View - ResearchGate
View - ResearchGate View - ResearchGate
Through Americanized Japanese Women’s Eyes: Tsuda Umeko and the Women’s Movement in Japan in the 1910s social reform by taking advantage of western ideology. Pointing out moral decline among men in the wake of the influx of liberal thoughts that accompanied modernization, she stated, “Is it not time for the women of Japan to arise and realize what their husbands and sons are doing?” (Tsuda, 1980, p. 24). She believed that Japanese women needed to act on their own initiative, to occupy a responsible position in society by means of social reform work, because “usefulness and responsibility” (Tsuda, 1980, p. 122) was the way to both exercise their agency in society and to find meaning in life. However, as the educators demonstrated, the government-assigned definition of gender roles was still largely taken as the norm, even among progressive educators and women activists of the era. Yet, such conservative definitions of women’s position in Japan in the 1910s contained ambiguities that impeded many women from identifying with such construction. As statements by Tsuda showed, the ideology confirmed national ties and pride among Japanese women, while still relegating women to a position “separate from” full public participation. In particular, bourgeois women, who were the focus of these politics, were left to a condition of mental backwardness, because, as Tsuda deplored, those women were “a mere ornament for the home, or playing for the men” (Tsuda, 1980, p. 22). The central problem posed by the ideology of womanhood was, as Tsuda noted, that “her identity was merged in that of father, husband, or some male relative” (Tsuda, 1980, p. 22). Bourgeois women located in this rigid patriarchy had no means to identify themselves other than via relationship with men. Consequently those women in the privileged class, who were prevented from full participation in society, and largely alienated from society and from women in other classes as well, were not able to overcome the double standards embedded in gendered policies to transform knowledge into social movement. The acceptance of linkage between women’s education and the promotion of social reform that supported a belief in social progress indicated Tsuda’s strong identification with Christian social activism and western ideology under the discourse of the civilization. These shared identifications were effective to facilitate dialogue between women in the east and the west, such as Tsuda Umeko and Carrie 232
Takeo Shibahara, Doshisha University, Japan Chapman Catt. Nevertheless, in the early 1910s, Tsuda did not support Catt’s suffrage cause. This refusal was because Tsuda judged it to be too early to promote suffrage as well as women’s rights movement in Japan. The gender code under Meiji patriarchy was sufficiently restrictive and influential that potential Japanese feminists, that is, women in a position to gain access to western, liberal ideologies, were themselves mentally and structurally confined to gender roles in their own class. References: An Editorial (1911, February 28). Yomiuri Shimbun. Defends Japanese Sisters: Miss Tsuda Says They Are Misrepresented— Here on a Visit (1913, July 7). The New York Times. Fujita Taki (1979). Waga Michi: Kokoro no Deai. Tokyo: Domesu Shuppan. Go Kajo no Go Seimon (Five Principles for the new government). Retrieved from http://www.jacar.go.jp/iwakura/sisetudan/main.html#d. Ishimoto, Shidzue (1938). Facing Two Ways: the Story of My Life. New York: Farrar & Rinehart. Reprinted in 1997. Tokyo Ozorasha. Kuroda, Kiyotaka. Kaitakushi Kengi Sho. Edited by Tsudajuku College. The Papers of Tsuda Umeko. Tokyo: Tsudajuku College, 1980, 81-83. Mackie, Vera (2003). Feminism in Modern Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Nishikawa, Fumiko (1984). Heimin Sha no Onna,: Nishikawa Fumiko Jiden. Edited by Amano Shigeru. Tokyo: Aoyama Kan. Nolte, Sharon H. and Sally Ann Hastings (1991). The Meiji State’s Policy Toward Women, 1890-1910. Gail Lee Bernstein ed. Recreating Japanese Women, 1600-1945. Berkley: University of California Press, 1991), 151-174. The Papers of Carrie Chapman Catt (1978). Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress. Microfilm, 1. Rose, Barbara (1992). Tsuda Umeko and Women’s Education in Japan. New Haven: Yale University Press. Sievers, L. Sharon (1983). Flowers in Salt: The Beginnings of Feminist Consciousness in Modern Japan. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Tsuda, Umeko (1980). Edited by Tsudajuku College. The Papers of Tsuda Umeko. Tokyo: Tsudajuku College. 233
- Page 88 and 89: The Eco-friendly Tharu Tribe: A Stu
- Page 90 and 91: The Eco-friendly Tharu Tribe: A Stu
- Page 92 and 93: The Eco-friendly Tharu Tribe: A Stu
- Page 94 and 95: Journal of Asia Pacific Studies ( 2
- Page 96 and 97: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 98 and 99: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 100 and 101: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 102 and 103: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 104 and 105: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 106 and 107: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 108 and 109: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 110 and 111: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 112 and 113: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 114 and 115: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 116 and 117: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 118 and 119: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 120 and 121: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 122 and 123: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 124 and 125: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 126 and 127: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 128 and 129: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 130 and 131: The Paradox Struggle Between Islami
- Page 132 and 133: Through Americanized Japanese Women
- Page 134 and 135: Through Americanized Japanese Women
- Page 136 and 137: Through Americanized Japanese Women
- Page 140: Through Americanized Japanese Women
- Page 143 and 144: Women and Work-Family Interface: In
- Page 145 and 146: Women and Work-Family Interface: In
- Page 147 and 148: Women and Work-Family Interface: In
- Page 149 and 150: Women and Work-Family Interface: In
- Page 151 and 152: Women and Work-Family Interface: In
- Page 153 and 154: Women and Work-Family Interface: In
- Page 155 and 156: Women and Work-Family Interface: In
- Page 157 and 158: Women and Work-Family Interface: In
- Page 159 and 160: Women and Work-Family Interface: In
- Page 161 and 162: Women and Work-Family Interface: In
- Page 163 and 164: Women and Work-Family Interface: In
- Page 165 and 166: Women and Work-Family Interface: In
- Page 167 and 168: Gulf States and the Conflict betwee
- Page 169 and 170: Gulf States and the Conflict betwee
- Page 171 and 172: Gulf States and the Conflict betwee
- Page 173 and 174: Gulf States and the Conflict betwee
- Page 175 and 176: Gulf States and the Conflict betwee
- Page 177 and 178: Gulf States and the Conflict betwee
- Page 179 and 180: Gulf States and the Conflict betwee
- Page 181 and 182: Gulf States and the Conflict betwee
- Page 183 and 184: Gulf States and the Conflict betwee
- Page 185 and 186: Gulf States and the Conflict betwee
- Page 187 and 188: Gulf States and the Conflict betwee
Takeo Shibahara, Doshisha University, Japan<br />
Chapman Catt. Nevertheless, in the early 1910s, Tsuda did<br />
not support Catt’s suffrage cause. This refusal was because<br />
Tsuda judged it to be too early to promote suffrage as well as<br />
women’s rights movement in Japan. The gender code under<br />
Meiji patriarchy was sufficiently restrictive and influential<br />
that potential Japanese feminists, that is, women in a<br />
position to gain access to western, liberal ideologies, were<br />
themselves mentally and structurally confined to gender<br />
roles in their own class.<br />
References:<br />
An Editorial (1911, February 28). Yomiuri Shimbun.<br />
Defends Japanese Sisters: Miss Tsuda Says They Are Misrepresented—<br />
Here on a Visit (1913, July 7). The New York Times.<br />
Fujita Taki (1979). Waga Michi: Kokoro no Deai. Tokyo: Domesu<br />
Shuppan.<br />
Go Kajo no Go Seimon (Five Principles for the new government).<br />
Retrieved from http://www.jacar.go.jp/iwakura/sisetudan/main.html#d.<br />
Ishimoto, Shidzue (1938). Facing Two Ways: the Story of My Life. New<br />
York: Farrar & Rinehart. Reprinted in 1997. Tokyo Ozorasha.<br />
Kuroda, Kiyotaka. Kaitakushi Kengi Sho. Edited by Tsudajuku College.<br />
The Papers of Tsuda Umeko. Tokyo: Tsudajuku College, 1980, 81-83.<br />
Mackie, Vera (2003). Feminism in Modern Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge<br />
University Press.<br />
Nishikawa, Fumiko (1984). Heimin Sha no Onna,: Nishikawa Fumiko<br />
Jiden. Edited by Amano Shigeru. Tokyo: Aoyama Kan.<br />
Nolte, Sharon H. and Sally Ann Hastings (1991). The Meiji State’s Policy<br />
Toward Women, 1890-1910. Gail Lee Bernstein ed. Recreating<br />
Japanese Women, 1600-1945. Berkley: University of California Press,<br />
1991), 151-174.<br />
The Papers of Carrie Chapman Catt (1978). Washington, D.C.: The<br />
Library of Congress. Microfilm, 1.<br />
Rose, Barbara (1992). Tsuda Umeko and Women’s Education in Japan.<br />
New Haven: Yale University Press.<br />
Sievers, L. Sharon (1983). Flowers in Salt: The Beginnings of Feminist<br />
Consciousness in Modern Japan. Stanford: Stanford University Press.<br />
Tsuda, Umeko (1980). Edited by Tsudajuku College. The Papers of Tsuda<br />
Umeko. Tokyo: Tsudajuku College.<br />
233
Change language