A Place in Public: Women’s Rights in Meiji Japan (Harvard East Asian Monographs)

This Book Addresses How Gender Became A Defining Category In The Political And Social Modernization Of Japan. During The Early Decades Of The Meiji Period (1868-1912), The Japanese Encountered An Idea With Great Currency In The West: That The Social Position Of Women Reflected A Country's Level Of Civilization. Although Elites Initiated Dialogue Out Of Concern For Their Country's Reputation Internationally, The Conversation Soon Moved To A New Public Sphere Where Individuals Ranging From Ordinary People To Government Officials Engaged In A Wide-ranging Debate About Women's Roles And Rights. By Examining These Debates Throughout The 1870s And 1880s, Marnie S. Anderson Argues That Shifts In The Gender System Led To Contradictory Consequences For Women. On The One Hand, As Gender Displaced Status As The Primary System Of Social And Legal Classification, Women Gained Access To The Language Of Rights And The Chance To Represent Themselves In Public And Play A Limited Political Role; On The Other, The Modern Japanese State Permitted Women's Political Participation Only As An Expression Of Their Citizenship Through The House-hold And Codified Their Formal Exclusion From The Political Process Through A Series Of Laws Enacted In 1890. Foregrounding The Meiji Discourse On Gender, This Book Shows How A Woman's Place In Late Nineteenth-century Japan Was Characterized By Contradictions And Unexpected Consequences, By New Opportunities And New Constraints. --book Jacket. Introduction: Gendering Meiji Japan -- From Status To Gender: Systems Of Classification In Transition -- The Meanings Of Rights And Equality -- A Place In Public: Female Speakers And Writers -- A Woman's Place, 1890 -- Conclusion: Engendering Modernity. Marnie S. Anderson. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Anderson argues that shifts in the gender system during the early Meiji period had mixed consequences for Japanese women. Women gained access to the chance to represent themselves and play a limited political role, but were permitted political participation only as an expression of "citizenship through the household." Front Matter 1 Contents 9 Introduction 13 Chapter 1 40 Chapter 2 68 Chapter 3 112 Chapter 4 154 Conclusion 206 Reference Matter 215