8/18/2014
8/08/2014
CFP: Asian Association of Women's Studies
Asian Association of Women’s Studies
CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS
[Phase 2] Korea-ASEAN Cooperation Project (KACP) on Education and Exchange Program for Young Scholars in Women’s Studies
- Theme: “Uncovering Korea-ASEAN Women’s Lived Realities through Feminist Research”
- Date: 29-31 October 2014
- Venue: Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang, Malaysia
- Host: Asian Association of Women’s Studies (AAWS)
- Organizers: Women’s Development Research Centre (KANITA), Universiti Sains Malaysia; Asian Center for Women’s Studies (ACWS), Ewha Womans University
- Cooperating Agencies: Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); ASEAN University Network (AUN)
This project is supported by the ASEAN-ROK Cooperation Fund.
The Asian Association of Women’s Studies (AAWS) invites participants to the Korea-ASEANCooperation Project (KACP) on Education and Exchange Program for Young Scholars in Women’s Studies, which will be held at the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang, Malaysia on October 29-31, 2014. USM is popularly known as “university in a garden” and Penang has been designated as a UNESCO heritage site because of its rich tradition and culture.
Objectives of the KACP
In coordination with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the ASEAN University Network (AUN), AAWS designs and conducts Phase 2 of the KACP with the theme “Uncovering Korea-ASEAN Women’s Lived Realities through Feminist Research” in order to:
- empower young women scholars and disseminate Women's Studies to institutions where Women's Studies is not well established as yet;
- understand the lives and experiences of women, share information, and strengthen the network of women scholars;
- develop and practice academic and social leadership in the program; and
- promote collaborative research and publication on issues concerning women’s/gender studies and leadership.
- Identity as young women scholars in Korea and in ten ASEAN member states (i.e., Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam). Young scholars refer to the doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, research fellows, junior teaching staff, and the like.
- Current affiliation with a university or a research institute
- Experience in conducting research or feminist research on women
- Holder of passport that is valid for at least 6 months
Participant Selection
Participant selection will be based on the evaluation results of these required documents:
- Application Form (downloadable from http://www.aaws07.org) = 50%
- Abstract (downloadable from http://www.aaws07.org) = 50%
Note: The Application Form and Abstract should be sent to the official email of KACP Phase 2: kacp014@gmail.com on or before the deadline of application on August 11, 2014 at 12 midnight (time in Malaysia).
Guidelines for Abstract Submission
Guidelines for Abstract Submission
Abstracts should deal with any of the following general themes in the contexts of Korea and ten ASEAN member states:
a.Women’s Education and Empowerment
b.Feminist Research and Ethical Issues
c.Women’s Activism and Scholarly Work
d.Women’s Creative Leadership
b.Feminist Research and Ethical Issues
c.Women’s Activism and Scholarly Work
d.Women’s Creative Leadership
- Abstracts should be limited to 300 words only.
- All submitted abstracts will be reviewed. Results will be announced on August 29, 2014.
- All authors of accepted abstracts will automatically become presenters and participants during the International Workshop on Women’s Studies on October 29-31, 2014 at the Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang, Malaysia.
- All authors of accepted abstracts will be asked to submit their full papers on or before September 29, 2014. Failure to submit the full paper on the deadline will mean a cancellation of participation to the international workshop.
Guidelines for Full Paper Submission
- With a minimum of 10 pages and a maximum of 12, full papers should be based on the accepted submitted abstracts.
- All papers may be written as case studies, comparative researches, investigative papers or narratives.
- All authors of submitted full papers should be aware of the danger of plagiarism. Proper citation and acknowledgement of sources should be observed.
- More specific technical requirements will be given to accepted abstracts only.
- All authors of submitted full papers may be asked to refine or develop further their work for possible publication.
Fund
All KACP participants will be given full financial support for a roundtrip transportation (air/land/water), accommodation, and meals for three days (October 29-31, 2014).
Important Dates
11 Aug 2014 : Deadline for Application & Abstract Submission
29 Aug 2014 : Notification of Acceptance/Participant Selection
29 Sep 2014 : Final Submission of Full Papers
15 Oct 2014 : Final Submission of Powerpoint (ppt) Presentation File
For more related information and inquiries regarding the KACP, please visit the website, email, or call the organizers at the addresses provided below.
Women's Development Research Centre (KANITA)
Universiti Sains Malaysia
11800 USM, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Tel: +604 653 3436/3445/3433
Fax: +604 656 6379
Website: http://kanita.usm.my
Asian Center for Women’s Studies
Ewha Womans University
11-1 Daehyun-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-750, Korea
Tel. +82.2.3277.2964
Website: http://acws.ewha.ac.kr
[Phase 2] KACP Official Email:
kacp014@gmail.com
Posted by Eiko Saeki
7/31/2014
Another Story Pecoross’ Mother and Her Days, a Japanese Drama Film about Nursing Care, Depicts
Directed by Azuma Morisaki
Written by Yuichi Okano
Pecoross' Mother and Her Days (the original Japanese title: Pecoross no Haha ni Ai ni Iku, which literally means “Pecoross Visiting His Mother”) is a well-reputed Japanese drama film directed by Azuma Morisaki, which was voted as the best Japanese film of 2013 by Kinema Junpo, one of the most prestigious movie magazines in Japan. I guess many people have watched the film in a movie theater. This film is based on a manga of the same title by Yuichi Okano, who wrote it from his own experience of caring his mother. A “pecoross” in the title means a small onion, but it is also the pen name of Okano.
The film depicts many different events happening with relation to the care
of Yuichi’s demented mother Mitsue, sometimes amusingly, sometimes calmly and empathetically.
Yuichi’s cynical and humorous attitude toward Mitsue and the people around her often
makes you giggle, and adds a comical taste to this film with the serious theme
of nursing care. I believe most of the episodes are familiar to anybody who has
experiences of caring.
But despite the film’s comical interpretation, the
nursing care is basically not a laughing matter at all. In those everyday exchanges
among the people who are involved with Mitsue, I saw a lot of challenges and
difficulties surrounding nursing care, which stirred strongly my emotions. The
people in the film also experience swings of emotions, where they one moment feel
the joy of living together with Mitsue, but the next hope this endless-looking
situation to be finished. The film’s overall lighthearted descriptions even
more made me realize the sorrows and uneasiness they are feeling time to
time.
This film has another point beyond nursing care. That is the life history
of Mitsue, who was born in the 12th year of the Taisho era (in 1924) and now has
been losing her sense of time. And in this film, she relives her past life and
the audience re-experience it, which was really moving. The beautiful descriptions
of times and life which Mitsue and her family have lived also make this film
brilliant. In her life, Mitsue had a friend she grew up with and lost her. And Mitsue
had a husband who was alcoholic and committed violence against her.
I felt
tears in my eyes as her memories of these events become more and more vivid
toward the ending. I cannot forget the overwhelmed expression of Kiwako Harada,
who played the young Mitsue, at the time she lost her friend. This scene
embodies the injustice of life many women must have felt in the early years of
the Showa era (1920s-40s), when they had no other ways to live but to obey
somebody else’s will or to serve their husbands. There would also be another
findings when you watch this film from Yuichi’s point of view. I totally
recommend this film to everybody.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Original article written by Natsuko Nakamura
Translated by A. Tawara
Women Who Confronted with Their Days--- 8 Women in the Tumultuous Meiji Era
This is a biography of eight women who
lived the tumultuous Meiji Era(1868-1912): Chiyo AOYAMA, Nioko WAKAE, Empress
Haruko (the wife of Emperor Meiji), Kakei ATOMI, Osamu TAKABA, Ei WADA, Etsuko
SUGIMOTO, and Kikue YAMAKAWA. They all had strong will and a sense of
responsibility to get through the period.
‘Never
Abandon the Desire to Learn’ Chiyo AOYAMA: a member of the inaugural class of
the Tokyo Women’s Teacher’s School (the current Ochanomizu University). She is
the mother of Kikue YAMAKAWA.
‘Objection
to the Meiji Government’ Nioko WAKAE: The private tutor of Empress Haruko. She
advocated the exclusion of foreigners as a Cofucian and was expelled from Kyoto
by the founders of the Meiji Government, such as Tomomi IWAKURA.
‘To Be the “Model” of the Japanese Modern
Women’ Empress Haruko: The empress dowager praised as the “spirit of the
Japanese royal family” in the dawn of the modern Japan.
‘Strategies to the School Administration!’
Kakei ATOMI: The founder of the current Atomi University. She introduced
liberal arts to her school while implementing the traditional Japanese-style
education for women.
‘Training
Rough Guys with Spirits of Rebelliousness’ Osamu TAKABA: The head of a private
school called Koshi-juku. She was a Cofucian and dressed as a man. One of her
students was Mitsuru TOYAMA. Toyama went on to be the leader of Genyosha, one
of the Japanese main political organizations at that time.
‘Taking
the Responsibility for the Encouragement of New Industry’ Ei WADA: A daughter
of an official of the Matsushiro Domain. She worked for Tomioka Silk Mill and
wrote The Tomioka Diary.
‘Working
as a Cultural Bridge Between Japan and USA’ Etsuko SUGIMOTO: A daughter of an
official of the Nagaoka Domain. She taught Japanese language and culture at
Colombia University and wrote A Daughter of the Samurai.
‘Expressing
Herself in a Bold and Frank Way’ Kikue YAMAKAWA: The wife of Hitoshi YAMAKAWA,
who introduced Marxism to Japan as a communist. She stood in her political
belief despite the suppression by the authority and became the first Director
of the Women’s and Young Workers’ Bureau after World War II.
Some of them were so unique that they might
have caused you some troubles if they had been your sisters or friends. Some
did much more effort than no one ever could. You get overwhelmed by their
remarkable energy and vitality, and moved by some tragedies beyond our
imagination and dramatic events in their lives.
They went a little beyond the “conventional
norms” before they knew it. Not all of them enjoyed honor and high social
status or made their dreams come true. But when you imagine their lives from
the anecdotes by those who knew them well, you can feel compassion for these
women from the bottom of your heart. “Compassion” is not enough to describe the
feeling you have when reading about them; it’s a kind of “co-vibration.” It
should be a waste not to know such evocative stories of their lives.
This book includes 80 pictures and figures,
as well as three columns, so that it would be accessible by those who may not
be familiar with the Meiji Era. This book will provide you with a good
opportunity to discover about these women.
--------------------------------------------------
Original Article written by Chizuru
SAKAKIBARA (The author of this book)
Translated by N. TAJIMA
7/30/2014
The Present Situation of Single Parents in Japan (from “Traveling is Loitering” No. 52)
It
has been two years since my daughter decided to be a single parent. Her child
is now three years and nine months old and has fun at kindergarten every day.
“Single-Parent
Households (Hitori-Oya Katei)” by Chieko Akaishi (Iwanami-Shinsho, published on
April 19th, 2014) is a very useful book for single parents. The author herself is
an unmarried single mother.
After
all these years, the media has finally started to report about women’s poverty.
Especially, stories about cases caused by single mothers who are in social and
financial difficulties appear in newspapers from time to time. However, books
telling actual data on real situations of single parents or their actual voices
had been seldom published.
“A
single parent has a more than 50 percent chance of living in poverty. She and her
children may manage to get by, but often she can’t earn enough money to spend
on her children’s education.” Some facts are behind this reality. According to
the government’s report on single mothers, etc. in 2011, the annual income of
about 35 percent of single-mother households was between one million and two
million yen. The average annual pay from a single mother’s job was 1.81 million
yen, and the average income including child-rearing allowances, child benefits
and so on was 2.23 million yen. On the other hand, the average annual income of
single-father households was 3.8 million yen, and 3.6 million yen without
allowances or benefits. The average income of all the households with children
was 6.58 million yen, which probably reflected the fact that mainly men earn a
living in the Japanese society. This means the average income of single mothers
was only 34 percent of the whole households with children, while the single
fathers’ was 58 percent.
The
reality of single parents is that although most of them are working, their
income is low. Though earnings were not much, single mothers used to be hired
as full-time employees, but nowadays most of them are part-timers or temporary
staff. Their homeownership rate is 29.8 percent, and it is not so easy for them
even to find inexpensive apartments to rent.
Only
19.7 percent of divorced mothers receive child support from their former
partners. 37.7 percent of divorcing couples decide on child support, and the
average amount is 43,482 yen per month, while at least 57,000 yen is needed to
pay for food, clothes, educational expenses, etc. for one child. If the reason
for their divorce is their partner’s domestic violence, they can’t even demand
financial support, just desperate to escape.
Don’t
let men get away.
However,
single mothers in this book are all cheerful, dealing with their hard life and
child rearing, as if they have no regrets about having divorced to raise their
children alone.
When
asked “What do you want to appeal to the society?” they answered they needed time
rather than money according to the “Work and Life of Single Mothers” survey.
This seems to show they are extremely busy and do not have time to do what they
want.
Paying
national health insurance and national pension premiums is such a big burden on
low-income single mothers. They could use welfare loan systems for divorced or
widowed mothers to pay school fees or entrance fees when their children reach
school age. That could help mothers and children get through, but after
graduation they will be very likely to struggle to repay their loans. It is
said the delinquency rates of such loans and also student loans have been high
recently. Many of them end up being plagued by debts.
Ms.
Akaishi is supportive of single parents and gives useful advice based on her
own experience. The single mothers she interviewed and their children live
strong despite their financial difficulty while using occasionally consultation
services and being supported by many people. I especially like it that they are
not obsessed with the idea of “the ideal family.”
They
are already making full efforts to live by themselves. It’s time for them to help
each other by forming a community or network to be able to believe that they
are not alone. In addition, it’s our duty to call for more support from
national and local governments, which has been really little in this country.
Each
single parent has their own way to live. They are responsible not only for following
their chosen path for the better but also for ensuring an equal society in the
future for children who have to grow up to be independent adults, and so are
all of us.
My
daughter, still a fresh single parent, has a long way to go in terms of both
child rearing and her own independence, but she and her daughter have many
friends around to support them and some people who are sympathetic to them.
That makes me really happy.
During
the Golden Week holiday, when new green leaves were beautiful, my granddaughter
ran around the Old Imperial Palace and the Kamogawa River, and we took her for
a drive to have a short trip to Amanohashidate or the Bridge to Heaven. On May
5th, the Children’s Day, she went to the long-awaited “The First Classical
Music Concert for Children” performed by Kyoto
Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. The concert’s theme was “Music and Story,’ and
she enjoyed listening to “Peer Gynt,” a verse drama by Ibsen set to music by
Grieg.
She
is surprisingly growing up fast, and I want to be just beside her, trying hard
not to be left behind.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original article written by Yagi Mine
Translated
by Ai Sakaguchi
7/05/2014
WAN STATEMENT: PROTESTING THE SEXIST COMMENTS AND BEHAVIOR IN THE TOKYO METROPOLITAN ASSEMBLY
June 30, 2014
WAN protests against the sexist comments made in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly.
Japanese lawmaker Akihiro Suzuki (LDP) has apologized in response to the protests from Ayaka Shiomura (Your Party) though the apology was considered to be too late. The apology was made due to the pressure from public opinion. In addition to Suzuki, there were other male lawmakers in the Assembly who either made sexist gibes or jeered, but remained silent.
The Assembly did not pass the resolution calling for the identification of the speaker and their resignation. The Assembly tried to bring the incident to an end without charging anybody. It shows that sexist attitudes are deeply rooted within the Assembly.
Since similar sexist comments and behavior have been made in other legislative assemblies in Japan, WAN urges that these assemblies take remedial actions against prevalent sexual harassment in the assemblies.
Executive Board; Certified NPO, Women’s Action Network
Translated and adapted by Fumie Saito
Original Statement on the WAN Website (June 30, 2014): http://wan.or.jp/emergency/?p=1765
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