Women Publishing in Asia

Japan

The Centre for Women's Studies at Tokyo Women's Christian University was set up in 1976. Over the last two decades the centre has conducted many conferences and workshops. Most of the research projects carried out by it have been published.

Another women-owned publishing company in Japan is JOJO. It has been producing and marketing women-oriented products since 1987. As Amanda Lawrence who worked with JOJO for sometime says, "Jojo Workshop for Women is a group of Feminists working in Tokyo making 'women-friendly goods' such as a Women's Diary Schedule Notebook, The Feminists of Japan Calendar, A Women's Yellow Pages detailing women-oriented businesses and services all over Japan, Stationery and Music Tapes". They are not publishers of books but Sumie Asatorie, one of the driving forces behind the group believes in making products which women can use in their daily lives. I was first introduced to JOJO through an Irish friend of mine who was working on the first ever translation of their calendar series which they have been producing for nearly ten years. The focus of the calendar was on the Meiji era feminists- from the 1880's to the 1930's- an exciting period of reform and change in Japan. We began working on the translations with Mikiko Yamamato and the calendar is now a bi-lingual production. Visiting their home-office in Chiba, an hour from Tokyo, I was amazed at the haven of radicalism they had created within conservative Japan. In the basement is a music studio set up for recording Sumie's all-woman band; then the office where the calendar, diaries etc are designed, upstairs is a beautiful living space and in the loft for visitors to stay. Jojo is a group committed to active change in the lives of Japanese women." JOJO can be reached at:

1-16-24 Minamiyawata Ichikawa-shi
Chiba 272
JAPAN

Tel:81-473-776900
Fax:81-473-705051

I would also like to mention here that Tokyo has a wonderful women's bookstore called Ms. Crayonhouse. Feminist Bookstore News(Jan/Feb 1997) has done a feature on it. Started as a children's bookstore in 1976, Crayonhouse is now a four-story building with the women's bookstore occupying the entire third floor.

Ms. Crayonhouse mostly stores books in Japanese and Keiko Ochiai, the founder and owner is a writer, translator and also a publisher. Ms. Crayonhouse can be contacted at:

3-8-15 Kitaaoyama, Minato-Ku,
TOKYO 107
JAPAN

Tel:011-81-3-406-6492
Fax:011-81-3-3407-9568

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