It cannot be said that “masculinity” has been well taken up for discussion now in Japan. It tends to be overlooked as an intrinsic or desirable attribute of men, although the pressures and dangers associated with “masculinity” do exist as a clear statement or ideology.
Considering “masculinity” as a historical phenomenon, this article attempts to expose its process of construction, its redefinition and the imprinting of “weakness-phobia” in the historical context. In this article, “Rikugun Yonengakko, ” or the military school for boys in their early teens, which had been in existence from 1872 to 1945, is taken as the object of study. The cadets' collections of compositions, diaries, dos and don'ts, handbooks, song books, novels featuring cadets, the graduates' memoirs, references to “Shonen Kurabu” orBoys' Club, all are used as the source material. Surveying the Sino-Japanese war, the Russo-Japanese war, and the disarmament times symbolized by Ugaki Disarmament or “Taisho Democracy, ” the time of World War II is the main focus.
In the Meiji era, specifically between the Sino-Japanese war and the Russo-Japanese war, due to feelings of revenge or aggressive attitudes towards Western great powers' interference in the Sino-Japanese war, military spirit was commonly accepted among people. Although both the war and the military existed away from civilians, the soldiers and “Rikugun Yonengakko” were very popular among boys and “aggressive masculinity” was admired. But under the trend of disarmament, even the cadets showed some gentle “masculinity.” Then, in accordance with the invasion of other countries in Asia, “Japanese Masculinity” was redefined and emphasized. The reference materials showed the construction of “masculinity” through the norms of “masculine” language, movement, behavior, physical appearance and spirit - the incomparable strength of “Japanese men.” These definitions draw a clear boundary between Japanese hegemonic masculinity and other, non Japanese examples such as Korean and Chinese, in addition to girls or women and weak Japanese men, all of which were considered “ feminine” and “weak.” This boundary served as an implicit threat to those who did not exhibit masculinity, especially under the harsh conditions about two years before the end of World War II. Symbolically “Rikugun Yonengakko” reflected the process of “weakness-phobia” imprinting and the cadets' acceptance and agony. “Weakness-phobia” was not only imprinted and emphasized during the war but has survived to this day as a main factor of hegemonic “masculinity.”

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The image of women in English literature changed dramatically in mid 18^th century England. Christian tradition had long regarded women as ‘Eve's daughters’, which meant that women were invariably evil and harmful. By the end of the 18^th century, however, women described in novels generally became good, modest, innocent, and vulnerable. The new trend in this image of the woman was initiated by Samuel Richardson's Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded (1740), often described as ‘the first novel’ in English literature. Its morality and didacticism established the respectability of the form. Its popularity transcended the boundaries of class, gender, and educational differences. It had such a great an impact on society that it brought about a shift in the dominant expectations for female characters in subsequent novels throughout the century; young, beautiful, good, chaste, submissive, and vulnerable. It also represented gender positions and politics in modern indUstrialized patriarchal society; men provided with wealth, being superior, and women deprived and dependent, being inferior. It highly appraised woman's chastity of the kind which enabled a servant girl to become a lady, opening the way for heroines to engage in hypergamy. Consequently, the novel inspired considerable controversy over femininity and inter-class marriage. Two major novelists separately expressed an antagonistic view in the form of fiction. One is Henry Fielding, who published An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews (1741); the other is Eliza Haywood, who wrote Anti-Pamela; or, Feign'd Innocence Detected (1741). Both of them criticized Pamela and her ‘virtue’, although they focused on comparatively different aspects of the novel. The former held a conservative point of view, in which Pamela was thought of as a potential threat to the stability of society. The latter held a feminist point of view; her heroine tries to undermine the male-dominant society in which the relationship between man and woman is based on exchange. It delineates the material realities of women's lives as well as their difficulties in pursuing financial security. The dispute caused by Pamela tells us that a new ideology of femininity was being constructed in the middle of the century. This article will shed light on this process as well as its social background and the changing values it epitomised.

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The elimination of child labor is an important policy concern in many developing countries.
In today's era of globalization, the child labor problem is not necessarily perceived as one that is unique to developing countries; advanced countries must also share concern for this issue.
Advanced countries have also once undergone the struggle against child labor on their path to advancement. Their experience may serve as a guide to its eradication in developing countries.
In this paper, the author examines the history of child labor in Japan, taking into considerations gender differences. Japan is rather different from other advanced countries in terms of how its economic development has taken place and the changes in family structure and gender relations. The historical lessons of Japan may be able to provide some policy implications for some Asian countries whose child labor problems can be considered as relating to gender bias.
In Japan, there is a typical view of children according to which “children are treasures”, as seen in the Japanese poetry of Yamanoue no Okura. Some researchers indicate that Japan's industrialization did not lead to extensive use of child labor, in contrast with the British cotton-spinning industry, because of such unique family values. There are extremely few studies purely focused on child labor itself in Japan.
However, we cannot overlook the fact that there seems to be a gender gap. In the Edo era, destitute families were officially permitted to sell their daughters as prostitutes to licensed brothels. Many girls went out and worked as nursemaids (komori) to support their families and to reduce the number of mouths to feed at home. In the Meiji era, many girls from poor peasant families became cheap laborers in factories of industries such as silk reeling and spinning. Despite rapid modernization, their employment conditions remained primitive and their recruitment was no more than a form of human trafficking. Thus, the girls in particular, have been involved in child labor throughout history. We stress that the child labor problem in Japan could be considered as one of gender.
In fact, although the twenty-first century has arrived, problems of child labor are still persist in Japan. The problems are particularly noticeable in terms of the commercial exploitation of sex. The Japanese example will show that the consideration of the gender perspective is essential when formulating policies for the eradication of child labor.

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The aim of this paper is briefly explaining the gender studies in Tohoku University, especially about a gender study group AGIA and the 21^st century COE program.
In 2003, Association for Gender Issues in Academia (AGIA) has been established by us who were graduate students enrolled at Graduate School of Information Sciences Tohoku University. Presently organizing members of the association have been stationed in their respective career path. Some of us become faculty and staff of university, and others are apart from academic circles. Five years with the association, we have been drawn together by a sense of shared purpose that our aim for practicing knowledge on gender issues and social inequalities. In 2004, we took the opportunity of receiving the Sawayanagi award from Tohoku University giving encouragement to promote the study of the realization of sexual equality in society.
The year 2008 is a fifth-anniversary of AGIA. My research of gender issues have always shared time with the tracings of AGIA's activities. Nowadays, I hold a post as a COE research fellow. My circumstance for research is a mecca for gender studies in Japan. The 21^st century COE program enters the final academic year. Thus, I make a summarized report of research evidences for the program period of five years.41

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