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Chizuko Ueno

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Chizuko Ueno
Ueno giving a talk at the University of Tokyo (2014)
Born(1948-07-12)July 12, 1948(age 76)
Toyama Prefecture
NationalityJapanese
Alma materKyoto University
OccupationProfessor of sociology
Known forJapanese feminism

Chizuko Ueno(Thượng dã thiên hạc tử,Ueno Chizuko,born July 12, 1948, inToyama Prefecture)[1]is a JapanesesociologistandJapan's "best-knownfeminist".[2][3]Her work covers sociological issues including semiotics, capitalism, and feminism in Japan.[1][4]Ueno is known for the quality, polarizing nature, and accessibility of her work.[5]She was married toDaikichi Irokawa.[6][7][8][9]

Early life and education

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Ueno was raised as aChristian,which she notes as being "very unusual" because only 1% of the Japanese population is Christian.[10]Her father was a physician.[11]In an interview withThe Japan Times,she describes her father as "a complete sexist" who had extremely high expectations of her two brothers but only considered his daughter as a "pet girl", which allowed her the "freedom to do whatever I wanted to do".[10]The marriage between Ueno's parents was unhappy, and her mother repeatedly fretted about the difficulty that divorce would bring should she pursue it. Ueno would later describe monogamous marriage institutions as "the root of all evil".[12]Ueno studiedsociologyatKyoto University,[1]where she participated in theZengakurenstudent protests of the 1960s.[10]Ueno has stated that during her time as a student, she faced sexual discrimination.[13]

Academic career

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Chizuko Ueno has spent her entire career advocating gender equality in Japanese society by researching diverse issues of gender and contributing to the establishment of gender studies as an acknowledged field of research in Japan.

In 1982, Ueno authoredThe Study of the 'Sexy Girl'(セクシィ・ギャルの đại nghiên cứu ) andReading the Housewife Debates( chủ phụ luận tranh を đọc む), texts that would be referred to as "The Flagbearers of 1980's Feminism".[1]Her work investigated the relationship between the "Women's Lib" (ウーマン・リブ) movement of the 1960s and the Women's Liberation Movement ( nữ tính giải phóng vận động ) of the 1970s.[1]The primary perspective of these works was the application of structuralist and semiotic theory to sociology in order to investigate gender-centric mechanisms in society. This public debate coincided with the prominence of other scholars such as Asada Akira, Nakazawa Shin'ichi, and Yomota Inuhiko, a period known as the New Academicism Boom (ニュー・アカデミズム・ブーム).[1]

After dropping out of her doctoral courses, Ueno worked in a marketing systems think tank and produced many works on the debate over consumption and society.[14]

From 1979 to 1989, she was a Lecturer and later Associate Professor at theHeian Women's College.She was an Associate Professor and Professor atKyoto Seika Universityin the Department of Humanities from 1989 to 1994.[1]In 1993, after being rejected by many other universities as a strident feminist scholar, she received an invitation from theUniversity of Tokyo.[10]

She is a special guest professor at the Graduate School of Core Ethics and Frontier Sciences atRitsumeikan Universityand a professor emeritus at theUniversity of Tokyo.[15]She retired from this position in order to take the role of Chief Director of the Women's Action Network (WAN),[16][17]an organization designed to connect and introduce feminists from different backgrounds.[18]The Women's Action Network website hosts news, essays, popular media reviews, and promotes certain merchandise.[16]

In 1994, Ueno received the Suntory Arts and Sciences award for her work,The Rise and Fall of the Modern Family.[1]

Scholarship and views

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Ueno's research field includesfeminist theory,family sociology,and women's history. She is best known for her contribution togender studiesin Japan. As a public intellectual, she played a central role in creating the field of gender studies in Japanese academia.[10]

Ueno is a trenchant critic of postwarrevisionismand criticizes the whitewashing ofJapanese history,which she claims attempts to justify itscolonialism,wartime atrocities,andracismbothbeforeandafterWorld War II.In particular, she has defended the compensation of Koreancomfort womenwho were forced into prostitution by theEmpire of Japan.[10]She is also a staunch advocate of global women's reproductive rights,[19]and a critic of monogamous marriage institutions.[12]

Ueno often discusses the semiotics and accessibility of feminism, claiming that feminist discussion in Japanese can frequently lack the language needed to make its concepts readily understandable and approachable.[3]Moreover, Ueno has engaged in publicly provocative expressions and publications in order to invite dialogue on otherwise less-discussed feminist issues in the Japanese media, for which she has received both praise and criticism from other feminists.[5]In the mid-1980s, Ueno was also involved in a public debate with Japanese eco-feministAoki Yayoi.[5]

Her work has argued that a key component of Marxist-Feminist thought is the recognition that sexism is an inherent, inseparable aspect of capitalist economies, and that sexism in the modern family does not owe its origins to pre-modern traditions, but rather is an acute product of post-industrial economic structure.[1]

Ueno has stressed the need for an accessible legacy of feminist thought.[20]

Controversy in South Korea

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Ueno is classified as anpostcolonial feministin Japan. However, South Korean scholars have criticized her for not completely abandoning her 'colonialist' perception due to limitations ofJapanese feminism.She opposed the criminal punishment ofPark Yu-ha,who openly instigated historical revisionism on the issue of Comfort Women in South Korea, citing freedom of expression. She was accused of being a 'colonialist' by manySouth Korean feministsandKorean nationalists.[21]Park Yu-ha's view of the comfort women is considered morally identical to that of 'Japanesefar-right' or 'Holocaust Negationism' by many South Korean scholars.[22][23]

In 2016, at a debate at the University of Tokyo in Japan, Ueno said "it was the judiciary of Korea that filed a criminal complaint against [Park Yoo-ha]", causing controversy in South Korea. Yang Jing-ja (Korean:양징자), aZainichischolar who participated in the forum, said, "The charges against [Park Yoo-ha were] made by the victims, and the prosecution tried to reconcile with the victims through mediation. It was Professor Park Yoo-ha who rejected the prosecution's mediation plan," he countered, after which Ueno suddenly handed over the microphone and stepped down from the podium, saying, "[I'm] busy".[24]

Surge of popularity in China

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In 2023, Ueno's work gained sudden prominence in China after a video of her 2019 matriculation speech at the University of Tokyo went viral. Consequently, Chinese translations of Ueno's books gained popularity. As of April 2023, Ueno's books had reportedly sold more than a million copies in China, of which 200,000 copies were sold in January and February alone.[25]Her bookOfuku shokan: Genkai kara hajimaru(Correspondences: Starting at the Edge) was selected as book of the year on Chinese book review platformDouban.[26]In 2024, she was included on theTimemagazine's annual list of100 most influential peopleand cited as a "surprising superstar" in China.[27]

Selected publications

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  • The Modern Family in Japan: Its Rise and Fall.Victoria, Australia: Trans Pacific Press. 2009.ISBN978-1876843625.(first published inJapanesein 1994)
  • Ueno, Chizuko; Sand, Jordan (1999). "The Politics of Memory: Nation, Individual and Self".History & Memory.11(2): 129–152.doi:10.1353/ham.2005.0001.S2CID1765052.(translated from Japanese byJordan Sand)
  • Nationalism and Gender.Victoria, Australia: Trans Pacific Press. 2004.ISBN978-1876843595.
  • Patriarchy System and Capitalism.Taipei, Taiwan: China Times Publishing Co. 1997.ISBN9789571323169.[28]
  • Sits on the editorial board of theJournal of Women, Politics & Policy.[29]
  • Thượng dã tiên sinh, フェミニズムについてゼロから giáo えてください!(published in Japanese on January 12, 2020).ISBN978-4479393320.

References

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  1. ^abcdefghiNetAdvance Inc."ジャパンナレッジ Lib".JapanKnowledge.Retrieved2019-03-15.
  2. ^"Holding back half the nation".The Economist.29 March 2014.
  3. ^abGelb, Joyce; Palley, Marian Lief, eds. (1994).Women of Japan and Korea: continuity and change.Philadelphia: Temple University Press.ISBN978-1566392235.OCLC29638226.
  4. ^Ueno, Chizuko (1989). "Women's Labor under Patriarchal Capitalism in the Eighties".Review of Japanese Culture and Society.3(1): 1–6.ISSN0913-4700.JSTOR42800958.
  5. ^abcBuckley, Sandra (1997).Broken silence: voices of Japanese feminism.Berkeley: University of California Press.ISBN9780520914681.OCLC42855048.
  6. ^Ueno, Chizuko. (2023) 15 thời gian の hoa giá.Phụ nhân công luận.Chuokoron-Shinsha. April 2023
  7. ^Hirakawa, Sukehiro(2023) "Trung quốc ngữ chỉ も báo じた thượng dã thị の kết hôn". Chính luận. Sankei Shimbun. 2023-04-20
  8. ^Tá đằng dũng mã (2023-02-22)."Thượng dã thiên hạc tử thị の “Nhập tịch” báo đạo で vật nghị… “Kết hôn してるフェミニスト hảo きじゃない” と quá khứ に phát ngôn ".Business Journal(in Japanese). サイゾー.Retrieved2023-04-29.
  9. ^Nguyên mộc xương ngạn (2023-02-28)."フェミニズムの kỳ thủ ・ thượng dã thiên hạc tử の kết hôn tương thủ と tuần れ sơ め".Nhật khan サイゾー(in Japanese). サイゾー.Retrieved2023-04-29.
  10. ^abcdefPrideaux, Eric (5 March 2006)."Speaking up for her sex".The Japan Times.
  11. ^"Tử vong thượng dã lương hùng thị ( thượng dã thiên hạc tử ・ đông kinh đại học đại học viện giáo thụ の phụ )".Kyoto Shimbun.June 17, 2001.
  12. ^abIto, Masami (2015-10-03)."Women of Japan unite: Examining the contemporary state of feminism".The Japan Times Online.ISSN0447-5763.Retrieved2019-03-15.
  13. ^Oguma, Eiji (2009).1968, Vol. 1.Shin-yo-sha. p. 81.
  14. ^Ueno, Chizuko (1987).The Game of Finding Myself ( “Tư” tham しゲーム― dục vọng tư dân xã hội luận ).
  15. ^"UENO, Chizuko | Graduate School of Core Ethics and Frontier Sciences, Ritsumeikan University".Archived fromthe originalon 2015-06-26.Retrieved2019-03-15.
  16. ^abW-wan (2013-12-30)."Worldwide-Women's Action Network: Current Concept of Worldwide Women's Action Network (W-WAN)".Worldwide-Women's Action Network.Retrieved2019-03-15.
  17. ^Molony, Barbara (2016).Gender in Modern East Asia.Westview Press.ISBN9780813348759.
  18. ^"Worldwide-Women's Action Network".worldwide-wan.blogspot.com.Retrieved2019-03-15.
  19. ^Chizuko, Ueno; Turzynski, Angela (1997). "'Reproductive Rights/Health' and Japanese Feminism ".Review of Japanese Culture and Society.9:79–92.ISSN0913-4700.JSTOR42800162.
  20. ^Bullock, Julia C.; Kano, Ayako; Welker, James, eds. (2018).Rethinking Japanese feminisms.Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.ISBN9780824866730.OCLC1019678868.
  21. ^KYOUNGHWA LIM ed. (2019).(Im)possibility of Mutual Communication between the Japanese and South Korean Feminisms: Focusing on Ueno Chizuko’s ‘Comfort Women’ Discourse.Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information.
  22. ^"램지어와 '일본 극우' 대변하는 그들, 박유하·류석춘·이영훈·안병직 등은" 극우 아닌, 친일매국노일 뿐 "(feat. '위안부' 2차 가해)".뉴스프리존.19 February 2021.
  23. ^Shin Dong-kyu ed. (2016).The logic of Holocaust Negationism and Comport Women of the Empire of PARK Yuha: Challenge against Collective memory and emotion through unhistorical narratives.Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information.
  24. ^"[제국의 위안부]를 어떻게 읽을 것인가".시사IN.25 April 2016.Retrieved6 April2023.
  25. ^Sullivan, Helen (2023-04-25)."Chizuko Ueno: the Japanese writer stoking China's feminist underground".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved2024-04-22.
  26. ^"Why Is China Experiencing an Ueno Chizuko Boom Now? - Discuss Japan".www.japanpolicyforum.jp.Retrieved2024-04-22.
  27. ^"Chizuko Ueno: The 100 Most Influential People of 2024".TIME.2024-04-17.Retrieved2024-04-22.
  28. ^Phụ quyền thể chế dữ tư bổn chủ nghĩa.Đài bắc: Thời báo văn hóa. 1997.ISBN9789571323169.
  29. ^"Journal of Women, Politics & Policy - Editorial board".Taylor and Francis.Retrieved3 June2014.
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