The Culturally Engrained Ideals in Waga Koi Wa Moenu

            There are often times where a solution to a problem seems simpler than it actually is and it is not until one comes closer to reaching that solution that one realizes how far from it they actually are. One such example of this is seen in the Japanese movie, Waga Koi Wa Moenu released in 1949. Throughout the film, the main character, Hirayama Eiko wishes for equality among men and women and thus takes steps to achieve that ideal. However, as she progresses farther along to reach this ideal she comes to understand how deeply engrained this inequality truly is.

            The film starts by having Hirayama meet an activist named Kishida Toshiko. There, Kishida tells Hirayama of her ideals, saying that until now women have been raised in submission to men’s desires and how she believes that women should not be treated as slaves and are entitled to the same rights as men. As Hirayama is shown to have much respect for this person, this scene establishes her own ideals and goals. Soon after, Hirayama finds out that her close friend, Chiyo has sold herself off. Hirayama is distraught about this, saying that this is slavery. However, her parents do not view this the same way to them, Chiyo’s decision is viewed as admirable and reflects her filial piety. It is also implied in this scene that the only reason that Hirayama is not doing this is because she is wealthier than Chiyo and has been arranged to marry a man named Hayase. While Hirayama already had the goal of gender equality, Chiyo’s enslavement and her parents’ reaction to it tells her how much of an issue this societal view of inequality can be. After this Hirayama makes the decision to join Hayase, who is in Tokyo at the Liberal Party HQ, to fight for equality among men and women.

            Upon meeting, Hayase in Tokyo Hirayama is shocked to find that Hayase does not fully approve of her plan to join his work at the liberal party. Instead, Hayase pressures her into marrying him and ridicules the idea of her working and supporting herself. Overhearing this, the leader of the liberal party in Tokyo, Omoi Kentaro, supports the idea of Hirayama learning and supporting herself and offers her a job working on his newspaper. Soon after Hayase is revealed to be a spy working against the liberal party. Distraught, Hirayama goes to confront Hayase on this. Hayase suggests that they marry and that Hirayama joins him. After refusing, Hayase attempts to assault Hirayama, but she gets away. From this point onwards, Hayase is depicted in a stereotypically villainous role. This is most likely to be how Hirayama views him, seeing him as sexist and a traitor. However, how Hayase got to this point is more complex than that judgment describes him as. For example, the reason that he went to Tokyo to work with the liberal party is the death of his father, giving him the sense that he had no one to rely on. This sense of isolation could also be the reason why he clung on to Hirayama so much. If he could convince her to marry, he could have some sort of permanent family again. The loss of both his family and marriage to Hirayama could have also led to his betrayal, believing that to be his only way to achieve his desire of having someone to rely on. Soon after the Hayase incident, Hirayama finds sympathy in Omoi and they start a relationship together.

            At around the half point of the movie, Omoi and Hirayama confront farmers rioting in Chichibu. The farmers say that the silk farmers are enslaving women to work on their farm. They suggest that they attack the silk farms to rescue the women. However, Omoi disagrees with this saying that they must wait and solve this problem democratically. This is another example of a situation that has no clear solution or villains. Omoi for example shows his selfishness in this scene as he can use this incident to fuel his campaign in the liberal party. This is evidence that, even though Omoi is fighting for justice for people troubled by the silk farms, he prioritizes his own goals first. The silk farmers enslaving the women are also not completely one dimensional in their morals. This is because, at the time, silk farmers were pressured by the government to increase production of silk and to meet this demand they resorted to slavery. Soon after learning of the situation, Hirayama goes to investigate the mill. There she is reunited with Chiyo, who sets the mill on fire. After this Chiyo, Hirayama, and Omoi are all arrested.

            Later on in the film, things appear to take a turn for the better. A new liberal friendly constitution is passed and Hirayama and her group are all released from prison. The new constitution is not perfect however. As mentioned in the party celebrating the new constitution, people complain about how it still ignores women’s rights. However, they are optimistic about fixing these problems with the new general elections. On the surface, this section of the movie appears to be optimistic, with everyone in it thinking that their fight for gender equality is almost over. However, what is visually depicted in the movie tells a different story. This is most evident in the aforementioned party scene. In the scene, while the men are criticizing the new constitution for this lack of gender equality, Hirayama, the only woman present, is serving them drinks. The reason this contradiction is able to happen is only because that neither Hirayama nor the men view her actions in the context of gender equality. This implies that this view of women is not solely related to laws and practices, such as the slave trade and the constitution. Rather, this assumption of the roles men and women have is a subconscious culturally shared understanding of the world.

            Soon after this Hirayama finds out that Omoi has been having relations with Chiyo despite her relationship to him. This scene is perhaps one of the most pivotal ones and the incident related to it is depicted as the straw that broke the camel’s back. Because of this scene’s significance it will be analyzed more in depth. The scene takes place near the end of the film, starting from around the one hour and ten minute mark. The scene consists of three long takes lasting one to two minutes each.

Shot 1:

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The scene starts with the camera facing a door at an eye level shot. Through a window in the door, we can see a woman by the name of Hirayama Eiko. During this scene a non-diegetic soft violin song is playing. Hirayama comes through the door and as she walks through the room, she passes the camera as the shot goes from a head on to a side shot as she walks to the left. As Hirayama walks through the building, she pauses briefly at an open door before heading to the next door. The violin music then fades out as Hirayama opens the door, then slowly enters and sits down in front of a large pot.

The sound of male and female voices are then heard. Hirayama hears this then walks over and peers out of the doorway.

Shot 2:

The scene then gets its first cut to show the characters of Omoi and Chiyo hanging on each other and walking down a stairway to enter the open room that Hirayama saw previously. The camera stays outside of the room to show Hirayama standing outside of it to listen in on the conversation. During this conversation, Hirayama finds out that Omoi has been having relations with Chiyo despite the fact that Hirayama and Omoi are effectively married. After a moment, Omoi and Chiyo leave the room and notice Hirayama. Omoi casually walks over the Hirayama as Chiyo appears shocked and quickly walks backwards into the background of the shot. The camera then moves in for a close shot as they converse.

Hirayama then comforts Omoi about his affair with Chiyo, saying that Omoi is betraying the trust of everyone who is working for him to fight for women’s equality. Omoi dismisses this, saying that he still loves Hirayama and that his relationship with Chiyo is meaningless. Throughout the scene the acting of both of these characters are drastically different, with Hirayama being firm and stoic while Omoi is loose and casual.

Hirayama and Omoi then leave the house exiting to the right, towards the door Hirayama entered at the start of the scene. As Hirayama and Omoi leave the shot, the camera then focuses on Chiyo who is standing in a hallway. Chiyo then dejectedly turns and walks down the hallway as Hirayama comes from off screen. As Chiyo sees Hirayama, she then walks farther down the hall into a doorway of another room where we get our second cut.

Shot 3:

The camera then cuts to inside of the room to a low angle shot of Chiyo sobbing on a dresser-like object with Hirayama standing in the background with a stoic expression. Chiyo then expresses her sorrow after hearing Omoi describe their relationship as meaningless. The camera then pan downs with Chiyo, taking Hirayama out of the shot, as she slowly falls to the floor. Chiyo and the camera then both face to the left back to Hirayama who is now sitting on the floor. Chiyo then puts her face in Hirayama’s lap as she continues to cry. During this Hirayama then beings to express how she has now come to an understanding on Omoi’s view of women. She says that while Omoi appeared to be working towards equal rights for women, he still had a misogynistic view of them.

After briefly breaking into tears herself, Hirayama then returns to her stoic expression, this time more deterministic. She states that she understands now and says something that indicated that her actions up until this point have been misguided, but she knows what she has to do now. The scene then slowly fades out.

            This scene depicts Hirayama realizing something that has been evident in the movie until that point, that the issue of gender equality in her world is something more complicated than it first appears. Hiriyama now understands that people like Omoi view women this way because of not only their own views, but also the ideals that are held in their culture. Because of this new understanding, Hirayama understands that deep wide scale change cannot happen on a political level that seeks to change laws and policies. Now Hirayama believes that the best way to change these views is to make it happen on more of a personal and individual level. With this new understanding, Hirayama leaves Omoi to start a school, while Chiyo comes with. Perhaps at a school Hirayama can influence and inspire people to change their sexist culturally engrained ideals.