Monday, February 10, 2014

Raicho Hiratsuka: Japan’s woman in blue

Today we celebrate the 128th birthday of Raicho Hiratsuka, a writer and key figure in Japan’s women’s movement. She founded Seitou, Japan’s first all-women literary magazine, when she was in high school.

The magazine, whose title “blue stocking” pays tribute to the female intellectuals of 18th-century Britain, is also depicted in today’s doodle along with its various readers from different backgrounds — some wearing Western clothing, others traditional Japanese outfits. Seitou shocked early 20th century Japan by raising issues such as female sexuality and abortion, as well as women’s suffrage, which Raicho campaigned for and was introduced some thirty years later.


We leave you with Raicho’s opening words to Seitou’s first edition, published in 1911:
"In the beginning, woman was truly the sun. An authentic person. Now she is the moon, a wan and sickly moon, dependent on another, reflecting another's brilliance..."
Posted by Mai Fukue, Brand Marketing Manager, Google Japan

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