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Paper short abstract:

This paper looks at the development and the potential for social change of the Flower Demo, a series of monthly gatherings happening since April 2019 in various cities across Japan to protest and raise awareness on the issue of sexual violence in contemporary Japan.

Paper long abstract:

This paper looks at the spread and impact of the Flower Demo, a series of monthly gatherings happening in various cities across Japan to protest and raise awareness on the issue of sexual violence in contemporary Japan. The movement started in April 2019 when hundreds of people holding flowers gathered at the same time in Tokyo and Osaka to voice their anger after four consecutive trials for sexual violence cases ended in non-guilty verdicts. After that first meeting, new Flower Demos gradually started to bloom in various towns across Japan and after a year it was happening in all 47 prefectures of Japan. Even if the COVID pandemic for almost two years forced them to move online, the movement did not die down. Instead, they used the hashtag #FlowerDemo to gather people's voices on Twitter and held monthly symposiums on YouTube where they invited various guests to discuss topics such as abortion, sex education, feminism, sexual harassment etc. In this paper, I look at the development and spread of the Flower Demo with a focus on the factors behind its resilience and relative longevity. What has been the impact of the Flower Demo and what is its potential? In a country where it is often said that the MeToo movement did not take root and was not strong, the Flower Demo and the emergence of other organisations asking for better laws and raising awareness on the issue of sexual violence seem to tell a different story. Although still on a limited scale, the longevity of the Flower Demo and its potential to establish a national network of advocates, are worth investigating to understand how the MeToo movement was reshaped in the Japanese context to break the silence on sexual violence and how it complicates the panorama of feminism in contemporary Japan.