Recently I've been reading the books written by Sakae Osugi and Noe Ito. Sakae Osugi was an anarchist, born in 1885, and Noe Ito was a feminist, born in 1895. They were a couple with five children.
The Japanese government and army thought that they were dangerous. The police were always watching them and often arrested them for minor offenses. In the end a member of the military police, Masahiko Amakasu, killed them during the chaos following the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923.
When I read Noe Ito's articles, I agree with them and it's very difficult for me to imagine that people thought of her as dangerous. She just insisted that female workers were exploited more than male workers and female workers should have fair treatment in order to become independent.
Now, there is gender segregation in our company. There are no female executives! Only a few women could get promoted to department manager positions. Most routine work are assigned to temporary staff, and most of them are female.
Noe Ito's assertion, which was insisted a hundred years ago, has yet to be realized. If gender segregation disappears, no one will need feminism. But in Japan there is clearly gender segregation, so we need feminism and Noe Ito.
When will feminism disappear in Japan?
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