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As with nearly every culture on throughout history, women’s personal freedom and power has been restricted and regulated by men. ... Where the circumstances differ with Japan, is that due to the relatively late emergence of Japan as a nation upon to the world’s stage, the historic subjugation of women’s rights appears to be more pronounced, as those cultural practices and mechanisms that fashioned the status quo for Japanese women can still be seen to be a part of recent history. While Japanese women have made great strides moving up the social ladder, there is still a considerable gap between the freedom and power possessed by men, and that which is possessed by women. When the Meiji government removed the last vestiges of feudalism, and as such the legal status of the ruling elite classes, it in effect set about creating a new hierarchy where power and status was unfalteringly intertwined with the economics of capitalism. ...
Before examining the current trends and forces that govern the delineation of power between men and women, it is important to understand the cultural gendered constructs evident in Japanese history. The antecedents of these historical roots play a vital part in the socially constructed roles of women and men, and the resulting gendered division of labour and division of power. The origins of the socio-political and cultural forces that define the lack of status and power of women in contemporary Japan can be traced through historical record. There is much evidence that in early Japanese history, the status of women socially and politically, was regarded as higher (or at least differently) than in later periods. ... In Japan’s earliest cultural folklore, Amaterasu Omikami, (Great Heaven Shining Mother) the founding deity of Japan and mythological ancestor of all Japanese people, is portrayed as female (Hane 1988, 1-2). ... Semi mythological figures such as Queen Himoko (as mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text The History of Wei ) and the Empress Jingu, (possibly an amalgam of several female rulers) are unusually prominent in Early Japanese history and are well documented in Japans first official bodies of written history, Kojiki, Record of Ancient Matters (CE 710) and the Nihonji, Chronicle of Japan (CE 720). In all there have been eight women emperors, constituting a total of ten reigns recorded in Japanese history (Renshaw 1999, 61-62; Chamberlain 1882). ... It was not until the Kamakura period (1185 –1333) that the concept of salvation for both sexes was introduced by the ‘Pure Land’ sect (particularly the teachers Hônen, Shinran, Zonkaku and Rennyo) became canon in Japanese Buddhism (Bloom 1998). ... As the struggle for territory, resources and power amongst the daimyos (regional leaders of the samurai class) intensified; martial expertise and physical strength became the most valued ideals in Japanese society. ... A husband could also divorce his wife, whereas a wife had no power to seek divorce from her husband regardless of hardship or abuse that she may have had to endure from her husband or in-laws. ...
The arrival of Admiral Perry’s kurofune (black ships) and the subsequent Meiji restoration brought little relief for the lack of status of Japanese women. While Japanese society saw a rush to adopt western technology and select cultural concepts, traditional attitudes to the role of women remained unchanged. ... Other reformers such as Japan’s first minister for education, Mori Arinori (1847-89) and liberal reformist Ueki Emori (1857-92) also petitioned for increased freedom and rights for women. ...
In 1871 the Meiji government set about to draft a civil code by which to regulate society.
Approximate Word count = 2969
Approximate Pages = 11.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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