from fourteen cabinets, eight prime ministers were military men.4 In addition, press censorship limited people’s free access to information. Yet Gilbert Bowles (1869–1960), who came to Tokyo as a Quaker missionary in 1901 and lived there for forty years, reported in 1932 that some Japanese publicists who had constructive criticism to offer found that “it is not Press Censorship but the intense national spirit of the people which prevents critical publicity.”5 People appeared to have experienced a strong tide of what Raymond Williams called “nationalist feeling”6 after the Manchurian Incident. Such a reactionary attitude reversed earlier gains made toward women ’s rights. Before the Manchurian Incident, in 1931 the Lower House had passed a limited extension of a women’s franchise bill introduced by the Hamaguchi Osachi (1870–1931) government, and people had expected that women’s political participation in voting for the local government would be achieved in 1932.7 As heightening nationalism and militarism came to hold sway, voices arguing for rights for women as individuals were silenced. The government led by Saitô refused to support woman suffrage because of his belief that it was too early to give women civil rights.8 In the discourse of the era’s gender ideology, women’s collective duty to...

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