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Hiratsuka Raichō

Japan · 1886–1971

Hiratsuka was a writer and pioneering feminist who helped establish Seitō, a journal that made space for women’s literary and political voices. She later organised around women’s rights and peace.

Her work links cultural expression with the possibility of a different public life. It shows how a publication can become a meeting place for people questioning the expectations placed upon them.

“Passion is the power of prayer.”

Autobiography, translated by Teruko Craig, In the Beginning, Woman Was the Sun (2010), p. 157.