Ichikawa fusae biography channel

Japanese feminist politician (1893–1981)

Ichikawa Fusae (市川 房枝, May 15, 1893 – February 11, 1981) was a Japanesefeminist, politician and a leader of the women's suffrage movement.^[1] Ichikawa was a key supporter of women's suffrage in Japan, and her activism was partially responsible for the extension of the franchise to women in 1945.

Early life

Born in Bisai, Aichi Prefecture in 1893, Ichikawa was raised with an emphasis on education but also as a witness to her mother's physical abuse from her father.^[2] She attended the Aichi Women's Teacher Academy with the intention of becoming a primary school teacher.^[2] Upon her relocation to Tokyo in the 1910s, however, she became exposed to the women's movement.

Returning to Aichi in 1917, she became the first woman reporter with the Nagoya Newspaper.^[2] In 1920 she co-founded the New Women's Association (新婦人協会, Shin-fujin kyokai) together with pioneering Japane