Abstract

This chapter discusses what Japanese feminisms have achieved and what they have not achieved in relation to legislation, neo-liberal reforms and women’s activism since the second wave of feminisms. Japanese feminisms and women’s collective movements have emerged and been organised since the late nineteenth century, when the modernisation of the country began. Whilst the first, second and current waves of Japanese feminism have much in common with their European and American counterparts, there are historical, political and economic contexts that have led Japanese feminism to its own development and characteristics.