Public talk: "Recruit the Women:" Life & Career of Lt. Weed in Post-WWII Jap

February 6, 12:00pm - 1:30pm
Mānoa Campus, Moore Hall 319 (Tokioka Room), 1890 East-West Rd.

Dr. Malia McAndrew, East-West Center Visiting Scholar and Associate Professor of History at John Carroll University, will give a public lecture entitled, "'Recruit the Women:' The Life and Career of Lt. Ethel B. Weed in Post-WWII Japan."

Following WWII,脗聽the United States occupied Japan from 1945-1952. America芒鈧劉s primary goals were to demilitarize and democratize its former enemy. As head of the occupation, General Douglas MacArthur instituted women芒鈧劉s suffrage because he believed Japanese women to be likely supporters of the American agenda. He then tasked Lt. Ethel Weed, a low-ranking officer with the job of ensuring broad-based female political participation throughout the nation. With only four months of training in Japanese language and culture the 39-year-old American could do little on her own. Aware of her limitations, Weed recruited a cadre of internationally-known Japanese feminists who had been silenced by Japan芒鈧劉s wartime leadership to advise her. These women included the birth control activist Kat脙麓 Shidzue, the female education pioneer脗聽Motoko脗聽Hani and the novelist脗聽Miyamoto Yuriko. Weed thus served as a lynchpin who brought together unlikely allies. This talk is based on archival materials not previously available in the U.S. or Japan.脗聽脗聽

Sponsored by the Center for Japanese Studies and the East-West Center.


Event Sponsor
Center for Japanese Studies, Mānoa Campus

More Information
(808) 956-2665, cjs@hawaii.edu,

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