Thirty Years of Sisterhood

New Website on Feminism in Japan!

2006-03-13T22:17:00.000-06:00

Undergraduate students in "Feminist Struggles in Japan" class at the University of Chicago created a new website, femjapan, on Feminism in Japan.

The students in the class met the feminist visitors of the 30 Years of Sisterhood" tour a few times during the tour (including the party that you can see the photo in this blog!)

It's an impressive, informative website. Please visit!

http://femjapan.pbwiki.com/

Washington University in St. Louis photos

2006-03-08T22:58:00.000-06:00

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign photos

2006-03-08T20:12:00.000-06:00

University of Minnesota Photos

2006-03-08T20:08:00.000-06:00

University of Michigan event - Feb 21(Tue)

2006-02-22T19:38:00.000-06:00

Yale University event - Feb 15 (Wed)

2006-02-22T19:32:00.000-06:00

panel participants, with Bill Kelly, Chris Gerteis, and Karen Nakamura

Yale University photos

2006-02-22T19:22:00.000-06:00

Cedar Rapids airport

2006-02-17T20:45:00.000-06:00

At Cedar Rapids airport, with Robin of U Iowa. Robin chaired the panel discussion at the U Iowa event.

Grinnell College event

2006-02-17T20:44:00.000-06:00

With Miho, Johanna, Kirby, Marnie, and Ian of Grinnell College.

U Chicago event photos!

2006-02-17T20:27:00.000-06:00

The Libbers @ Barney's Grinnell Farm

2006-02-15T13:37:00.000-06:00

Lib Tour started at U Chicago!

2006-02-09T23:38:00.000-06:00

Today, the Libbers from Japan visited "Feminist Struggles in Japan" class at U Chicago. The photo from the class!

Lib Poster @ Grinnell

2006-02-09T16:06:00.000-06:00

Review by Kay Nguyen-Le '07, Grinnell College

2006-02-09T14:44:00.000-06:00

I took a literature class with Miho in Grinnell last fall (Japanese Modern Films & Fictions) and have been fascinated with all the readings. Apparently Japanese contemporary issues such as labor, class, gender have inspired such artistically accomplished works and I want to know more about that. It was at first a curiosity that prompted me to take the class, but afterward I came to truly embrace this dynamic culture in a thorough, direct and active way, because what I learn helps me enormously in my thinking and writing. Therefore , when Miho told me about the “30 years of Sisterhood” project in which I can participate and experience first hand the spirit of activism in Japan, I jumped at the opportunity to help her with the hosting task. In some way, I feel honored that Grinnell is among the hosts for these powerful women and that Grinnell can be a good host for them. Grinnell College is a little liberal arts college in a little Iowan town, one hour East from the capital Des Moines. Blessed with bountiful resources and a long tradition of social activism, Grinnell offers its student body of less than 1,600 excellent opportunities to celebrate campus diversity. The first college in the Midwest to admit women, Grinnell now has various thriving multicultural groups such as the the International Student Organization (ISO), the Feminist Action Coaliation (FAC), the Asian Students Assocciation (ASIA), the Stonewall Resource Center (StoneCo) for the GLBT community, and most recently, we welcome a new publication on multicultural issues called the Salad. With much excitement for the well organized tour, we watched “30 Years of Sisterhood” in advance and it struck me as intimate and endearing. Each of the women takes turn telling their own story, but in such a personal way that history becomes vivid and full of life right in front of me. I like the flow, naturally introducing all the libbers, then the stories in their own words, sandwiched with telling flashbacks about the sizzling days of the revolution. What is interesting to know is the political identity of the Women’s Liberation Movement itself, as separate from even the most radical movements of the time such as the student leftist movement. I’m very much empowered by the images of the libbers still continue living out their own belief after all this time, forming an inspiring bond of sisterhood. The realistic mood of the film also prompts several questions and reflections that I’d love to discuss with these women once they’re on campus, such as the resources they drew on to organize such fantastic liberation camps, or the inspiration and method of their publication enterprises. Overall, I’m surprised with how the directors could use conventional documentary film language in such a different and refreshing way to portray these women. The whole film feels like a dear walk down the memory lane, full of hopes and enthusiasm to pass on to the younger generation of female activists. Such raw energy is hard to come across these days when feminist activism seems contrite or out of fashion. I’m really excited to meet with these relentless freedom fighters!

*My name is Kay Nguyen-Le. I'm a third year art history major from Saigon, Vietnam. Last year I took a year off to work on an independent film project as screenwriter and assistant to the director. The film, "1735 km", is a coming of age romantic comedy of two young people travelling across Vietnam. I'm currently working on a screenplay about the quest for the lunar new year spririt in a household. I love thick books and strawberry pocky sticks.

Newest tour details

2006-02-06T20:44:00.000-06:00

Expanded Tour: US Premiere of 30 Years of Sisterhood--Women in the 1970s Women's Liberation Movement in Japan-- with Panel Discussions at 11 Midwest and East Coast Locations

We are pleased to welcome Boston College to the tour.

Please join us for the screening followed by a panel discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood: Women in the 1970s Women's Liberation Movement in Japan (co-directed by Chieko Yamagami & Noriko Seyama, documentary: 57 min. 2004) at any of 11 locations in February. Starting with the University of Chicago, the tour's main host, the directors and several of the Women's Lib activists featured in the film will visit the University of Iowa, Grinnell College, Yale University, the LGBT Community Center and Bluestockings Books in New York City, Boston College, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Washington University in St. Louis.

Feb 10 (Fri) University of Chicago

12:15-1:30 pm: Center for Gender Studies Brown Bag Lunch Series (5733 S. University)

Screening and discussion of Dear Tari: Tari Ito - A Performance Artist's Quest of Sexuality (documentary/42min/2001) with the director, Chieko Yamagami

2-3:30 pm: Center for Gender Studies (5733 S. University)

"The Conceptual Formation of Chinese Women's Studies: 'Female Consciousness'(josei ishiki) and 'Localization' (hondoka) as Keywords"
Yoko Akiyama (Professor of Chinese/Women's Studies at Surugadai University) in Art and Politics of East Asia Workshop http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/apea/

4-7 pm: Film Studies Center Auditorium (Cobb Hall 307, 5811 S. Ellis Ave.)

Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood

Panelists:

Chieko Yamagami (Co-director of 30 Years of Sisterhood)
Noriko Seyama (Co-director of 30 Years of Sisterhood)
Yoko Akiyama (Professor of Chinese/Women's Studies at Surugadai University)
Yumi Doi (Writer)
Soko Miki (Professor of English/Women's Studies at Kyoto Seika University)
Norma Field (Professor of Japanese Studies, University of Chicago)

Opening remarks by Susan Burns (Associate Professor of Japanese History, University of Chicago)
Introduction by Tomomi Yamaguchi (Post-doctoral scholar, Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago)
Translation by Mika Endo (Graduate Student, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago)

Feb 11 (Sat) University of Iowa

4 pm: 140 Schaeffer Hall

Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood

Panelists:

Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Yoko Akiyama
Yumi Doi
Soko Miki
Moderated by Robin Tierney (Graduate Student, Department of Cinema Studies and Comparative Literature, University of Iowa)
Introduction by Tomomi Yamaguchi

Feb 12 (Sun) Grinnell College

2-5 pm: Auditorium (ARH 302)

Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood

Panelists:

Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Yoko Akiyama
Yumi Doi
Soko Miki
Johanna Meehan (Associate Professor of Philosophy, Grinnell College)
Kirby L. Ramstad ‘08 (Student, Philosophy and Gender and Women's Studies, Grinnell College)
Moderated by Miho Matsugu (Assistant Professor of Japanese, Grinnell College)
Introduction by Tomomi Yamaguchi
Translation by Marnie Jorenby (Assistant Professor of Japanese, Grinnell College)

Feb 13 (Mon) Grinnell College

4:15-6 pm: Main Lounge

Workshop with Woolala Satoko (Filmmaker) and screening of Queer Boys and Girls on SHINKANSEN (2004-2005, 59 min. Japanese with English subtitles) including Woolala’s “wrap! rap!-10 CS3-” (4 min.)

"Japanese Queer Filmmaking and Its Political Goals"

Joined by D. Rita Alfonso (Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Gender Studies, Grinnell College), Adrienne Klein '08 (Student, Political Science and Russian, Grinnell College, co-leader of Stonewall Coalition), Kay Nguyen-Le '07 (Student, Art, Grinnell College) and Miho Matsugu

Translation by Richard Cleaver (Grant Writer, Grinnell College)

Feb 15 (Wed) Yale University

4:30 pm: Room 102, Linsly-Chittenden Hall, 63 High Street

Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood

Panelists:

Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Yoko Akiyama
Yumi Doi
Soko Miki
Karen Nakamura (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Yale University)
Christopher Gerteis (Postdoctoral Associate, Japanese History, Yale University)
Chaired by William Kelly (Professor of Anthropology, Yale University)
Introduction and translation by Tomomi Yamaguchi

Feb. 16 (Thu) The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in New York City

7pm: LGBT Community Center (208 West 13th Street, 212-620-7310, http://www.gaycenter.org)

Admission: $10 (free for those who show NYU student ID)

Screening and panel discussion of 30 years of Sisterhood

Panelists:

Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Yoko Akiyama
Yumi Doi
Soko Miki
Woolala Satoko
Keith Vincent (Assistant Professor of Japanese Literature, New York University)

Translation by Yuko Ohnaka (Interpreter)
Music by MASA (Jazz Saxophonist)

Contact: Tel & Fax 212-722-3753 E-mail Sisterhood21605@aol.com

Feb 17 (Fri) Boston College

Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood

1 pm: McGuinn Auditorium (Room 121)

Screening and panel discussion of 30 years of Sisterhood

Panelists:

Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Yumi Doi
Franziska Seraphim (Assistant Professor of Japanese History, Boston College)
Others TBA

Feb 19 (Sun) Bluestockings Books

7pm: Bluestockings Books (172 Allen Street, 1 block south of Houston and 1st Avenue between Stanton and Rivington, http://www.bluestockings.com/)

Admissions: $10

Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood

Panelists:

Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Yoko Akiyama
Yumi Doi
Soko Miki
Woolala Satoko
Yuriko Yamaki (Journalist)

Translation by Noriko Matsumoto (Graduate Student, Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center)

Contact: Tel & Fax 212-722-3753 E-mail WomynJazz@aol.com

Feb 21 (Tue) University of Michigan

6 pm: Room 1636 School of Social Work Building

Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood

Panelists:

Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Yoko Akiyama
Soko Miki
Livia Monnet (Professor of Comparative Literature, Film and Media Studies, University of Montreal)
Chaired by Jennifer Robertson (Professor of Anthropology, University of Michigan)
Introduction by Tomomi Yamaguchi and Bethany Grenald (Graduate Student, Anthropology, University of Michigan)

Feb 23 (Thu) University of Minnesota

4 pm: Room 125 Nolte Center for Continuing Education, Minneapolis Campus

Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood

Panelists:

Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Soko Miki

Chaired by Mark Anderson (Assistant Professor of Japanese Literature, University of Minnesota)

Introduction by Tomomi Yamaguchi

Feb 27 (Mon) University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)

"Viewing Feminist History in Japan"

9:30 am: Asian American Studies Program, Conference Room, 1208 W. Nevada

Screening and discussion of Ripples of Change (directed by Nanako Kurihara, 1993) and 30 Years of Sisterhood

Panelists:

Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Soko Miki
Siobhan Sommerville (Associate Professor of English and Women's Studies, UIUC)
Becky Nickerson (Graduate Student, East Asian Languages and Cultures, UIUC)
Akiko Takeyama (Graduate Student, Anthropology, UIUC)
James Welker (Graduate Student, East Asian Languages and Cultures, UIUC)

Chaired by Karen Kelsky (Head of Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Associate Professor of EALC and Anthropology, UIUC)

Introduction by Tomomi Yamaguchi

Feb 28 (Tue) Washington University in St. Louis (WUSL)

3pm: CROW 201, Reception to follow

Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood

Panelists:

Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Soko Miki
Rebecca Copeland (Director of East Asian Studies Program; Associate Professor of Japanese Language and Literature, WUSL)
Linda Nicholson (Director of Women and Gender Studies Program; Stiritz Distinguished Professor of Women's Studies and History, WUSL)
Lori Watt (Assistant Professor of History, WUSL)

Moderated by Barbara Baumgartner (Associate Director of Women and Gender Studies Program, WUSL)

Introduction and translation by Tomomi Yamaguchi

All events in this tour will be filmed by Woolala Satoko.

This tour is sponsored by the following departments and centers at participating institutions:

University of Chicago: Japan Committee of the Center for East Asian Studies, Statler Fund - Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Center for Gender Studies, Arts and Politics of East Asia Workshop, Human Rights Program

University of Iowa: Center for Asian and Pacific Studies

Grinnell College: Gender and Women's Studies Concentration (GWS), Center for International Studies (CIS), The Rosenfield Program, East Asian Studies Concentration (EASC), The Freeman Foundation, Cultural Film Series Committee

Yale University: Council on East Asian Studies

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center (NYC)

Boston College: Women's Studies Program, Asian Studies Program, Newton College Alumnae Chair, Film Studies Program, Department of History

Bluestockings Books (NYC)

University of Michigan: Center for Japanese Studies, Institute for Research on Women and Gender, Women's Studies Program

University of Minnesota: Institute for Advanced Study, Department of Women's Studies, Department of Asian Languages and Literatures, Department of History, Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign: Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Institute of Communications Research, Gender and Women's Studies Program, Asian Educational Media Services

Washington University in St. Louis: Visiting East Asian Professionals (VEAP) Program, Women and Gender Studies Program

Contacts: Tomomi Yamaguchi (tomomiy@uchicago.edu ) or Miho Matsugu (matsugum@grinnell.edu )
For New York events, please contact MASA (SwingMASA@aol.com)

For more information, please see our websites:

http://sisterhoodjapan.blogspot.com/ (in English)
http://sisterhood.exblog.jp/ (in Japanese)

Tour Poster!

2006-02-05T11:02:00.000-06:00

Boston College event - Feb 17 (Fri)

2006-02-03T18:46:00.000-06:00

New event announcement!!

Boston College

Date: Feb 17 (Fri)
Time: 1pm~
Place: McGuinn Auditorium (Room 121)

Panelist info is to be announced soon. Stay tuned!

University of Iowa event - Feb 11 (Sat)

2006-01-29T10:47:00.000-06:00

4 pm: 140 Schaeffer Hall

Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood

Panelists:

Chieko Yamagami (Co-director of 30 Years of Sisterhood)
Noriko Seyama (Co-director of 30 Years of Sisterhood)
Yoko Akiyama (Professor of Chinese/Women's Studies at Surugadai University)
Yumi Doi (Writer)
Soko Miki (Professor of English/Women's Studies at Kyoto Seika University)
Moderated by Robin Tierney (Graduate Student, Department of Cinema Studies and Comparative Literature, University of Iowa)
Introduction and translation by Tomomi Yamaguchi (Post-doctoral Scholar, University of Chicago)
Filming by Satoko Urara (filmmaker)

tour schedule, location and panelists

2006-01-28T10:14:00.000-06:00

US Premiere with Panel Discussion of
30 Years of Sisterhood:
Women in the 1970s Women's Liberation Movement in Japan

Please join us for the screening followed by a panel discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood: Women in the 1970s Women's Liberation Movement in Japan (co-directed by Chieko Yamagami & Noriko Seyama, documentary: 57 min. 2004) at ten US locations in February. Starting with the University of Chicago, the tour's main host, the directors and several of the Women's Lib activists featured in the film will visit the University of Iowa, Grinnell College, Yale University, the LGBT Community Center and the Bluestockings Books in New York City, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Washington University in St. Louis.

Feb 10 (Fri) University of Chicago
12:15-1:30 pm: Center for Gender Studies Brown Bag Lunch Series (5733 S. University)
Screening and discussion of Dear Tari: Tari Ito - A Performance Artist's Quest of Sexuality (documentary/42min/2001) with the director, Chieko Yamagami

2-3:30 pm: Center for Gender Studies (5733 S. University)
Yoko Akiyama (Professor of Chinese/Women's Studies at Surugadai University) in Arts and Politics of East Asia Workshop

4-7 pm: Film Studies Center Auditorium (Cobb Hall 307, 5811 S. Ellis Ave.)
Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood
Panelists:
Chieko Yamagami (Co-director of 30 Years of Sisterhood)
Noriko Seyama (Co-director of 30 Years of Sisterhood)
Yoko Akiyama (Professor of Chinese/Women's Studies at Surugadai University)
Yumi Doi (Writer)
Soko Miki (Professor of English/Women's Studies at Kyoto Seika University)
Norma Field (Professor of Japanese Studies, University of Chicago)
Opening remarks by Susan Burns (Associate Professor of Japanese History, University of Chicago)
Introduction by Tomomi Yamaguchi (Post-doctoral scholar, Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago)
Translation by Mika Endo (Graduate Student, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago)

Feb 11 (Sat) University of Iowa
4 pm: 140 Schaeffer Hall
Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood
Panelists:
Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Yoko Akiyama
Yumi Doi
Soko Miki
Moderated by Robin Tierney (Graduate Student, Department of Cinema Studies and Comparative Literature, University of Iowa)

Feb 12 (Sun) Grinnell College
2-5 pm: Auditorium (ARH 302)
Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood
Panelists:
Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Yoko Akiyama
Yumi Doi
Soko Miki
Johanna Meehan (Associate Professor of Philosophy, Grinnell College)
Moderated by Miho Matsugu (Assistant Professor of Japanese, Grinnell College)
Introduction by Tomomi Yamaguchi
Translation by Marnie Jorenby (Assistant Professor of Japanese, Grinnell College)

Feb 13 (Mon) Grinnell College
Time and location TBA
Workshop with Satoko Urara (Filmmaker)
"Japanese Queer Filmmaking and Its Political Goals"
Joined by D. Rita Alfonso (Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Gender Studies, Grinnell College) and Miho Matsugu
Translation by Richard Cleaver (Grant Writer, Grinnell College)

Feb 15 (Wed) Yale University
4:30 pm: Room 102, Linsly-Chittenden Hall, 63 High Street
Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood
Panelists:
Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Yoko Akiyama
Yumi Doi
Soko Miki
Karen Nakamura (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Yale University)
Christopher Gerteis (Postdoctoral Associate, Yale University)
Chaired by William Kelly (Professor of Anthropology, Yale University)
Introduction and translation by Tomomi Yamaguchi

Feb. 16 (Thu) The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in New York City
7pm: LGBT Community Center (208 West 13th Street, 212-620-7310, http://www.gaycenter.org)
Admission: $10 (free for those who show NYU student ID)
Screening and panel discussion of 30 years of Sisterhood
Panelists:
Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Yoko Akiyama
Yumi Doi
Soko Miki
Satoko Urara
Keith Vincent (Assistant Professor of Japanese Literature, New York University)
Translation by Yuko Ohnaka
Music by MASA (Jazz Saxophonist)
Contact: Tel & Fax 212-722-3753 E-mail Sisterhood21605@aol.com

Feb 19 (Sun) Bluestockings Books
7pm: Bluestockings Books (172 Allen Street, 1 block south of Houston and 1st Avenue between Stanton and Rivington, http://www.bluestockings.com/)
Admissions: $10
Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood
Panelists:
Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Yoko Akiyama
Yumi Doi
Soko Miki
Satoko Urara
Yuriko Yamaki (Journalist)
Translation by Noriko Matsumoto (Graduate Student, Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center)
Contact: Tel & Fax 212-722-3753 E-mail WomynJazz@aol.com

Feb 21 (Tue) University of Michigan
6 pm: Room 1636 School of Social Work Building
Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood
Panelists:
Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Yoko Akiyama
Soko Miki
Livia Monnet (Professor of Comparative Literature, Film and Media Studies, University of Montreal)
Chaired by Jennifer Robertson (Professor of Anthropology, University of Michigan)
Introduction by Tomomi Yamaguchi

Feb 23 (Thu) University of Minnesota
4 pm: Room 125 Nolte Center for Continuing Education, Minneapolis Campus
Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood
Panelists:
Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Soko Miki
Chaired by Mark Anderson (Assistant Professor of Japanese Literature, University of Minnesota)
Introduction by Tomomi Yamaguchi

Feb 27 (Mon) University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
"Viewing Feminist History in Japan"
9:30 am: location TBA
Screening and discussion of Ripples of Change (directed by Nanako Kurihara, 1993) and 30 Years of Sisterhood
Panelists:
Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Soko Miki
Siobhan Sommerville (Associate Professor of English and Women's Studies, UIUC)
Becky Nickerson (Graduate Student, East Asian Languages and Cultures, UIUC)
Akiko Takeyama (Graduate Student, Anthropology, UIUC)
James Welker (Graduate Student, East Asian Languages and Cultures, UIUC)
Chaired by Karen Kelsky (Chair, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Anthropology, UIUC)
Introduction by Tomomi Yamaguchi

Feb 28 (Tue) Washington University in St. Louis (WUSL)
3pm: location TBA
Screening and discussion of 30 Years of Sisterhood
Panelists:
Chieko Yamagami
Noriko Seyama
Soko Miki
Rebecca Copeland (Director of East Asian Studies Program; Associate Professor of Japanese Language and Literature, WUSL)
Linda Nicholson (Director of Women and Gender Studies Program; Stiritz Distinguished Professor of Women's Studies and History, WUSL)
Lori Watt (Assistant Professor of History, WUSL)
Moderated by Barbara Baumgartner (Associate Director of Women and Gender Studies Program, WUSL)
Introduction and translation by Tomomi Yamaguchi

All events in this tour will be filmed by Satoko Urara.

This tour is sponsored by the following departments and centers at participating institutions:
University of Chicago: Japan Committee of the Center for East Asian Studies, Statler Fund - Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Center for Gender Studies, Arts and Politics of East Asia Workshop, Human Rights Program
University of Iowa: Center for Asian and Pacific Studies
Grinnell College: Gender and Women's Studies Concentration (GWS), Center for International Studies (CIS), The Rosenfield Program, East Asian Studies Concentration (EASC), The Freeman Foundation
Yale University: Council on East Asian Studies
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center (NYC)
Bluestockings Books (NYC)
University of Michigan: Center for Japanese Studies, Institute for Research on Women and Gender, Women's Studies Program
University of Minnesota: Institute for Advanced Study, the Department of Women’s Studies, the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures, the Department of History, the Office for University Women, and the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign: Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Institute of Communications Research, Gender and Women's Studies Program, Asian Educational Media Services
Washington University in St. Louis: Visiting East Asian Professionals (VEAP) Program, Women and Gender Studies Program

Contacts: Tomomi Yamaguchi ( tomomiy@uchicago.edu ) or Miho Matsugu (matsugum@grinnell.edu )
For New York events, please contact MASA (SwingMASA@aol.com)
For more information, please see our websites:
http://sisterhoodjapan.blogspot.com/ (in English)
http://sisterhood.exblog.jp/ (in Japanese)

The Tour

2006-01-23T12:19:00.000-06:00

The screening of the film, as well as the panel discussion with the directors and feminists featured in the film, will be held in the following university campuses and community locations in Feb, 2006.

Feb 10 (Fri) -- University of Chicago
Feb 11 (Sat) -- University of Iowa
Feb 12 (Sun) -- Grinnell College
Feb 15 (Wed) -- Yale University
Feb 16 (Thu) -- LGBT Community Center, NYC
Feb 19 (Sun) -- Bluestockings Books, NYC
Feb 21 (Tue) -- University of Michigan
Feb 23 (Thu) -- University of Minnesota
Feb 27 (Mon) -- University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Feb 28 (Tue) -- Washington University in St. Louis

Bluestockings NYC Feb 19 (Sun)

2006-01-22T00:02:00.000-06:00

Special Screening and Panel Discussion
30 Years of Sisterhood

Sunday Feb.19 2006 7:00pm $10
Bluestockings Books
172 Allen Street New York, New York 10002
Tel: 212-777-6028
http://www.bluestockings.com/

Panelists:
Chieko Yamagami (Filmmaker)
Noriko Seyama (Filmmaker)
Yoko Akiyama (Professor of Chinese/Women's Studies, Surugadai University)
Soko Miki (Professor of English/Women's Studies, Kyoto Seika University)
Yumi Doi (writer)

English http://sisterhoodjapan.blogspot.com/
Japanese http://sisterhood.exblog.jp/
inquiry : E-mail SwingMASA@aol.com Tel & Fax 212-722-3753

Bluestockings is located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan at 172 Allen Street between Stanton and Rivington - which means that we are 1 block south of Houston and 1st Avenue.　By train: We are 1 block south of the F train's 2nd Avenue stop and just 5 blocks from the JMZ-line's Essex / Delancey Street stop.　By car: If you take the Houston exit off of the FDR, then turn left onto Essex (aka Avenue A), then right on Rivington, and finally right on Allen, you will be very, very close.

Ceter Happenings-News Paper of LGBT Center

2006-01-15T10:05:00.000-06:00

LGBT Community Center in NYC - Feb 16 (Thu)

2006-01-13T20:14:00.000-06:00

Screening and panel discussion of "30 years of Sisterhood" - special event in support of the LGBT community and striking NYU graduate employees!

Date: Feb 16 (Thu), time 7pm~
Location: LGBT Community Center
Admissions: $10 (free for those who show NYU student ID)

Panelists:
Chieko Yamagami (filmmaker)
Noriko Seyama (filmmaker)
Yoko Akiyama (professor of Chinese/Women's Studies, Surugadai University)
Yumi Doi (writer)
Soko Miki (professor of English/Women's Studies, Kyoto Seika University)
Satoko Urara (filmmaker)
Keith Vincent (Assistant Professor of Japanese Literature, New York University)

Music by: MASA (jazz saxophonist)

Washington University in St. Louis event - Feb 28 (Tue)

2006-01-13T20:12:00.000-06:00

Date and Time: Feb 28 (Tue) 3pm~
Location: TBA

Panelists:

Chieko Yamagami (filmmaker)
Noriko Seyama (filmmaker)
Soko Miki (professor of English/Women's Studies, Kyoto Seika University)
Rebecca Copeland (Director of East Asian Studies Program; Associate Professor of Japanese Language and Literature)
Linda Nicholson (Director of Women and Gender Studies Program; Stiritz Distinguished Professor of Women's Studies and History)
Lori Watt (Assistant Professor of History)
Moderated by: Barbara Baumgartner (Associate Director of Women and Gender Studies Program)

Introduction and Translation by: Tomomi Yamaguchi (Post-doctoral Scholar, University of Chicago)
Filming by: Satoko Urara (filmmaker)

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign event - Feb 27 (Mon)

2006-01-13T20:09:00.000-06:00

Feb 27 (Mon) 9:30am~
Location: TBA

Screenings and discussion of Ripples of Change (dir by Nanako Kurihara, 1993) and 30 Years of Sisterhood (dir. by Chieko Yamagami and Noriko Seyama, 2004)

Panelists:
Chieko Yamagami (filmmaker)
Noriko Seyama (filmmaker)
Soko Miki (professor of English/Women's Studies, Kyoto Seika University)
Satoko Urara (filmmaker)
Tomomi Yamaguchi (post-doctoral scholar, University of Chicago)
graduate students at UIUC
Chaired by: Karen Kelsky (Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Anthropology)

Flier for the University of Chicago event!

2006-01-06T15:09:00.000-06:00

New Location!: LGBT Community Center in NYC

2006-01-05T22:01:00.000-06:00

I would like to announce a new location for the screening of 30 Years of Sisterhood!

It is The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in New York City.

Please visit Center's website:
http://www.gaycenter.org/

More details on the event will be announced later!

University of Michigan event - Feb 21(Tue)

2006-01-05T21:20:00.000-06:00

Date: Feb 21(Tue)
Time: 6pm
Room 1636 (School of Social Work Building)

Panelists:
Yamagami Chieko (director)
Seyama Noriko (director)
Akiyama Yoko (Professor of Chinese Studies and Women's Studies, Surugadai University)
Miki Soko (Professor of English and Women's Studies, Kyoto Seika University)
Livia Monnet (Professor of Comparative Literature, Film and Media Studies, University of Montreal)
Chaired by Jennifer Robertson (Professor of Anthropology, University of Michigan)

Introduction by Tomomi Yamaguchi (Post-doctoral Scholar, University of Chicago)
Filming by Satoko Urara (filmmaker)

Sponsored by:
Center for Japanese Studies
Institute for Research on Women and Gender
Women's Studies Program

Grinnell College Event - Feb 12 (Sun)

2006-01-04T13:32:00.000-06:00

Grinnell College Event - Feb 12 (Sun)

Screening and Panel Discussion

Date: Feb 12 (Sun)
Time: 2 pm
Location: Auditorium (ARH 302)

Participants:

Yamagami, Chieko (filmmaker)
Seyama, Noriko (filmmaker)
Miki, Soko (Professor of English/Women's Studies, Kyoto Seika University)
Akiyama, Yoko (Professor in Chinese Literature and Women’s Studies, Surugadai University)
Doi, Yumi (writer)

Introduction by Yamaguchi Tomomi (post-doctoral scholar, University of Chicago)

This event is sponsored by the Gender and Women’s Studies Concentration, the Center for International Studies, the East Asian Studies Concentration, the Freeman Foundation, and the Rosenfield Program.

Message from Yamagami Chieko, filmmaker of 30 Years of Sisterhood

2005-12-26T17:53:00.000-06:00

Although I have made only a small number of films, I think I have always been making documentaries for myself.

For me, making documentary films can be a means of asking what I am looking for.

I have always gained strength from the women in the women’s liberation movement. However, the libbers are considered in our society to be scary women. Of course, that is only the image of them created by the mass media.

I did not want women’s herstory to be recorded with such a mistaken image. I wanted to record the women’s liberation movement as I know it, as they really are. That was the starting point of the film 30 years of Sisterhood, a film about twelve libbers.

As the terminology changed from "women's liberation" to "feminism" and feminism spread widely, current society may have come to look free and equal on the surface. However, in the present day, oppression and discrimination against women, as well as against the weak, is becoming more convoluted. Under such circumstances, I sometime can't figure out exactly what I really want and what I am looking for.

By looking back on the herstories of twelve women’s libbers, I wanted to reconsider the roots of living in a way that was true to myself . In this confusing era, I wanted to gain the strength to survive as myself in my own unique way.

By seeing this film, I would like you to gain strength from these 12 women who have tried for the past 30 years to live in a way true to themselves and their own senses. I am pleased if this movie becomes a catalyst for discussing together what we, as women, really want.
　　　　　　　　　　　　
2005/12/24
Chieko YAMAGAMI

University of Minnesota Event - Feb 23 (Thu)

2005-12-25T23:20:00.000-06:00

Screening and Panel Discussion

Date: Feb 23 (Thu)
Time: 4pm
Location: Room 125, Nolte Center for Continuing Education, Minneapolis Campus

Panelists:
Chieko Yamagami (filmmaker)
Noriko Seyama (filmmaker)
Soko Miki (Professor of English/Women's Studies, Kyoto Seika University)
Satoko Urara (filmmaker)
Chaired by Mark Anderson (Assistant Professsor of Japanese Literature, University of Minnesota)

Introduction by Tomomi Yamaguchi (post-doctoral scholar, University of Chicago)

This event is sponsored by Institute for Advanced Study.

Yale University Event - Feb 15 (Wed)

2005-12-25T23:16:00.000-06:00

Feb 15 (Wed) Special Screening and Panel Discussion

Time: 4:30pm
Location: Luce Hall Auditorium, 34 Hillhouse Avenue.

Participants:

Yamagami Chieko (Film Director)
Seyama Noriko (Film Director)
Akiyama Yoko (Professor of Chinese Studies, Surugadai University)
Doi Yumi (Writer)
Miki Soko ( Professor of English and Women's Studies, Kyoto Seika University)
Urara Satoko (Film Director)
Karen Nakamura (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Yale University)
Christopher Gerteis (Post-Doctoral Associate, Council on East Asian Studies, Yale University)
Yamaguchi Tomomi (Post-Doctoral Scholar,Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago)
Chaired by: William Kelly (Professor of Anthropology, Yale University)

This event is sponsored by Council on East Asian Studies.

University of Chicago event - Feb 10

2005-12-09T14:09:00.000-06:00

US Premiere Screening and Panel Discussion of "Thirty Years of Sisterhood"!!

Date: Feb 10 (Fri)
Time: 4pm-7pm
Place: Film Studies Center Auditorium (Cobb Hall, Third Floor)

Panelists: (Japanese names are written in the order of last name-first name)
Yamagami Chieko (director)
Seyama Noriko (director)
Akiyama Yoko (Professor of Chinese Studies and Women's Studies, Surugadai University)
Doi Yumi (writer)
Miki Soko (Professor of English and Women's Studies, Kyoto Seika University)
Norma Field (Professor, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago)

Greetings by Prof. Susan Burns (History and EALC)
Introduction by Tomomi Yamaguchi (Post-doctoral Scholar)
Interpretation by Mika Endo (Graduate Student)
Filming by Urara Satoko (filmmaker) and Francisco Arechiga-Ormsbee (Undergraduate Student)

This event is sponsored by:
Japan Committee, Center for East Asian Studies
Center for Gender Studies
Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Art and Politics of East Asia Workshop
Human Rights Program

Related events at the University of Chicago

Center for Gender Studies, Brown Bag lecture series
Screening and Discussion of "Dear Tari" with the director, Yamagami Chieko
Date: Feb 10
Time: 12:15-1:30pm
Place: Center for Gender Studies

Art and Politics of East Asia Workshop
Professor Akiyama Yoko (Chinese Literature and Women's Studies, Surugadai University)
Date: Feb 10
Time: 2:00-3:30pm
Place: TBA

Film Review by Livia Monnet (Professor, University of Montreal)

2005-12-05T17:44:00.000-06:00

30 Years of Sisterhood－Women in the 1970s Women’s Liberation Movement in Japan (Sanjunen no Sisterhood: Senkyuhyaku nanaju nendai woman ribu no onna tachi, 2004) is a powerful documentary focusing on little known aspects of the history, unfolding, and multiple legacies of Japan's Women's Liberation Movement, or Woman's Lib (Uman ribu/Ribu) .

Adopting a different approach from Nanako Kurihara's Looking for Fumiko (1993) the only film engaging with the Japanese Women's Liberation Movement that has so far been shown, and received coverage internationally ? Thirty Years of Sisterhood records the testimonies and reminiscences of 12 participants at an annual gathering for former Woman's Lib activists at a hot spring resort in Shizuoka prefecture.

The Libbers' conversations are interspersed with rare archival footage of actions launched by the Movement -- mass demonstrations, consciousness-raising musicals and plays, the publication and distribution of fliers, manifestoes, and magazines -- to bring about significant changes in Japanese women's self-perception, thinking, and behavior, as well as in 1960s-1970s Japan's patriarchal, conservative society as a whole.

What emerges from the film's vivid montage of objective retrospective assessment, subjective memories, and highlighting of radical political actions is a fascinating, layered portrayal of a group of committed feminists and women activists, who, three decades after the momentum of Woman's Lib subsided, have lost neither their utopian belief in the power of women's community, creativity, and imagination, nor their will to continue the fight initiated in the 1970s.

Another notable achievement of the film is its highlighting of the cultural specificity of Japan's Women's Liberation Movement; as well as its depiction of the latter as a heterogeneous network of groups, organizations, and individuals motivated by common goals, but whose political orientation, ideological commitments, statements, and actions could be conflicting, puzzling, or paradoxical.

The viewer is offered an inspiring, intimate perspective on Women's Liberation Movement's major role in changing women's status, as well as in paying the way for women's prominent contributions to the culture, arts, and society of contemporary Japan.

Participants

2005-11-16T00:22:00.000-06:00

The Participants in the US tour include:

Yamagami, Chieko (filmmaker)
Seyama, Noriko (filmmaker)
Akiyama, Yoko (professor in Chinese Literature and Women's Studies, Surugadai University, Japan)
Doi, Yumi (writer)
Miki, Soko (professor in English/Women's Studies, Kyoto Seika University, Japan)
Urara, Satoko (filmmaker)

Coordinators of the US tour are:
MASA (jazz saxophonist)
Matsugu, Miho (assistant professor of Japanese Studies, Grinnell College)
Yamaguchi, Tomomi (post-doctoral scholar, Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago)

Event details in each location will be announced in this blog later.

About the film

2005-11-15T12:43:00.000-06:00

Thirty Years of Sisterhood - introduction

This film is a documentary based on the stories of twelve women who lived the Women’s Liberation movement in Japan in the 1970s. Its creation was motivated by a desire to tell what the “women’s liberation movement” was, to see the road they cultivated and where it was heading.

In the 1970s, women were considered to be second-class citizens in society in general, within social movements including the radical student movement, and in the family. However, there was no social consensus that women were being discriminated against for being women, and women who complained were subjected to ridicule.

The fact that women were considered to be lesser beings in society meant that women’s rights were not regarded as necessary. At the same time, it also meant that women were used as the objects of men’s sexual desires, and women could not claim their own sexuality as truly theirs. It was in this situation that the Women’s Liberation Movement voiced the slogan, “Sexual Liberation.” Moreover, aside from sexual liberation, they also problematized the sexual division of labor within the household, which had previously been considered to be a private realm, and closely intertwined it with the sexual division of labor within society. This division placed women in “feminine roles” and prohibited them from living freely outside the narrow confines of the existing norms and roles for women. Women realized that women’s liberation could not happen through “socialist revolution” or through waiting for “women’s advancement in society,” and thought that the direct liberation of women by women was necessary.

During this period, people with similar thoughts and senses started to raise their voices in many different areas of Japan, and a “Lib Camp” was held. The women in attendance raised their own voices in order to create a movement by talking about their own problems in their own words. Some women also obtained information about the women’s liberation movement in the United States. In translating such information, Japanese women realized that these issues were not just their own problems, but were problems commonly shared by all women in the world.

However, this radical movement was attacked and repressed by society. But this social reaction actually stabilized the movement. It was an extremely harsh situation in which women had to continue fighting 24 hours a day in order to create their own place in society. In particular, the fight in Tokyo, the reactions in the mass media forced the activists and the organization into an extremely difficult situation. However, at the same time, the women there searched for, and lived, their own feelings and thoughts about society that could not be fully expressed in words, and their positions were not always serious but were also sometimes filled with humor.

On the surface, the Women’s Liberation Movement is said to have lasted no more than several years. One of the reasons could be that the women’s liberation movement did not have enough time to find new ways to create and operate their organization. However, the movement did not truly die out after their several most flourishing years. Women’s Liberation, spread throughout Japan by the Lib Camp and the network created from there, still endures today, in local areas and within individuals. Women’s Liberation influenced individuals’ lives, and those who met women’s liberation realized the importance of living their own lives honestly with their own senses and thoughts, not influenced by some traditional values and norms. In their later lives, they still continued searching for how to live their own lives without compromise.

This film is based on interviews with women who continue to live as liberated women. This film was made in order to recount the diverse courses of women’s lives in the women’s liberation movement.