Hiratsuka Raicho - Hiratsuka Raicho

Japanese: 平塚らいてう - ひらつか・らいちょう

Year of death: May 24, 1971
Year of birth: February 10, 1886 (Meiji 19)
Critic and women's liberation activist. Born in Tokyo. Her real name was Akira. She was the third daughter of Hiratsuka Teijiro, a high-ranking official at the Board of Audit, and her mother Mitsuka. In 1903, she entered Japan Women's University, but was disappointed with her education in being a good wife and wise mother, and became interested in philosophical books, practiced Zen, and pursued her true self. After graduating in 1904, she attended Seibi Women's English School and participated in the Neishu Literary Society. In 1906, she and Morita Sohei attempted a double suicide in Shiobara (Tochigi Prefecture), attracting public attention. The following year, Morita wrote a novel about the incident, "Soot," which was published. Encouraged by Ikuta Choko, she launched the literary magazine for women, "Seito," in September 1901. Her inaugural address, "In the beginning, women were the sun," became a declaration of women's rights that continues to this day. Since then, "Seito" has become a base for women's liberation thought. In 1914, she married art student Okumura Hiroshi, who was five years her junior, and they had one son and one daughter. After translating Ellen Key's Love and Marriage, she was inspired by her ideas, and began to position child-rearing as social work and to advocate for the respect of motherhood. In 1915, together with Yosano Akiko and Yamakawa Kikue, she launched a debate on the protection of motherhood in the magazine Fujin Koron. In 1916, together with Ichikawa Fusae and Oku Mumeo, she formed the New Women's Association, the first political civic group run by women. She was active in parliament, focusing on the revision of Article 5 of the Public Order and Police Bill (prohibiting women from suffrage), but withdrew from the movement two years later. In 1930, she joined the Prostituteless Women's Artistic Federation led by Takamune Itsue and others, and became involved in the Women's Front. Aiming for the ideal of a cooperative, self-governing society, she also established a consumer cooperative in Seijo. After World War II, she spoke out on peace issues, such as issuing statements calling for a complete peace and opposing rearmament. She served as the first president of the Japan Federation of Women's Organizations and the representative committee member of the New Japan Women's Association. She was at the forefront of the women's liberation movement until its end. <Works> "Collected Works of Hiratsuka Raicho" 7 volumes, 1 supplement <References> "Hiratsuka Raicho" by Fumiko Ide

(Yamaguchi Miyoko)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：昭和46.5.24(1971)
生年：明治19.2.10(1886)
評論家,女性解放運動家。東京生まれ。本名明。会計検査院高官平塚定二郎と母光沢の3女。明治36(1903)年日本女子大に入学するが良妻賢母教育に失望,哲学書に親しみ,参禅し自我を追求する。39年卒業後,成美女子英語学校に通い閨秀文学会に参加。41年森田草平と塩原(栃木県)で心中未遂事件を起こし世間の注目を浴びる。翌42年森田は事件を小説『煤煙』に描いて発表。生田長江に勧められ,44年9月女性のための文芸誌『青鞜』を発刊。創刊の辞「元始,女性は太陽だった」は,今日に繋ぐ女権宣言となる。以後『青鞜』は女性解放思想の拠点となった。大正3(1914)年,5歳年下の画学生奥村博史と法律によらない自由な結婚を実践,1男1女をもうける。エレン・ケイの『恋愛と結婚』翻訳を契機に,その思想に共鳴,育児を社会的仕事と位置づけ,母性の尊重を主張した。7年,与謝野晶子,山川菊栄らと『婦人公論』誌上で,母性保護論争を展開。8年市川房枝,奥むめおらと初の女性による政治的市民団体・新婦人協会を結成。治安警察法案5条(婦人参政の禁止)改正を中心として対議会活動を行うが,2年後運動から退く。昭和5(1930)年高群逸枝らの無産婦人芸術連盟に参加,『婦人戦線』に関与した。また協同自治社会の理想をめざして,成城に消費組合を設立。第2次大戦後は,全面講和,再軍備反対の声明発表など,平和問題に発言。婦人団体連合会初代会長,新日本婦人の会代表委員なども歴任。終焉まで女性解放運動の先頭に立つ。<著作>『平塚らいてう著作集』全7巻・補1<参考文献>井手文子『平塚らいてう』

(山口美代子)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

<<: Flat-clawed crab - Ovalipes punctatus

>>: Hiratsuka Unichi - Hiratsuka Unichi