At head of title: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Asia Program. Includes bibliographical references.

Part 1. Lineage and change: the imperial family and the debate over a female emperor. Royal roles, wider changes: understanding Japan's gender relations from a historical perspective / Hitomi Tonomura -- Imperial succession panic: the politics of gender, blood and race in contemporary Japan / Takashi Fujitani -- Why should a feminist care about what goes on behind Japan's Chrysanthemum Curtain? / Barbara Molony. -- Part 2. The "modern" woman and motherhood. Japan's frozen future: why are women withholding investment in work and family? / Chikako Usui -- Feminism as industrial policy in Japan / Margarita Estâevez-Abe -- Baby strike? Reflections on ideology and realities in women's lives / Merry White.