Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T08:08:59.568Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Flowers for Sexual Assault Victims: Collective Empowerment through Empathy in Japan's #MeToo Movement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2021

Mari Miura
Mari Miura*
Affiliation:
Sophia University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The #MeToo movement in Japan is usually considered to have started slowly, and it remains far smaller and quieter compared with those found in the United States or South Korea. Few celebrities or high-profile figures have come forward to support the movement, and even fewer powerful men have been brought down as a result of allegations of sexual assault. The strategy of naming and shaming has rarely been used, but there is collective empowerment through empathy resulting from a nationwide grassroots movement known as “Flower Demo.” This movement has provided victims with a safe space to share their experiences. Those breaking their silence have appeared in various sectors of society, and this has raised the social consciousness of deep-rooted sexism inherent in Japanese society.

Type
Critical Perspectives on Gender and Politics
Information
Politics & Gender , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , December 2021 , pp. 521 - 527
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Women, Gender, and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Carter, Erica. 2018. “#MeToo Founder Tarana Burke Speaks at Kent State.” Kentwired, April 17. http://www.kentwired.com/latest_updates/article_519dcd3a-4250-11e8-9349-cfd9e886110a.html (accessed June 16, 2021).Google Scholar
Flower Demo. 2020. Flower Demo o kiroku suru [Recording Flower Demo]. Tokyo: etc.books.Google Scholar
Hasunuma, Linda, and Shin, Ki-young. 2019. “#MeToo in Japan and South Korea: #WeToo, #WithYou.” Journal of Women, Politics & Policy 40 (1): 97–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ishikawa, Yumi. 2019. #Kutoo: Kutsu kara kangaeru honki no feminizumu [#KuToo: Serious feminism; thinking from shoes]. Tokyo: Gendai Shokan.Google Scholar
Ito, Shiori. 2017. Black Box. Tokyo: Bungei Shunju.Google Scholar
Japan Times. 2019. “Tabloid's Objectification of Women Continues to Stir Controversy.” February 2.Google Scholar
Japan Times. 2020. “Japan's Flower Demo Movement Takes Aim at Sexual Violence.” March 13.Google Scholar
Kyodo News. 2018. “Protesters Bash Japan's Finance Minister over Sexual Harassment Comments.” May 7.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, Catherine A. 2020. “Global #MeToo.” In The Global #MeToo Movement, eds. Noel, Ann M. and Oppenheimer, David B.. Washington, DC: Full Court Press, 1–15.Google Scholar
Murray, Daisy. 2017. “‘Empowerment through Empathy’—We Spoke to Tarana Burke, the Woman Who Really Started the ‘Me Too’ Movement.” ELLE, October 23.Google Scholar
Straits Times. 2018. “Japan Finance Minister Taro Aso Apologises for Saying Sexual Harassment Not a Crime.” May 11.Google Scholar
Tsai, Alex. 2018. “‘Me Too’ Activist Uses Social Justice as a Path to Healing.” Stanford Daily, May 30. https://www.stanforddaily.com/2018/05/30/me-too-activist-uses-social-justice-as-a-path-to-healing/ (accessed June 16, 2021).Google Scholar
WiMN (Women in Media Network), ed. 2020. Masukomi Sekuhara Hakusho [White paper on sexual harassment in the mass media]. Tokyo: Bungei Shunju.Google Scholar