Photo: Whym / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Chizuko Ueno is the closest thing Japanese feminism has to a household name, and she earned it by being hard to ignore. Born in 1948 in Kamiichi, a small town in Toyama Prefecture, she became a sociologist, spent her most visible years at the University of Tokyo, and is professor emerita there now. Her range is what impresses me: dense theory on patriarchy and capitalism for academics, and a bestseller about growing old alone that ordinary readers finish on the train home. Her 2019 address to incoming Tokyo students is the moment that reached everyone else. Facing the most credentialed eighteen-year-olds in the country, she told them that effort is not reliably rewarded, that society is not fair, and that their advantages should be spent on people who have fewer. She is polarising, still arguing in her late seventies, and shows no interest in softening. I find that more admirable than agreeable.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Chizuko Ueno
- Name (Japanese)
- 上野千鶴子
- Born
- July 12, 1948 (age 78)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Rat
- Origin
- Kamiichi, Toyama Prefecture, Japan
- Occupation
- sociologist / feminist / university teacher
2. Background
- High school
- University of Toyama Faculty of Human Development Attached Junior High School
- University
- University of Tokyo
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Chizuko Ueno born?
Born July 12, 1948 (age 78).
Where is Chizuko Ueno from?
Chizuko Ueno is from Kamiichi, Toyama Prefecture, Japan.
What does Chizuko Ueno do?
Chizuko Ueno works as sociologist, feminist, university teacher.
Sociologist — see all → · More people from Japan →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-07-26
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.