Sakai Magara: Activist Girl of Early Twentieth Century Japan. Issue 2 (1st June 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hartley, Barbara
• Is Part Of: Girlhood studies. Volume 13:Issue 2(2020)
• Page Start: 103
• Page End: 118
• Publication Date: 2020-06-01
• Subjects: feminist history -- May Day -- political organization -- radicalism -- Red Wave Society -- Sakai Toshihiko -- shōjo -- socialism; Girls -- Periodicals; Girls -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Girls -- Social conditions -- Periodicals; Girls -- Education -- Periodicals; Girls -- Sexual behavior -- Periodicals; Girls -- Health and hygiene -- Periodicals; Women's studies -- Periodicals; 305.23082
• DOI: 10.3167/ghs.2020.130209
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1938-8209

Abstract

Abstract: In this article, I profile the activism of 18-year-old Sakai Magara (1903–1985). I focus in particular on her role in the Sekirankai (Red Wave Society), which was a short-lived women's political organization formed in April 1921 and aligned directly with socialist and anti-capitalist worker issues. My discussion draws on three principal sources: contemporaneous accounts of the Society; writings by women with whom Magara collaborated; and the words of Magara herself. I pay attention to Magara's contribution to Sekirankai, the influences on the development of her activism, and the barriers to political participation by girls and women in Japan.