62

No.

June
2011

KITAKYUSHU FORUM ON ASIAN WOMEN（KFAW） June 2011 Triannual Publication

What kind of
relationship isneeded for
ideal love?
Mut

ual a

ppre

ciatiopect

al resn

Mutu

Relating naturally

Grateful for such a relationship

WOMEN TODAY……p. 1

Women in the Asia Paciﬁc Region and the United Nations
Ms. Hiroko Hara, Advisor of JAWW (Japan Womenʼs Watch), Advisor of KFAW

SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION……p. 2
White House releases a Groundbreaking Report on Women in American Society
Mr. Michael Chadwick, Consul for Public Affairs at the U.S. Consulate in Fukuoka

CURRENT ISSUES SERIES……p. 3
Reﬂections on Dating DV Part 1
Ms. Noriko Yamaguchi, a Representative of Aware

8

Women Today
Women in the Asia Pacific Region andthe United Nations

Advisor, KFAW
Advisor, JAWW (Japan Womenʼs Watch)

Ms. Hiroko HARA
governments of countries involved and the UN.

APWW and JAWWThe Asia Pacific Women’s Watch (APWW), a regional
network of women’s groups in the Asia Pacific region,
meets and identifies the problems related to theempowerment of women in the region. Subsequently,
APWW has made recommendations on these problems to
the international community including the UN.
The forerunner of APWW is an association of NGOs
that was formed in 1993 before the 4th World Conferenceon Women in Beijing in 1995. The representative of Japan
Women’s Watch (JAWW), one group taking part in the
APWW, is also on the board of directors of APWW. I served
as the APWW representative from July 2008 to June 2010.
When the 53rd United Nations Commission on the
Status of Women (CSW 53) was held in New York in
March 2009, “NGO CSW NY”, a coalition of women’sNGOs from around the world, through its representative,
Vivian Pender, called for women’s NGOs in the five
regions of the world to plan local meetings prior to the
CSW54. CSW54 was then held in 2010 in commemorationof the 15th anniversary of the opening of the 4th World
Conference on Women.
Immediately after APWW took charge hosting andmanaging the Asia Pacific NGO Forum on Beijing +15,
Patricia Licuanan, president of Miriam College in Quezon
City (the Philippines) and a former APWW representative,
offered the venue and took on the management of theexecutive committee. JAWW served as the APWW
secretariat.
From October 22 to 24, 2009, the Asia Pacific NGO
Forum on Beijing +15 was held in a lively atmospherewith more than 50 workshop sessions. Half of theparticipants were women from the Philippines, butworthy of special mention were the dozens of young
women from the Asia Pacific region who participated in
the sessions and vigorously spoke out. From Japan,
students from Kobe College, the University of the Sacred
Heart, Tokyo, and Ferris University also participated in
the sessions.
The declaration statement of the Asia Pacific NGO
Forum on Beijing +15 was introduced at the end of
October 2009 in a speech by Patricia Licuanan at a
meeting of senior government officials held by the United
Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia andthe Pacific (ESCAP). Yoriko Meguro, representing adelegation of the Japanese government, took on the heavy
responsibility of summarizing the final document by
ESCAP. Furthermore, the declaration statement of the
AP NGO Forum was reported at the World NGO Forumon Beijing +15 held in New York in February 2010. The
statement was then submitted to the national

No.62 June 2011

Advocacy Activities for UN Reform and Participation ofJapanese Women
Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the UN, inearly 2006 appointed 15 members to a committee on UN
reform, setting up an opportunity to listen to the opinionsof NGOs.
From spring 2006, APWW quickly launched advocacy
activities from a gender perspective, in which NGOs in
the Philippines, Thailand, India and Japan took on activeroles with women’s NGOs from around the world asmembers of the Gender Equality Architecture Reform(GEAR) Campaign.
Expectations of the UN Women
In the UN General Assembly on July 2, 2010, theestablishment of UN Women (United Nations Entity for
Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women) was
resolved. Namely, UN Women was inaugurated on
January 1, 2011 by uniting the conventional four bodiesof the UN Headquarters: the Division for the Advancementof Women (DAW), the United Nations Development Fundfor Women (UNIFEM), International Research andTraining Institute for the Advancement of Women(INSTRAW), and the Office of the Special Adviser on
Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI).
Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has played
an active role as the Executive Director of UN Women.
Before the establishment of UN Women, chiefs ofthese four bodies were not attending the meetings on the
management of the entire UN. However, I would like toacknowledge the importance of gender issues is now being
recognized at the UN, with the appointment of Michelle
Bachelet as Under-Secretary-General. The problem isthat the size of the budget to be allocated to UN Women
depends on contributions from UN member countries
including Japan. Our challenges in the future will be tolobby national governments with other NGOs and topromote the understanding of UN Women by civilsociety.

Proﬁle of Hiroko HARA
Currently a professor emeritus at Ochanomizu University,and also a professor at Josai International University, she
specializes in Cultural Anthropology and Gender /Women’s Studies.
She served as the first Chair of Kitakyushu Forum on
Asian Women (2001-2007) and now is an Advisor(2007-present). Chair of JAWW (2002-2010) and board
member of JAWW (2010-present) as well as Advisor(2010-present) of APWW.

1Special Contribution
WHITE HOUSE RELEASES A GROUNDBREAKINGREPORT ON WOMEN IN AMERICAN SOCIETYThis report provides clear summaries of the Obama administrationʼs policies
on gender equality and trends and challenges that aﬀect women in the UnitedStates.
Michael Chadwick, the Consul for Public Aﬀairs at the U.S. Consulate inFukuoka, specially contributed this message to the KFAW.

Michael Chadwick

weekly income remains only 75% of that of men with similarlevels of education, it is a marked improvement from 20
years ago. Moreover, young women (ages 25-34) earn 89% asmuch as young men.

On March 1, 2011,
the
White
House’sCouncil on Women andGirls released a report
entitled“WomeninAmerica: Indicators ofSocial and Economic
Well-Being”, the first
official U.S. government
publication to try tocomprehensively describe
the position of women in
American society since1963. The Council, which
was created by President
Obama in March 2009 to ensure every part of the U.S.
Government takes into account women’s needs in policy
planning, spent almost a year compiling the report from data
sources across the government. The report provides statistics
about women’s demographics and family structure, education,
income, health, and crime, including comparisons to previous
years, in some cases as far back as 1950. The purpose is tocreate a “snapshot” of the position of women in American society
in 2011, so the government and the American people canunderstand where we are, and measure progress in the future.

SURPRISING DIFFERENCES AND ENCOURAGINGTRENDS
Some of the other findings may be surprising to a
Japanese audience. For example, in America, 64% of womenwith children under the age of five are in the workforce,much higher than in Japan. Also, American women now
have equaled and in many cases surpassed men in educational
attainments. Now 36% of women between ages 25-34 have auniversity degree compared to only 28% of men and womenare more likely to complete Master’s and Doctoral programs.
In addition, despite what viewers of popular American TV
and movies might expect, the rate of violent crime against
women has fallen sharply in the U.S. over the last 30 years.
AREAS OF CONCERNThis is encouraging, but there are many troubling
findings as well. Women are more likely than men to havechronic medical conditions and suffer from depression while
the share of women who do not have health insurance has
increased over the last 25 years. What’s more, around 15%of all women live below the poverty threshold with 40% of
unmarried mothers falling into this category.

WHY RELEASE THIS REPORT NOW?
The President has made gender equality a signature
focus for his administration, because in his words, “the issues
facing women today are not just women’s issues” but affectall Americans: family members, employers, taxpayers andthe society as a whole. The government also recognizes thatinvestment in gender equality pays great dividends. For
example, recent OECD statistics have pointed out a close
correlation between a higher economic status for women andeconomic growth in industrialized countries, indicating thatraising the living standards of women benefits everyone.

WHAT DO WE DO NEXT?
The report shows there has been a great deal of progress
for women in the last few decades in America. However, italso makes clear how far we still have to go until true equality
is reached. Although this report is descriptive, notprescriptive, our hope is that it will help to spotlight areas
for improvement. We also hope it will stimulate new ideas
about how to help improve women’s lives and society as awhole, not only in America but throughout the world.

JAPANESE AND AMERICAN WOMEN'S SITUATIONSARE SIMILAR IN MANY WAYS
Many of the trends in the U.S. will be familiar to observersof Japan as well. In both countries, women are marrying at
an older age, choosing to have children later, and having
fewer children than they did 20 or even 10 years ago. Women
who work spend more time each day taking care of theirhousehold and family members than do working men in boththe U.S. and Japan. Working women also earn less thanmen on average in America. Although women’s average

LINK
The White House’s Council on Women and Girls.
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/cwg)“Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic
Well-Being”(http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/Women_in_America.pdf)

2

No.62 June 2011

Current Issues SeriesProfileReflections on
Dating DV
Part 1
What is dating DV ?
Noriko Yamaguchi

She has implemented an educational program forassailants in domestic violence and a Dating DV
Prevention Program. She has also trained implementersof the programs.
She has written Loving and Being Loved-Eliminating
Dating DV & 7 Lessons for Young People and Work
Book for Implementers for the Dating DV Prevention
Program. Also she supervised the translation project fora book Why Does He Do That-Inside the Minds of Angry
and Controlling Men (by Lundy Bancroft).

A representative of Aware, Domestic Violence Batterers’ Intervention
Program ＆ Dating DV Prevention Program, Director, Facilitator, Trainer

An Example of Dating DV
A high school girl came to know a boy who was two
years older than her, through a friend’s introduction. They
fell for each other and started dating. They fell head overheels in love, and were always together whatever they did.
After a while, she saw her female friend for the first timein quite some time. When he found out, he threw a fit
saying, “You did that without getting my permission!” Shebecame scared of him, but she decided not to see any of her
friends except for him, thinking that he might have justbeen jealous, and partly because she loved him. In addition,
he placed restrictions on her, saying, “Don’t wear
miniskirts” or “Don’t cut your hair short.” In an attempt
not to make him angry, she became sensitive to his moods.
One day, she received an email on her cell phone from amale classmate. When he found out he questioned her
closely, saying, “What kind of relationship do you havewith this guy?” No matter how many times she explained
the situation, he decided that she had cheated on him, andslapped her on the cheek suddenly. Then he apologized toher for what he had just done, and told her in a gentle toneof voice that he did that because he loved her. She forgave
him and continued the relationship with him. After that,
he slapped her again for another matter. She then wanted
to break up with him but was too afraid to tell him that.

worldwide regardless of language and country.
Among male-female couples, although the majority of
the assailants are men, some assailants are women.
Among lesbians, gays and transgenders, DV also
happens.

DV - a Problem close to Young People
What happened between the two people above is DV(domestic violence). DV is not a problem only for adults.
DV against a dating partner is called “dating DV” inJapan. According to the result of a survey announced by
the Cabinet Office in 2008, 13.6% of women had experienced
some kind of “physical assault”, “psychological aggression”
and “sexual coercion” from a date in their teens and/or
twenties. This means one woman in seven. A survey
conducted by Yokohama City in 2008 revealed that 40% of
female high school and university students who had dated
someone became a victim of dating DV. Dating DV is aproblem close to young people and may happen to
anybody.
In the U.S., about one in five high school girls has been
physically or sexually abused by a dating partner (Domestic
Violence Resource Center, 2001). In South Korea, 30% of
sexually abused women are abused by a dating partner,
according to the statistics of Women’s Hotline in Korea in
2007-2009. These examples reveal that dating DV happens

DV is “power and control”
DV is not a fight or a quarrel. DV means controlling
the partner in an intimate relationship by scaring,frightening or making light of the person. DV is “powerand control” and conduct equal to violation of humanrights. Physical violence is a criminal act involving injury.
Actually however, few assailants or victims are aware ofthat. That is because assailants tend to blame the victims
for the violence. And victims tend to blame themselves or
to want to change the assailants’ violent tendencies. Eitherway, the people involved tend to misunderstand the reason
as love.
Violence is the assailants’ side problem. Assailants
must be aware of that, and make efforts to change
themselves. Since it is dangerous to leave such a situation
as it is, both victims and assailants of DV need support
and action from the people around them. To that end, it isimportant that everyone receives appropriate information
on DV.

No.62 June 2011

DV does not only mean physical violence
DV does not only mean physical violence. The types ofviolence vary as follows:<Physical violence>Throwing things at the partner
Pinning the partner down
Hitting and/or kicking the partner

etc.

<Sexual violence>
Forcing the partner to have sex when she/he does not wish to do so
Getting into a bad mood when the partner does not agree to have sex
Not preventing conception
etc.
<Economic violence>
Making the partner work/quit working part-time
Making the partner pay on dates
Not repaying a debt to the partner<Verbal & mental violence>
Making insulting remarks (stupid, fat, etc.) or directing profanities
at the partner
Freely checking e-mails or deleting addresses on the partner’s cellphone
Threatening the partner by saying “I will commit suicide.”etc.

3

KFAW Preventive Education on Dating DV
for Future Facilitators
KFAW held a four-lecture program from January 29 to February 19, 2011. Fourteen people, including incumbent
teachers and nurses, applied for the program with a quota of 10 people. After eagerly attending lectures on various topics
from related laws and regulations to training classes, all 14 participants were awarded certiﬁcates of completion.

Dating DV is DV (domestic violence) that occurs between
unmarried men and women, especially young couples intheir teens and twenties. According to a survey conductedlast year by KFAW under contract with Kitakyushu City, atleast 80 percent of high school teachers in the city pointed
out the necessity of preventive awareness education on
dating DV.
KFAW has engaged in surveys and research on DV cases
overseas focusing on Asian countries and its impact onfamilies and children. In Kitakyushu Municipal Gender
Equality Center MOVE, for which KFAW serves as adesignated administrator, KFAW has made efforts to improvethe center’s consultation system, create booklets fordeveloping awareness and hold seminars.
Lectures this time aimed to train staff members who cantake the lead in actually conducting dating DV preventive
education classes in civic centers and at school educationsites such as high schools.
The practical training
program,which
wasconducted over a shortperiod of time includes
learning about many
fields’ related laws andregulations. For example,
theseincludethe
Domestic
Violence ▲ 1st lecture

Prevention Act, Basic Act for Gender-Equal Society and theThird Basic Plan for Gender Equality. Trainees also heard
about current teenagers’ philosophy of love. Participantsalso acquired facilitation methods including the use of visualmaterials.
The second lecture, “Violence against Women–Actual
Situation and Psychology” by Sachi Nakajima, representing
the NPO “Resilience,” was held as a public lecture which wasattended by about 60 people. She explained about the kinds ofstructures that underly acts by a person in a stronger position
hurting a person in a weaker position. She also pointed outthat respect for one’s partner rather than controlling or
pushing one’s feelings onto the other is essential for love.
In a questionnaire given to attendees after the lectures
ended, while most persons answered that the lectures were
understandable, some requested a deeper understanding ofgender issues. Others wanted to introduce as soon as possible
this information at their facilities.
KFAW
will
hold
follow-up training for
persons
attendinglectures and discuss asystem for dispatching
trained persons as neededto schools, civic centersand relevant facilities in▲ 4th lecture: Model lesson by
the future.
attendees

Program of KFAW Preventive Education on Dating DV for Future Facilitators◆ First lecture
Necessity and purpose of preventive education on dating DV
Basic Act for Gender-Equal Society and the Third Basic Plan

…Yuki Kubota, Professor at Kyushu Sangyo University, KFAW Director…Yumi Rikitake, Coordinator, Kitakyushu Municipal Gender Equality
Center MOVE
Details and unsolved problems of the Domestic Violence Prevention Act…Yayoi Kubota, Lawyer, Seiwa Law Office◆ Second lecture“Violence against Women-Actual Situation and Psychology” (public lecture)…Sachi Nakajima, NPO “Resilience”…Toshifumi Sakai, part-time instructor, Ube
Modern Youth-Communication & the Philosophy of Love and Sexual Behavior
Frontier University Junior College
Yuki Kubota, Professor, Kyushu Sangyo University,
KFAW Director◆ Third lecture…Akiko Tominaga, clinical psychologist and women’s counselor
Assertion-Ideas and Works
Yuki Kubota, Professor, Kyushu Sangyo University, KFAW Director
Facilitators-their Attitudes and Skills…Akie Iwamaru, Representative Director of the NPO “Gender andGlobal Citizenship Project”
Learning and Model Classes for Preventive Education Plans…Kumie Kamohara, counselor, Mental Consultation Room “Chamomile”
Yoshiko Tomiyasu, acting leader, Kitakyushu Shelter, KFAW
Director
Yuki Kubota, Professor, Kyushu Sangyo University, KFAW Director
Drawing up Plans for Training Classes…Masami Shinozaki, KFAW chief researcher◆ Fourth lecture
Advice for Training Classes and Hands-on Training…Kumie Kamohara, Masami Shinozaki, Yoshiko Tomiyasu, Yuki Kubota,
Masako Ota, KFAW senior researcher

4

No.62 June 2011

Report on Participation in the 55th CSW Parallel Event
Masami Shinozaki, Chief Researcher, Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women (KFAW)
far from the target “202030,” in which female leaders should
account for at least 30 percent in all fields by 2020 in farming
villages in Japan. Following Shinozaki, Setsuko Furuya from
Fukushima Prefecture, who has engaged in farming with her
husband and also become an executive of an incorporated
company by introducing “factory farming,” was well received
for her speech on her own empowerment. Then, Hitomi
Nakamichi from Ehime University and Yuko Enomoto,
JICA’s associate expert, reported respectively on the present
situation and problems of women in fisheries in Japan (which
are not well-known to the world). They gave examples of
support through Japan’s international cooperation for womenin farming villages in developing countries. Questions about
rarely known fields in Japan, which were introduced in theirreports, came from approximately 70 participants one after
another despite the short time allocated for Q+A. In all ofthese reports, different sides of industrialized Japan,
particularly the successful case of Setsuko Furuya, seemed
to strike a responsive chord among participants, who are
involved in the empowerment of women in developing
countries. In addition to the report on women in fisheries,
which provided good information, participants fromdeveloping countries showed interest in the actual support
situation in Japan.
Next year, with these topics being priority themes, we would
like to point out the importance of personal efforts and individual
resources related to the empowerment of women in farming,
mountain and fishing villages. We would also like to emphasize
the significance of factors such as economic and informational
support for women married to farmers as well as the active
awarenessraisingong e n d e requalityofmeninfarming,
mountainand fishingvillages.

In the United Nations, UN WOMEN was inaugurated inJuly 2010 as part of continued UN reforms by integrating
four women-related bodies, including DAW (Division for the
Advancement of Women) and UNIFEM (United Nations
Development Fund for Women). The mission of this neworganization is the promotion of equal rights for theempowerment of women. The CSW (Commission on the
Status of Women), a commission of the United Nations
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), has been designatedas one of the main works of UN WOMEN.
The 55th CSW’s priority theme this year was “Access andparticipation of women and girls to education, training,
science and technology, including the promotion of women’sequal access to full employment and decent work.”
During the CSW, a parallel event to report on the actual
situation in Japan related to the priority theme of thefollowing year. This event was organized by three women’sNGOs in Japan under the sponsorship of the Permanent
Mission of Japan to the United Nations. The 56th CSW’s
priority theme is “RURAL WOMEN (women in farming,
mountain and fishing villages).” Thus, the theme of theevent this time was “Rural Women Empowerment.” Wearrived in New York on February 27, and participated aspresenters in this symposium held on March 1st in the UN
North Lawn Building.
After a speech by Hiroko Hara from the JAWW (Japan
Women’s Watch) as the representative of NGOs, Mihoko Ejiri
gave a speech on behalf of 53 organizations. The symposium
then commenced under the chairmanship of Mariko Bando,president of Showa Women’s University and president of the
Rural Women Empowerment and Life Improvement
Association.
At first, Shinozaki reported on the general situation of
women’s status and their problems and various measures for
empowerment, which have been particularly implemented
since the 1990s to deal with these problems. These problems
include aging, unpaid work and significantly reduced
pensions after retirement as well as the low ratio of women’s
participation in decision-making processes. The low ratio is

1994, one-third of the number of seats of the panchayat(self-governing body in rural areas) is reserved for women.
Some NGOs are working on an increase in female
representatives.
One such NGO is the Andhra Pradesh Mahila Samatha
Society (APMSS) which is the implementing body of theMahila Samakhya Programme (a national programme) in
the state of Andhra Pradesh.The objective of the programmeis the empowerment of women through education. It aims
to create an environment for women and girls to enjoy
educational opportunities. Women are motivated to form
groups, learn and take actions to remove various obstacles
which stand in the way of the promotion of female
education.
From its establishment in 1993, the APMSS has found
it very important for women to participate in decisionmaking. It has encouraged members of women’s groups to

THE FORUM WINDOW
Women’s politicalparticipation in rural India
More and more women are entering the world ofpolitics globally. In 28 countries, women represent morethan 30% of the seats in parliament, including one country
with women in the majority. In Japan too, the number offemale legislators is on the rise, but the proportion of
female legislators out of the total number of seats remains
low: 10.9% in the House of Representatives and 18.2% in
the House of Councilors.
In order to promote women’s political participation,
many countries have introduced a quota system. In thecase of India, by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment in

No.62 June 2011

5

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS’ REPORTS

Employment and Gender in Finland
Ryoko Onodera (Finland)
working after their marriage to maintain their households. I
have never met a full-time housewife in this country. Asked“Why are you working?” many of my friends answered, “Thetaxes are very high. To make ends meet, both my husband
and I have to work” or “I want to work to make use of myacademic background.” The former answer comes from
Finland’s high tax rates: an income tax of approximately
50% and a consumption tax of 23%. The latter answer isrelated to the fact that higher education often leads toemployment opportunities.
What I find interestingis that, despite such
advanced policies andenvironment for working
women, a gender gap still
existsthroughanimbalance in occupation
categories and salaries.
As I mentioned above, the ▲Great nature of Finland
ratio of women workers ishigh among clerks and service staff. On the other hand, men
are dominant in science and management. They are moremale technological engineers and specialists. Women also
comprise the overwhelming majority of those engaged in carework such as child-care, nursing and welfare support. The
wage for these jobs is low, resulting in the imbalanced income
between women and men. One of my friends said, “Men tend
to be more serious about pay negotiation than women. In
addition, nursing and other care have long been provided by
women at home which is not considered special. Unlike
manufacturing, such work does not produce somethingtangible. So it’s difficult for work that isn’t recognized visually
to gain high esteem.” In efforts to realize work equality for
women, it seems, then, that many problems still remain to besolved.

I would like to begin this report by introducing the resultsof some statistical surveys, which will serve as indicators
when you learn about the working environment for womenin Finland. According to a survey in 2010, Finland ranked
third among 134 countries in the Gender Gap Index, while
the country placed 16th (Japan was 101st) in the Economic
Participation and Opportunity Index. Meanwhile, while theemployment rate of men stood at approximately 68%, that ofwomen was approximately 66%. Moreover, the employment
rate of unmarried women and child-rearing women reached
78% and 76%, respectively. By occupation, the ratio of women
workers is high among clerks, sales and service staff, medical
and welfare staff and teachers.
These results may present an image of Finland as one of
the world’s best countries because of its small gender gap
and an environment where women can work easily. Finland
was Europe’s first country to extend suffrage to women.
Moreover, both positions of the president and prime ministerare currently held by women. These facts may further
strengthen the above mentioned image. The fact that theemployment rate of unmarried women is almost the same asthat of child-rearing women shows that Finland offers anenvironment that enables women to continue working. The
country features an extensive social security system including
a pension system; unemployment and medical expense
insurance; child-rearing support; residential security andfree education.
As I described in my previous report, one of the factors
behind the establishment of such a situation is the country’s
history. With Finland’s harsh natural environment and small
population, the female labor force has been traditionallyvalued highly. Prior to the introduction of the country’s social
security system, women had already begun to participate in
the workplace with men and contributed to the developmentof the country.
Actually, most of my female friends in Finland are

responsibilities, since
some
of
these
panchayat members
are not able to read
and write.
Women panchayat
members have worked
on issues in which malemembers have little▲Group discussion in Karni village
interest, such as safe
drinking water, education for children and health, bringing
about visible changes in villages. By seeing the improved
situation, people who used to think that “Politics is a world
for men” have gradually been changing their view. It is hopedthat women’s groups will continue playing active roles inpromoting education and realizing a gender-equal society.

run for elections and provided training and support forcandidates. In 1995, only two years after the commencementof the programme, 63 women were elected as panchayat
members. Presently, the number has increased to 1,920.
On the occasion of the visit to the APMSS and women’sgroups in January, 2011, a question was asked female
panchayat members as to why they decided to run forelections. They said,“We had problems in villages like lack of drainage.
We appealed panchayats many, many times, but
nothing was done by male-dominated panchayats.
We thought we had to become members andchange the panchayats. So, women’s problems
can be dealt with.”
Women’s groups campaign together with their fellow
candidates to send them to panchayats, while the APMSS
trains elected representatives to fulfill their new roles and

Masako Ota, Senior Researcher, KFAW

6

No.62 June 2011

■ International Symposium

ISSN 0918-8266“Intermarriage and Multiculturalism”
Concurrently with the World Report “Domiciled Foreign Women and the Local Community,” which was organized by
KFAW on October 2, 2010, we held an international symposium focusing on intermarriage multiculturalism under joint
sponsorship with the University of Kitakyushu on January 22, 2011.
Vietnam and Chinaas spouses of South
Korean men.
In this symposium,
which was joined byapproximately
90
persons, there wasan active exchangeof questions andanswers. Professor Yuriko Saito, Meiji Gakuin University(KFAW’s visiting researcher), who participated in the
symposium as a commentator, gave an overview of the entire
symposium by commenting that we must shift “from 3Fs(Food, Fashion, Festival) to 3Ps (People, Policy, Participants).”
In other words, we must change from superficial international
exchanges which are currently popular to international
exchanges with substantial content.
The reports on each country’s efforts,
and problems in regard to the current
situation of international marriages andmulticulturalism provided us with anopportunity to think about how we shouldinteract in the future with the rapidly
increasing numbers of foreign immigrants
in Japan. Also, it may be time for us tostart thinking about how we should ▲MOVE Publication
receive immigrants in the future at both entitled Gender White
Pa p e r - M a r r i a g e
the governmental and municipal levels.
(No.7) includes reports

We welcomed Professor Masaaki Satake, Nagoya Gakuin
University, the author of “Filipina-Japanese Intermarriages−Migration, Settlement and Multicultural Coexistence−”, andhis wife Mary Angeline Da-anoy, a part-time teacher at thesame university, as the panelists. They reported on problems
and possibilities regarding the understanding of different
cultures and multiculturalism. The report was based on
results which they obtained from interviewing many FilipinoJapanese couples living in Japan.
We also welcomed
Assistant Professor
Xia Yi Rong, Wenzao
Ursuline College ofLanguages, Taiwan,
Province of China.
Focusing on the
recent increase inmarriages between
women from mainland China and Taiwanese men , theprofessor reported on confl icts and problems entailed by
the situation where huge numbers of Chinese women
have entered Taiwanese society as spouses.
Lastly, Kim Young Joo, a researcher of Chungcheongnam-do
Women’s Policy Development Institute, South Korea, reported
on the South Korean government’s policies and support
programs for multicultural families and the rapidly increasing
number of female immigrants who enter South Korea. These
immigrants come from such countries as the Philippines,of the symposiasts■Each panelist’s report can be downloaded from thewebsite of the Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women.
http://www.kfaw.or.jp/report/cat20/2011122.html.en

KFAWʼs Management Facilities Designated(FY 2011- 2016)
Cover〉
We interviewed university students in Kitakyushu about Dating DV which are featured in the current issues series.
“What kind of relationship is needed for ideal love?”

Location of
Kitakyushu

KITAKYUSHU OTEMACHI BUILDING 3F
OTEMACHI 11-4, KOKURAKITA, KITAKYUSHU, 803-0814 JAPAN
PHONE＋81-93-583-3434 FAX＋81-93-583-5195
E-mail: kfaw@kfaw.or.jp URL: http://www.kfaw.or.jp/index.html.en

DalianBeijing

Seoul

KFAW
Tokyo
Kitakyushu

The Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women (KFAW) was established in October of 1990 with a special
government fund for revitalization projects. Subsequently, in 1993, the KFAW was recognized as afoundation by the Ministry of Labour (the present Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The purposeof the KFAW is to promote the improvement of women's status through various projects as well as their
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mutual understanding and cooperation in Asia.

SOY INK

This copy is printed with environment-friendly soy ink.

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TM