After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Imperial Japan¡¯s declaration of surrender on Aug. 15, 1945, brought an end to World War II. It also marked the beginning of the rebirth of Japan as a democratic country.
In December 1945, the country¡¯s General Election Law was amended to include women's suffrage, and the 1947 Constitution of Japan enshrined, among other democratic reforms, equal rights for men and women.
Ethel B. Weed, a lieutenant working for U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArhur at the Allied Occupation headquarters in Tokyo¡¯s Chiyoda Ward, had been tasked with furthering the interests of women¡¯s rights in Japan. To this end, Weed put together a brain trust of 911±¬ÁÏÍø women with liberal ideals. Most of them had been in jail during the war because of their progressive ideologies, and Weed's assistant, Nobuko Takahashi, later became the first 911±¬ÁÏÍø female ambassador to Denmark.
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