南山大学

FEMALE EMPOWERMENT IN THE MEIJI

PERIOD

Midterm Essay as part of the Japanese History course

presented by the student:

Ariadna Margarita Delgado Beraún

2017R518

March, 2018
The following work aims to present the way in which the process of modernization of the Meiji
period affected the image of the Japanese woman of the time, focusing on the question: do the
reforms actually imply a female empowerment or just another form of machismo?

In this way, three primary approaches will be taken, educational reform, family system, and
industrialization.

In principle, it’s important to note that during the Meiji period (October 23, 1868 - July 30, 1912),
the search for growth and recognition of Japanese state as a modern state, generated two adverse
currents to each other; liberal with a view to westernization, and the other, nationalist.

The educational reform

In 1871, as part of the fever of Westernization, the Japanese government sent a diplomatic
delegation of 50 characters to the modernized countries; during the three-year Iwakura Mission,
Japanese thinkers advocated that female instruction was key to the development of a modern nation.
This same year, the Ministry of Education is founded, and the ideology of certain thinkers is
beginning to be inserted that an educated and educated mother brings up better and more useful
citizens for society.

In 1872, the formal educational system (学制) was established for all Japanese citizens with the aim

of modernizing the state and eliminating inequalities in access to the teaching of the feudal system.
However, female education suffered great setbacks given the low attendance of girls in mixed
public schools, this mainly, since female schooling was considered a waste of time.

On the other hand, I would like to point out that if one seeks to recognize a female empowerment
with respect to education, this can only be found from the perspective of recognition of patriarchy,
since Japanese women have a history of being important for the cultural wealth of the country.

The main problem was that sending the girls to a mixed school didn’t guarantee a good job or the
necessary support that it should give to the family; in this way, it was considered that the subjects
taught to the girls were not practical and that they did not need to. In these circumstances, it was
observed that the instruction of female teachers was necessary to impart the activities of women in
addition to the regular subjects; for this purpose, a group of six girls was sent as part of the Iwakura
Mission to acquire knowledge and impart it to the female schools that the government planned to
institute: “One of these groups of students were girls, between six and fourteen years old, whose
main mission was to insert themselves and learn the American domestic ideal in order to return and
disseminate it in Japan”. (Mompeller Vázquez 10) 1

Consequently, in 1875 a center for the training of female teachers was created for the first time,
which had a great growth; the reasons for this need could be referred to the mother figure so that the
students emulate, that education was not considered a male race, that women receive a lower salary
and that they are necessary for the teaching of properly feminine classes.

In this way, in 1879, a new educational reform would dictate the differentiated education between
men and women; but, the obligatory nature of female education was not established until 1898.

In this interim, it could be defined the need for courses that would form the ideal Japanese woman
focusing on being obedient and virtuous; in this way, the classes of the women could be
differentiated from those of the males, since the science classes that received these were grouped in
a natural sciences for women, instead of Chinese, they were educated only in the Japanese language,
avoiding the access to the classics, in addition, women were taught classes of crafts, sewing,
household chores and good education, teaching hours of morality were higher and educational time
lasted two years less than the male one.

It can be said that this limited access to education was not a reward, but a method to fortify the

patriarchy and the Japanese family system “Ie” ( 家 ) that is reflected in the Nation-State. An

educated woman brings up educated children, runs the home with wisdom, is faithful and obedient
to her husband, therefore, to the emperor. According to Kiguchi, the home system "Ie" is
established on the basis of the woman, the housewife defends, cares for and protects her family, in
addition to making sure that the tradition is maintained; consequently, the Japanese identity
wouldn’t be lost in the process of modernization.

Likewise, we can affirm that the advances that were made in the field of feminism weren’t few; the
existence of a regulation that exhorted female education, gave the opportunity to establish varied
models of what this should be by private institutions. On the one hand, we’ve the model of
femininity instituted by secondary schools established by Christian missionaries, as part of the new
religious freedom that the Meiji period determined as part of modernization; thus, these schools
instruct the traditional Christian feminine model through the study of the bible, which can be
commonly identified with the emulation of the Virgin Mary as a model of the good woman: caste,

1
Translated from Spanish
mother, protector, faithful and religious; however, entering the 1890 Meiji period entered a
nationalist stage that put strong criticism on the teaching of the Christian model judging their
religious inclinations as incoherent with the educational edict that based education on a confusionist
ideology that exhorted the population a type of allegiance to the emperor with historical ties.

In this way, in 1899 Decree Twelve is proclaimed that separates education from religion, diverting
the objective of this type of school; but we’ll see in another moment that this didn’t imply the
absolute loss of the Christian model. “The fundamental objective pursued by the government with
hindering private schools was to take control of women's education and ensure that their women
became the "good wives, wise mothers" needed by the new nationalist policy”.(Mompeller Vázquez
17) 2

Secondly, we’ve the model of the state women's schools that spread a model of femininity inherited
from the Tokugawa period, where the woman is economically dependent on the man and is
subjected, establishing the ideology of loyalty to the husband and, consequently, to the emperor.
From this point of view, education for women doesn’t seem to be a feminist element but a method
of legitimizing patriarchy.

Finally, I’ll present the model of Japanese private feminine schools based on the specific case of the

English Female Academy founded by the woman thinker, Tsuda Umeko (津田 梅子), who had

worked a great part of her life as a teacher of the nobility and was educated in the United States.
The special upbringing of Tsuda was key to the establishment of the female model in which her
students were educated, the goal was to educate true ladies; this model extolled Christian values, in
addition, to instill the idea of marriage for love, as well as domesticity and economic independence;
also, the English language was taught as well as the courses of ethics, psychology, educational
theory, Japanese, literature, English literature, history and physical education.

In my opinion, the creation of this type of school, the institution of this type of woman, was key to
establishing the identity of the Japanese woman who is educated and independent, but who also
uses this independence for the growth and protection of her family as well as your Nation,
preserving the tradition.

Family system “Ie” (家)

2
Translated from Spanish
The family system “Ie, traditionally represented the smallest unit of social organization related to
shared resources; however, during the Meiji restoration, in 1919 is set as the first family law.

We’ve already established that is based on a model patriarchal where the woman, in specific the
mother, is responsible for maintaining home established. So, the educational models presented
above fortified all together the model women, mother and wife; and was well for 1902 that,
according Yamaguchi, the level of fidelity was 37%(44) -what can be contrast with the image of
hipersexualiced Japanese women that the traditional art used to present. Commented [WU1]: hipersexualizadas ingles

In this sense, the modernization of Japan was far of the process by which passed Western nations;
while secularization of education with respect to Christianity is equivalent, it was necessary for
Japan to use some of their values as well as those of religions Buddhist and Shinto to form the
concept of National identity that need to strengthen the state. Also, this project of Nation own of
modernity, was as with Western nations through emulation family; so that, the Japanese family “Ie”

(家) average seemed to have a concept paternalistic as in rest of the world, but the role of women in

this case hidden a maternalistic own of nature’s religions –as Shinto-. The need of a woman well
educated and for up to lead a home are concepts that were ignored by men during the modernization
of Western countries, taking them as simple reproductive and ?; however, the Meiji restoration, Commented [WU2]: cosificandolas

took this same figure itself the West where got it from feminists movements, the results of which
were beneficial for nations.

Which leads to a question: Is it possible to appropriate feminist concepts for the development of a
paternalistic nation?

Furthermore, the creation of a new language with meanings that meet the new concepts that
modernity brought, led to be built a modern own of Japan. As such, as the word “Ie” that’s
commonly use as synonymous of “Uchi” (house), we observe the relation and differences between
the words to refer to a wife; so, the modernization view as empowerment of the nation and not as a
search of freedom, made Japanese average intended to emulate the old Samurai power, bringing a
change hierarchical that differed that modernized around the traditional peasant family or to the
traditional Samurai House.

In this way, in early Meiji, was used the terms “Okusan” (奥さん) and “Shufu”(主婦) –at present,

housewife- to two different kinds of wife-head home, while the first derived from the old term

“Okugata” (奥方) –samurai’s wife- that takes care of the organization of the home to monitor the
work of the servants, the spending money of her husband and education that gave the children, the
second meant a peasant’s wife that not only brought money and work, she also oversaw the work of
the children. So, considered necessary a good woman at home to bear the social ascension that
modernity makes possible.

Thus, the “Okusan” in these times, was that woman was part of an urban family whose husband
exerted an official job subsidized, not working and was considered the stereo typified useless
housewife. While, the “Shufu”, was the independent woman which provided home and therefore
had more power in the house economy; her value was based on that children no longer working and
therefore, these are carried more work and more respect.

However, the Meiji second stage served to lost respect for this type of woman; the “Okusan” step to
be the most respectable women, the simple wife of an employee, urban and more reproductive than
producer; and the “Shufu” became the simple leader a traditional collective peasant of the previous
era, that’s, a woman who not reached modernity or couldn’t move up socially. (García de las Hijas)

Industrialization

This period, characterized for being the industrialization epoch –important event for the
modernization of a country, basis for urban life in Western countries- where food and textile
industries started with large force, especially the cotton industry. So, the necessity of efficient,
cheap and disciplined workers that went massively for the quick growth, incited to the Japanese
population to hire women.

The role that performance this opportunity to work for women’s independence, is reflected in that
80% of female workers –which were 60% of workers- were single; figure amounting in 1894, when
90% of workers in the cotton factories were women (Kiguchi 6). Also, the industrialization
supposed a progress to break social classes; so that, the factories used both women of Samurai class
as poor farmer’s girls, given the high demand and the desire to fast economic growth.

Finally, it’s say that along with education, the of women in family, and economic growth of the
nation, the modernization opened step by figure of the new urban Japanese woman, faithful
representative of the National identity that modernity instituted in Japan, the preservation of
tradition and economic, technological and intellectual growth.
Bibliografía
García de las Hijas, Rocío. «El cambio del rol de la mujer desde Edo hasta Meiji.» (2014).

Kiguchi, Junko. «Japanese Women’s Rights at the Meiji Era.» (s.f.): 133-146.

Mompeller Vázquez, Y. «LA ENSEÑANZA SUPERIOR FEMENINA JAPONESA EN LA ERA

MEIJI. COMPARACIÓN ENTRE UNA ESCUELA PÚBLICA Y OTRA PRIVADA.»
Observatorio de la Economía y la Sociedad del Japón VI.20 (2014).

Novelo, Silvia. «SOBRE EL COLAPSO DE LA "MADRE JAPONESA".» En la mira (s.f.): 255-

261.

Yamaguchi, Yoshiko. «Educación moderna de las mujeres japonesas: una mirada retrospectiva y
prospectiva.» Foro de Educación IX.13 (2011): 37-52.