Japanese Girls and Women

This 1891 account first explored Japan's class system, cultural history and moral framework through the stories of its women.

Alice Mabel Bacon (Author)

9781108080941, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 21 May 2015

350 pages
21.6 x 14.2 x 2.3 cm, 0.48 kg

After spending a year in Tokyo, American teacher Alice Mabel Bacon (1858–1918) became the first author to usher Western readers into the graceful, paper-walled realm of the Japanese woman. An intimate friend of several Japanese ladies, Bacon was privy to a domestic world which remained closed to male visitors. This 1891 work begins with birth and childhood, including the colourful, kimono-like dress of infants, their ornate dolls, and their education in handwriting, flower painting and etiquette. Trained for a lifetime of service to her husband and his parents, the Japanese woman was praised for her loyalty and obedience. But new Western influences, especially on education, were challenging the old ways. Bacon evocatively depicts Japanese women unsettled by their modern education, yet saddled with traditional cultural expectations. With its insight into Japan's class system, cultural history and moral framework, this book remains an essential complement to any study of Japanese social history.

Preface
1. Childhood
2. Education
3. Marriage and divorce
4. Wife and mother
5. Old age
6. Court life
7. Life in castle and yashiki
8. Samurai women
9. Peasant women
10. Life in the cities
11. Domestic service
Epilogue
Index.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC]