Editing Women's rights (section)

===== Japan =====
{{Main|Women in Japan}}
[[File:"Round the world." - Letters from Japan, China, India, and Egypt (1872) (14586355839).jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Mother and child, 1872]]
The extent to which women could participate in [[Japanese society]] has varied over time and social classes. In the 8th century, Japan had women emperors, and in the 12th century ([[Heian period]]) women in Japan occupied a relatively high status, although still subordinated to men.
From the late [[Edo period]], the status of women declined. In the 17th century, the "[[Onna Daigaku]]", or "Learning for Women", by [[Confucianism|Confucianist]] author [[Kaibara Ekken]], spelled out expectations for Japanese women, lowering significantly their status.<ref name=Ekken>{{cite book|last1=Ekken|first1=Kaibara|title=Onna Daigaku A Treasure Box of Women's Learning.|date=2010|publisher=Gardners Books|isbn=978-0955979675|url=https://archive.org/stream/womenwisdomofjap00kaib/womenwisdomofjap00kaib_djvu.txt}}</ref>
During the [[Meiji period]], industrialization and urbanization reduced the authority of fathers and husbands, but at the same time the Meiji Civil Code of 1898 denied women legal rights and subjugated them to the will of household heads.<ref name="Womeninworldhistory">{{cite web|url=http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/WR-04.html|title=Meiji Reforms – Kishida Toshiko, (1863–1901) – Japan – Primary Source|website=womeninworldhistory.com}}</ref>

From the mid-20th century the status of women improved greatly. Although Japan is often considered a very conservative country, it was in fact earlier than many European countries in giving women legal rights in the 20th century, as the 1947 [[Constitution of Japan]] provided a legal framework favorable to the advancement of women's equality in Japan. Japan for instance enacted women's suffrage in 1946, earlier than several European countries such as [[Switzerland]] (1971 at federal level; 1990 on local issues in the canton of [[Appenzell Innerrhoden]]), [[Portugal]] (1976 on equal terms with men, with restrictions since 1931), [[San Marino]] in 1959, [[Monaco]] in 1962, [[Andorra]] in 1970, and [[Liechtenstein]] in 1984.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/timeline/votes_to_women.shtml|title=Radio 4 Woman's Hour – Timeline:When women got the vote|publisher=BBC|access-date=8 October 2015}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite book |title=Voter Turnout in Western Europe Since 1945: A Regional Report |author1=Rafael López Pintor |author2=Maria Gratschew |author3=Tim Bittiger |publisher=International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance |year=2004 |isbn=978-9185391004 }}</ref>