“What Are You Afraid of? - Women who lived feminism in Japan” (condensed version),
A documentary film directed by Hisako Matsui, with English subtitles.

Talk: Handing over feminist experiences to next generations, by Chizuko Ueno

After nearly a half century of history of Japanese feminism, have Japanese women changed? And how and to what extent? Is Japanese society ready to accept changed women? If not, then why? Chizuko Ueno will try to answer these questions.

Chizuko Ueno, sociologist and “Japan’s best-known feminist” (The Economist), Professor emeritus of Tokyo University, has been known for her research and publications on family sociology, women’s history, and feminist theory. Through her work, she contributed to the establishment of gender studies in Japan. As a public intellectual, she addresses, in an outspoken and sometimes controversial manner, political issues from postwar revisionism through issues such as racism, the compensation of so-called comfort women, or neo-liberal politics. Since 2011, she has been active as Chief Director of the Women’s Active Network (WAN) Japan. Among her many publications are The Modern Family in Japan: Its Rise and Fall (1994, English version 2009) and Nationalism and Gender (2004).