Tomoko Inotsume, the protagonist of “Tora ni Tsubasa” (The Tiger and Her Wings) is modeled on one of the first three female lawyers in Japan.
The NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.) morning TV drama series started airing earlier this April.
Whenever Tomoko questions society’s sexist conventions of the time, she cocks her head and says, “Hate?”—an interjection that denotes doubt or uncertainty.
I can totally relate to her.
During the first decade of the Showa Era (1926-1989) in pre-World War II Japan, there was no dearth of situations that blipped on Tomoko’s “hate?” radar.
They include the following:
When her potential spouse in an arranged marriage meeting tells her, “You ought to know your place as a woman.”
When Tomoko finds out that, under the then-contemporary civil law from the Meiji Era (1868-1912), wives are considered “incompetent” and need their husbands’ permission for all sorts of undertakings.
When her decision to go to a newly established law department for women at a university is met with stiff opposition because “she is a woman.”
Each time, Tomoko says, “Hate?”
Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, one of the most authoritative Japanese dictionaries, defines “hate” as “an interjection uttered when in doubt of a given situation, or when questioning or mulling over something.”
In the drama, Tomoko’s facial expressions also reveal many other feelings, such as dissatisfaction and repulsion.
The word was apparently in currency by the late Muromachi Period (1336-1573) or the early Edo Period (1603-1867) and was used in a Noh/Kyogen drama piece titled “Shinbai.”
In a scene from the drama, after a master arrested a man who stole his sword, a servant starts making a rope with which to restrain the culprit.
The master says, “Hate? Isn’t it a bit too late to be making the rope now?”
In this context, the interjection seems to denote disdain.
Yoshiko Mibuchi (1914-1984), on whom Tomoko’s character is based, passed the bar exam in 1938. After the war, she negotiated directly with the Justice Ministry to appoint female judges.
Mibuchi herself became a judge and later was the first woman to preside over a family court.
Eight decades have passed since women first entered the legal profession. But even today, women make up less than 30 percent of lawyers and judges in Japan.
The nation’s notorious gender gap is still wide in political and business circles, and “equality” remains an elusive goal.
Tomoko’s “hate?” is here to stay for quite a while.
--The Asahi Shimbun, April 8
* * *
Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
VOX POPULI: Female lawyers still a minority, eight decades after the first
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26.04.2024
Tomoko Inotsume, the protagonist of “Tora ni Tsubasa” (The Tiger and Her Wings) is modeled on one of the first three female lawyers in Japan.
The NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.) morning TV drama series started airing earlier this April.
Whenever Tomoko questions society’s sexist conventions of the time, she cocks her head and says, “Hate?”—an interjection that denotes doubt or uncertainty.
I can totally relate to her.
During the first decade of the Showa Era (1926-1989) in pre-World War II Japan, there was no dearth of situations that blipped on Tomoko’s “hate?” radar.
They include the following:
When her potential spouse in an arranged marriage meeting tells her, “You ought to know........
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