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Islam and Women’s Rights: A Personal Journey

by خانم هاشمی October 14, 2024

In this exclusive interview, Fatima Atsuko Hoshino, a Japanese woman who converted to Islam, shares her personal experiences and insights on the intersection of Islam and women’s rights. Her journey from a life immersed in Western consumerism to a dedicated Muslim woman offers a unique perspective on the misconceptions surrounding Islam and its treatment of women.

Read on for the exclusive report by Jahanbanou News Agency with Ms. Fatima Hoshino, a missionary of Islam; Part Two:

Islam and Women’s Rights

*Continuing your speech, I wanted to ask if you don’t think that Islam is in conflict with women’s rights?

The Significance of Blood Money in Islamic Law

On the contrary, Islam strongly supports women’s rights. Many non-Muslims believe that because the blood money of women is less than that of men in Islam, Islam does not value the lives of women. In fact, the value of a human life is never calculated with money.

The philosophy of the difference in the blood money of women and men is actually due to the protection of women.

Because the financial backing of a family depends on the man. It is the woman and the deceased family who receive the blood money. In fact, this is a kind of support for women and the family and in no way means that the value and status of men is higher.

Hijab: A Symbol of Empowerment

Or for example, about the issue of hijab. As I mentioned earlier, in my youth I had this problem that every day I felt that I was being consumed. I constantly spend money and am always looking for fashion and things like that. I thought that if I didn’t follow fashion and clothing, I wouldn’t be accepted and this caused me an inner problem.

For example, at first, I didn’t know what hijab was and I just obeyed God’s command to a Muslim that you should pray, fast in the month of Ramadan, and since you are a woman, you should wear hijab. But I didn’t know its function.

Over time, I realized what function this hijab has for us; that is, how much it brings respect and dignity to women and we can work in society without being harmed with this clothing and also maintain our own respect and this is also one of the signs that Islam supports women’s rights and in fact respects women.

Women are the real historians. Their educational role in the family is very important.

The Role of Women as Educators and Historians

*As a Muslim woman, what do you understand by the concept of resistance?

According to Islam, men and women differ more in physical and worldly matters, and in spiritual matters, women and men are equal before God and in this regard, women and men are no different. In Islam, women have an important position as educators and trainers of human beings.

There is a proverb that says women are the real historians. That is, because women educate both women and men, they have a very important role in society.

Women in Resistance: A Powerful Force

In resistance, women can be both on the front line and behind the front line, and that is why enemies try to first lead women astray. Because if women deviate from the right path, men will certainly be led astray as well. Because women play the role of a teacher in society.

The awakening of people leads to the understanding of the truth of Islam through the distinction between right and wrong.

*Given the recent events in Palestine and the Gaza war, what is the view of Japanese women towards Palestinian women?

Overall, people are much more aware now than before. In fact, I became acquainted with Islam and was guided towards it through September 11th, the great conspiracy against Islam and Muslims.

The Impact of Western Media

Currently, there’s a movement underway, and the enemy is doing everything in their power to destroy Islam. However, in reality, people are becoming more aware. People have the ability to distinguish between right and wrong and understand the truth of Islam more deeply.

Western media is constantly creating a negative and distorted image of Islam.

Distorted Perceptions of Islam

*In your opinion, what is the difference in the perspective of Western and Eastern media towards Palestinian women?

Unfortunately, the media in Japan and most non-Islamic countries in the East is under the influence of Western media.The same content that is broadcast in Western countries is exactly the same in other countries. In other words, it’s a direct translation of the same Western media, which is often creating a negative image of Islam and constantly engaging in black propaganda.

However, in the media of countries like Iran, the quality and content of the media are very different. For example, in the past few years when there was more news about ISIS, the Western media, including Japanese media, never mentioned Iran by name.

They pretended that all efforts for the people of Syria were being done by the Americans, and that the Americans were the saviors of the Palestinian people.

The media role of resistant women involves education and training.

The Role of Resistant Women in Media

*In your opinion, what is the most important message that women in the resistance, both in Hezbollah in Lebanon and in Palestine, convey to the world?

The role that women can play very well is the same role as that of Lady Zainab. She and the captives of Karbala, during the event of Ashura, played a media role, and this media role can even encompass the issue of education and training.

The university memories of “Born in Tokyo” are the path of guidance for a girl who has gone from the latest fashion and makeup to the pilgrimage of Arbaeen!

A Personal Journey of Guidance

*Mrs. Hoshino, can you also explain about the book you wrote?

Yes, in fact, I was the subject of the book. A few years ago, a book of my memoirs titled “Born in Tokyo” was published, and I think it has reached its 22nd or 23rd printing and has been very well-received.

“Born in Tokyo”: A Memoir of Transformation

The name of the book is “Born in Tokyo” even though I was born in another province of Japan. But when I was a student in Tokyo and converted to Islam there and was born as a Muslim, that’s why the name of the book is “Born in Tokyo”.

The Allure and Dangers of Western Consumerism

It actually starts with my university memories where I was always looking for the latest fashion, the newest makeup, and shopping malls and concerts. This book starts with my university memories and also passes through my childhood memories and explains the process of guidance, and ends with my memories of my first Arbaeen pilgrimage.

I participated in the Arbaeen pilgrimage for the first time in 2014 and was deeply affected.

The mirage of Western life is a dead end that leads a person away from the path of guidance, and this book is a lived experience to understand the pain of breaking the bones of a woman’s belief!

*Why did you decide to write the book?

Honestly, I wasn’t very keen on it; but many friends suggested to me that your story is very useful and life-saving for those who are influenced by Western media and cultural invasion.

Finding True Fulfillment in Islam

Because I came from a place that many people might aspire to migrate to. I experienced the Western lifestyle and I say the Western lifestyle is nothing but a mirage. In the end, I reached a dead end. I suffered and fell, and thank God I was able to get up and find the path of guidance.

Some people believe that we must experience things ourselves. However, human reason dictates that we learn from the experiences of others. As the saying goes, if we want to understand the pain of breaking a bone, we certainly don’t need to break our own bone.

We are very grateful to Ms. Fatima Atsuko Hoshino for participating in this interview.

It provides a valuable opportunity to learn about Islam from the perspective of a woman who has deeply embraced its teachings and experienced its transformative power.

Reporter: Faezeh Aghamohammadi

en.jahanbanou.ir

October 14, 2024 0 comment

Media Women Pioneers

A Japanese Muslim’s Journey

by خانم هاشمی October 12, 2024

As a Japanese Muslim named Fatima Atsuko Hoshino, I’ve always been struck by the misconceptions surrounding Islam. Even when it was often portrayed as a violent religion, I knew from my own experiences and studies that Islam is a global faith with a rich history and a vast community of followers worldwide.

Read on for the exclusive report by Jahanbanou News Agency with Ms. Fatima Hoshino, a missionary of Islam; Part One:

*We are in the presence of Ms. Fatima Hoshino from Japan. She has been a Muslim for 19 years. Ms. Hoshino, please introduce yourself:

I’m Fatima Atsuko Hoshino from Japan. I was born into a Buddhist Shinto family in Japan. In fact, I became acquainted with Islam through the internet and research in Japan, and thanks to God, after that I also became acquainted with the Quran and the Ahl al-Bayt and was guided to this path and migrated to the holy land of Iran about 14 years ago and have been living in Qom for several years.

I studied international relations up to the bachelor’s level in Japan and am also studying in a religious school in Iran and engaged in missionary activities.

The philosophical questions that had formed in my mind since adolescence led me to study and research in cyberspace in search of a lost thing that I found in the Quran!

A Quest for Meaning

Challenges and Voids

*Ms. Hoshino, what challenges and voids did you face before becoming a Muslim that led you to Islam?

I had deep philosophical questions from the age of nine. The same famous questions that say where are we, where were we, and where are we going? I felt like I was a traveler and a traveler should know the destination of the journey; because otherwise, the journey becomes futile and I first went to the religions that were in Japan, namely Buddhism and Shinto, but I did not find an answer.

Of course, I had an uncle who studied in America and became a Christian there and is now a professor of the Gospel and also a pastor in Japan, and since he tried to make me a Christian too, I got acquainted with Christianity as well; but I did not find a convincing and logical answer in Christianity either.

Then I went to university and because I did not know the purpose of life and for this reason I felt that I was getting worn out every day. That is, the culture and lifestyle were designed in such a way that the appearance of everything was important. Only the appearance of life and the appearance of man were considered.

At the same time, I heard a cry from within myself that said my true value should not be limited to this skin, flesh, and bones.

Discovering Islam

It was during those days that they talked a lot about Islam on television, but negatively. In a way that Islam was shown as a violent religion and they constantly implied that Muslims were terrorists and dangerous.

And this was while I knew that the religion of Islam, with a long history, is a global religion and has many followers around the world. If this religion is really bad and negative, why has it continued until now?!

This is when I decided to become a Muslim.

Because of the questions that formed in my mind, out of curiosity, I started studying and realized that the truth of Islam is not at all what the media says and it was very interesting for me. I studied constantly, although the studies were mostly in English.

Materials about Islam were rarely found in Japanese, and I studied books and articles in cyberspace because printed sources were not available.

Finding Answers

Then I became acquainted with the Quran and found the Quran to be a book in which the answer to everything could be found, and at that time I wanted to find my own purpose and meaning in life. In the end, I found the answer in a short verse in the Quran: “And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me,” and that was when I decided to become a Muslim.

Shia Islam and Conversion

Of course, at that time I only became a Muslim to be a follower of the Quran, and in Japan, like many other countries, the promotion of Shiism is much less than the promotion of Sunnism.

Therefore, I first became a Muslim through the Sunni Islamic Center; but about ten months later, I had a trip to South Korea and there I met a student who was from Malaysia and he spoke very negatively about Shiites and did not consider Shiites to be Muslims but even considered them infidels and polytheists.

I was curious again to see what the Shiites themselves had to say.

*So before that, you were not familiar with Shiite Islam in Japan?

No, not at all. In general, I didn’t have any direct contact with a Muslim person in Japan. I always did my own research online and wrote questions online that a few people always answered me.

The only language that says to a couple “zān va showhār”(wife and husband), is the Persian language, which is a sign of respect for women.

Cultural Identity and Islam

*Ms. Hoshino, as a Muslim woman and at the same time Japanese, and the fact that you also live in Iran, have you not faced any cultural challenges that would cause you to have a dual identity? Or in other words, how do you connect between Iranian and Japanese culture?

My Muslim identity is definitely much more important than my Japanese identity. Thanks to God, I have many friends from different countries and our common language and culture is Islam, not anything else.

Of course, the culture of the country in which we grew up has an impact. But our criterion should be our religion. If we are firm on this principle, we will not have any problems.

The Impact of Western Influence

Fortunately, I saw many positive points in Iran. In Japan and Buddhist culture, women do not have a high status and absolute patriarchy exists. But after World War II, Western culture entered Japan and although it caused a new kind of oppression of women in addition to the old oppression.

Regarding a woman’s alimony in Japan, it is like this that the prevailing culture and custom obligates the man to pay alimony to his wife and children; but the non-payment of alimony has no legal guarantee.

Or in relation to a woman’s financial independence, sometimes due to the bankruptcy of the spouse, the woman and man may separate in order to preserve the woman’s property; because otherwise, the husband’s debt will be paid from the woman’s property.

Language and Respect

Fortunately, I learned different languages. The only language that says to a couple, wife and husband, (zān va showhār), not husband and wife, is Persian.This is one sentence, one word. But it shows how much respect the speakers of this language have for women.

Beyond Patriarchy and Matriarchy

The important issue is that there is no patriarchy or matriarchy in Islam. The only thing that exists is the worship of God.

The function of the hijab for a woman is the respect and dignity of the woman so that she can work in society without any harm and it is one of the signs of the support of women’s rights in Islam. Read on..

There’s more to come in part two! Don’t miss it..

Reporter: Faezeh Aghamohammadi

en.jahanbanou.ir

October 12, 2024 0 comment

Asia

Japan Takes a Stand: New Uniform Tech Protects Athlete Privacy

by faeze mohammadi July 31, 2024

Japan’s Olympic athletes are set to compete in a new era of privacy after the introduction of high-tech uniforms designed to thwart intrusive photography

Japan’s commitment to athlete privacy has taken a significant step forward with the introduction of new fabric technology in this year’s Olympic uniforms. The material is designed to absorb infrared light, effectively rendering it invisible to night vision cameras.

This groundbreaking move comes in response to a disturbing trend of privacy violations during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Numerous female athletes fell victim to the unauthorized distribution of compromising photos. The issue of inappropriate photography and its exploitation has been a persistent problem in Japan, but this technological advancement offers a promising solution.

By prioritizing the protection of its athletes, particularly women, Japan is setting a powerful example for the global sports community. It’s a step in the right direction towards creating a safer and more respectful environment for all athletes.

From: Unseen Japan

July 31, 2024 0 comment

Asia Politics

Japan’s military needs more women. But it’s still failing on harassment.

by Narges Mohammadi May 27, 2024

As Japan embarks on a major military build-up, it’s struggling to fill its ranks with the women that its forces need and its policymakers have pledged to recruit.

Following a wave of sexual harassment cases, the number of women applying to join the Self-Defence Forces (SDF) decreased by 12% in the year ending March 2023, after several years of steady growth. Some victims have said an entrenched culture of harassment could deter women from signing up.

But nine months after the defence ministry pledged to take drastic measures, it has no plans to take action on a key recommendation issued by an independent panel of experts – implementing a national system for reviewing anti-harassment training standards – according to two ministry officials responsible for training.

The government-appointed panel had identified in a report published in August that the military’s superficial harassment education – which made only limited mention of sexual harassment – and a lack of centralized oversight of such training were contributing factors to cultural problems within the institution.

The head of the panel, Makoto Tadaki, said some training sessions – one of which Reuters attended – were at odds with the gravity of the situation.

A servicewoman who is suing the government over an alleged sexual harassment incident also said in an interview that the education she received over the past 10 years was ineffective.

Calls to root out harassment and increase the number of servicewomen come as aging Japan faces rising threats from China, North Korea and Russia and navigates the burdensome legacy of its wartime past.

Women make up just 9% of military personnel in Japan, compared to 17% in the United States, Tokyo’s key security ally.

The SDF referred Reuters’ questions to the defence ministry, which said in an emailed response that harassment “must never be allowed, as it destroys mutual trust between service members and undermines their strength.”

The ministry said it had hosted harassment prevention lectures by external experts since 2023, made sessions more discussion-based and planned to invite specialists to review its training this year.

It did not respond to questions on whether it would implement the panel’s recommendation to centralize oversight of training.

After ex-soldier Rina Gonoi went public with allegations of sexual assault in 2022, the defence ministry conducted a survey that year that uncovered more than 170 alleged sexual harassment incidents in the SDF.

Another alleged victim was an Okinawa-based servicewoman who accused a senior of making lewd remarks toward her in 2013. She was then publicly named in harassment training materials distributed to her colleagues in 2014, she told Reuters. The alleged perpetrator was not identified in the materials.

Reuters does not name alleged victims of sexual harassment. Her allegations were corroborated with documents in the lawsuit she filed last year, after she said she exhausted an internal complaints process.

Haphazard Training

The defence ministry offers an annual online module on general harassment. It also provides training materials to officers for in-person sessions, but doesn’t offer training on delivering harassment education and doesn’t track how or when the officers carry out harassment training, the two defence officials said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, justified the existing system as offering flexibility to commanders.

The six experts concluded in their review that existing training amounted to “generic, superficial statements” that were “not effective in helping people apply the training in the real world.”

In April, Reuters attended a harassment prevention course delivered by an external instructor to over 100 mid-ranking military officers at a base on the outskirts of Tokyo.

Instructor Keiko Yoshimoto presented harassment as a communication issue and focused discussions on generational differences and how they played out in preferences for types of cars and flavours of crisps.

“Generational differences make it hard for people to communicate,” she said, adding that people should understand the basics of communication before they could deal with specifics around sexual harassment.

Law professor Tadaki, who separately witnessed part of Yoshimoto’s session, said it “did not feel like the sort of training you would expect against a backdrop of there being so many cases of harassment surfacing.”

He added that it would likely take more time to increase oversight over the quality of training.

Two months after the panel issued its report, local media reported that a sailor had in 2022 been ordered against her will to meet a superior that she had accused of sexual harassment. She later quit the SDF.

Gonoi and the Okinawa-based servicewoman have criticised the system as inadequate.

“People would say ‘everyone put up with that kind of behaviour, it was normal back in our time,’ – but these issues are being passed down to my generation because nothing was done to stop it,” the servicewoman told Reuters in March.

She added that the harassment training she has since received was often poorly conducted and that more centralised oversight was needed: “Rather than trying to make a point about sexual harassment, (officers) pick materials that are easy to teach, something that will fit into the time they have.”

Fear of Complaints

The defence ministry officials said that training on sexual harassment largely takes place within a broader anti-harassment curriculum. At the two-hour training session attended by Reuters, about two minutes were dedicated to sexual harassment.

When Reuters asked about sexual harassment incidents during interviews with the officials, as well as two senior uniformed officers, they responded by speaking about general harassment.

The officials said it was challenging to give standardized training on harassment because service members in high-stress environments may give orders in a direct way that is unusual in other circumstances.

The two officers said there were concerns within the military that too much focus on harassment could create operational issues and one suggested it might lead to unfair complaints.

The defence ministry said in a statement that it does not tolerate abuse and that its training aims to ensure commanders do not “hesitate to give necessary guidance on the job because they are concerned about harassment.”

Tadaki, the professor, said Japan could learn from other militaries.

“The U.S., U.K., and France have a much clearer focus on preventing harassment from its root causes so its prevention programme is structured around improving the internal climate and culture of its organisation,” he said.

Source: Reuters

May 27, 2024 0 comment

Asia Society

Japan schools move to protect cheerleaders from up-skirting at sporting events

by Narges Mohammadi March 23, 2024

High schools taking part in Japan’s annual spring baseball tournament are taking action to prevent spectators from taking sexualised photographs of female cheerleaders.

The invitational tournament – and a regular tournament held every summer at Koshien stadium near Osaka – are supposed to be a celebration of youthful sporting prowess and a chance for teenage boys from 32 schools around the country to make their mark and perhaps catch the eye of a professional ball club.

But in recent years the events have been marred by incidences of voyeurism, in which female members of cheerleading groups, often dressed in sleeveless tops and short skirts, are photographed without their consent, with the images posted online in some cases.

In response, cheerleaders from several schools now perform in the stands wearing long-sleeved shirts and shorts, although other schools have retained the traditional uniform.

Earlier this week, girls from Takasaki high school in Gunma prefecture, north-west of Tokyo, performed in shorts that had been designed to complement the uniforms worn by its baseball team.

Despite complaints by some girls that they preferred to wear skirts, school officials said the group had accepted the costume change.

“Voyeuristic photos can potentially cause lifelong emotional damage to our students,” said Takasaki teacher Kohei Shiozawa, according to the public broadcaster NHK.

Airi Ozawa, the head of the school’s cheerleading team, told the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper: “At first, I thought a skirt would be better, but when I actually wore [shorts] and started cheering, I felt a sense of unity as the outfits matched the baseball team uniforms. And they were easy to move about in. Now I can dance with peace of mind.”

As an additional deterrent, teachers from the school are patrolling the stands at Koshien with signs asking spectators to refrain from photographing students. Earlier this week, teachers from another school positioned themselves between the cheerleaders and regular spectators to block the view of would-be voyeurs.

Concern over secret photography has spread to other sports in Japan, with complaints from women competing in gymnastics, track and field and synchronized swimming, among other sports, that they have been secretly filmed or photographed.

In 2020, the Japan Olympic Committee described up-skirting and other forms of secret photography targeting female athletes as “despicable”, warning that it would empower stadium officials to check images taken by spectators during the Tokyo Games.

The sportswear manufacturer Mizuno has developed a special fabric it says will deter voyeurs from secretly using infrared cameras that produce a “see-through” effect.

The firm plans to make the textile commercially available for track and field uniforms, sports bras and swimsuits, according to the Asahi Shimbun.

Source: Guardian

March 23, 2024 0 comment

Asia Society

Japan’s new disclosure rule to help G7’s worst gender pay gap

by Narges Mohammadi January 10, 2023

Japan’s new gender pay gap disclosure rules are set to be strengthened; requiring many Japanese firms to report new information by June next year.

The move may improve diversity in a country that has long trailed behind global counterparts in gender equality.

The difference in wages reflects a more fundamental gap in the amount of decision-making power women have compared to just a lag in titles, points out Ayako Fujita, Japan Chief Economist at JPMorgan Securities Japan.

“Disclosing it leads to a truer way of helping women to take a more active role in business,” said Fujita; who contributed to a recent JPMorgan report that focused on women’s professional advancement. “Nothing will change if we just let things be the market has; to put pressure on companies to change by requiring disclosure.”

What is the disclosure?

The pay gap isn’t the only new mandatory disclosure under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s “new capitalism” policy. From the next fiscal year onward companies’ securities reports must also include the ratio of women in management positions; and the percentage of male employees taking childcare leave.

Japan’s gender pay gap is the largest among Group of Seven nations. Women’s share of labor income in Japan was just 28.2% in 2020; far below the group’s other six countries according to the latest World Inequality Report.

“Japan’s gender pay gap won’t completely change in a few years,” said Fujita. That’s why fast responses are needed from the government; to get Japan to shift away from existing structures within firms and work environments that lack diversity, she said. “Increasing diversity also leads to innovation,” the economist said.

While efforts to increase the number of female employees have made some progress; “there hasn’t been much of a discussion of how those people should change firms,” said Fujita.

Japan has held a goal to get 30% of managerial positions held by women since 2003, but the number of women on boards hasn’t increased much so far. The percentage of women on the boards of listed firms has risen more than fivefold in the past decade; but still remains low, according to the Cabinet Office. The percentage of women in managerial positions also remains at 9.4%, according to the latest survey from Teikoku Databank.

While the number of female board members has climbed, “it hasn’t got to the level where diversified viewpoints are meaningfully reflected in managerial decisions,” said Rie Nishihara, Head of Japan Equity Strategy of JPMorgan, who also contributed to the report. In order for that to happen, the percentage of women on boards needs to rise to 30%, she said.

Results that we expect

“We have hopes that the 30% leadership goal will be reached by 2030,” said Rina Bando; senior manager at consulting firm Mercer Japan, who last month authored a report on gender pay disclosures. “Although changes do not happen easily in Japan, we are definitely seeing shifts in awareness in the past few years, especially as Japan follows the footsteps of the U.S. and Europe in promoting diversity.”

Japan’s number of female board members lags far behind global peers. In June, the European Union agreed to require listed firms to have a share of 40% of the underrepresented gender among non-executive directors and 33% among all directors by mid-2026.

If diverse opinions start being reflected in management decisions, that could also impact stock performance. Nishihara said that when the market is in a downtrend, shares of firms that have a diverse management team may be held on to more, and could reduce downward pressure on stocks.

A high number of women on boards appears to reduce stock price volatility across most regions; Bloomberg Intelligence ESG strategist Shaheen Contractor also wrote in a report. “The strategy may reduce risk and offer downside protection,” she said.

Ayako Sera, a market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank said: “Profit comes from discovering things and services that can be helpful to the public. When thinking about those new value-added services, people might miss out on potential opportunities if they do not have a diversified perspective.”

Women held three fewer seats on the boards of companies in the 225-issue Nikkei stock index in the third quarter from the previous three-month period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The average number of female directors was unchanged at 1.5, out of an average board size of 10.4.

Source: Japan Times

January 10, 2023 0 comment

Asia Society

Japan to End Restrictions on Women Remarrying After Divorce

by Narges Mohammadi October 23, 2022

Japan is set to change a 19th-century law deciding the paternity of a child born after divorce, in a bid to reduce the number of babies who remain unregistered and face difficulty in accessing healthcare and education.

The cabinet approved a bill last week under which paternity will be awarded to the mother’s spouse at the time of the birth. The revised legislation, set to be presented to parliament for passage in the current session, will also end a ban on pregnant women remarrying within 100 days of divorce, ostensibly imposed to avoid disputes over paternity.

Under an 1898 Civil Code that’s still in force, a child born to a woman within 300 days of divorce is considered to be that of her former husband, even if she has remarried. Many women opt not to register their children rather than comply with the regulation, especially in cases of domestic abuse.

The country’s practice of registering its citizens under household units has hampered attempts by campaigners to gain the right for married couples to retain separate names, as well as to introduce same-sex marriage. By contrast, South Korea abandoned its household registration system in 2008 in favor of individual registration.

Japan consistently lags other developed countries in terms of gender equality. It was ranked 116th out of 146 countries in the annual Global Gender Gap Report released by the World Economic Forum in July. It is one of 32 countries that maintain discriminatory restrictions on remarriage for women after divorce, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

According to Tomoshi Sakka, a lawyer who succeeded in getting the remarriage ban for women shortened to 100 days from six months in a 2015 Supreme Court ruling, the amendment also indicates a belated shift toward prioritizing the rights of children.

“This change in the law will help reduce the number of children who have no family register,” Sakka said. “They have finally realized that this law is for the children.”

Of about 800 unregistered people surveyed in August, the Ministry of Justice found 71% cited the paternity law as the reason, the Mainichi newspaper said. Children who are unregistered face hurdles in accessing public education, can’t get usual healthcare coverage and generally can’t get passports issued.

Registration and paternity rules are particularly important in Japan, where birth out of wedlock is rare and widely frowned-upon. About 2% of children are born to unmarried parents, while the average across OECD countries is 41%.

Hearing these news really does raise our hope that maybe the world is on that path to acknowledge and support women rights; however, in the case of Japan time will show that how Japanese politicians really stick to their word.

Source: Bloomberg

October 23, 2022 0 comment

Asia Society

A new ban marked in Japanese schools

by Narges Mohammadi May 1, 2022

Japanese schools ban ponytails; fearing they might ‘sexually excite’ men

Japanese schools banned female students from wearing their hair in ponytails because the “nape of their necks” could “sexually excite” male students. Former middle school teacher Motoki Sugiyama told Vice the reasoning is similar to that of the schools’ white-only underwear policy, so that they won’t show through the uniforms.

He explained: “They’re worried boys will look at girls, which is similar to the reasoning behind upholding a white-only underwear color rule,” he explained. “I’ve always criticized these rules, but because there’s such a lack of criticism and it’s become so normalized, students have no choice but to accept them.”

According to Vice magazine, a 2020 survey showed that in the Fukuoka prefecture of the country, one in 10 schools banned the up-do. Sugiyama taught in the prefecture of Shizuoka for 11 years in five different schools, which all outlawed ponytails.

Parents and students alike expressed outrage at the absurd dress code in June, pushing the Japanese government to revise the prefectural boards of education’s rules. But not every school was whipped into shape. In fact, Sugiyama still receives complaints from students who claim their schools won’t ease up on dress-code restrictions.

A ban on ponytails and underwear color aren’t the only stringent guidelines Japanese students must follow. Schools enforce further restrictions such as the color of children’s socks, skirt length and even the shape of their eyebrows. They also have to ditch the hair dye, for if a student’s locks aren’t “black or straight,” they are forced to show proof that it’s their natural hair color.

Sugiyama regularly posts TikToks about the arbitrary rules, with students rarely receiving a valid explanation. Sometimes, schools would allow short, bob hairstyles, despite it showing off the neck just as a ponytail would.

The harsh regulations, have roots dating back to the 1870s when the Japanese government first established a regulated system of education. During that time, school rules were extremely confining with the goal of reducing violence in schools. Over time, the rules began to vary between generations and schools, but the result is consistent: Everyone is the same.

But not all Japanese schools are cracking down on students’ appearances. Hosoyamada Junior High School, in the prefecture of Kagoshima, modified its dress code after students complained last year, a spokesperson for the school told Vice. While ponytails and pigtails are still not allowed, there are more generous rules on underwear — it can be black, gray or navy blue.

May 1, 2022 0 comment