Here is an article by Chizuko Ueno, the managing director of WAN. She is discussing the super-aging society and care insurance system in Japan.
Japan’s Long-term Care Insurance System is a Savior in the Super-Aging Society
http://www.japanechoweb.jp/society-culture/jew1012
2/22/2012
Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World 2012 Yokohama --- A Great Success!
Chizuko’s Blog No.17
January 17th, 2012
The Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World was held on 14-15 January at Pacifico Yokohama in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture. 5,000 people attended the conference on the first day and 5,500 on the second, with 5,000 participating in the demonstration march on the first afternoon, and an overall total of 15,500 participants from 30 different countries. WAN also attended as an advocate.
Many of the participants were younger people, who appeared to have come of their own will. Every hall, every booth was so full of energy and enthusiasm.
You can see the reports of the conference on the UStream Archives.
I made a speech at the final event of the second day. You can see the speech (in Japanese) at the following URL. (37:15 – 43:15)
Here is my draft of the speech. It is a short one of about 5 minutes.
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I’ve learned that this conference is called “Datsu-genpatsu Global Conference” [which literally means “Global Conference for Getting Away/Escaping from Nuclear Power].
The phrase “Getting away from nuclear power” makes me feel uncomfortable.
We’ve traditionally had the words “anti-nuclear/non-nuclear power.” When did they make us stop using them?
But it can’t be helped. “Getting away from” something suggests that we have experienced and passed through it. But fact is we haven’t even passed through it really.
Japan has got dirty.
Japan has experienced nuclear exposure five times in its history so far --- Hiroshima, Nagasaki, the Daigo Fukuryu Maru, JCO and Fukushima. In the first three we were the victims. In the last one we have become the perpetrators. Now we cannot blame anybody for the disaster. It is we who have contaminated the earth and life. We’ve got dirty.
That’s enough. Let’s stop doing this.
At this conference there was another thing I felt uncomfortable about. That was too much use of the words “Nippon [Japan],” “Kono kuni [this country]” and “Kono kuni no katachi [the form of this country].”
This is the “GLOBAL Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World,” not the “JAPANESE Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World”
There are two reasons for this title.
First, even if Japan can succeed in abandoning nuclear power, what will happen if Korea or China makes nuclear plants in the coastal areas and if they have accidents? Japan will be polluted too. There are no borders for the pollution. You could say that the fact that the pollution from the Chernobyl disaster spread throughout Europe has united the area.
Second, we’ve learned the lesson that peaceful and military uses of nuclear power are two sides of the same coin. Even if only Japan has the Three Non-Nuclear Principles --- not possessing, not producing and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan --- it is of no use if other countries have these weapons. Furthermore, the idea of coming under somebody else’s nuclear umbrella is totally out of the question. Now that you have received the Nobel Prize for Peace after the end of the Cold War, President Obama, please admit that nuclear weapons are “inhumane weapons.” Please visit Hiroshima and offer an apology.
Neither abandoning nuclear power nor abandoning nuclear weapons can be accomplished by a single country. That’s why we need to be united. That’s why we’ve gathered here beyond national borders.
Now I’ll tell you three things I’ve found out through participating in several sessions at the conference.
1. It’s OK, we can do without nuclear power.
2. It’s OK, we do have alternative and renewable energy sources.
3. But I’m not sure if this is OK; Can we ever decide on doing that?
There are people who have planned and organized this conference, to whom I’d like to express my sincere appreciation.
When I first heard about the plan, I felt it too bold. Too little time for preparation. Too big and expensive a conference site like Pacifico Yokohama. Will they ever be able to fill it up? It was so bold that I could not but help. Here is the result. The hall is full.
It’s us who made it full.
Let’s give ourselves a big round of applause.
I won't forgive media organizations if they are not going to cover this conference properly!
Here is the answer to the third thing in my list above.
We, everyone here, will decide our future.
Let’s act together.
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Original article written by Chizuko Ueno http://wan.or.jp/ueno/?p=1169
Translated by A. Tawara
★You can also see some video reports in English about the conference at the following URLs.
Opening Event
Special Closing Event
Civil Society in 2030: Drawing up the Future of Energy, Food, and Education
Toward a Nuclear Power Free East Asia
2/21/2012
Poetry -- The Art of Looking Film Review by Kei Shimizu
“The most difficult thing for me is being ready to write poetry.” I couldn’t get these words from the main character out of my mind and, for a time, it prevented me from writing this review.
This is because I doubted whether I was mature enough to face the film Poetry. “What does it mean to make a film now, when films are dying?” asks Lee Chang-dong, the director, who made this film while he was asking himself the meaning of making films and writing poetry. He asks his audience the same question.
In the film, a middle-aged woman named Mija is raising her teenage grandson while his mother is working in Pusan. Mija concerns herself with her looks and often surprises others with her unpredictable behaviors, acting just like a little girl.
The story starts when a doctor tells Mija that she is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. At the same time, the truth of a tragic incident is revealed to her. She happens upon a poetry workshop and enrolls. There she learns that “what is essential in life is looking; it’s all about looking at the world.” She begins trying to find “authentic beauty” in what she sees in her daily life, looking at an apple in the kitchen from various angles, taking a flower by the roadside in her hand, looking from a bench up to leaves blown in the wind. In time, “looking” forces Mija to reflect upon herself and to be ready to write poetry. If Mija represents Lee and the question he has for his audience, what kind of poetry, or words, will we write to express our own answers?
The story develops without major events as it thoroughly eliminates “verbal” explanations and suppresses intense human emotions of human being. With Lee’s impressive direction, only the expressive face of Yun Junghee (as Mija) tells the story, when she leaves her grandson after playing badminton, or when she is wooed as if she were a young woman. As we watch the film, we forget about thinking or crying; we do nothing but “look.”
While she is losing her memories and words little by little, Mija identifies herself with a girl victimized by a tragic incident. Overwhelmed by her overflowing emotions, Mija finally completes her “poetry.” I expect that her poetry will touch the hearts of you readers.
At the beginning and the end of the film, there are scenes where a river flows smoothly, implying life and death. If you realize the river, represents something completely different in each scene, even though it looks the same, perhaps it means that you have found an answer to Lee’s question.
(Kei Shimizu, a junior studying film at the art department of Nihon University)
Poetry
(Lee Chang-dong, South Korea, 2010, 139min., distributed by SIGLO/ Kino Eye Japan)
Released on Feb 11 at Ginza Theatre Cinema, Shinjuku Musashino-kan, etc.
(C)2010 UniKorea Culture & Art Investment Co. Ltd. and PINEHOUSE FILM.
Visit the official website: http://poetry-shi.jp/
Original article: http://wan.or.jp/reading/?p=6038
Translated by N. Tajima
This is because I doubted whether I was mature enough to face the film Poetry. “What does it mean to make a film now, when films are dying?” asks Lee Chang-dong, the director, who made this film while he was asking himself the meaning of making films and writing poetry. He asks his audience the same question.
In the film, a middle-aged woman named Mija is raising her teenage grandson while his mother is working in Pusan. Mija concerns herself with her looks and often surprises others with her unpredictable behaviors, acting just like a little girl.
The story starts when a doctor tells Mija that she is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. At the same time, the truth of a tragic incident is revealed to her. She happens upon a poetry workshop and enrolls. There she learns that “what is essential in life is looking; it’s all about looking at the world.” She begins trying to find “authentic beauty” in what she sees in her daily life, looking at an apple in the kitchen from various angles, taking a flower by the roadside in her hand, looking from a bench up to leaves blown in the wind. In time, “looking” forces Mija to reflect upon herself and to be ready to write poetry. If Mija represents Lee and the question he has for his audience, what kind of poetry, or words, will we write to express our own answers?
The story develops without major events as it thoroughly eliminates “verbal” explanations and suppresses intense human emotions of human being. With Lee’s impressive direction, only the expressive face of Yun Junghee (as Mija) tells the story, when she leaves her grandson after playing badminton, or when she is wooed as if she were a young woman. As we watch the film, we forget about thinking or crying; we do nothing but “look.”
While she is losing her memories and words little by little, Mija identifies herself with a girl victimized by a tragic incident. Overwhelmed by her overflowing emotions, Mija finally completes her “poetry.” I expect that her poetry will touch the hearts of you readers.
At the beginning and the end of the film, there are scenes where a river flows smoothly, implying life and death. If you realize the river, represents something completely different in each scene, even though it looks the same, perhaps it means that you have found an answer to Lee’s question.
(Kei Shimizu, a junior studying film at the art department of Nihon University)
Poetry
(Lee Chang-dong, South Korea, 2010, 139min., distributed by SIGLO/ Kino Eye Japan)
Released on Feb 11 at Ginza Theatre Cinema, Shinjuku Musashino-kan, etc.
(C)2010 UniKorea Culture & Art Investment Co. Ltd. and PINEHOUSE FILM.
Visit the official website: http://poetry-shi.jp/
Original article: http://wan.or.jp/reading/?p=6038
Translated by N. Tajima
2/01/2012
From the Scene of Protesting the Construction of Kaminoseki Nuclear Power Plant
Just past 3pm on March 11, 2011, a call was made to Tanoura Beach from Iwaishima. “We just had an earthquake. Please evacuate the beach immediately for fear of possible tsunami.” Upon hearing this announcement, young people on the beach hurriedly took their kayaks and other important leisure items to the nearby hilltops, and approximately half of them returned to Iwaishima for safety.
With the breaker out in the sea, there were fewer people than usual on this particular day in Tanoura.
Pillars and stakes are remains from the net and ropes erected by Chuden to stop the protesters from coming down the slope to the beach, and the oil fence was an underwater curtain which Chuden tried to install in the bay to stop the people from Iwaishima to land on Tanoura Beach by boats.
It was truly a sneak attack. At 2:00am on February 21, men in uniforms marched on mountain roads in darkness, headed for Tanoura. The number of uniformed men may have been 400 or even 500. In any case, at 3:00am, the first group of fishermen left the port of Iwaishima upon receiving the urgent report. At the same time, the Kayak Group laid their bodies on the line trying to stop Chuden from entering Tanoura Beach. At 4:00am, the first group from Iwaishima and people from nearby areas began to gather on the beach. There were pushing and shoving with Chuden on one side trying to blockade the beach and the protesters on the other trying to stop them. The security guards Chuden hired for this purpose were all huge and muscular men and when they formed a human barrier around the Chuden workers, “It was no easy task to get through this barrier. My body was bruised up and some of us got heavy elbow blows,” said a young woman from the Kayak Group.
The boats from Iwaishima, which stood by cautiously until then, protested violently and some of the Chuden ships left, but the workers who remained began pouring gravel into the sea to lay grounds for building the nuclear power plant. “Don’t pollute our source of livelihood with dirty gravel!” Mr. Shimizu, a town councilor of Kaminoseki pleaded along with others from the island. Not only the islanders’ ships were blocked by coast guards’ rubber boats, they were pushed and shoved away. (photo #7)
The duty of Japan Coast Guard is to guard and protect ships and people on the sea from danger, but it seemed to me that their main concern this day was to protect the safety of Chuden ships as the working ships continued to throw-in gravel into the sea.
(photo #8)
As always, the ship of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry quietly observed the scene from a distance.
(photo #9)
The gravels were thrown into the sea inside the area supposedly lined with the anti-pollution coverings, but not only did they fail to reach the bottom of the sea, they were full of holes. Fortunately the load capacity of gravel that can be carried by these working ships was limited, and the total amount of gravel thrown into the sea was considerably less for the number of ships that were there.
At the main construction site, ships from Iwaishima lined up to block off the entrance to Tanoura Bay, forbidding single working ship to enter. The effort of Chuden trying to draw an oil fence inside the bay by entering with a small boat was blocked by protesters on kayaks, rafts, and surfboards. That day, on the Tanoura Beach, over 100 people gathered for a violent protest against the blockade. A 69-year-old woman, among other islanders, was injured and carried off to a hospital that day. (photo #10)
After that, the working ships stationed in the sea began to leave for the reason of approaching ill weather, Chuden and coast guard ships also left. Tension was then focused on the protest at the beach, but eventually the battle subsided although the tension related to the plans of building the nuclear power plant will continue.
On March 15, Chuden complied with the request of Yamaguchi Prefectural Governor and Kaminoseki-cho Mayor and announced it will temporarily stop the groundwork of the nuclear power plant construction site, however, they continued the blasting operation on the pretext of “investigation.” The reality was that they were filling the valleys with gravels and dirt made by the blast and developing the site for the plant.
According to Chuden’s publicity department, the “temporary break” of groundwork construction referred to the “development of the site," and therefore, they insisted they are not telling a lie. On March 22, people objecting the Kaminoseki power plant made an appeal to Chuden Headquarter and Yamaguchi prefectural government and demanded all constructions, including blasting, to stop. The response to this appeal was that the blasting was necessary for investigating the safeness of the nuclear power plant in accordance with the regulations set by the national government; and therefore, “We will continue,” commented Chuden, and “Whether to stop the blasting or not is the decision of the national government and the company undertaking the project,” was the response from the prefectural government.
As to make things worse, Mr. Yamashita, President of Chuden, announced at the press conference held by on March 28 that they will “carry on the project as planned,” which further induced the anxiety of people fearing the effect of earthquakes on the nuclear power plant. The following day, people of Iwaishima and Kayak Group protested at Tanoura. In the unified local election in April, Kaminoseki nuclear power plant project was the main issue of focus by the candidates of surrounding local governments, and a newcomer, Hideto Kunihiro, born and raised in Iwaishima, independently ran for the office of prefectural councilor from Hikari City, 30 kilometers away from the designated plant site. He came very close to two incumbent candidates and lost by mere 197 votes. His catch phrase was, “We are the ones who will create the future - let’s unite in saying no nuclear power plants in the future.” Those who supported Mr. Kunihiro in this election have since then continued to demonstrate against building nuclear power plant by demanding “life without nuclear power.”
Generations of people on Iwaishima lived with the blessing from the sea ever since the island became a key spot for the maritime traffic. The island is located 3.5 km directly across the sea from Tanoura in Kaminoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture where Chugoku Electrical Company (Chuden) has planned to build a nuclear power plant.
(see photo #0)
(see photo #0)
 |
| Photo #0 |
28 years ago when the plan first arose, about 90% of the islanders rejected the plan and the fishing association refused to accept the compensation of 1 billion yen. Since January 2010, people have been going to Tanoura daily to protest, except on stormy days because the average age of these people is 79 and mainly women, they cannot cross the rough waters under bad weather. There are some “young men” on the island in their 50s who support these women.
There is a group that do protest in Tanoura even on stormy days, and they are known as Niji no Kayak Group (Rainbow Kayak Group). They are sometimes called Kayaks and made up of young men and women in their 20-30s. They are not an organized group, but rather people from various parts of Japan who come together and support Iwaishima people for a mutual cause. Because the group is not bounded by strict rules and regulations and the members come together voluntarily, independently, and without restrictions, they are able to respect the activities and supplement the lack of manpower of the islanders.
 |
| Photo #1 |
With the breaker out in the sea, there were fewer people than usual on this particular day in Tanoura.
(photo #1)
The only evidence of violent protest against the nuclear plant that took place here merely 10 days ago are pillars of net fences, several stakes, and oil fences floating in the sea. (photos #2-4 below)
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| Photo #2 |
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| Photo #4 |
Pillars and stakes are remains from the net and ropes erected by Chuden to stop the protesters from coming down the slope to the beach, and the oil fence was an underwater curtain which Chuden tried to install in the bay to stop the people from Iwaishima to land on Tanoura Beach by boats.
It was expected to be a dynamic crash that could have been called Sea Battle of Kaminoseki. On February 1, Chuden announced that Kaminoseki Nuclear Power Plant Project was under a direct control of the president. The operation ships for building the plant had been obstructed several times by Iwaishima residents and Kayak Group since last fall and almost daily this year when the weather permitted. The act of protesters to obstruct Chuden’s ships to land on Tanoura persisted to the extent that Chuden referred to these acts as “sabotage” rather than the initial act of “demonstration” and has filed lawsuit against the local residents. The day after the announcement, an employee of Chuden on one of the working ships claimed that a fisherman from Iwaishima was swinging a knife on his boat. This incident developed into a highly volatile political situation and Japan Coast Guard was brought into the scene and interrogated the fisherman for 5 hours. Thereafter, the Coast Guard inspected all of the boats that came to protest. As a result of worsening the conflict by fanning the opposition, Chuden proceeded with the construction of the nuclear power plant by force.
It was truly a sneak attack. At 2:00am on February 21, men in uniforms marched on mountain roads in darkness, headed for Tanoura. The number of uniformed men may have been 400 or even 500. In any case, at 3:00am, the first group of fishermen left the port of Iwaishima upon receiving the urgent report. At the same time, the Kayak Group laid their bodies on the line trying to stop Chuden from entering Tanoura Beach. At 4:00am, the first group from Iwaishima and people from nearby areas began to gather on the beach. There were pushing and shoving with Chuden on one side trying to blockade the beach and the protesters on the other trying to stop them. The security guards Chuden hired for this purpose were all huge and muscular men and when they formed a human barrier around the Chuden workers, “It was no easy task to get through this barrier. My body was bruised up and some of us got heavy elbow blows,” said a young woman from the Kayak Group.
Once the sun started to rise, a number of Chuden working ships began to appear on the shores ofTanoura. (see photos #5 & 6)
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| Photo #5 |
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| Photo #6 |
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| Photo #7 |
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| Photo #8 |
(photo #8)
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| Photo #9 |
(photo #9)
The gravels were thrown into the sea inside the area supposedly lined with the anti-pollution coverings, but not only did they fail to reach the bottom of the sea, they were full of holes. Fortunately the load capacity of gravel that can be carried by these working ships was limited, and the total amount of gravel thrown into the sea was considerably less for the number of ships that were there.
At the main construction site, ships from Iwaishima lined up to block off the entrance to Tanoura Bay, forbidding single working ship to enter. The effort of Chuden trying to draw an oil fence inside the bay by entering with a small boat was blocked by protesters on kayaks, rafts, and surfboards. That day, on the Tanoura Beach, over 100 people gathered for a violent protest against the blockade. A 69-year-old woman, among other islanders, was injured and carried off to a hospital that day. (photo #10)
 |
| Photo #10 |
The devastating earthquake and tsunami that suddenly occurred this day, which triggered the great big accident of Fukushima #1 plant, changed the lives of countless number of people in Eastern Japan. While deeply sympathetic to the occurrence of this shocking event, excitement spread at the site of where considered to be the location for the last nuclear power plant to be built in Japan.
On March 15, Chuden complied with the request of Yamaguchi Prefectural Governor and Kaminoseki-cho Mayor and announced it will temporarily stop the groundwork of the nuclear power plant construction site, however, they continued the blasting operation on the pretext of “investigation.” The reality was that they were filling the valleys with gravels and dirt made by the blast and developing the site for the plant.
According to Chuden’s publicity department, the “temporary break” of groundwork construction referred to the “development of the site," and therefore, they insisted they are not telling a lie. On March 22, people objecting the Kaminoseki power plant made an appeal to Chuden Headquarter and Yamaguchi prefectural government and demanded all constructions, including blasting, to stop. The response to this appeal was that the blasting was necessary for investigating the safeness of the nuclear power plant in accordance with the regulations set by the national government; and therefore, “We will continue,” commented Chuden, and “Whether to stop the blasting or not is the decision of the national government and the company undertaking the project,” was the response from the prefectural government.
As to make things worse, Mr. Yamashita, President of Chuden, announced at the press conference held by on March 28 that they will “carry on the project as planned,” which further induced the anxiety of people fearing the effect of earthquakes on the nuclear power plant. The following day, people of Iwaishima and Kayak Group protested at Tanoura. In the unified local election in April, Kaminoseki nuclear power plant project was the main issue of focus by the candidates of surrounding local governments, and a newcomer, Hideto Kunihiro, born and raised in Iwaishima, independently ran for the office of prefectural councilor from Hikari City, 30 kilometers away from the designated plant site. He came very close to two incumbent candidates and lost by mere 197 votes. His catch phrase was, “We are the ones who will create the future - let’s unite in saying no nuclear power plants in the future.” Those who supported Mr. Kunihiro in this election have since then continued to demonstrate against building nuclear power plant by demanding “life without nuclear power.”
There is no leeway for the “continuation of yesterday’s incident” in national nuclear power policy. As apparent by the announcement “to reconsider the plan for energy supply” made by the Prime Minister on May 10, the situation of nuclear power plant accident is, no doubt, very serious. However, ignoring this announcement, Chuden reported the result of environmental survey of the groundwork construction of the plant site the day after the Prime Minister’s announcement. Perhaps they felt stagnated by the rocking situation in the national policy, but at the same time, they probably needed to re-assure themselves to move forward with their project.
In the western entrance of Seto Inland Sea, the aftermaths of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake continue, but what is shaking is the people and the nuclear power plant plan. It is frightening to feel the earth tremble, and we need to shake away the plan already in 29th year by taking into consideration the sentiment of disaster victims of Eastern Japan earthquake and tsunami, and to prevent another nuclear power plant accident from occurring in the future.
Original article written by Shin Yamaaki, translated and adapted by M. Doioka
1/30/2012
Feature Dialogue with Chizuko Ueno --Part III—
In commemoration of the publication of Lady Murasaki Shikibu and Her Desires
Chizuko Ueno with Junko Sakai
Various arousal points
Sakai
In that context, I have become more and more fond of Genji’s brother.
Ueno
Genji’s brother?
Sakai
Suzakuin, I associate him as someone like the Polaris type, you know.
Ueno
Alright, your inclination to Suzakuin can also be analyzed by referring to the Korean drama, Dae Jang Guem. (laughs) I picked up everything about Korean dramas by listening to others, since I know a Korean drama freak who never stops updating me with information I never asked for. (laughs)
The main character, Jang Guem was kicked out of the palace where she was serving as a cooking staff, but there is faithful Min Jung Ho, a man of standing, good-looking, reliable and so devoted to Jang Guem that wherever she goes, he follows. He always puts Jang Guem’s feelings as his first priority no matter what. You can call him Mr. At-my-side-forever.
Sakai
Nice!
Ueno
You bet! (laughs) There is such a man like Genji who is a flirter, but it is so hard to resist his charm that women feel like getting laid by him, and there is a man who isn’t exactly McDreamy, but he is always loyal, so women need both types at their disposal.
Sakai
Just like what Oborozukiyo did. She got laid by Genji and kept Suzakuin to protect her.
Ueno
That’s the easiest way for women to get by, isn’t it? The Tale of Genji covers such a type of woman among others who are all representing a variety of types to stimulate women’s arousal points. One of them, whom you threw in with the rest, is Gen-no-naishi, a nymphomaniac old maid. (laughs) Nowadays women cannot quit being “on the market” very willingly even when nearing age 40. By the way, I myself have passed age 60, if you must know. Lately the sell-by date for women has been unnecessarily extended. You don’t like this phenomenon, I guess since you wrote that old lady’s role so harshly.
Sakai
I scold those who don’t know when to give up, including myself. (laughs) I’m fond of the enlivened manner in which Lady Murasaki wrote about underdogs, such as Rokujo-no-miyasudokoro. I can read such parts from both a bullying side and a being-bulled side. I’m really convinced that she is so much better at talking down than praising.
Ueno
Another one of them whom you scolded is Onna-Sannomiya. She is easy, but it’s a well-bred easiness that I kind of like.
Sakai
She surely is well-bred, but she showed her true colors at the very end when she became a nun so decisively. Thanks to her presence, the ending of Genji’s life had a final brisk touch.
Ueno
The fatal cycle starting from the adultery between Genji and Fujitsubo ends with that between Onnna-Sannomiya and Kashiwagi. The retributive justice has been done at last!
Sakai
Good job, Lady Murasaki.
Ueno
She took revenge on Genji, and he got what he deserved.
Sei Shonagon will make a better friend
Ueno
Sei Shonagon and Lady Murasaki are often compared, since the former is an essayist and the latter a storyteller. Sei Shonagon picked topics from day-to-day life, and her writing was gracious yet acrimonious, and rather straightforward, whereas Lady Murasaki wrote caustic this and that in her diary, but her story was a production of her fevered imagination. Which one do you feel closer to?
Sakai
I feel more sympathy with Sei Shonagon, so I would rather befriend her than Lady Murasaki. But I have realized that I have a similar insidiousness as Lady Murasaki and that what I hate about her is what I also hate in myself.
Ueno
Aren’t you the first one to express such a radical thing in such a nonchalant manner?
Sakai
Am I?
Ueno
A young sociologist, Naomi Miyamoto Ph.D., recently wrote a book, “Takarazuka Fan no Shakaigaku: Sociology of Takarazuka Fans.” (published by Seikyusha) She also wrote another book, “Ueno Chizuko ni Idomu: A Challenge to Chizuko Ueno” (edited by Yuki Senda, published by Keiso Shobo) in which she stated, “Feminism is a movement that induces women to tell their own story in their own language, because they don’t want a third person to represent them anymore.” (Under the title of the norm of ‘the second class citizen,’ and ‘being cute’) She meant that feminism has been instigating the creation of female language that avails women to convey themselves, and as an alternative to male language, but she says that there is no need for that because there has already been a female language in Japan and the woman’s world has been completely functioning with that language.” She went further and said, “Japanese women haven’t needed a language created by feminism.” Isn’t it quite a challenge? (laughs)
According to Miyamoto, the norm of being cute lies at the core of women’s culture. Why is “being cute” the core of women’s culture? Because if you are being cute, you will never threaten others, and the message of being cute is that “I’m your subordinate, I don’t compete with you.” She says that was the traditional tool to facilitate women in their lives. For my part, I argued back to her and said, “Surely women’s culture is made up of such words like “usou! (no way),” “maji? (really?),” and “kawaii! (so cute!).” But the time when things can be expressed mainly with those words is over, and women now need an extended language to express their meaning.
Sakai
Japanese women have continually handed down that notion ever since the Heian era, I think. “You’re being cute” makes you to subordinate to your counterpart. At the same time, women like themselves being cute very much.
Ueno
Those are the tactics for the women’s culture to survive! “Being cute” is a kind of armor to protect you from your enemies as well as to protect your self-esteem.
The territory of women’s culture in the media
Ueno
You have been writing a series of essays called,” Is He Single?” in the Shukan Gendai weekly magazine for quite a long time, haven’t you?
Sakai
I have been writing that series for six or seven years now.
Ueno
It is exciting that your essays stick out as an outstanding contribution to women’s culture, surrounded by men’s culture in the Shukan Gendai magazine. If the culture of “being cute” represents the non-threatening strategy to others, what if some male readers get disgusted with your essay?
Sakai
I don’t think that males read my essays, because I have never received any feedback from them.
Ueno
Do they just pass them over?
Sakai
I feel that men and women are living in different universes.
Ueno
For men, the women’s culture is very foreign. I really love my epilogue of the “Ohitori-sama Magazine,” published as a Bungeishunju extra edition. The title of that was “The Reverse Side of the Moon,” a metaphor of women’s culture that men will never able to see. I wrote, “I will give men a rare opportunity to get a glimpse of the women’s culture that really exists out there. But sorry, it’s in the men’s blind side.”
The mass media has been the men’s turf where a few isolated enclaves of women, such as you and Usagi Nakamura, the flag-bearer of the women’s culture, are battling hard for their existence. I think somehow the women’s territory is getting larger little by little lately. I also wonder how wide that could extend, because I’m afraid the territory of women’s culture can only grow as large as the men will allow.
Sakai
I’m just puzzled why men don’t understand the women’s culture even though we have explained it in such an easy and simple language. They just don’t get its fundamental basics.
Ueno
I guess they don’t get it because it is too foreign to them.
Sakai
I’m afraid so.
Ueno
Perhaps the degree of its foreignness is too high.
Sakai
I don’t know whether they pretend to read it and don’t, or they simply don’t get it even when they read it.
Ueno
I see. We are safe as long as the message doesn’t get through to the men. (laughs) What if they finally succeed in decoding our message?
Sakai
On the one hand, women can live rather easily because men don’t get it. I feel a little scared if the men diversify and take on more female-like perceptions, and if such men come to understand what the women really like.
Ueno
Well, they might. Women haven’t had any other option than learning the male language, which is foreign to women, in order to survive. Therefore, women become bilingual, whereas men remain monolingual since there is no need for them to master their counterparts’ language. The Tale of Genji interpretation project has been successful in terms of gender equality so far, but how might the Tale of Genji live out in the future world?
Sakai
More and more women are choosing to be fulltime homemakers lately, so I guess more women may realize that they have had hidden desires to be taken away, when reading the Tale of Genji. What is your opinion about that?
Ueno
As for the arousal points that the story is strewn with, those women younger than your generation may find them less and less sympathetic, I think.
Sakai
Don’t women in their 20s feel like being abducted by men anymore?
Ueno
I don’t know. Perhaps they feel like protecting the men instead? (laughs)
Sakai
Or they even feel like taking the men away. Perhaps they aren’t choosing the passive position anymore?
Ueno
I think they still do, but their ratio of active and passive may have changed.
Sakai
Well, then we can expect a completely new type of Tale of Genji interpretation some day.
(The End )
Original Article on the WAN Website (June 22, 2011) http://wan.or.jp/ueno/?p=407
Translated by Yoshiko M.
Source: http://renzaburo.jp/yokubo/index.html
1/27/2012
Feature Dialogue with Chizuko Ueno --Part II—
In commemoration of the publication of Lady Murasaki Shikibu and Her Desires
Do women secretly wish to be raped?
Chizuko Ueno with Junko Sakai
Lady Murasaki Shikibu and Her Desires
Junko Sakai
Do women secretly wish to be raped?
Ueno
You explicitly wrote, “I wish a mishap of the Casanova-types.” It is a women’s dream that a man of power yet good looking get so badly tempted to make love to you, so did he to his true content. But after the love affair with you, he should die lonely and desperate, but your life should remain as secure and happy as ever.
Sakai
If I were forced to make love to Michinaga Fujiwara and dumped by him, then I knew I would wish him a mishap for certain. (laughs)
Ueno
Hmm, you thought Lady Murasaki would be no exception, and it progressed just as you thought. One interesting thing is that most female characters died unhappily.
Suetsumuhana was one exception that she lived free from jealousy, envy and poverty, wasn’t she?
Sakai
It was obvious that she wasn’t loved by Genji. The more a woman is loved by him, the more misfortune happens, right?
Ueno
Do you think that Lady Murasaki punished beloved women?
Sakai
I think that’s part of it.
Ueno
You say that Lady Murasaki envied Genji’s legitimate wife insidiously just like Rokujo-no-Miyasudokoro couldn’t help putting the death curse on Genji’s wife, Aoinoue.
Sakai
Lady Murasaki’s husband Nobutaka wasn’t a man of power at all and he died quite young. Nonetheless, she wasn’t even his legitimate wife. I guess she was quite envious to recognize happy wives.
Ueno
Aoinoue was cursed and killed for nothing. It was very unjust that such an innocent woman was killed for her man’s guilt.
Sakai
I guess that Lady Murasaki was taking so much pleasure when she was writing the chapter on Murasakinoue’s death. (laughs) I sensed her writing momentum in that part.
Ueno
Her death is one of the story’s highlights as it is also featured as a theme of yokyoku song.
Sakai
Had Rokujo not been, the story would not have taken such a course, so I really understand why Mariko Hayashi put the spotlight on that part.
Ueno
Yugao is also an unfortunate character, since she was kidnapped and killed by Rokujo’s evil spirit.
Sakai
When I read Yugao’s abduction, my deeply kept lava-like desire to be kidnapped was stirred. It was one of the motifs for me to write this book.
Ueno
It is a sensuality to feel when you are put in the situation totally out of your control. Once before, some women got together and looked at rape pornography targeted for men, and then we discussed whether women have a rape desire or not. We realized though that women pretty much get aroused by pornography. So we analyzed why that happened. Then we knew that we get excited because we are exempted from being responsible for our desire.
Sakai
You can say that it wasn’t me who was to blame…
Ueno
I have to be responsible for my desire if I take the initiative doing this, so I want to avoid taking initiative. You get raped, but you indulge yourself in pure fleshly pleasure. Well, lucky you! But only if everything is under your control.
Sakai
That means if you are attracted to the guy.
Ueno
Yes, attraction it is.
Sakai
No way to be raped by a man I never feel like making love to.
Ueno
The answer to whether women have a desire to be raped is yes and no, meaning that women want their own fantasized rape to happen. That’s it. But poor men misinterpret that and think women generally want that, and the men completely misunderstand women’s intention. The same theory can be applied to women, too. I was totally convinced with your logic when I read your book.
Sakai
I have been studying what this desire is in me and wondered if it is really a desire to be raped. Now I think it’s a universal desire of women that can be called a desire for consensual sex that appears to be rape.
Ueno
Looks like that.
Sakai
When I was a child, I was extremely interested in the scenes of a horror comic where someone was drugged with chloroform and taken away. (laughs)
Ueno
One of the points to stimulate your sensuality, I guess.
Sakai
Perhaps Yugao and Ukifune also had their inner points stimulated.
Ueno
But the abductor should never be General Higekuro. Such desire is not unusual for women, but it cannot be expressed and recognized if you are bound by political correctness. Having experienced the political correctness dominant phase, I now analyze women’s arousal by looking at pornography and discover many truths about women one after the other. This book of yours and my book, “Misogyny: Onnagirai,” are evidence that feminism in Japan has gone through some rough patches and has matured to let up on women to realize that we can express not only what is right but also what is hard to admit.
Sakai
I didn’t know exactly how to handle my own raw and contradictory desires, one of which, my feministic desire, gets stimulated by your books and the other one, which is a desire to be snatched away under the influence of chloroform, and this still lingers in myself.
Ueno
When my book “Misogyny; Onnagirai,” was published, various people told me that I finally, after many years of writing about the aging society and nursing care issues, wrote a book that struck right at the core of gender studies. But after 10 or 20 years, I didn’t return to the exact same place where I used to be. I used the concept of misogyny in that book, and it meant to accuse men, but at the same time, women have to face up to our own self-hatred. By doing that, I could write the dark side of women without feeling a restriction. It is not possible to write about women’s dark inside just by criticizing men, but along with feminism maturing, women have gained a concept by which we can analyze women’s self-hatred. There are tons of women’s dirtiness in my book, you know?
Sakai
Surely it has some cathartic effect as well as wounding me to the quick.
Ueno
When feminism was tied down by political correctness, I could only write about the bright side of women, and I shut my eyes to women’s abhorrent side. Today we have gained a tool to analyze women’s dirtiness and darkness, and we can express that, which is good, but you, Ms Sakai, have gone through the process of feminism maturity all by yourself. It is really an admirable achievement of yours.
Sakai
I have been aware of my feministic gut feelings, but I couldn’t avail myself to take a right action, or I easily relied on a man. I couldn’t sort out my own contradictions, which I have had quite a bit in myself.
Ueno
Everyone has. We are all human to be contradictory.
The man to be left behind alone
Ueno
Murasakinoue is also an unfortunate woman.
Sakai
She is one of the least desirable women to me.
Ueno
The least happy one despite that she must have been loved by Genji the most…alas. She was denied by her creator to become a mother, the only viable lifestyle back then if you were a mistress.
Sakai
That’s the cruelest aspect of Lady Murasaki. This denial of her becoming a mother is the most cold-blooded fate given to her compared to that of others such as being cheated or being a target of jealousy.
Ueno
One of Muraski’s cruel punishments is that Murasakinoue had to raise a child (Akashi no Himegimi) whose mother had an affair with Genji behind Murasakinoue’s back. It is extremely harsh both to the mother and the daughter because they had to be forcefully separated, and the foster mother who had no other options.
Sakai
Indeed, it is heart-breaking. As Murasakinoue poured all her affection out on the little girl, I cannot help guessing how her true feelings were and feel tremendous compassion for her. By the way, Murasakinoue herself was abducted by Genji when she was still a small child, but funnily, I wasn’t aroused at that incident as in the case of Yugao or Ukifune.
Ueno
It is nothing but child abuse, trust me!
Sakai
If an abductee is sexually mature, I can be excited about the abduction, but if a child is an abductee, it is certainly a crime. Genji could do that because he had the power.
Ueno
And he enclosed her completely just like we do to the cattle.
Sakai
I would say, “at least let her renounce the world to become a nun!”
Ueno
You have an intriguing standpoint about becoming a nun. Women couldn’t choose a man or couldn’t choose whose woman to be; there was no choice for women at that time. However, there was only one choice they could make by themselves, and that was to become a nun.
Sakai
Saving a way out for women could be their tool for survival, I guess. But poor Murasakinoue wasn’t even given that option.
Ueno
Another interesting aspect of Genji that you pointed out was that female characters took their initiative and denounced the world willfully in a brisk pace. On the other hand, Genji procrastinated to take action to become a priest even though he kept on saying that he would. You described Genji as “a man to be left behind,” and I liked that.
Sakai
We know many such men; he has been saying he would divorce, but never does; or he has been saying he would quit his job, but would never does.
Ueno
Who did leave him behind? Every one of his women did. The worst revenge from women after betrayal by a man is leaving him behind.
Sakai
Lady Murasaki wanted Genji to be left behind all alone after every woman had died.
Ueno
Did Lady Murasaki have someone whom she wished to leave behind?
Sakai
(Chuckles) I cannot help wishing for a Casanova to be left behind alone. Lady Murasaki must have been surrounded by a number of men who could be the model of Genji, but she had such a man of confidence, Michinaga Fujiwara, very close to her. If I were her, I would feel for him just a little bit, yet I wouldn’t be able to suppress my urge for revenge against him to a certain extent.
Ueno
You wouldn’t let Genji die quickly and manly, instead letting his misery last longer and harder. You are quite mean, aren’t you?
Sakai
I thought it was a taste of Murasaki’s gentleness that Gengi’s death wasn’t clearly described.
Ueno
If you were in Lady Murasaki’s position, how would you treat his death?
Sakai
I am not a novelist, so I would write in a very vivid manner that he was struck by an unimaginable misfortune and died after hopeless struggles.
Ueno
So you would strip him of his glory and beauty.
Sakai
He becomes an emaciated and weary old man.
Ueno
First he gets old; then gets thrown out of power, gets abandoned by mistresses; and his body gets very frail …
Sakai
Alright, I wouldn’t mind letting him have one woman, say Suetsumuhana.
Ueno
No way, then you might create another version of Tosa Gengi by Tsuneichi Miyamoto. It would go like this, “not pretty but warm-hearted Suetsumuhana took care of Gengi till the very end of his life, oh well.” No, it’s not tragic at all. It’s a happy ending story. (laughs)
Sakai
I would like that Genji can only keep a woman who is so dull that he would rather wish to get rid of her. But he would never be allowed to have a compassionate and tactful woman such as Hanachirusato. (laughs)
Dream story for women
Ueno
Were you aroused at Ukifune’s indecisiveness when both Kaoru and Niounomiya declared their love to her?
Sakai
Yes, I was. It was as if the fire flared up momentarily very bright before it was extinguished.
Ueno
That is certainly a story of women’s dream written by a woman. The reason why the Korean TV drama “Winter Sonata” was such a huge hit is this: first, a good-looking man has made a pledge of eternal unchanging love to the woman; second, the woman gets two such pledging men but is never able to pick one. These are the points that make female viewers aroused.
I heard that my friend watched this drama and got really frustrated and said, “Why on earth has this woman, Yoo-jin (Choi Je-woo), been so wishy-washy? She gets on both sides, to Kang Joon-sang (acted by Bae Yong Joon) and also to Kim Sang-Hyeok (Park Yong-ha). But you know, my friend, me being wishy-washy is one of the arousal points.
Sakai
Another Ukifune. What will happen to Yoo-jin at the end?
Ueno
She finally chose Kang Joon-sang, but then he was involved in a car accident and became blind. To become blind means that Yoo-jin will be forever kept as young and beautiful in his memory. Thus, he will never be attracted by other women in the world. That makes him an ultimate yard bird to her. This is the ultimate arousal point for women! (laughs)
Sakai
That’s not her fault that he became blind.
Ueno
Exactly! This is one heck of a well-plotted story. I was deeply convinced and understood why this story is so appealing when I heard the screen writer was a woman. I happened to watch the episode of the famous Polaris story. Joon-sang gave Yoo-jin a Polaris shaped pendant top and said, “Look at the Polaris! It is always there and shining. I will be your Polaris and watch you and guard you forever.” (laughs)
What women are most worried about is the man’s change of heart, right? Genji often changed heart, but he kept his women’s life security. (laughs) Joon-sang dedicates himself to both his absolute love and the life security of his woman. Nonetheless, when he became blind, he had to rely on the women 100 percent. That is a total turnaround of their positions. Isn’t that a masterpiece?
Sakai
Absolutely, yes! You make me feel like watching the program right now. (laughs)
Ueno
They are both stories of women’s dreams – the Tale of Genji and the Winter Sonata. They are dream stories written by women. But look! There is revenge against men and bullies to women in the story. The books are worth reading with a pantoscopic and multilayered point of view.
(This series to be continued)
Original Article on the WAN Website (June 22, 2011) http://wan.or.jp/ueno/?p=407
Translated by Yoshiko M.
Source: http://renzaburo.jp/yokubo/index.html
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