Women's suffrage in Japan

[2] The movement suffered heavy setbacks during and after the Great Depression, when support for democracy began to wane and military influence over civilians increased dramatically.

Policymakers believed that this was imperative to the preservation of the state, as it would prepare girls to become effective wives and mothers capable of producing diligent, patriotic sons.

As the idea of women becoming skilled and prudent individuals, whether in the workforce or through education, this modern concept was soon accepted in addition to its interrelationship with excellent and pure motherhood.

The federation was designed to serve as disaster relief to aid those affected by the earthquake; however, it went on to become one of the largest women's activist groups of the time.

Women were finally granted the right to vote in 1947, after a US-drafted constitution came into effect and restored the influence of Japan's democratic system.

Ichikawa traveled to the United States shortly after World War I and observed the advancements American women such as Alice Paul had made in the fight for equality and political rights.

These women, many of whom were graduates of Japan's finest institutions of higher learning, began using their education as a weapon in the fight against oppression.

[citation needed] Literary serials such as Seito, Fujin Koron, and Shufu No Tomo were the most popular feminist magazines of the time.

This subservient role can be traced to the widely accepted and revered teachings of Hayashi Razan, who developed a Confucian school of thought that emphasized superiority and inferiority in certain relationships.

[citation needed] Women traditionally were to focus all of their efforts to the maintenance and development of their households, and their work was limited to domestic and agricultural tasks.

They were provided room and board for the duration of their employment, but the conditions where they lived and worked were deplorable and resulted in widespread illness and disease.

[citation needed] Due to theses insufferable and hazardous work conditions, women, especially textile workers, begun to join the Friendly Society (Yuaikai) later named the Japan Federation of Labor (Nihon Rōdō Sodomei or Sōdōmei), in order to combat the numerous inequalities.

With long agonizing hours, constant sexual harassment, and insufficient wages, industrialized women workers of Japan suffered tremendously.