The Northwest times. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1947-1955, 1947-08-29
Women in Japan Today

ing house and raising q family.
She was kind. faultlessly polite, and
never spoke out Of turn.
The Fish-skin Era
TO properly discuss this subject,
one must go back through history to
prehistoric times, when the wear
ing Of fish skins was the height II
fashion In Japan, and deer's milk
was the national drink. tAnimal
skins were almost unknown In an
cient Japan, because the natives
didn't take long to crowd out all
the animals except domestic deer,
from the islands)
In those days. there was more
equality between men and women.
When q prehistoric Japanese
wanted to get married, he laid
down his marriage vows with a
slab of granite The women took
over from there.
However, It soon became obvious
that getting married was too stren-
uous q sport. for usually the man
had to run faster than the women
to capture them and tie their
hair In knots to stake the claim.
So to get the speed advantage, the
man abandoned his fish skin, and
invented the "free-swing" fundo-
shis. or loincloths made Of ell skin
and catfish whiskcrs. This enabled
him to:
1. Ran away from sabre-tooth
tigers;
2. Catch himself . wife.
Tired Of Raw Fish
1 might explain here that getting
married In those days was q prime
necessity, since the man was rapid
" getting tired of raw fish. And
the wife became invaluable as q
protection against wild animals, es-
pecially when provided with small
children to protect, The fury Of q
woman aroused came to be accept.
ed at an early stage in history.
To cut a long story short, the
man became more carefree WITH
the disappearance of wild beasts
while the woman still faced thu
primary problem Of rearing fam
lily and seeing that the islands wer'
decently populated.
The men became irresponsi-
BILE, drank synthetic deer's milk,
known commonly rs sake ana
roamed around brandishing sa-
mural swords. The women, hav-
ing no dangers to face, became
more dociIe and specialized IN
hard work and raising families.
shortly the islands became res
pectably overpopulated-
Disturbed No Little
About five million years aftel
| the fish-slxin age, I happened t
come along to lool, the situation
over, and to see what the futur'
held, If anything, for this admir-
able species Of womanhood. Wha
I saw disturbed me no little; be
came apprehensive Of the future.
The Japanese woman OF today !
sadly overworked. I estimated tina
ON the average she works twenty
six hours day. Her day begins q
4 a. m. and does not end till 6 am
the following morning when sh
has to start over two hours behin'
schedule. She trudges ten mile
with a baby strapped to her bacl
to get a days supply Of firewood
She has no time for fine kimonos
and wears instead q loose form o
simulated fish skin called "mo
mpei." Her face Is grimy, her fes
sore, her stomach hollow. She face
hard times.
Democracy and equality nave
dropped into her lap like apples
In q windstorzn, but they are
stiIl q bit green. Her husband
won't have equality in the house
Maybe rs Democracy develops,
she win discover the proper use
for the rolling MIN.
One Cheerful Note
But there Is one cheerful nott
Her daughter Is beginning to sho,
definite signs Of progress. She re
turns from the hairdresser lookinI
like a Fiji islander on a warpatn
She wears savage red lipstick- Sh
wears bobby-sox. She practices tn
jitterbug. She prefers torrid Frencl
| movies which could be understoo'
without the knowledge of French
She displays her figure.
! I could go on like this indefinite
ly, but the picture has been drawn
Present day Japanese womanhoot
stands on the crossroads. VIII sh'
shift back the work to the men
win she start wearing the pantsa
VIII she get her fish skins back
The Japanese men have been dis
credited, while the japanese womel
remains a potential force in guild
ing the destiny Of the nation an
the greater glory Of the fish skins