Feminist to Know: Yayori Matsui

Yayori Matsui was a prominent Japanese journalist and activist who advocated for bodily autonomy and anti-imperialist feminism. Born in 1924 into a missionary family, Matsui began her life in Kyoto before her family relocated to Tokyo while she was still young. Matsui studied abroad in the United States and France.

In the 1960s, Matsui began working at Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan’s largest and oldest publications, and spent 30 years at the paper. As one of the first prominent woman journalists in Japan, Matsui fought to cover stories on a variety of topics rather than being pigeonholed into “women’s writing” about fashion, cooking, etc. One of her largest stories was on the effects of Thalidomide and mercury poisoning on childbirth and prenatal health.

Matsui first encountered “feminism” during her studies in the United States. She was immediately wary of “the American model of empowerment, which means the right to grasp for power just as men do.” Matsui’s feminist approach became deeply rooted in anti-imperialism, which required her to understand her position as both marginalized as an Asian woman on the white feminist, global stage and privileged for being Japanese in Asian feminist circles. She founded the Asian Women in Solidarity in part to oppose imperialist, Western, white feminism.

Much of Matsui’s career was dedicated to advocating for justice for so-called “comfort women,” victims of the Japanese military’s sexual violence campaign against Korean women during World War II. These survivors experienced the brunt of violent Japanese imperialism and militarism, but their stories have gone unacknowledged, dismissed, and outright silenced for decades. One of Matsui’s contributions to accountability efforts was her creation of the Violence Against Women in War-Network, Japan to focus on transnational alliances to confront war crimes of sexual violence. 

In 1998, after a conference for the Asian Women in Solidarity, Matsui helped lead the creation of a tribunal to begin atoning for sexual violence committed by Japan’s military against Korean women during WWII. This idea became a reality in 2000 as the Tokyo’s Women’s War Crimes Tribunal which was held for a number of days in December. Over 75 survivors were present, and 35 testified. Without legal power, the tribunal publicly condemned Japanese empire, provided a space for survivors to share their stories, and created community in the face of this chapter of history.

Yayori Matsui passed away in December of 2002 from liver cancer. Her inquisitive journalism, fearless organizing, and thoughtful leadership make up her legacy, which will have impact far beyond her death.