was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, politician and a leader of the

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

movement. Ichikawa was a key supporter of women's suffrage in Japan, and her activism was partially responsible for the extension of the franchise to women in 1945.

Early life

Born in Bisai,

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture ...

in 1893, Ichikawa was raised with an emphasis on education but also as a witness to her mother's

physical abuse Physical abuse is any intentional act causing injury or trauma to another person or animal by way of bodily contact. In most cases, children are the victims of physical abuse, but adults can also be victims, as in cases of domestic violence or wo ...

from her father. She attended the Aichi Women's Teacher Academy with the intention of becoming a primary school teacher. Upon her relocation to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

in the 1910s, however, she became exposed to the women's movement. Returning to Aichi in 1917, she became the first woman reporter with the '' Nagoya Newspaper''. In 1920 she co-founded the

New Women's Association The New Women's Association (NWA, also known as New Women's Society 新婦人協会, ''Shin-fujin kyokai'') was a Japanese women's rights organization founded in 1919. The organization strove to enhance women's rights in the areas of education, empl ...

(新婦人協会, ''Shin-fujin kyokai'') together with pioneering Japanese feminist Hiratsuka Raicho.

Women's suffrage

The New Women's Association was the first Japanese organization formed expressly for the improvement of the status and welfare of women. The organization, under Ichikawa's leadership, campaigned for changes in Japanese laws prohibiting the participation of women in politics. As women were barred from this sort of campaign (by the same law the organization sought to overturn), the organization held events known as "lecture meetings" to further their campaign. The law was eventually overturned by the Imperial Diet in 1922, after which the association disbanded. Two years later, Ichikawa traveled to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, intent on making contact with

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

women's suffrage leader

Alice Paul Alice Stokes Paul (January 11, 1885 – July 9, 1977) was an American Quaker, suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist, and one of the main leaders and strategists of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, w ...

. Returning to Japan in 1924 to work for the Tokyo branch office of the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

, she founded Japan's first women's suffrage organization, the Women's Suffrage League of Japan (日本婦人有権者同盟, ''Nippon fujin yûkensha dômei''), which in 1930 held the country's first ever national convention on the enfranchisement of women in Japan. Ichikawa worked closely with

Shigeri Yamataka (also Kaneko Shigeri and later Yamataka Shigeri, sometimes incorrectly referred to as Shigeri Takayama) was a Japanese feminist and founder of the League for the Defense of Women's Rights. In 1952 she also took part in Chifuren, when it was forme ...

, who went on to be elected to the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or ...

. The postwar occupation period saw Ichikawa play an important role in ensuring that women's suffrage was enshrined in Japan's postwar constitution, arguing that the political empowerment of women might have prevented Japan's entry into such a destructive war. The New Japan Women's League began its operation as an organization dedicated to winning suffrage for women, and Ichikawa was named the organization's first president. Ichikawa's efforts, coupled with the requirements of the

Potsdam Declaration The Potsdam Declaration, or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender, was a statement that called for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces during World War II. On July 26, 1945, United States President Harry S. Truman, Uni ...

, resulted in full suffrage for women in November 1945.

Other activism

Other campaigns included efforts to curb the corruption of elections, which led to the 1933 Women's Association to Clean Tokyo Politics and the creation of an official government office, the Central Association to Clean Up Elections, to which Ichikawa was appointed as one of five female trustees. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Ichikawa was appointed secretary of the Central Association for National Spiritual Mobilization, an organization formed by the Japanese government for the purpose of increasing popular support for the Japanese war effort. She also served as trustee of the Great Japan Women's Association, which coordinated the efforts of private support organizations. A tireless champion of women's issues, she would organize and participate in women's conferences in Japan and internationally, and in 1980 emerged as the leading voice in urging the Japanese government to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Political career

After World War II, Ichikawa was initially purged and excluded from political or governmental offices by the occupation. She returned to politics after the occupation ended, and was elected to the Diet in 1953 as a representative of

. She continued to focus on issues important to women, as well as electoral reforms. She was re-elected twice, but failed in her next re-election bid, and left office in 1971. In 1974, however, the then 81-year-old Ichikawa was asked to run again, and earned a fourth term in the Diet. She was re-elected to the House of Councillors in 1980, with the highest number of votes from the national constituency.

Awards

Ichikawa was awarded the

Ramon Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award ( Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic ideal ...

for Community Leadership in 1974 for her efforts in support of social equality.

References

Citations

Sources

External links

ICHIKAWA Fusae Center for Women and Governance
(公益財団法人市川房枝記念会女性と政治センター) - Previously known as the Fusae Ichikawa Memorial Association (FIMA, 市川房枝記念会) * in English {{DEFAULTSORT:Ichikawa, Fusae Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Female members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Japanese feminists Japanese women's rights activists People from Ichinomiya, Aichi 1893 births 1981 deaths Ramon Magsaysay Award winners 20th-century Japanese women politicians 20th-century Japanese politicians Japanese suffragists Chunichi Shimbun people Politicians from Aichi Prefecture