Western interest in Japan has grown consistently since the war, but surprisingly little is known about Japanese women. This book explores the themes of gender and class by tracing the changing position of women through significant moments of history and into the contemporary period. Their story repudiates the commonly held view of the submissive Japanese woman, and shows how women have been active agents in constructing new identities both in family and public life. The energy of the women's liberation movement of the late twentieth century resonates with echoes of struggle and resistance from earlier times.

Japan is a unique canvas on which these dramas have been played out. Japan has been a colonial power and has also been subject to early forms of colonisation, has been both an ally and an enemy of the west, and has moved from an inward-looking society to a major player in the global political economy. Using a new conceptual framework, the authors demonstrate how gender relations are crucially related to the construction of class, and show how women and gender relations are used as a resource in the struggle for power between nations.

The contemporary material is based on detailed interviews, conducted over two decades, with women who have challenged the stereotypes normally attached to Japanese women and attained positions of influence in professional life. The authors weave together the voices and lives of these women with the analytical themes of the book. Their stories are powerful and sometimes moving, and they bring into focus the broader movements of history and culture within the experiences of individual women. The book offers an original approach to the contemporary issues of gender, class and global politics, and will appeal to both specialist and general readers.