Women and networks in nineteenth-century Japan / edited by Bettina Gramlich-Oka, Anne Walthall, Miyazaki Fumiko and Sugano Noriko.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Gramlich-Oka, Bettina, editor.

Walthall, Anne, editor.

Miyazaki, Fumiko, editor.

Sugano, Noriko, 1939- editor.

Series:

Michigan monograph series in Japanese studies ; no. 90.

Michigan monograph series in Japanese studies ; number 90

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women--Social networks--Japan--History--19th century.

Women.

Women--Japan--Social conditions--19th century.

Social conditions.

Women--Social networks.

History.

Japan--Social conditions--19th century.

Japan.

Women--Social conditions.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

viii, 289 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, 2020.

Summary:

"Although scholars have emphasized the importance of women's networks for civil society in twentieth century Japan, Women and Networks in Nineteenth Century Japan is the first book to tackle the subject for the contentious and consequential nineteenth century. The essays traverse the divide when Japan started transforming itself from a decentralized to a centralized government, from legally imposed restrictions on movement to the breakdown of travel barriers, and from ad hoc schooling to compulsory elementary school education. As these essays suggest, such changes had a profound impact on women and their roles in networks. Rather than pursue a common methodology, the authors take diverse approaches to this topic that open up fruitful avenues for further exploration. Most of the essays in this volume are by Japanese scholars; their inclusion here provides either an introduction to their work or the opportunity to explore their scholarship further. Because women are often invisible in historical documentation, the authors use a range of sources (diaries, letters, legal documents, etc.) to reconstruct the familial, neighborhood, religious, political, work, and travel networks that women maintained, constructed, or found themselves in, sometimes against their will. In so doing, most but not all of the authors try to decenter historical narratives built on men's activities and men's occupational and status-based networks, and instead recover women's activities in more localized groupings and personal associations"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part 1 Women's Networks Forged through Their Families

1 Women's Roles in Men's Narratives of Samurai Life p. 21 / Luke S. Roberts

2 Rai Shizu's Multiple Networks p. 42 / Bettina Gramlich-Oka

3 The Creation of Female Networks in Exile: Hirata Atsutane and Orise's Banishment to Akita p. 67 / Anne Walthall

4 Upholding the Household: Bakin's Daughter-in-Law and Her Diary p. 88 / Itasaka Noriko Translated and Yamamoto Yoshitaka

5 Building Networks on the Fly: The Travails of Travel for Domain Lords' Women p. 113 / Shiba Keiko Translated and Anne Walthall

Part 2 Women's Networks Apart from Family

6 Networks of Believers in a New Religion: Female Devotees of Fujido p. 145 / Miyazaki Fumiko

7 Early Meiji Working Women: Female Workers' Networks in Records of the Tomioka Silk Mill p. 176 / Sugano Noriko Translated and Yamamoto Yoshitaka

8 From Concubine to Activist and "Anonymous Founder": The Role of Networks in Sumiya Koume's Life p. 201 / Marnie S. Anderson

Part 3 Women's Roles in Men's Networks

9 Expanding and Multilayering Networks in Nineteenth-Century Japan: The Case of the Shin-Yoshiwara Red-Light District p. 223 / Yokoyama Yuriko Translated and Jeffrey Knott

10 Female Networks and Social Stratification in Meiji Japan: From the Perspective of Fukuzawa Yukichi p. 246 / Nishizawa Naoko Translated and Jeffrey Knott.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Women and networks in nineteenth century Japan

ISBN:

9780472074693

0472074695

9780472054695

0472054694

OCLC:

1139622328