Japan -
Women On Top
Dec 2000 905
003
Suddenly they have made headline news again. Yet not in the way that the emperors son Naruhito and his commoner wife Masako had hoped. The gift of children has so far escaped the worlds oldest monarchy.
Maybe this is no coincidence. The pressure on Masako-san, here with her family, has been enormous. She was supposed to bear a son, and wanted to break with the old traditions of the court - but so far she has achieved neither of the two.
033
Speculations as to the successor of the Japanese throne are fuelled afresh. At the royal court, thoughts are turning to a female heir. Should Masako and his wife remain childless, Naruhitos brothers daughters would be in line to the throne. Both the court and the country are in need of young blood.
100
Outside of the imperial family, daughters are held in high esteem. Couples who are trying for children, or who want to thank the gods for a birth come on a pilgrimage to this Shinto shrine. All fundamental aspects of life have a shrine dedicated to them.
It is no coincidence that relatively few couples have found time to pray recently in Tokyo, as it is no longer a top priority for Japanese women to have children.
They have become more confident. The times when subordination and servitude were typical attributes of Japanese women are long gone.
141 V/0 Machiko Osawa, sociologist
Women can change the society in ways, women can choose to marry or divorce their husband.They can have a child by there own. This has shaken the traditional Japanese values. Before traditional values meant the couple stayed together until death.
205
The new trend of individualism can be seen in the maternity wards. If you have decided to have a baby, then it should be a girl, we are told in this Tokio hospital. The significance of a male heir is no longer relevant, at least in the larger cities. The wish for a daughter is so great that many young couples decide to give nature a helping hand.
This clinic is popular because doctors can influence the birth of a baby girl with the right gel or special tablets.
234 V/O Dr.Shiro Sugiyama, gynacologist
Families all used to celebrate the birth of a boy. In those days people turned their noses up at girls. But the tables turned about 10 years ago. Women earn more, work longer, and have babies later. Women have more in common with girls, and they can count on their daughters when they get older. After a certain age sons are generally more difficult to communicate with.
257
Society is irritated and overstretched by womens new self-confidence. Japan is generally in turmoil - socially and economically. The Japanese are finding it increasingly difficult to stay on course as an island nation.
Women are clearly the forerunners of a new age. Marriage, children - the worthy goals of their mothers generation - are being challenged.
Waltraud Oka, a Viennese woman, has lived in Japan for over 3 decades. Just like many Japanese, she is amazed by the developments of the last few years. Oka has brought up two daughters, which in Europe would never be regarded as a stigma as in Japan.
345
Waltraud Oka, universtiy lecturer
'I'll always remember one of my first taxi rides here. I got into the taxi
with my two young daughters, and the driver said 'What lovely little girls!
But what about their brother - when will he be arriving?' I was totally
shocked- this attitude was completely new to me. I would never have thought
that two daughters aren't enough - but obviously a lot of people think a
family isn't complete without a son'
414
In Japan women are still regarded as flowers in the work place. Modest, hard-working and loyal. Kyoko Yoshida is just one of the innumerable masses of cheap labour. Recently Yoshida has been bringing her daughter to work with her. This is a privelege in Japan, as only a handful of firms offer their staff a day-care centre. The family unit in Japanese cities is crumbling.
In former times Japanese women had to leave their professional career at the age of 25.
Their firm or family looked for a husband for her. Suitable candidates could only be turned down three times, and then the young woman had to select one.
Now Women are being integrated into the work - a child is no obstacle. It is no longer possible to imagine life without a second salary.
507 Kyoko Yoshida
Compared to my mothers generation, we have a lot more freedom. Although we still have a lot to learn - we are a far cry from European standards. Women there have far more freedom than we do, and more opportunities to lead their own life with a child.
535
Women like Rei Maeda are still in a minority. The graduate of an elite universtiy is bringing up two children on her own - without a spouse. Her son is six months old, her daughter is at school.
She owns a gallery in Tokio, and has been able to create a space for herself that others can only dream of.
Things that have been normal for a long time in Europe are still the exception in Japan.
Maeda takes her son to a babysitter - little May practically has a second mother.
607
She cant exactly publicise her family situation - women still have to keep a lot of things secret in Japan. Divorce is seen as a character weakness, as a deficiency. Divorcees can expect setbacks in their career if their situation becomes known. So Maeda treads a difficult path in a society regarded as the most conservative in the world.
630 Rei Maeda
I think it is very important that the single mother be proud of her lifestyle. And if others have negative feelings about them and consider her in negative ways. They should show how they really enjoying their lives and they can show how happy they are and how positive they live their life and the people that surround them should change there ideas about them.
707
A lot of Japanese still find these scenes shocking - until now cooking has simply not been part of a mans repertoire. These man are learning the basics in the art of cooking. They come from all walks of life - what they have in common is a late divorce.
The number of women filing for divorce after 25 years of marriage has been growing dramatically.
728 O/V Prof. Machiko Osawa
A wifes job is taking care of her husband, cooking and doing all the work. They think spending time together is some kind of work or duty. And they would like to be away from it and that is for the younger generation this part of marriage is very unattractive. They would like to have a partner to share everything together and that is the big change with the younger generation.
805 K
Another scene which would have been unthinkable until recently: Young, handsome, foreign men up for grabs. This club in Tokyo is all the rage on the vanity market. Many of the female audience come regularly for this expensive pleasure.Theyn pat especially well for a seat in the first row, along with the hope of being accompanied onto the stage to be a star for an evening.
840 K
A silent revolution has taken place - as befits the national mentality. Women have become more independent, and are standing up to their traditional role. In the land where signs prevail, society is displeased - there can be no turning back. Japanese society now resembles European society more, and women have taken the helm.
Now it is up to the men to keep in step with this development.
Report: Alexander Steinbach
Camera: Josef Ettlinger
Editor: Nicole Scharang
Speaker:Matthias Euba
Women On Top
Dec 2000 905
003
Suddenly they have made headline news again. Yet not in the way that the emperors son Naruhito and his commoner wife Masako had hoped. The gift of children has so far escaped the worlds oldest monarchy.
Maybe this is no coincidence. The pressure on Masako-san, here with her family, has been enormous. She was supposed to bear a son, and wanted to break with the old traditions of the court - but so far she has achieved neither of the two.
033
Speculations as to the successor of the Japanese throne are fuelled afresh. At the royal court, thoughts are turning to a female heir. Should Masako and his wife remain childless, Naruhitos brothers daughters would be in line to the throne. Both the court and the country are in need of young blood.
100
Outside of the imperial family, daughters are held in high esteem. Couples who are trying for children, or who want to thank the gods for a birth come on a pilgrimage to this Shinto shrine. All fundamental aspects of life have a shrine dedicated to them.
It is no coincidence that relatively few couples have found time to pray recently in Tokyo, as it is no longer a top priority for Japanese women to have children.
They have become more confident. The times when subordination and servitude were typical attributes of Japanese women are long gone.
141 V/0 Machiko Osawa, sociologist
Women can change the society in ways, women can choose to marry or divorce their husband.They can have a child by there own. This has shaken the traditional Japanese values. Before traditional values meant the couple stayed together until death.
205
The new trend of individualism can be seen in the maternity wards. If you have decided to have a baby, then it should be a girl, we are told in this Tokio hospital. The significance of a male heir is no longer relevant, at least in the larger cities. The wish for a daughter is so great that many young couples decide to give nature a helping hand.
This clinic is popular because doctors can influence the birth of a baby girl with the right gel or special tablets.
234 V/O Dr.Shiro Sugiyama, gynacologist
Families all used to celebrate the birth of a boy. In those days people turned their noses up at girls. But the tables turned about 10 years ago. Women earn more, work longer, and have babies later. Women have more in common with girls, and they can count on their daughters when they get older. After a certain age sons are generally more difficult to communicate with.
257
Society is irritated and overstretched by womens new self-confidence. Japan is generally in turmoil - socially and economically. The Japanese are finding it increasingly difficult to stay on course as an island nation.
Women are clearly the forerunners of a new age. Marriage, children - the worthy goals of their mothers generation - are being challenged.
Waltraud Oka, a Viennese woman, has lived in Japan for over 3 decades. Just like many Japanese, she is amazed by the developments of the last few years. Oka has brought up two daughters, which in Europe would never be regarded as a stigma as in Japan.
345
Waltraud Oka, universtiy lecturer
'I'll always remember one of my first taxi rides here. I got into the taxi
with my two young daughters, and the driver said 'What lovely little girls!
But what about their brother - when will he be arriving?' I was totally
shocked- this attitude was completely new to me. I would never have thought
that two daughters aren't enough - but obviously a lot of people think a
family isn't complete without a son'
414
In Japan women are still regarded as flowers in the work place. Modest, hard-working and loyal. Kyoko Yoshida is just one of the innumerable masses of cheap labour. Recently Yoshida has been bringing her daughter to work with her. This is a privelege in Japan, as only a handful of firms offer their staff a day-care centre. The family unit in Japanese cities is crumbling.
In former times Japanese women had to leave their professional career at the age of 25.
Their firm or family looked for a husband for her. Suitable candidates could only be turned down three times, and then the young woman had to select one.
Now Women are being integrated into the work - a child is no obstacle. It is no longer possible to imagine life without a second salary.
507 Kyoko Yoshida
Compared to my mothers generation, we have a lot more freedom. Although we still have a lot to learn - we are a far cry from European standards. Women there have far more freedom than we do, and more opportunities to lead their own life with a child.
535
Women like Rei Maeda are still in a minority. The graduate of an elite universtiy is bringing up two children on her own - without a spouse. Her son is six months old, her daughter is at school.
She owns a gallery in Tokio, and has been able to create a space for herself that others can only dream of.
Things that have been normal for a long time in Europe are still the exception in Japan.
Maeda takes her son to a babysitter - little May practically has a second mother.
607
She cant exactly publicise her family situation - women still have to keep a lot of things secret in Japan. Divorce is seen as a character weakness, as a deficiency. Divorcees can expect setbacks in their career if their situation becomes known. So Maeda treads a difficult path in a society regarded as the most conservative in the world.
630 Rei Maeda
I think it is very important that the single mother be proud of her lifestyle. And if others have negative feelings about them and consider her in negative ways. They should show how they really enjoying their lives and they can show how happy they are and how positive they live their life and the people that surround them should change there ideas about them.
707
A lot of Japanese still find these scenes shocking - until now cooking has simply not been part of a mans repertoire. These man are learning the basics in the art of cooking. They come from all walks of life - what they have in common is a late divorce.
The number of women filing for divorce after 25 years of marriage has been growing dramatically.
728 O/V Prof. Machiko Osawa
A wifes job is taking care of her husband, cooking and doing all the work. They think spending time together is some kind of work or duty. And they would like to be away from it and that is for the younger generation this part of marriage is very unattractive. They would like to have a partner to share everything together and that is the big change with the younger generation.
805 K
Another scene which would have been unthinkable until recently: Young, handsome, foreign men up for grabs. This club in Tokyo is all the rage on the vanity market. Many of the female audience come regularly for this expensive pleasure.Theyn pat especially well for a seat in the first row, along with the hope of being accompanied onto the stage to be a star for an evening.
840 K
A silent revolution has taken place - as befits the national mentality. Women have become more independent, and are standing up to their traditional role. In the land where signs prevail, society is displeased - there can be no turning back. Japanese society now resembles European society more, and women have taken the helm.
Now it is up to the men to keep in step with this development.
Report: Alexander Steinbach
Camera: Josef Ettlinger
Editor: Nicole Scharang
Speaker:Matthias Euba