Japanese Women in Meiji Period - Essay Example

Japanese Women in Meiji Period Copyright Historians agree that the Meiji era in Japanese history presented a succession of large reforms that were to bring about an improvement in Japanese society. Compulsory education for women and a greater tolerance for debate were amongst the positive improvements of the Meiji era that were to enhance freedom and the position of women. However, even the Meiji government could not change the fundamental psyche of the Japanese and a complex interplay of class, poverty, gender inequality and exploitative forces continued to act against rural women from of masses. Life for the uneducated rural women was difficult and many a poor farm worker resorted to selling their daughter to the brothel. It was not possible for women to take part in politics and the Meiji era Civil Code treated them as less than men. Many poor rural women continued to work in factories under horrible conditions and socialism or communism appeared as a dream against the injustices of the society. This brief essay presents a discussion about women in Japan during the Meiji era and it will appear that although the Meiji government did try to improve the situation for women in Japan, it could not alter fundamental influences. Thus, despite a movement towards emancipation, greater equality and freedom for women in Japan was to wait until the end of the war. Declaration I certify that, except where cited in the text, this work is the result of research carried out by the author of this study. _____________________________________________ Name and Signature of Author March 2009 This write - up is for a paper about Japanese Women in Meiji Period. Biographical Sketch Acknowledgments Contents Introduction 1 Reforms of the Meiji Era and their Impact on the Status of Women in Japan 3 Conclusion 11 Bibliography/ References 13 (This page intentionally left blank) Introduction The Meiji restoration of 1868 is an important turning point in Japanese history because with this revolution, the ascendency of the warrior class ended and power at the helm of affairs shifted to a traditional state under a traditional sovereign (Jansen pp. 308 – 314). It was at about this point in time that Japan had commenced a study of ideas that had been presented because of contacts with Western and European civilizations and the Meiji era represents an age in Japanese history in which one substantial reform was carried out after the other for the progress of the Japanese society (Kiguchi pp. 133). Although historians trace the first contact between the Japanese and the Europeans back to 1543 when several Portuguese traders arrived on board a Chinese junk in Tanegashima, it is important to understand that it takes time for foreign ideas to receive significant attention (Hall, pp. 302 – 304). It was during the Meiji period in Japanese history that thoughts of respect for human rights and freedom introduced from the United States of America and Europe took root in the Japanese society (Kiguchi pp. 133 – 135). In the earlier period of Japanese history, the feudal Tokugawa period and the periods before this, centuries of feudal rule by the warrior class had fixed the place of women in the society and in the family into a rigid mold. Japan was at the previously mentioned time a staunchly patriarchal society that compelled women to remain subservient, submissive, self-effacing and humble (Hane pp. 1 – 16). Confucius had taught that the relationship between father and son was the cardinal human relationship and not the relationship between husband and wife. Although the husband and the wife shared authority in the household, the Shogun doctrine, which was the doctrine of the warrior class, had stated that a woman must look to her husband as lord and serve him with all worship and reverence (Hane pp. 6). A line of demarcation had existed between women and men, with women expected to stay within the confines permitted to them and publicly the authority of the husband or the male head of the household was supreme. Although differences did exist between women from the noble classes and the inferior classes, the mainstream society had regarded women as being inferior to men. With the arrival of the Meiji era, a popular rush to adopt Western thinking and practices ensued, but the Meiji Renovation also moved to eliminate the power of women from within the deep recesses of the government’s power structure (Sumiko pp. 201 – 210). Thus, the Meiji government had moved to restrict the power of women in government. Those at the helm of power in the Meiji era wanted the power of men to be legitimate within the government. However, it will be fair to say that the broader reforms commenced in Japan during the Meiji period gradually acted to improve and to enhance the status of women in the country. This brief essay presents an examination of the status of women in Japan during the Meiji era and the discussion presented tries to examine how the reforms introduced during this period gradually acted to improve the status of women in Japan. The thesis statement presented for this discussion is that despite restrictions on political participation and poor treatment for women from the lower classes, the broader reforms of the Meiji era enhanced the position of women in Japanese society. Reforms of the Meiji Era and their Impact on the Status of Women in Japan The Meiji period in Japan was to witness a general increase in the literacy of women and the launching of a number of journals and newspapers for them (Patessio pp. 19 – 26). Some of the newspapers and journals permitted women to contribute and they could see their novels or short stories in print. However, men wrote other publications aimed at women. These publications assisted with the conduct of a debate in the Japanese society in which desires for the copying of Western customs were at odds against a revaluation of Japanese uniqueness and customs. The theory about the equality of men and women was a widely debated topic, but some publications were of the view that the concept of equality was a foreign concept that did not apply to Japan. However, publications including the Nihon shinfujin zasshi, (‘New Japanese Housewife’) argued that enhancement to the level of a country’s civilisation required an enhancement of the role of women in society. Japanese thinkers, including Fukuzawa Yukichi (1834-1901) and Fukuchi Gen’ichirō (1841-1906), who had been on Western study tours were influenced by John Stuart Mill and they had argued for monogamy and an equality of sexes (Kiguchi pp. 133 – 134). Christians and foreign missionaries of the time tried to influence Japan with their ideas about the abolition of mistress custom and laws, opposition to patriarchy, education for women, equality of the sexes at home, abolition of prostitution and monogamy. Clearly, forces of reform that influenced societal thinking had commenced working in Japan to improve on the status of women. The Meiji government opened up Japan to the outside world in the 1860s (Diggs, pp. 9 – 11). Prior to the time of the Meiji government, Japanese could not leave Japan and this meant that they could not study foreign cultures, experience foreign influences or be influenced by new ideas, which they had observed for themselves. At a time when Japanese men could not leave Japan, travel for women was unthinkable. However, it was in 1871 that a group of young female students travelled to America to learn to become “good wives and wise mothers” in the style of United States of America. They were to return to Japan to apply the knowledge that they had acquired during their stay (Patessio pp. 20 – 21). However, on their return, the government could not recall the intended purpose of their visit abroad and only one could rise to a high position in Japanese society by opening a school. Thus, despite a gradual change in thinking during the Meiji era, only women from the middle classes benefitted most because in a class-conscious society, mixing between classes remained difficult. However, the right to intermarry with the Samurai, granted in 1871, broke artificial barriers without basis in wealth but even this did not result in much of an intermingling (Jansen pp. 526). Some women tried to accelerate the pace of change to give meaning to change and civilization from a female perspective (Gordon pp. 89). An organization calling for shorter and more practical hairstyles for women organized in line with the idea that Samurai should prefer short Western hairstyles tried to change the appearance and psyche of the Japanese women and women speakers were prominent amongst right rallies. Some of the feminists were very successful at drawing large and enthusiastic crowds. By the 1880s, the Meiji rulers had permitted their wives to play a semipublic role, but women were to remain distant from the affairs of the government or politics and were more active in societies involved with teaching or education. The two decades from1890 to 1910 were the most important for the development of Japanese state policy towards women (Bernstein pp. 152 - 160). It is clear that despite a more liberal approach, the policies of the Meiji government towards women continued in a traditional Japanese approach. However, this is something that is not surprising because it is only possible to bring about change gradually. The Diet had issued a ban on women’s participation in politics in 1889, but an Education Ministry moved towards compulsory education for women and more schools for young girls opened. The principal of education for women was the concept of preparing them to be "Good Wife, Wise Mother" (ryosai kenbo). By 1910, the compliance rate for compulsory education for women had reached 97.4% from 30% in 1890 and the number of years of compulsory education for women was extended to six years (Bernstein pp. 157). The passage of a law in 1899, which made it compulsory for every prefecture to have at least one school for girls, demonstrated the Meiji government’s commitment to women’s education. However, the thrust of the government efforts was aimed towards the ‘middle class’ and despite the directions issued by the government about ensuring that feminine modesty remained consistent with education for women, they were expected to aid in the war effort and to work for the nation. The Empress of Japan herself provided an example of the expected conduct of women in the higher classes when she rolled bandages, visited hospitals and made donations for those wounded in the service of the nation during the war. Although the societal thinking expected that women of the upper classes were not to take up employment outside of their households, women of lower classes employed in large numbers to menial labor in factories and textile plants that had sprung up as Japan industrialized suffered (Hane pp. 13 - 15). Those women who worked in the factories were mostly from the rural areas and many were indentured servants. Working conditions were poor for women and they were undernourished and worked long hours, with the result, many women workers contracted tuberculosis and beriberi. Strict rules applied in residential dormitories for women and any derogation from rules could often result in physical punishment inflicted on female workers. However, despite the previously mentioned problems, those women from the lower classes that found work in factories were often better off than women who worked the farms. Those left behind to work on the farms had to work long hours and could not even see the tantalizing products from the West found in the city. Women from the Samurai class also worked in the factories (Kiguchi pp. 138). Clearly, class distinctions and the treatment meted out to members of various classes presented sharp contrasts. However, teaching and medicine were the professions into which Japanese women gradually moved to establish themselves. The previously mentioned professions required an education and encouragement for education of women from the middle classes offered hope to all. Thus, it will appear that although a policy that encouraged education for women was in line with the emancipation of Japanese women, a vast majority of lower-class women remained poorly treated because they could not go to schools. A factory law enacted in 1911 provided for minimum standards in factories which employed more than twelve workers, but midnight work hours were not abolished till 1929 (Kiguchi pp. 138). The Civil Code of 1898 permitted the husband to demand divorce or punishment of two years for an unfaithful wife, but a wife could not appeal for a husband’s adultery crime. The law of 1870 regarded a mistress as a blood relative of the second degree. Thus, an approval for polygamy and only a father’s parental authority existed in law. The “ie” system in Japan still regarded women as “borrowed wombs” and “obedient daughters-in-law” who were married off with the consent of the heads of the two households and not necessarily with their own consent (Yasutake, pp. 99). A wife who could not provide a male heir could be easily divorced and a husband’s extramarital relationships were legitimate means for securing a male child. In addition, it will appear that temperance of men and a neglect of wives continued to present problems in Meiji Japan. Thus, Japanese women continued to endure a feudal culture and inequality between the sexes as well as a traditional culture at home and at work. The Meiji family law continued to recognize clearly the authority of the household head and presented favoritism for the eldest son, with a marked subordination for females remaining rooted in Samurai traditions (Jansen pp. 533). A tendency for arranging marriages at an early age persisted, especially in the rural areas, but because of economic reasons, many rural women actually married late in life after having worked in a factory to save (Jansen pp. 551 – 560). In the rural areas, marriage was often restricted to the head of a household for reasons related to economics and continuity of the household. This meant that many other members of a household did not merry. Thus, it will appear that apart from societal, feudal and cultural influences as well as economic forces often acted to depress the emancipation, future and rights of women in the rural areas. Family limitation realized through sex selective infanticide aimed at males as well as females in the rural areas persisted in the early Meiji era (Jansen pp. 562 – 568). The practice of selling hapless daughters of impoverished peasants to brothels in major cities continued even in the Meiji era and the institution of “public brothel” survived till the end of the Second World War, with the number of such women being sold increasing due to poverty (Hane pp. 10). Winning the right of women to work in the medical profession was not an easy task, because the government did not grant licenses to women to work in the medical profession (Hane pp. 15 – 16). Pioneering women health workers, such as Takahashi Mizuko (1852-1927), had to commence their careers as midwives because of the previously mentioned restriction, it was only after Takahashi Mizuko, and others like her had submitted petitions to the government that a decision to recognize women doctors was taken. At first, the local medical school denied admission to Takahashi Mizuko. However, the president of the school relented when she placed herself in front of the gates of the school for three days and nights to see him to try to convince him to let her study medicine. She passed her medical licensing examination in 1887 and was amongst the first female doctors in Japan. Efforts to open preparatory medical schools for women met with stiff resistance because the government refused to recognize these schools. The government in Japan only recognized schools established by it. However, private medical schools were later recognized and by 1970, about 10% of the doctors and dentists in Japan were women, a higher proportion than in the United States. During the Meiji era, a number of women activists were involved in struggle for issues that ranged from communism, socialism to the struggle for farm tenancy reforms (Hane pp. 27).Arrest and detention was the fate of many. However, the decade of 1930 and the period before the war were the worst times because forces of nationalism and militarism struck the movement to improve the plight of women in Japan. During the previously mentioned times, all progressive movements were considered as unpatriotic. A requirement to support the war effort silenced many and others were in prison. Some women activists even joined patriotic women’s organizations to support the war effort. It was only after the war and the destruction that many women activists were to see the fruits of their labors realized. A few, like Kamichika Ichiko, a socialist were elected to the Diet and contributed to the enactment of laws against prostitution, while others like Raicho Hiratsuka were honored for their work for the uplift of the condition of women. Kanno Sugako was the first woman socialist of the Meiji era who was hanged for taking part in a plot to assassinate the emperor and her tale as well as the tales of others like her are presented in (Hane Chapters 1 – 7). Conclusion It is clear from the previous discussion that although remnants of the Tokugawa thinking and fundamental influences from old Japan continued into the Meiji period, processes of reform and efforts for change accelerated into the Meiji era. A certain movement towards the greater emancipation of women in the Japanese society of the Meiji era is apparent. However, a pronounced change was only possible after the war when Japan was to surrender. Despite the reforms of the Meiji era, exploitation based on class differences, economic poverty and the inequality of the sexes had continued in Japan. A country in an era that had seen poor peasants selling their daughters to brothels without state intervention could not be an egalitarian society. Thus, a combination of factors related to tradition, economic inequality and class differences had resulted in a certain rebellion amongst some quarters. Although the Meiji government did try to improve the situation, it could not radically alter the inequalities in the society or change the Japanese mentality. Only a major revolution after the war made it possible for further positive change to occur. (This page intentionally left blank) Bibliography/ References 1. Bernstein, Gail Lee. Recreating Japanese Women, 1600-1945. University of California Press, 1991. 2. Diggs, Nancy Brown. Steel Butterflies: Japanese Women and the American Experience. State University of New York Press, 1998. 3. 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Men, Women and Temperance in Meiji Japan: Engendering WCTU Activism from a Transnational Perspective. The Japanese Journal of American Studies, No. 17 (2006). March 10, 2009. http://wwwsoc.nii.ac.jp/jaas/periodicals/JJAS/PDF/2006/No.17-091.pdf Read More