Beauty in Disarray by Harumi Setouchi

Author:Harumi Setouchi
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4629-0150-0
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Such was Chuokoron's advance notice to the public, and journalism watched in earnest to see how the magazine would treat the subject.

Many articles on the woman question suddenly began appearing in other magazines and newspapers. The raising of the curtain on the new Taisho era gave one the impression the new age really began with this problem, and those responsible for pressing the buzzer for this opening curtain were none other than the New Women in Seito itself.

To further study this problem, Seito issued a sequel to its special number on the woman question. In the February issue the editors decided to publish for the first time an article by a socialist. It was Hideko Fukuda's "Solution to the Woman Question."

In those days Hideko Fukuda was living in Nakazato, Takinogawa, not far from Somei. And just at that time Tsuji was associating with the anarchist Seitaro Watanabe, having been asked by the latter to serve as his interpreter in English. A Chinese who had come to do research on the socialist movement in Japan after studying in France was eager to meet the veteran woman fighter Hideko Fukuda, the pioneer of women's liberation in Japan. Because this Chinese scholar did not understand Japanese but could speak English, Tsuji, out of respect for his close friendship and fondness for Watanabe, immediately accepted the request. It was due to this relationship that Tsuji once mentioned to Noe when they were about to retire, "It would be worthwhile just now for Seito to have an article appear by Hideko Fukuda, wouldn't it?"

Hearing this remark from Noe, Haruko immediately agreed to the suggestion. Seito was now going to go beyond being a mere literary magazine. Certainly it was just the right moment for the publication of a manuscript by Hideko Fukuda. Haruko herself expressly visited Hideko for this purpose and requested a contribution.

It seemed to Haruko that Hideko, who had large eyes of a hazy yellow and who eked out a living by peddling secondhand clothing, was a sort of dry, fierce, and disagreeable woman. Nevertheless, Hideko willingly complied, and the manuscript was soon forwarded. This was the only critical article by a socialist ever published in Seito.

Absolute liberation is not our absolute liberation as women but our liberation as "human beings." It is not the freedom of women but the realization of the freedom of "human beings"... Unless a thorough and exhaustive Communism is put into practice, a thorough and sufficient liberty cannot be put into practice... At the same moment in which the Communist system is set into operation, scientific knowledge and machinery will be utilized for the equal welfare of each and every person.

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