By Bhargavi Munagala, 2025-2026 Research Collaborator at Power in Place
Unable to box herself to a definition, Komako Kimura is best known for her activism in the women’s suffrage movement. Performance was her activism; whether it was writing newspapers, performing in multiple theaters and opening her own, Kimura always pushed the boundaries of what was deemed acceptable. Born on July 29, 1887, in Tokyo, Japan, Kimura was quickly taught her role in society. Her father moved away to Taiwan for work opportunities, while Kimura was enrolled in the Kumamoto Girls School, where she was taught how to be a good wife and woman. There, she read the works of Ellen Key, a Swedish feminist, and was quickly inspired to have similar ideologies in Japan. Even in her personal life, Kimura faced hardships for not being what society accepted to be a “woman”. As a younger girl, she was arranged to marry an older man, to which she ran away from. Having a baby out of wedlock was looked down upon, and when she committed the cardinal sin of doing just that, society shunned her. Her work in the socialist journals began to take off her name, and she was kicked out of the acting school she went to. However, that did not stop Kimura. If anything, it only encouraged her to push forward. She created the “The True New Women’s Association”, and began to publish newspapers, titled “The New True Women”, and give speeches. But her goal wasn’t simply to spread the word in Japan, she wanted her message to be international. Her fight wasn’t just to make women equal legally or give them rights. No, it was more, it was to inspire women. She wanted women to think for themselves, to not have to rely on a man to make her decisions. For all women to strive to have an education, to be determined. When she came to the United States, Kimura was hit with another barrier. 1910’s and 1920’s saw a large wave of Anti-Asian laws and strict immigration policies, which made it even harder for her to stand her ground in the political world. And yet she never stopped, wrestling the idea that feminism was exclusively a white-woman right. Kimura proved that women’s rights were not earned through assimilation or through acceptance, it was inherent. While in the United States, Kimura was inspired by the American women and their suffrage movement. She met President Woodrow Wilson and met the first woman in a federal position, Jeannette Rankin. Kimura also famously walked in the suffrage march in New York on October 27th, 1917. Going back to Japan, Kimura faced lots of hardships. Her newspaper was suppressed, and when she refused to stop her performance in which she was the lead actress, she was even arrested. Deciding she could no longer live there, Kimura and her family moved back to New York, where she continued to fight for women and Asian women’s rights. Notably, performing at Carnegie Hall and on Broadway. She also continued to write multiple books on acting and meditation. Kimura was the steppingstone for many activists, many Asian-American women in the United States to stand tall and demand what we deserve. Rather than be meek, quiet, or obedient- like Asian women are stereotyped to be in the United States, what her own government told her- she unapologetically challenged their thinking to do what she believed was right. Kimura’s fight wasn’t one to make her own life easier, nor was it simply to achieve rights. Her fight was one aimed to inspire women. The act of performing has always been political, activism having always been an art. As an Asian-American woman who admires the performing arts, Kimura is everything I want to see in an activist. She never let her opposers get in the way of what she loved, performing. And yet, she stood up for herself, no matter where she went. She learned to make performing a means of communication. She fought for her rights while on stage. Komako Kimura is simply a chapter of how storytelling can change someone’s life, and the rest of the pages are meant to be filled by my generation.
References
4 Kimura Komako Images: Picryl - Public Domain Media Search Engine Public Domain Search, picryl.com/topics/kimura+komako. Fusek, Alyssa Pearl. “Kimura Komako: The Dancing Feminist.” Unseen Japan, 28 Sept. 2022, unseen-japan.com/kimura-komako/. “Komako Kimura.” Wikidata, www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17212246?uselang=fr. “Komako Kimura (1918).” Newspapers.Com, www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-eagle-komako-kimura-1918/10051194/. Accessed 4 Jan. 2026.
Bhargavi Munagala is a sophomore at the University of Georgia, majoring in Political Science, International Affairs, and Japanese Language and Literature. She is interested in women's rights, international politics, and human rights issues. On campus, she is involved with language tutoring and pre-law clubs.