On the change of the social status of women in Japan after World War II After the World War II, with the high-speed development of the economic in Japan, the social life of Japanese also has great changed in various aspects. One of the most important aspects is the change of the social status of women in Japan. Traditionally women were in the stereotype of good wife and devoted mother and they were tied down to the families and housework without going out to the society. However, with the unremitting efforts of the Japanese Government and the women themselves, they had made great achievement in politics, education, occupation, gender equality and so on. Women’s social status had obviously improved.Brief look to the historyBefore we talk about the change of the Japanese women’s social status, let’s date back to the history and have a brief understanding of the women in history.As for tradition, Japanese is a society which regards the men to be the center of it for a long time. Before the Meiji Restoration, the women's admonition book in Japan Female College was regarded as the Bible which female had to read and learn. It highly esteemed the ‘‘three obedience’’, ‘‘four virtues’’and seriously forbade the ‘‘seven outs’’. The three obedience means that they should obey their fathers before marriage, obey their husbands after marriage and obey their sons if they became widowed. The four virtues mean women’s virtue, women's statements, women’s tolerance and women's contributions. And the seven outs mean no child, sensuality, no does to cross-cousin, multi-tongue, theft and vicious disease. If women have done anyone of the seven outs, they would be divorced. You can see how badly the feudal ethical code discriminated and oppressed the women in that time. Their Thinking and behavior were severely bounded and they never had any autonomy for themselves.Women and educationAfter the war, the Japanese women got the equal educational opportunity and right as men. The Fundamental Law of Education and The School Education Act which were enacted in 1974 clearly defined the principle that female and male have the equal opportunity of getting education and truly achieved the coeducation.In 1950 the high school enrollment rate of male is 48% and that of female is 36.7% but till 1994 the rates comes to 94.6% for male and 96.8% for female. You can see the great change. And for the rate of accessing to higher education, in 1955 it was 15% for male and 5% for female. However in 1994 the rate reached 40.9% for male and 45.8% for female.Women and occupationThe traditional model of Japanese family that men work outside and the women work inside not excites any longer nowadays. With the development of the society and the good education and professional training they have received, women have constantly get out of the family and go to the society to achieve themselves. According to the basic structure of employment survey that the Office of General Services done, in 1992 the number of women’s employment was surpass the number of men and reached to 50.7%. Also a survey shows that in 1993 the number ofwomen in management positions is 200 thousand.Women and politicsAt the survey that support or not support the Eisaku Sato to be the Cabinet in December, 1964, the rate of no commons in male is 20% but in female the rate is over 60%. However in the same survey with Miyazawa in 1991 the rate is only about 10% in female and in 1994 the survey with Haneda the rate of supporting in female is obviously surpass the rate in male. Women are more and more care about the politics.As for voting, surveys shows that since 1969, the rate of vote in female is always higher that that of male.Absolutely in the political position women also do a much good job. There are more and more women ministers, judges, prosecutors, lawyers and also the United Nations High Commissioner in Japan. In 1960, there came the Ikeda Cabinet’s first female Minister and up to 2000 there were five women ministers of all 18 members of the Koizumi cabinet. Also the number of female staff of international agencies of the United Nations in Japan is raised from 19 in 1975 to 213 in 1996. What a big change!Women and marriageThe marriage in Japanese tradition is patriarchal and machismo. Female should obey their parents’ arrangement and can never resist that and after marriage they should obey their husbands. But now they meet and date with boys by themselves even get married by their own choices. Women advocate equality of the spouses and never be oppressed by their husbands.Their mate standard is highly educated, high income, tall and many are late-married nowadays. Unintentional propensity to marry in is increasing and the divorce rate is rising which shows their divorce concept of change.During the 50 years after the war, along with social progress and development, the majority of women have been out of the house, to receive education, participate in the work, entering politics and made a big step forward in the road of the pursuit of gender equality.However, compared with the western developed countries in education, employment, marriage and family, political participation, Japanese women still have a long way to go.In a word, in the 21st century, Japanese women not only have to fight for women's rights, but also should make more efforts for the equality between men and women to make Japan to be a more advanced country in the world.Higher Education Statistics Data SetCollege Education Research Center in Hiroshima University, Mar. 1995 Women's Status and MeasuresJapanese Prime Minister's Office, Dec. 1994Zhang ping, Marriage and Family in JapanChina Women Publishing House, Dec. 1984Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 1995Yomiuri Shimbun, 1995。
