Abstract
Gender studies have accepted in the various disciplines, which aim at making clear the structure of system that keeps female under male dominance and power relations that occur there. In the 1970s, many female geographers in the English-speaking countries criticized that traditional geography inclined toward masculinism and they endeavored to show asymmetrical power relations between men and women which are projected on space. The first purpose of this paper is to overview the progress of gender studies in the English-speaking countries. The second purpose is to review gender studies in Japanese geography. Thirdly, I would like to show two examples in order to examine gender relations hidden between men and women at private level, which are transformed to bigger power relations and then are reflected and projected on space. One example is the residential section that should also be called a "surveillance space" built in suburbs of the metropolitan area, and another is the pleasures area built for the U.S. soldiers in Okinawa when construction of military bases has begun in the 1950s.
