At a press conference on April 7, the day on which Japan’s state of emergency was declared, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reportedly said that furloughed employees of airlines had offered to help sew medical gowns for those on the front lines of Japan’s COVID-19 crisis. On April 8 the following day, according to a Bunshun Online article, Economic Revitalization Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura reportedly said on a TV program aired on BS Fuji, 「エアラインのCAも手伝うということで申し出があった」(“Flight attendants (CAs) have also offered to help”).
The comment immediately sparked a backlash on social networks, with people saying things like: “This is discrimination against women”, “This discriminates against both professional tailors as well as CAs” and “What a pre-war era way of thinking.” The government gaffe even spurred the hashtag #縫製職なめんな (“have some bloody respect for professional tailors”) on Twitter.
To summarize what Professor Izumi Yonezawa of Konan Women’s University, wrote in a Yahoo! News article:
It is as if these men in government are thinking that CAs, who are supposedly the epitome of femininity, would surely have sewing skills, which is suggestive of the WW2 era, in which armies of women were made to sew national uniforms. Back in those days, women were labelled as being out of the question if they didn’t have sewing skills, even when they were skilled in reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Flight attendant Tamura Masami (pseudonym), interviewed in the Bunshun Online article, said, “The company hasn’t contacted us yet about this. But sometime during March, rumors had been circulating that CAs currently not on duty are going to be made to sew medical gowns. Back then, my colleagues and I were saying, ‘Why protective clothing? It’s impossible to sew.'”
Citing an article on NHK NEWS WEB dated April 10, the Bunshun Online article summarized how the event unfolded as following:
・不足が懸念されている医療用ガウンについて、ANAグループは政府からの相談を受けて、航空便の運休などの影響で業務量が減っている社員を中心にメーカーの縫製業務の支援を申し出た。
・今後、専門的な技能がなくても請け負える業務があるかメーカー側と調整したい。
・職種を問わず、グループ全体で貢献していきたい。
- ANA group, responding to government’s consultation regarding medical gowns facing shortage, offered to support sewing tasks, mainly incorporating employees whose duties have decreased due to flight cancellations.
- Going forward, [ANA will] communicate with the medical gown manufacturer as to whether any tasks could be done without special expertise.
- Regardless of which profession, the group as a whole wishes to contribute.
Did Anyone Actually Offer to Help?
Based on the above, it can be surmised that the government requested ANA to help first, instead of the airline side having raised its hand in the first place. But Minister Nishimura and the Prime Minister had used the verb 申し出る moushideru, as in come forward/offer/volunteer, in explaining ANA’s move. In other words, they strongly suggested in their announcements that this was ANA’s idea. Some may interpret this as the government’s attempt to reassure to the public that they are taking positive strides in alleviating shortage of medical resources while providing new tasks for the CAs who are being furloughed.
Journalist Matsuoka Kyuzo, in an online article on Business Journal dated April 23, also wrote it is highly dubious that the airline had in fact “offered” to help. He wrote that in Japan, CAs are predominantly female. Unlike other parts of the world, the position is considered a dream job for many women, with some even joining specialty prep schools that cost one million yen annually.
Matsuoka quoted a major travel agency personnel as saying “Even in Korea, where sexism is said to be rampant, Korean Airlines and Asiana Airlines have more male flight attendants than in Japan.”
Flight attendants, formerly called スチュワーデス (stewardesses), once seen in the flirty context of “Would you like coffee, tea, or me?” in the West, is indeed seen in a slightly different light in Japan. Only the young and beautiful were hired. They were dubbed スッチー, were popular among men at 合コン gokon group drink parties, and are still considered by many to be top notch trophy wife material. Indeed, many CAs have met their rich prince charmings on flight, as with the high profile case of former sumo wrestler Hanada Masaru, whose went by the ring name Wakanohana. His former wife had been a JAL stewardess.
The stewardess craze is reminiscent of a popular TV drama スチュワーデス物語 su-chu-wah-desu monogatari (A Stewardess’ Story) aired back in 1983. The protagonist, enrolling in a stewardess academy, says the famous line, “私はドジでのろまなカメです！”（I’m a clumsy, slow acting tortoise!) and falls in love with a male trainer considerably older than her. Japanese people have traditionally rooted for clumsy but driven underdogs. They found women such as these very 健気 kenage (adorably brave – not simply courageous/brave as listed on some dictionaries). In a certain sense, it’s like a puppy doing its utmost to stay alive. While the word kenage in itself is not at all a derogatory adjective/concept, it stands on the premise, in this context, that those who are described kenage are physically or socially in a weaker position than those of the viewer, such as women, children and little animals. Such is the case with the protagonist of this J-drama, who is young, cute, dumb and wacky. It’s almost as if (male) society finds women as desirable and worthy of love when they are younger and dumber than they are.
Similarly, when living in Japan, 可愛気 kawaige (lovable nature) is also an important aspect, for men and women alike. If you’re a super confident know-it-all in the workplace, bosses aren’t going to like it, all the more so if they’re conservative. There’s societal pressure to dumb it down a little. You need at least a whiff of “I’m a clumsy, slow acting tortoise, so please teach me”, especially when you are a newbie to a workplace – and all the more so if you’re a woman.
Why? You will be liked or accepted that way because you are not a threat to your peers’ promotions or jobs. Greta Thunberg lacks kawaige to the eyes of many Japanese people, which is part of the reason why she receives so much hate from Japanese netizens. (One could also hypothesize that a lot of Japanese people/worldwide haters are simply jealous of her boldness even at such a tender age.) The same can be said of the anonymous blogger back in 2016 who wrote 保育園落ちた日本死ね!!!（My child can’t get daycare – Japan should die), who attracted so many haters, but ultimately had her voice heard in the national Diet because of the strong language she used that inspired hashtags like #保育園落ちたの私だ (I was the one whose child wasn’t eligible for day care).
These being cases in point, instead of leaning in with confidence, traditional types of Japanese people would rather have you to lean back a little and not outshine their superiors. That’s what they’re used to seeing, and that’s what they were made to endure, whether they were aware of that societal pressure or not.
It’s good to see these days that not everyone chooses to remain silent.
The age difference between Hori and Kazama Morio who played her love interest is 17 years.
(Fast forward to 2:10 of the clip – it gets interesting. )
The opening theme to “A Stewardess’ Story” is a Japanese cover of “Flashdance… What a Feeling” by Irene Cara, a song from the 1983 US film Flashdance. But “A Stewardess’ Story” doesn’t quite fit the bill of Flashdance when it comes to female empowerment.
Will Pilots Be Sewing Too?
Tamura, the aforementioned CA on the Bunshun Online article, also reportedly said, “Basically, I think the issue is money. If this is going to be unpaid labor, I don’t want to do it.” Asked what she thought of how some people online refuted the idea, suggesting that it reinforces the stereotype of seamstress = women, she told, “I’m actually not as offended as those critics online. But with many CAs being female, I understand where they are coming from. I wonder if pilots and co-pilots are also going to be involved in the sewing task. If not, then I’d feel like I’m being discriminated against.”
According to an online article by Daily SPA!, another CA, Komatsu Aya (pseudonym), said that the news was only shared internally two days after it hit headlines on the media. “I understand this as a company policy. ANA has always been aspiring to contribute society in a way which only private companies could, as opposed to JAL. So I think that our company, at this timing, started to say something that sounds just like us.”
「4月7日の夜、『休業中の ANA 客室乗務員らが医療用ガウンの縫製に乗り出す』とのインターネット記事が配信されました。 現時点で会社として決定していることは何もありません。 現在、医療物資の不足に対応するため政府から経済界にさまざまな要請が届いているのは事実です。 ANA グループは、取り巻く環境が厳しい状況においても『企業市民として社会に貢献したい』との思いは創業当時と変わらず、社員の安全確保を大前提に内容を精査し、検討を行っています。 報道内容に一喜一憂することなく、冷静を保ち、特異な環境におかれている今こそ、『あんしん、あったか、あかるく元気！』に ANA’s Way を具現化していきましょう。 以 上」
To Cabin Center members: In the evening of April 7, online articles such as “ANA cabin crew on furlough moves forward sewing medical gowns” had been issued. At this point in time, the company has not yet made any decisions. It is true that, currently, the government is making various requests to the business world as measures to alleviate shortages in medical resources. In these times of adversity, ANA Group wishes to contribute to society, as a corporate citizen, just as we have aspired to do since our founding. We are currently deliberating on this, basing our decision on ensuring the safety of our employees. Please do not be swayed by these reports and stay calm. In times such as these, we need to embody our corporate mission of ANA’s Way, which is “Anshin, Attaka, Akaruku-genki!” (Security, Customer Satisfaction, and Sprightly Spirit.)
Another CA, Sasaki Ryoko (pseudonym), is quoted in the article as saying, “There are a number of airlines in the UK whose flight attendants are committed to work as supportive staff in healthcare. As the whole world is facing adversity, it would be an honor if we can contribute in any way. My colleagues were also saying, ‘If there’s anything we can do to help, then we’d be happy to do it.'”
The typical online backlash has been that “This is something that セクハラオヤジ sekuhara oyaji (middle aged men who sexually harass women by deeds or remarks) would think.” But the SPA article says that this criticism should only apply to Economy Minister Nishimura, who verbally singled out CAs when explaining that airline employees “have come forward to help”. The online criticism, the article argues, shouldn’t extend to CAs who are willing to contribute to society.
In any case, there is frustration among CAs regarding ANA’s communication on the topic.
“I think that it is a good thing that the company is facilitating action in [making us] do whatever we can in order to help society at this very moment, in line with our company credo. But where is any sincerity in making us find out about this over media headlines? Management should have told us internally first. In the internal notice, they wrote, “It has not been decided yet.” But they are, in fact, considering it, are they not? Then first consult with us, in my opinion.”
No Transparency Regarding Pay
Nakamura Kaori (psuedonym), another CA cited in the SPA! article, told, “Of course we are unsatisfied regarding pay. We don’t know whether we could make ends meet. The basic salary for CA is low, and flying allowance is high. So we pay our bills by flying, but I will be on leave for half of April, including stand-by. My pay will be something a little above 100,000 yen. There is no way to project how the flight cancellations issue will be alleviated going forward. I’m afraid that COVID-19’s effect may stretch on and on.”
Employee disparity based on different profession is also cited in the article.
“I assume that the salaries of pilots haven’t been cut back as much. Pilots and 一般職 ippanshoku (clerical/supportive jobs) have different labor unions, and the labor union for pilots have a much stronger say, so their salaries aren’t affected as much.”
In 2014, a quarter of Virgin Atlantic flight attendants were male. Back in April 2019, four male graduates were hired as flight attendants for the first time in ANA. As of March 2019, female pilots in Japan accounted for only 0.2 percent of the profession, according to a Huffington Post Japan article.
Fast forward three decades from A Stewardess’ Story to the 2013 TV drama Miss Pilot about an aspiring female pilot. Does she fall in love with the male trainer? Spoiler alert: no, she takes a pass, and hands him down to her female colleague who flunked the pilot exam.
According to an online article by Sankei Biz, the glamour associated with the CA profession has decreased significantly, partly due to competition by LCCs (low cost carriers) entering the market, as well as cost reduction.
A former CA is quoted in the article as saying: “We [CAs] used to stay at hotels conveniently located in city centers, but hotels had been changed to those located in suburban areas. Although there wasn’t much change in salary among contract workers, some full fledged workers had their salaries slashed significantly.”
According to an online article by NHK dated April 16, ANA will be asking volunteers to sew medical gowns, starting late April. The article does not mention whether they will be paid additionally for the task apart from their basic salary.
“My Life as a Medical Professional is Dispensable”
While some portion of furloughed ANA employees will be likely made to sew medical gowns, a nurse struggling hard to maintain sanity at a medical battlefield somewhere in the outskirts of metropolitan Tokyo area is rightfully infuriated by the government’s announcement to distribute 15 million surgical masks to medical professionals. In reality, not a single mask has reached their large-scale hospital as of April 9.
The nurse, calling themselves 四谷三丁目 and writing anonymously on the site Note.mu, finds that the protective clothing (semi-mandatory) volunteering idea is not reassuring at all to say the least. To summarize excerpts from their post:
I am writing this down before I go insane. We medical professionals are having to make do with one disposable mask every three days, and I work in a pretty big hospital. There was a patient who was taken an X-ray before operation, and it turned out that the patient had pneumonia, but was not eligible for PCR testing. How come PCR is not made more readily available when things are getting this dire? What I know for sure is that currently in this country, precautionary PCR testing is simply not carried out.
And even at this point, the government says they are sending over TWO. CLOTH. MASKS. per household, using billions of yen, without scientific evidence of efficacy. I burn with rage, I am melting with rage, I am turning into cinder. If they have that kind of money, why don’t they inject it to pharma companies or something instead??? On top of this insanity, medical gowns are to be sewn by CAs? For real? It’s condescending, as in – let them sew protective clothing to create labor – I don’t know where to begin. Sure, If the quality is sufficient, fine, but… .
AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!! I really hope they are not talking something like wartime 千人針 sennimbari tradition [i.e. cloth amulets with one thousand stitches that serve no practical purpose] ….What we need, are professional grade antiviral medical gowns, backed by scientific evidence – I really hope they know that!! Another hospital in the neighborhood are now limiting use of medical gloves. I’m about to faint.
I beg you, people, be angry. If we remain silent, we are going to be killed. Please send your opinions to the PM Office from the link here, like I did.
Finally, I realize, that my life is being neglected. This country thinks that my life, as a medical professional, is dispensable. My core value, as a medical professional, is starting to crumble due to this revelation. In the past, whether HIV or TB or any other infection, I was unafraid to treat so long as I took caution. I had my pride as a medical professional. But that sense of security was based on the belief that if I were to contract the disease, I would have access to treatment. But in this [barbaric] situation, I no longer have that faith.
An Issue of Trust
ANA holdings explained in an April 16 article that the sewing task would be offered to both male and female employees who are willing, regardless of occupation. No one knows whether the medical gowns, to be potentially sewn by the airline company personnel, will be up to medical grade standards.
Many people empathize with the anonymous nurse’s distrust toward the government that had to halt sending face masks to pregnant women, since more than 7800 masks sent turned out to be dirty. Some masks distributed to households contained hair, bugs, or mold, raising concerns about their safety. While some of the masks have been recalled, the damage to public trust has already been done.
If the government can’t be trusted to get this right, or to deliver professional masks to medical personnel, how can we trust that they’ll do right by flight attendants and pilots?
