‘Gender (jenda)’, a troublesome loanword in Japan, has evoked confusion in the government and stimulated a backlash from the ultra-conservatives against gender equality. Focusing on a dispute over the term ‘gender’ between feminists and the old guard, this paper examines the changes of the term’s usage and meanings in the Japanese political context. I first shed light on Japan’s reaction to the newly arrived term ‘gender’, which contrasts feminist and scholarly circles with the government. Secondly, I discuss the old guard’s condemnation of the concept of gender, in which they distort its significance to diminish its positive impact on society. . My findings reveal that the old guard, whose political cause is to protect traditional Japanese culture, asserts that gender equality damages this culture. Moreover, I refute their emphasis on Japan’s uniqueness, demonstrating that Japanese women’s traditional virtues under the patriarchal family system are not peculiar to Japan. To gauge how the concept of gender has been interpreted politically, I highlight legislative debates about the term ‘gender’.