--- title: "2011 Women's Health Hero: Shokado Women's Bookstore Shows Language is Power" date: 2011-09-19T20:22:20-04:00 author: OBOS Admin canonical_url: "https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/2011-womens-health-hero-shokado-womens-bookstore-shows-language-is-power" section: Blog (Archive) --- [Donate](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/donate) [From the Archives of Our Bodies, Our Blog](/blog)# 2011 Women's Health Hero: Shokado Women's Bookstore Shows Language is Power By Christine Cupaiuolo • September 19, 2011 Please note: This entry -- originally posted at [Our Bodies, Our Blog](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog) -- has not been updated since the publication date listed above. *As part of its [40th anniversary celebration](/history/40th-anniversary-symposium/), *Our Bodies Ourselves is honoring its [global partners](/global-projects/) who have adapted the “Our Bodies, Ourselves” book for their own communities. [Learn more](/2011/07/meet-the-newest-members-of-the-womens-health-heroes-hall-of-fame/).** **by [Kathy Davis](#kathy)** My first face-to-face contact with the women from Shokado bookstore responsible for the Japanese adaptation of “Our Bodies, Ourselves” was at a [Crossing Borders with OBOS conference](/global-projects/network-meetings/netherlands/ "Crossing Borders with OBOS conference") in the Netherlands in 2001. Three women entered the room, and I vividly remember the one in the middle who was wearing a hat and smiling broadly. I had a sense that she was being respectfully escorted to the meeting by her friends, and I wasn’t far off the mark. As Sally Whelan, OBOS program manager, later explained, this woman was a "real hero." ![Toyoko Nakanishi, Shokado Women's Bookstore](https://assets.ourbodiesourselves.org/images/blog-archive/Toyoko-Nakanishi-Shokado-Po.jpg "Toyoko Nakanishi") Toyoko Nakanishi (left) was the owner of the [Shokado Women’s Bookstore](/global-projects/japan-shokado-womens-bookstore/ "Shokado Women's Bookstore"), which she founded in 1975. For many years, Toyoko single-handedly produced a newsletter on women’s books and tirelessly supported countless women’s projects, including -- at the time -- the extremely daring and daunting adaptation of "Our Bodies, Ourselves." As she put it: "If I won’t do it, I’m not a woman." True to her words, she opened the second floor of her book shop to the translation team for weekly meetings, attended nearly all of them herself and, during the three years it took to finish, she was constantly on the phone (this was before email!) networking with hundreds of people and organizations that helped make the book possible. No wonder Toyoko was smiling. Every "Our Bodies, Ourselves" adaptation is exciting in its own way, and the Japanese project is no exception. This edition, published at a time when women did not have words to talk about their bodies, opened up a new way for Japanese women and girls to discuss their bodies and sexuality. Previously, they could not explain their physical experiences or express their desires to their partners, and they were at the mercy of physicians. A case in point was the [Fujimi hospital scandal](http://books.google.com/books?id=8Qv1FdYkhQsC&pg=PA217&dq=Broken+silence:+voices+of+Japanese+feminism+Fujimi+hospital&hl=en&ei=sFR3Tpu0CYXZ0QHE4rTqDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false "Fujimi hospital scandal") that broke in 1981. More than a thousand unnecessary hysterectomies were performed on women, all of whom who were told that their uterus was "rotten" or their ovaries "a mess." At the time, many of these women could not even utter the word "uterus." Fortunately, the situation is very different today, and much of this is due to the pathbreaking work that took place on the bookstore's second floor. The women who worked on the Japanese edition of "Our Bodies, Ourselves" got rid of all the expressions that treated women’s bodies in a negative way -- including words that implied shadiness, shame, or secrecy. They developed a whole new language, one that empowered women and girls and made them feel good and confident about themselves. For example, the term "shame hair" became "sexual hair," and menstruation, which had been linked to the word for "pollution," was straightforwardly named "a monthly occurrence." Some of these newly invented words have even made it into the latest Japanese dictionaries, showing just how influential this project has been. One of the most wonderful things about the different resources based on “Our Bodies, Ourselves” is that each project looks for a way to make a difference in its own context. The Japanese project shows that language is power and that being able to talk about our bodies in positive and affirming ways is empowering. *[ Kathy Davis](http://www.kathydavis.info/ "Kathy Davis") is a senior researcher at the Institute of History and Culture at Utrecht University in The Netherlands. A noted authority on feminist scholarship, her publications include, among others, "[The Making of Our Bodies, Ourselves: How Feminism Travels Across Borders](http://www.amazon.com/Making-Our-Bodies-Ourselves-Directions/dp/0822340666/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316442952&sr=8-1 "The Making of Our Bodies, Ourselves")."* --- #### 0 Response Our Bodies Ourselves is no longer able to accept comments. ![](/assets/img/monogram.webp)Topics - [Feminism & Gender](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/topic/feminism-gender) - [Global News](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/topic/global-news) - [OBOS Global Projects](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/topic/obos-global-projects) - [Our Bodies Ourselves](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/topic/our-bodies-ourselves) - [Our Bodies Ourselves - OBOS 40th Anniversary](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/topic/our-bodies-ourselves-obos-40th-anniversary) - [Our Bodies Ourselves - Women's Health Heroes 2011](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/topic/our-bodies-ourselves-womens-health-heroes-2011) ![](/assets/img/monogram.webp)### *Why You Can* **Trust Us** - We rigorously evaluate all content - We embrace a reproductive justice framework - We don’t accept ads or sell products - We reject funding from the pharmaceutical industry - We counter misinformation and disinformation - We address the social, political, and economic factors that affect health and sexuality [read more](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/why-you-can-trust-us) Share [](javascript:void();)[](javascript:void();)[](javascript:void();)[](javascript:void();)