Abstract
This project examines how Japanese women’s understandings of their sexuality corresponds to gender ideologies, and shifts in class organization in post-war Japan through film. The four films used are “Tokyo Story,” “The End of Summer, “In the Realm of Senses”, and “Tampopo.” Each film works to covey the pivoting frameworks of the decade they were released. The chapters are broken up into twenty-year periods, the first of which covers “Tokyo Story” (1953) looking at the 1950s, and “The End of Summer” (1961) looking at the 1960s. Chapter two dives into the 1970s and 1980s with “In the Realm of Senses” (1977) and “Tampopo” (1985). Chapter three compares all four films in relation to sex, gender and class, while also looking at the different cinematographic styles. This study argues that the shifts in sex, gender and class during post-war Japan are related to the same changes taking place in the nation.
Advisor
Ng, Margret
Department
History
Recommended Citation
Bergman, Elizabeth T., "Shifting Understandings of Sex, Class and Gender in Postwar Japanese Women: 40 years of post-war Japanese History" (2026). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 13322.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/13322
Keywords
Gender, Class, Sex, Moga, Ryosai Kendo, film, post war
Publication Date
2026
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2026 Elizabeth T. Bergman