Women, social change and realising political ideals - Religion and Politics in Contemporary Japan - page 147

MASAMI : Wow, really!
AIKO : This attitude of putting the company first before anything else has

started to change; the feeling that ' it ' s a waste ' [to spend all your time in the

company] is becoming more prevalent.
MASAMI : Yeah, that ' s true actually.

AIKO : I think things might be slowly changing.

These young women thought of the gender situation in Japan as hen and that
the meaning of the twenty-

rst century being the century of women as lying
in changing that. They also believed that if they wanted something to change,
it was up to them to do it. Yet, what did their leaders, the national youth
division leaders of Soka Gakkai, think about this?

Views from the national Youth Division leaders of Soka Gakkai

We met in a spacious room in one of the Soka Gakkai buildings in Shinano-
machi, central Tokyo, in early April 2004. The central area in Shinanomachi
is the location of numerous Soka Gakkai buildings including the new
Women

s centre. The Youth Division
leaders with whom I met were well known and respected throughout the
organisation; they had been active in the public sphere of Soka Gakkai for
the last 10

' s Centre and the new Young Women '

-

15 years. These leaders also were part of a series of topics pub-
lished of their conversations with Ikeda, called Discussions On Youth. Here
they bring up a variety of problems raised by young people and Ikeda pro-
ceeds to give advice. 7 Both Sugiyama Tamotsu, the Youth Division leader,
and Igeta Kazue, the YWD leader, made frequent speeches at the Head-
quarters and Executive Leaders monthly meetings broadcast across the
country at Soka Gakkai centres. These monthly meetings are broadcast to
members within Soka Gakkai throughout the country. I had come across
Igeta once before some months previously at a YWD meeting that I attended
in Hachioji with young Soka University students. There had been a buzzing
atmosphere when she arrived, and she had a charismatic personality that
shone with sincerity. Meeting both of them in person only added to the
favourable impression I had of them already. They were friendly, informal,
easy to talk to and courteous.

ANNE METTE : Why do you think Ikeda-sensei says the twenty- rst century is

the Century of Women?
IGETA : Well women have a lot of good points: they are kind (yasashii), they
have a wish for peace deep in their heart, they want to respect and uphold
the value of life. These positive characteristics that women have are what
should become characteristic of the twenty-

rst century. In Japan, you can
see a history of men being above women. However, it is not only about
women improving their position in society. It is about bringing these qua-
lities that have been associated with women to the forefront of society as