sex and the city

Kissing is a Symbol of Democracy: Reconstructing Sex and Gender in Japan 1945-55

Mark McLelland

Research program: Culture and Representation

Japan’s defeat at the end of its fifteen years’ war in 1945 saw widespread changes to the family and gender system. Women were given political rights for the first time and were recognized as independent agents at work, in the home and in their romantic relationships. Whereas war-time ideology had brought about the ‘death of romance’ in popular culture, with the relaxation of censorship at the war’s end, there was a sudden proliferation in discussion about the qualities of the ‘new’ or ‘modern’ couple and the popular press saw the sudden rise of a range of ‘experts’ offering advice on the proper conduct of romance between the sexes. Rather than censor this new discourse of love and sex, in an attempt to encourage Japanese men to be more chivalrous towards women, the Occupation authorities required film-makers to develop romantic story lines (featuring hand-holding, kissing and ‘dating’ couples) and Hollywood movies themselves were promoted as scripts for the conduct of heterosexual romance. This project looks at the impact of the Occupation on Japanese ideas about heterosexual romance and relationships through an analysis of texts and incidents derived from the popular press, radio, film and theatre during Japan’s first post-war decade.