TRAFFIC by Alma Reyes
“Ryosaikenbo” for Eternity A couple of months ago, women’s status in Japanese society was the spotlight of so much hullabaloo in the media. Former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who was then Olympic organizing committee chief, lit himself in fire for carelessly stating in public that women talk too much causing board meetings to drag on endlessly. Perhaps, if such a remark was proclaimed in the 1950s~60s, Japanese may have taken it nonchalantly. However, as we slide closer to the middle of the 21st century, Mori’s “slip of the tongue” rampaged television and social media across the globe as crude sexism. For a country like Japan that has always been protective of its national and international image, the attack on female discrimination had to be dealt with like greased lightning. What better solution to camouflage women’s helpless position in Japanese society than to push Mori out of the door like punishment and lay the red carpet for a woman replacement in former Olympic medalist Seiko Hashimoto. To further add glitter to the carpet, twelve new female members now occupy seats in the Olympic committee
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executive board—a far cry from Prime Minister Suga’s cabinet with only two female ministers. Consequently, the action may have silenced social media, and probably made Japanese women relieved and even proud that finally, they can be deservingly recognized for their capabilities rather than continually carrying the flag of “Ryosaikenbo.” But, was that really enough? “Ryosaikenbo,” (良妻賢母) literally “good wife, wise mother," was first coined in 1875 and identified the ideal womanhood in Japan: a woman who was expected to master domestic skills and develop moral strength and propriety to raise strong, intelligent children. Traditionally, childbearing was viewed as a “patriotic duty,” and although the modern age has witnessed more women entering into the workforce, many female workers still feel obligated to serve their superiors, quit work after marriage or childbirth, or refrain from asserting one’s ambition too aggressively—an action that is still, even today looked upon as “unladylike.” In my own experience having worked in Japanese companies, I was not unique among female employees who had to make and serve tea to
March - April 2021
