A Society of Mutual Recognition: Learning from Yukichi Fukuzawa's Views on Women and the Family

2020/03/24

Happy New Year, everyone. Also, happy 185th birthday to Yukichi Fukuzawa. My name is Naoko Nishizawa, as I was just introduced. It is a great honor to have the opportunity to speak at this birthday celebration today. Thank you very much. I am currently very nervous.

In the context of research presentations, I usually refer to him as Fukuzawa or Yukichi Fukuzawa without an honorific to objectively position his achievements. However, since today is a gathering to celebrate his birthday, I would like to call him Yukichi Fukuzawa. I hope you will kindly overlook any awkwardness this may cause. Now, I would like to get straight to the main topic.

It may not be very well known now that Yukichi Fukuzawa wrote many essays on women and the family. Because his achievements are so diverse and numerous, there are fewer opportunities for his views on women and the family to be discussed systematically compared to his other commentaries.

However, Yukichi Fukuzawa's views on women and the family sparked controversy from the time they were published, and discussions have continued from time to time even after his death. Kikue Yamakawa, who served as the first Director of the Women's and Minors' Bureau of the Ministry of Labor after the war, stated in "Record of Two Generations of Women" that his commentaries gave her a sense of relief. Akiko Yosano said, "Even now, I cannot help but deeply sympathize with his brilliant insight. The great man who advocated for equal rights for men and women and encouraged the independence of women earliest in our country was Yukichi Fukuzawa" ("What Do We Seek?"). Furthermore, Shigeri Yamataka, who served as the president of the National Federation of Regional Women's Organizations (Chifuren), stated in her 1934 work "Knowledge of Women's Issues" that Yukichi Fukuzawa's views on women remain a masterpiece of Meiji—no, Japanese—discourse on women.

On the other hand, many female educators criticized that women with the self-determination he advocated would hinder men at a time when Japan, as a developing nation, needed to increase its national strength. Even today, the evaluation of Yukichi Fukuzawa's views on women and the family is not uniform.

I believe the fact that controversy has continued for a long time indicates that Yukichi Fukuzawa's claims and proposals touched upon the essence of the problem. Today, under the title "A Society of Mutual Recognition," I would like to consider the challenges we must tackle in modern society while gaining suggestions from the views on women and the family written by Yukichi Fukuzawa.

In May last year, the so-called Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace was revised, and it seems as though the active participation of women in professional life is expected. The Cabinet Office conducts a "Public Opinion Survey on a Gender-Equal Society" approximately once every two years, and among the question items is one asking whether people agree or disagree with the idea that "the husband should work outside and the wife should protect the home."

According to the results announced in 2016, the group that most supported this idea—agreeing or somewhat agreeing that "the husband should work outside and the wife should protect the home"—was, as you might imagine, men in their 70s and older. However, the group with the next highest support rate was, surprisingly, women in their 20s (ages 20 to 29). In fact, 47.2%, nearly half of women in their 20s, support the idea of the husband working outside and the wife protecting the home. Since the average is 40.6%, the high level of support in this generation is evident.

Looking at these results, I don't think we should optimistically think, "Oh, women in their 20s still have a longing for marriage and family life." This survey also publishes the percentage for women aged 18 to 29, and just by including 18 and 19-year-olds, the percentage drops by 6.1%. What exactly does that mean?

Based on the results of the same survey, which states that "there are few opportunities to feel inequality in school life," I think as follows. Women who have spent their lives until graduation without feeling much gender inequality realize the gap with men as the years pass after employment. They hit an insurmountable wall, a glass ceiling, and begin to think that a way of life that prioritizes the home might be happier. I suspect this is the result, and it may not be an active choice at all.

The data I just introduced was announced in 2016, but there is actually latest data announced last September. However, in the latest version, whether intentional or not, the figures for the 20s are not published, and only the 18 to 29 range is available, making the comparison I just mentioned impossible. Overall, the number of people who support the idea of the husband being outside and the wife at home has decreased by about 5%, so I hope things will improve, but a disappointing result was also announced at the end of last year.

The World Economic Forum (WEF), known for the Davos meeting, quantifies whether men and women are equal and publishes The Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI) every year, ranking countries. The 2019 results announced at the end of last year placed Japan at 121st out of 153 countries, its lowest ever. This shows that gender equality is not progressing to a surprising degree. It has been pointed out that the factor lies in the low participation of women in the political field, but that is not all. Looking in detail, the wage gap between men and women in the economic field remains large. According to an announcement by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, women's wages remain at a level slightly exceeding 70% of men's. Also, in the field of education, the further one advances into higher education, and when comparing subsequent careers as researchers, the gap between men and women is large.

Why has Japan been so slow to realize gender equality?

When the GGGI results are announced, various media outlets discuss what should be done to promote equality. In a series reported by the Asahi Shimbun last year, a method devised by an author to understand gender inequality in an instant was introduced: swapping the roles of men and women. When I read that, I was surprised that it was being spoken of as a new discovery now, even though Yukichi Fukuzawa said the same thing long ago, 135 years ago. Yukichi Fukuzawa stated the following in the 1885 "On Japanese Womanhood, Part 2":

"If we were to try borrowing the text of 'Onna Daigaku' (Greater Learning for Women) as it is, and simply swap the words for men and women in the text as written below, would men gratefully follow this teaching?"

At that time, a book called "Onna Daigaku" was widely circulated, preaching that women should live in obedience to men. It was a teaching that forced irrationality upon women, such as being aware that women are inferior to men, valuing the husband's parents more than one's own, and that while a wife should nurse her husband if he falls ill, it is natural for a wife who falls ill to be divorced. Yukichi Fukuzawa asks: try swapping the words for men and women in the text; would men think that teaching is a blessing and follow it?

Yukichi Fukuzawa had a strong conviction that men and women should be equal. This was closely related to the vision of modern society he had conceived.

Entering the new Meiji era, he believed that, unlike the previous feudal society which was fixed by a class system, the new society must be formed with individuals as the main subjects. Each individual gains freedom and independence, and these "independently-minded" individuals form a society through social interaction, which then leads to the nation. Rather than first drawing a strong image of the state and seeking a family and citizen image to fit it, he developed the idea from "independence of the individual" to "independence of the family" and "independence of the nation." He believed it was essential for society to be one where the individual is the subject and each person is valued.

And since society is made up of men and women, he argued that those men and women must be equal beings. In "On Japanese Womanhood, Part 2," he also states that if women are not recognized as full-fledged individuals and are treated as if they do not exist, the population will be reduced by half, and the power to support the country will stop at half.

In the early Meiji period, partly due to influence from the West, it was not at all uncommon for men in the intellectual class to discuss whether the rights held by men and women were the same. However, where Yukichi Fukuzawa's claim differed from others was that he advocated for the equality of the very existence of men and women to all people. Before engaging in difficult arguments about rights as citizens or rights as private individuals, Yukichi Fukuzawa argued that everyone should first understand that the existence of men and women itself is equal.

Yukichi Fukuzawa stated the following in the 1870 "Nakatsu Farewell Letter":

"When Heaven created people at the beginning of the world, it must have been one man and one woman. Even after tens of millions of years, that ratio cannot help but be the same. Whether called man or woman, they are equally a single person between heaven and earth, and there is no reason for there to be a distinction in importance."

Why are men and women equal? If you look around, men and women are born in equal numbers. This has not changed for thousands of years. He argued that this is proof that there is no discrimination of heavy or light between men and women. Using familiar examples that anyone could think of, he preached a theory of gender equality that anyone could understand.

He also stated the following in the 8th volume of "Gakumon no susume (An Encouragement of Learning)" (1874):

"To begin with, those born into the world, men are people and women are people. In terms of performing the essential work of this world, the world cannot go a single day without men, nor can it go without women."

"Gakumon no susume (An Encouragement of Learning)" begins with the words, "It is said that heaven does not create one man above or below another man. Any existing distinction between the wise and the stupid, between the rich and the poor, comes down to a matter of education." I think more than 95% of the people who read this sentence at the time unconsciously thought that "man" referred to an "adult male." They were not conscious that it included the elderly, children, or much less women. Yukichi Fukuzawa knew this, so he went out of his way to preach that "men are people and women are people," asserting that the "people" he spoke of were both men and women, and that both are equal beings indispensable to this world.

After understanding that men and women are equal beings, what is necessary to improve the social status of women? Today, I would like to take up the following four points from Yukichi Fukuzawa's claims.

First, the first point is to give women responsibility. In the 1885 "On Japanese Womanhood," he states, "Looking at the women of Japan, they have no responsibility whatsoever," and "With no responsibility both inside and outside the home, their status is extremely low." The lack of responsibility both inside and outside the home keeps the status of women low. He states that having responsibility makes a human being grow, and that leads to the essence of "power," such as rights and the power to exercise them.

I believe this is a very modern observation. Even today, I think the distance between women and responsibility leads to the thinking of the women in their 20s mentioned at the beginning, and is reflected in the high rate of non-regular employment for women. However, in Yukichi Fukuzawa's time, women were simply not given responsibility, which kept their status low. Now, it is also reported that women themselves are hesitant to take on responsibility. Of course, it becomes a chicken-and-egg argument about whether the working environment is ready to accept responsibility, but as Sarah Casanova, CEO of McDonald's Japan, points out, I think it is also a weak point of Japanese women. I believe we must address the importance of the existence of responsibility that Yukichi Fukuzawa pointed out.

The second point is to have economic power. He states, "Power arises from wealth, and wealth is the source of power," arguing that if women can become economically independent, they can increase their power.

In "Sequel to On Social Interaction Between Men and Women" (1886), he encouraged women to have occupations, saying, "From now on, even women should seek some kind of occupation, so that no matter what situation they face, their primary focus should be on having no trouble with their own livelihood." When I talk about this, some students say, "Are you denying full-time housewives? My mother is a full-time housewife, and I think it's a wonderful way of life." I think being a full-time housewife is a very high-risk choice, but I have no intention of denying it, and neither did Yukichi Fukuzawa. He argued that the reason a husband can work outside is because the wife is in charge of things inside the house, and half of those earnings belong to the wife. He also discussed that women should have ownership rights over the family's property. The important thing is to have economic power.

The third point is that men and women should have a relationship where they learn from each other. As I mentioned earlier, Yukichi Fukuzawa stated that society after the Meiji era is formed by people interacting with each other. He called this "jinkan kosai (society)," and stated that this interaction should take place not only between the same sex but also between men and women.

In Japan, for a long time within customs, a wide range of interaction that brings spiritual richness between men and women has not been nurtured. Yukichi Fukuzawa described this situation in an easy-to-understand way, saying that in Japan, men and women have a choice between meeting in "formal court dress" or meeting "naked." Interaction should be conducted broadly and continuously, and within that, men and women can unconsciously raise each other's wisdom and virtue. In "On Social Interaction Between Men and Women" (1886), he states the following:

"Unconsciously, women learn from men and men are taught by women, increasing tangible knowledge and advancing intangible morality. There is no doubt that there will be great benefits in unexpected places in all matters of home life and social conduct."

And fourthly, and I believe this is the most important point among Yukichi Fukuzawa's observations, he argues that a reform of consciousness is essential. I believe this is the most serious and fundamental challenge that continues to this day.

He explains the reason why differences arise between men and women, who should inherently be equal, in "On Japanese Womanhood, Part 2" as follows:

"Even though there are no signs of any kind between men and women, scholars of the Confucian style look at women and somehow despise them, somehow believing they are inferior to men, and as usual, they record them as 'yin' (negative/shadow) in the 'yin ledger' that exists within their own brains."

In other words, in the process of growing up, people do not verify clear reasons, but "somehow" despise women and "somehow" think women are inferior to men. Moreover, they record that information not in a notebook where they write down what they have studied, but in a "yin" ledger in their "brain," a notebook inside their heads. And they act according to that. He states that this is the problem. This is exactly an observation of gender bias and its formation. Furthermore, he states the following in "Shin Onna Daigaku" (The New Greater Learning for Women):

"The so-called old Confucian scholars have been nurtured by formal habits for hundreds and thousands of years, as if forming a second sex, and they are content with the base custom of 'predominance of men over women' (danson johi) and ultimately do not know how to realize the truth."

Men and women are born with biological sex differences. He points out that the problem is that on top of biological sex differences, acquired social gender differences are added by habits cultivated throughout history.

Recent students don't seem to quite get it when I mention Beauvoir, but it was 1949 when Beauvoir wrote "The Second Sex," stating "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman." Exactly 50 years before that, Yukichi Fukuzawa used the term "second sex" to appeal to people about the existence of social gender differences. Of course, the meaning Beauvoir intended and Yukichi Fukuzawa's concept do not perfectly coincide, but it is noteworthy that he saw through the fact that gender differences are defined by people's consciousness and proposed it using the term "second sex."

Yukichi Fukuzawa was the first to realize that unless the consciousness of men changes, the social status of women will not change. In other words, he viewed the discourse on men as two sides of the same coin as the discourse on women, and discussed the improvement of women's status from the perspective of gender bias in society. This can be called a discussion that captured the essence, and in this respect, Yukichi Fukuzawa's views on women were outstanding. That is why, as introduced at the beginning, they were praised as a contemporary masterpiece that gives a sense of relief and with which one cannot help but sympathize.

This relationship between men and women is most closely and prominently expressed in a married couple.

Yukichi Fukuzawa lists three emotions that bind a family: love (ai), respect (kei), and empathy/forbearance (jo). Love is an essential condition, but he says that even animals have this. What makes humans different from animals is having the emotion of respect. What is respect? In "On Japanese Womanhood, Part 2," he says it is "to position the wife as a full-fledged person of equal rank to the husband, to talk to her about everything and consult with her about everything," recognizing the other person as being of equal rank, talking to each other about anything, and consulting each other without deciding on one's own.

Furthermore, the emotion of empathy (jo) is important. Similarly, in "On Japanese Womanhood, Part 2," he states the following:

"Empathy (jo) is a character made by combining the two characters for 'like' and 'heart.' It means to think of another person's heart as if it were one's own heart, to surmise that what is unbearable to oneself will also be unbearable to others, and to restrain oneself accordingly."

Thinking about things from the other person's perspective. Thinking of the other person's heart, and thinking that if something is unpleasant and unbearable for oneself, it will also be unpleasant and unbearable for the other person, and not taking such actions. Also, since jo has the meaning of "to forgive," I think it also includes the meaning of being able to be generous to each other.

I believe that respecting and caring for others in this way, and thinking from their perspective, is not just for family members but can be extended to society in general. I think it is important to reflect on oneself for being in a superior position "somehow" without reason, to recognize the other person as an equal being, and to have feelings of respect and empathy.

The important thing is that the question of whether such a society can be realized is largely related to the issue of consciousness. Unless consciousness is reformed, the situation will not change.

In "On Japanese Womanhood," Yukichi Fukuzawa states that things do not change just because a law is made, and that the issue of consciousness in trying to change habits is important, as follows:

"The root of equal rights originates from custom, and the written text of the law merely supports the power of that custom."

This is also an observation that applies to modern society. The development of laws is important, but it is only the first step. In "Shin Onna Daigaku," Yukichi Fukuzawa dismisses people who understand in their heads but cannot take action because they are preoccupied with public appearance as "cowardly fools." It is important not only to understand in one's head but to change one's consciousness and take action.

What I have said so far may be common sense by now. I might be scolded for saying only obvious things. However, as I mentioned at the beginning, the fact that the Gender Gap Index is 121st is a reality. Also, as you may have heard often recently, it is said that among the 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) decided unanimously at the 2015 UN Summit, the most difficult one for Japan to reach is gender equality. Changing consciousness is not easy.

After hearing my talk, some of you might think, "Even if you say that, my wife is so powerful at home that I can't stand up to her," or "Women in the world are strong; isn't it only women having lunch at hotels?" Yukichi Fukuzawa saw through that too, and in "Popular Discourse on National Rights" (1878), he says that in the small details of the home, women actually hold the real power. But that is a different issue from whether they can be active in society.

I cannot mention the story of Keio University and women's education today, but Yukichi Fukuzawa argued that when considering education for women, it is important whether there is a place for them in society after they receive that education. To borrow the expression from "On Japanese Womanhood, Part 2," the country is something shared by both men and women. If men try to maintain it alone, the power to support society will be halved.

More than 120 years have passed since Yukichi Fukuzawa wrote his last views on women and the family. Of course, there are parts of his claims that are no longer applicable. In fact, if that were not the case, it would mean we have made no progress.

But even so, it can be said that the fundamentals he saw through and pointed out with a sharp perspective have not yet been corrected. Especially in an increasingly diverse society, I think the issue of "consciousness" pointed out by Yukichi Fukuzawa must be expanded in various directions, not just as a simple problem of men and women. I believe a society with respect and empathy is the key to accepting diversity.

There is something that bothers me while teaching. Do you know the term "date DV" (dating violence)? It might be a term you don't hear very often. There are classes on date DV for junior high and high school students to learn what kind of words and actions hurt the other person through role-playing and other methods—for example, where the simple feeling of saying "This one is definitely more delicious, so you should eat this" while on a date becomes a problem. It's obvious, but it's not only men who hurt others. Women also have groundless prejudices, such as "It's natural for the man to pay on a date," so it's a class where both learn.

However, among the students who enter Keio University, the number of people who have experience taking such a class is—I'm not taking accurate statistics, just asking in my classes—less than 10%. I think so-called elite schools do not place importance on it. But this is an issue unrelated to academic ability. And I believe that even if it is a simulated experience, the experience itself generates a reform of consciousness.

Also, I introduce diverse family images in class. For example, when I talk about children with transgender parents, at other universities as well as Keio University, many students say that while they think the parents' way of life should be recognized, it's a pity for the children because they can't choose their parents and are exposed to curious eyes from birth, and become targets of bullying. They lack the awareness that they are the ones who decide whether or not to look with curious eyes. The idea that "I am different, but everyone else looks at them that way" is ultimately the same as what Yukichi Fukuzawa calls a "cowardly fool."

And for young people to change that consciousness, I think people of the older generation actually need to become self-aware. Yukichi Fukuzawa says, "Moral education does not enter through the ears, but through the eyes." He means that teachings are not acquired by being told, but by imitating those who serve as role models. In Japan, the images of women and families appearing in picture books, anime, and TV programs seen by young children are still not diverse.

Also, values are diverse. Recently, I was asked by single women: when the need for night shifts or holiday work arises at the workplace, it always comes to them; it's taken for granted because they don't have childcare, but they also have plans after work and on weekends—is childcare an excuse? While "ikumen" (involved fathers) are celebrated, it's meaningless if the burden falls on someone else. I believe it's important for an equal society to change consciousness as each person notices these things.

It is essential and very important that research on gender is conducted in the university, a seat of learning. But on the other hand, if old consciousness is maintained within seminar and club activities, the research has no meaning.

I believe that if each of us at Keio University takes Yukichi Fukuzawa's teachings to heart and strives for consciousness reform and practice, we can become pioneers in the realization of the SDGs. Thank you for your attention today.

(This article is based on a commemorative lecture given at the 185th Yukichi Fukuzawa Birthday Celebration held on January 10, 2020. Some notations in the cited literature have been modified for readability.)