Japanese Girls and Women in History - Book Report/Review Example

Japanese Girls and Women: A Review In the preface of the second edition of her book Japanese Girls and Women, Alice Mabel Bacon discusses her pleasure at having been able to visit Japan in order to create a sociological study of Japanese women within the domestic space. She expresses her belief that through her personal experiences she was able to more clearly discuss how the Japanese women functioned in the home. She clarifies her research, however, by suggesting that what she reports is clearly only what she has seen, not what she knows to be a fact. The work is only her observations and conclusions about what she sees, not a fully researched study that can be taken as factual for all women in Japan and as cultural accurate. As sources, she lists her friendship with several Japanese women, Miss Ume Tsuda who was a teacher in Tokyo who helped to revise the work, and influences from authors that she refers to only by their last names as Griffi who wrote Mikado’s Empire, and Rein, who wrote Japan. In the first preface that was written and included in this second edition, Bacon discusses why her gender is relevant to understanding the domestic life in Japan. The Japanese people are very polite and enclose their personal experiences within the home behind a veil of privacy. She believes that, even though a great number of men have written on the topic of the culture of Japan, as a woman she has a broader foundation for inserting herself into the domestic space in order to better understand her subject matter. In a time period where gender was highly relevant to the approach made upon life in the Western world, Bacon placed herself in a position to sociologically observe and report, a position that was primarily held by men. Being a woman has allowed her to create intimate friendships with Japanese women, and this along with research of other sociologically based writings, were the basis of her first edition. Gender, as it relates to inquiry, is of personal interest and provides a different vantage point when exploring other cultures. Bacon begins her discourse by starting at the birth of the Japanese female infant, comparing the experience of being an infant in Japan as no different as being in the West. She notes that the birth of boys is more important than that of girls as they carry on the heritage of their family. Using a great deal of details, she describes a ceremony that takes place on the 31st day after the baby is born called the miya mairi, in which the child is adorned in a finery made of silk or crepe and presented in the temple.i She will go twice more on the 15th of November, once at the age of three and once at the age of seven, in order to celebrate her movement into the next phase of her life.ii An interesting observation is made about the influences of the West on the Japanese culture of the time as baby carriages were being sold that had not been a part of Japanese culture before the influence of the West.iii In describing the female child’s greatest lesson in life before school, Bacon states “The child must sink herself entirely, must give up always to others, must never show any emotions except such as will be pleasing to those about her: this is the secret of true politeness, and must be mastered if the woman wishes to be well thought of and to lead a happy life”.iv She outlines the learning that the female child must undergo in order to present a well hosted home. Bacon continues forward discussing the various aspects of the life of a Japanese girl, noting that they were included in the education system during that period of time, where in previous eras they had not been. The one fault she finds with the education system is the literacy which requires so much education time to teach that it distracts from other pursuits. As Bacon continues to discuss the life of a girl, and then woman in Japan during the late 18th century, she goes through discussions on music education, which was almost exclusive to women, through the wedding of a Japanese woman as she is given an extensive dowry which included almost everything she would need for the first few months of her marriage, and then finally into a discussion of the duties of a wife, which are described as being in service to her husband. Bacon states that “Certainly a Japanese man is lucky in having all the little things in life attended to by his thoughtful wife, - a good, considerate, careful body servant, always on hand to bear for him the trifling worries and cares”.v The discussion of the experiences of Japanese women continues from marriage to divorce, through on until the discussion of old age is undertaken. Court life and life in the Castle and Yashiki is also discussed. Bacon begins to discuss the samurai class in Japan, which is the military class. She states that the samurai numbered over two million at the end of the feudal period, and the class evolved into a social force that was working on bringing the nation from the medieval influences towards a more modern society. The samurai inherit their class and profession, thus female children of samurai are more likely to marry samurai, and are trained in arts of war along with their brothers as they live within the fortresses. Bacon discusses the final battle of the Shogun in the city of Wakamatsu in which men and women fought together in the traditions of the samurai, their children “who were too young to understand the proper method of hara-kiri, kneeling calmly with bowed heads for the death-stroke from their father or brother in order to escape the disgrace of defeat”.vi In discussing the honor of the samurai class, Bacon has created a discourse on the nature of honor as a characteristic in the Japanese people. In discussing the important characteristics of women, Bacon reveals that the most protected attribute for a Japanese woman is chastity, and that rather than being honorable, the goal is to not be dishonored. This description, a woman of chastity who is not dishonored, is the description of a virtuous woman.vii A woman, as a girl, is taught to be obedient, loyal, skilled and emotionally controlled, but above all they are taught to be virtuous which is to hold their honor above all else. When dishonored, suicide is often the only path towards redemption. In the second edition, the chapter ‘Within the Home’ is added in order to give a larger understanding of the life of Japanese women. The home is a place of ritual where a series of ceremonies and superstitions are defined by long held beliefs that incorporate specific movements, foods, and decoration. The Japanese wife spends a great deal of energy on gift giving, accumulating the right gifts and in making sure that all events and moments are prepared for through appropriate gift giving. Bacon makes the act of gift giving an important part of the culture as it kept both intimates and those whose “enmity you dread, under a sense of obligation”.viii This connects to the importance of honor. Despite the intensions that Bacon sets forth for this chapter, it entails long and detailed descriptions of festivals, funerals, and the etiquette of women as they send gifts to the appropriate people who can service their household such as firemen and builders so that when she has a need, they will come promptly. During the course of the writing, Bacon never dishonors or criticizes the way in which women are taught or behave. She gives honor to the culture so that the reader feels admiration for her subjects. In discussing the forms of education, it is clear that the social skills were just as important as the academic skills, a true rounded education indicating the importance of socialization for the entire community. She liberally sprinkles in folk stories and traditional myths from which to give context to the way in which the culture is perceived. Through stories of historic importance, such as the story of Wakamatsu, the importance of cultural belief systems on behavior are explored. Although the female gender is not as important as the male gender, a point she makes clear, Bacon seems to admire them for their strength and the way in which they give over their own desires in order to submit themselves fully into their position in society. Endnotes Read More