Yoshiro Mori, chief of the Tokyo Olympics and former Prime Minister, recently caused outrage with his sexist remarks about women prolonging meetings because they “drag on”, saying that “if their speaking time isn’t restricted to a certain extent, they have difficulty finishing, which is annoying.” Despite apologising, he then went on to say that he “doesn’t speak to women much.”
The huge backlash, including the mass resignations of Olympic and Paralympic volunteers, and the fact that 60% of Japanese people polled thought he was “not qualified”, have pushed Mori to resign, despite his initial refusal to do so.
Mori’s career has been marked by a string of ridiculous comments, including jokingly comparing himself to an AIDS victim and claiming that Japan is “a divine nation centring on the emperor.” His latest sexist remarks are emblematic of the regressive, backwards ideas of the ruling establishment on the rights of women with working class women suffering a double burden under Japan’s rotten capitalist system.
The failure of ‘Abenomics’
Japan’s current Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, took over following the resignation of Shinzo Abe, the longest-serving PM since his great-uncle Eisaku Sato.
Abe’s business-friendly ‘Abenomics’ policies brought the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) much favour from the Japanese capitalist class; a list published in 2019 of the LDP’s top twenty donor companies included industry heavyweights such as Toyota, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nissan, Hitachi, and Panasonic. At the top of the list was the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
Abe’s policies, including cuts to corporation tax, came at the same time as increases in the consumption tax (similar to VAT), which has had a heavy impact on working class people. Cuts to social security and pensions have also taken a toll, while the number of people forced into insecure and precarious work has continued to rise. For years now, it has been the case that at least 40% of all workers are trapped in irregular work.
Suga had promised to “maintain and push forward” the Abe administration’s economic policies just before becoming Prime Minister. While these policies, along with the COVID-19 crisis and its economic fallout, have been disastrous for huge numbers of ordinary Japanese people across the board, the impact on working-class women in particular stands as a damning indictment of the capitalist system.
Poverty and economic oppression
During the Abe administration, part of his ‘Abenomics’ programme involved the policies of so-called ‘Womenomics’, which aimed to increase female labour participation. This was accompanied by the slogan of striving for a country in which “women can shine”.
But years on from the start of his term the situation for women in Japan remains dismal. Women’s representation in politics and business still lags far behind most of the ‘advanced’ nations of the world. But an even more stark measure of a failed system is the experience of working women and single parents, particularly single mothers.
Working class women were disproportionately trapped in irregular work before the pandemic and now shoulder the heaviest burden of job losses and pay cuts to protect profits. Back in 2014, the poverty rate for single-mother households was 54.6%, while almost 70% of women workers were stuck with non-regular employment.
With the onset of the pandemic, a survey from an NPO (Single Mothers Forum) highlighted how 59% of single mothers saw a drop in their income, and had to cope with measures such as cutting down on or even missing meals to feed their children, as well as using food banks. This is in the world’s third-largest economy; in 2019, Japanese businesses were hoarding a record ¥506.4 trillion, and the profits of huge companies like Toyota, one of the LDP’s major donors, have not been hindered by the pandemic.
The government is planning to offer extra financial aid of $480 to single-parent households and an extra $280 to households with two or more children in its supplementary budget. But these ‘sticking plaster’ measures will not even scratch the surface. Women in Japan continue to face entrenched discrimination, including cases of medical universities blocking female applicants by manipulating test scores, as well as having to fight for the right to wear glasses in the workplace or against being forced to wear high heels as part of a sexist dress code.
Horrifically in Japan, the numbers of people who have died by suicide is far higher than deaths from COVID-19. Whilst not ignoring either male suicides (including cases of karojisatsu, or suicide from overwork), or those of children (which reached their highest-ever rate in 2019), this is another issue which is having a particularly heavy impact on Japanese women.
Suicides of women in Japan in August 2020 rose 40% from the previous year, with the number for women in their 30s or younger increasing by a staggering 74%. These surging numbers of suicides particularly by young women have been attributed to ‘pandemic stress’ and are part of a larger trend of the end of a ten year decline in suicide rates across Japan.
The #MeToo movement in Japan
The #MeToo movement, while not having the same numbers as other countries, has still taken root in Japan, evolving into a movement to fight against sexual violence known in Japanese as the ‘Flower Demo’ protests. Ignited by a high-profile lawsuit filed by journalist Shiori Ito over her rape by a major TV journalist, this movement has opened up a discussion in Japanese society about sexual harassment, abuse, and domestic violence.
According to a 2017 survey, only 4% of women in Japan come forward to report rape or sexual abuse. A survey by the Cabinet Office showed there were 13,000 more domestic violence consultations between April and November 2020 than in the same period in 2019, reaching a record high of 132,355.
The ‘Flower Demo’ movement began following a series of court cases involving rape or sexual violence from 2019, where those on trial were acquitted for such reasons as “[the victim] was not struggling violently enough” or “[the perpetrator] mistakenly thought that [the victim] had given him consent.” Although some of these judgements were later overturned and those responsible were found guilty, the ‘Flower Demo’ protests have continued across the country. In 2019, Shiori Ito finally won $30,000 in damages, seen by many as a significant victory.
‘Flower Demo’ protests, often organized through Facebook groups or pages, have taken place throughout Japan, and there are calls for these to be coordinated in a single national day of action which would be a positive development for the movement.
Fight for Socialist Feminism!
Key figures in the LDP have certainly let the mask slip over their real opinions about a woman’s ‘value’ to society; in 2007, then-Health Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa referred to women as “birth-giving machines”, imploring them to “do their best”, while in 2018, the MP Kanji Kato boasted about encouraging couples to have “at least three children” at their wedding receptions. Behind all the talk of a society or a country where women can ‘shine’ is nothing but rank hypocrisy.
Under capitalism, women’s oppression is fundamentally tied to the economic basis of society, which in turn governs social relations and even women’s sexuality. All across the world, the often-unpaid work of women in care, domestic chores or raising children, is the most beneficial arrangement for the capitalist system. There can be no true liberation for working-class women while they remain crushed under the weight of a system that is based on their oppression and exploitation. This is as true now as it was around 200 years ago when Friedrich Engels made his analysis of women’s oppression.
International Socialist Alternative (ISA) has launched the socialist feminist campaign ROSA to fight back against sexist violence and oppression, and for a socialist society where all oppression and exploitation is a thing of the past. If you agree with this, and if you want to join the global struggle for socialism, then get in touch and join International Socialist Alternative!
