WOMEN WRITERS IN
MEIJI PERIOD
Paving the way for Japanese women’s
rights revindication
Presented by
Ángela,
Haruka,
Vanessa
INDEX
1. Historical context
2. Higuchi Ichiyō
3. Yosano Akiko
4. Hiratsuka Raichō
5. Conclusion
THE MEIJI PERIOD
Meiji period: 1868–1912
End of the Tokugawa Shogunate(1868) and
restoration of power to the Emperor Meiji.
Abolition of the Feudal System
EMPEROR MEIJI
“...Meiji leaders launched programs of political consolidation, mass mobilization, ...that
began transforming Japan into an industrial society of the sort that western Europe
and North America were also in in process of becoming.”(Totman, 2014)
Pressure from Western powers, opening its borders after 200 years of isolation
Universal education was established: schools for girls in the 1870s -> First feminist
movement
COMMODORE
MATTHEW PERRY
HIGUCHI ICHIYŌ Profile:
Date: 2 May 1872 – 23 November 1896
Real name: Natsuko Higuchi
Birthplace: Kanda, tokyo
Japan's first professional woman writer of modern
literature
Wrote 21 short stories, poetry and a diary(nikki)
FUN FACT: SHE APPEARS IN
THE 5000 YEN BANKNOTE
GROWING UP UP (1895-1896) WORKS
Plot: group of children living in the
red-light district of Tokyo
Topic: transition from innocence to
the harsh realities of adulthood
Adressed issues: social class,
innocence, lack of freedom, struggles
of women in Meiji
TROUBLED WATERS (1895) WORKS
Plot: a courtesan becomes involved in
a tragic love affair
Topic: women in the pleasure
quarters, their limited options and the
sacrifices they make
Adressed issues: social class, lack of
freedom, struggles of women, love and
illusion
Profile
December 7, 1878 - May 29,
1942
Birthplace: Osaka
Occupation: Literary figure,
Female poet
Pen name: Housho（鳳晶） YOSANO AKIKO
“Tangled Hair (Midaregami)”, 1901
Her first poetry anthology
Collects 399 tanka
WORKS based on her romantic experiences
with her husband, Tekkan
Became one of the great origins of
modern tanka poetry
“Shin’yaku Genji monogatari”
Published in 4 volumes in 1912-13
“Shin Shin’yaku Genji monogatari”
was published in 6 volumes
in 1938-39
She also tackled with the translations
of other classic works (: monogatari,
nikki)
“Thou Shall not die” , 1904
Written for her brother at the
time of the Russo-Japanese War
Describes her view on war
= a pacifist
“A kind of mirror to reflect my
thoughts”
→ Being true to her immediate
feelings was her central tenet
(Introduction, 1991)
NOTABLE IMPACTS
ON SOCIETY
Broke the custom or opinion toward women, “good wife and
wise mother” by her literary skills and imagination.
→ Expressed her voice as a woman freely and fully from
her rich range of experiences and perceptions.
= Expanded the paths available to women
Contributed to not only Japanese poetry but also educational
philosophy and practice, contemporary thinking about the
family and women’s roles in society, literary scholarship, etc.
PROFILE
DOB AND D: FEBRUARY 10,
1886 - MAY 24, 1971
REAL NAME: HIRATSUKA
HARU(KO)
BIRTHPLACE: TOKYO
OCCUPATION: WRITER,
JOURNALIST AND SOCIAL
ACTIVIST
HIRATSUKA RAICHO
FUN FACT: GRADUATED WITH A HOME
ECONOMICS DEGREE AT JAPAN’S WOMEN
UNIVERSITY
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL WORK
DISCUSSES HER CHILDHOOD AND EARLY YOUTH
HOW SHE WENT FROM A DAUGHTER IN A UPPDER MIDDLE
CLASS FAMILY TO A PHILOSOPHICAL TRUTH SEEKING
TH ON AND N. NO LY
U
SIC W
G A DEN WA ERS S TR
FEMINIST
ILL HER, Y
KL
A
EC DEP ON, NTIC N W
O
."
CE
RE OON E M UTHE OMA
P
IAN
O T
W
N
AN
S T . AN ING,
BR
A
SH SUN EGINN
'S
T
THEMES OF SOCIETAL CODES, REBELLION AND
ER
A
O
TH HE B
TIN EN
NO
H
T
FEMINISM
"IN
E
,
EI
M
FL
AN ESSAY FEATURED ‘SEITO’ CRITICIZING THE MEIJI CIVIL
CODE
HER DISAPPROVAL WITH MARRIAGE AND WHAT IT HAD
BECOME
DISSATISFACTION WITH THE CIVIL CODE’S CONCEPT OF
FAMILY AND ITS SYSTEM
HER VIEW THAT WOMEN ARE TREATED NO DIFFERENT TO
MINORITIES AND DISABLED PEOPLE
FOUNDED THE ‘SEITO-SHA AND LAUNCHED THE FEMINIST MAGAZINE ‘SEITO’ (BLUESTOCKINGS) IN 1911.
FORMED THE ‘SHIN FUJIN KYOKAI’ WHICH HELPED IN THE WOMEN’S SUFFARAGE MOVEMENT IN 1920.
BECAME THE PRESIDENT OF THE NIHON FUJIN DANTAI RENGO-KAI AND VICE-PRESIDENT OF WOMEN'S
INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION.
HER LIFE WAS MADE INTO A DOCUMENTARY UNDER THE SAME TITLE AS HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY,
DIRECTED BY HANEDA SUMIKO, A PIONEER HERSELF.
CONCLUSION
Each woman has tackled the different topics of women’s roles in the Meiji period
through the different types of written work, showcasing their vast skills.
Higuchi - Social classes, courtesan work and lack of freedom during this period
through stories
Yosano - Freedom of speech, traditional family roles and philosophy through
poetry
Hiratsuka - Societal codes, Philosophy and gender roles through journal essays
REFERENCES
Albertson, N. (2014). Tangled “Kami”: Yosano Akiko’s Supernatural Symbolism. U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal, 47, 28–44.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/26401942
Copeland, R., & Ortabasi, M. (Eds.). (2006). The modern murasaki: Writing by women of meiji japan. Columbia University Press. https://ebookcentral-
proquest-com.ucc.idm.oclc.org/lib/uccie-ebooks/detail.action?docID=7104355
Introduction. (1991). The Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese, 25(1), 5–9. http://www.jstor.org/stable/488907
Manabe, M. (2016). From the Margins of Meiji Society: Space and Gender in Higuchi Ichiyō’s “Troubled Waters.” U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal, 49,
26–50. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26401935
Millett, C. M. (1998). Inverted Classical Allusions and Higuchi Ichiyō’s Literary Technique in Takekurabe. U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal. English
Supplement, 14, 3–26. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42772123
Rowley, G. G. (1991). Making a Living from Genji: Yosano Akiko and Her Work on The Tale of Genji. The Journal of the Association of Teachers of
Japanese, 25(1), 27–44. https://doi.org/10.2307/488909
Tanaka, H. (1956). Higuchi Ichiyō. Monumenta Nipponica, 12(3/4), 171–194. https://doi.org/10.2307/2382751
Totman, C. (2014). A history of japan : History of japan. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. https://ebookcentral-proquest-
com.ucc.idm.oclc.org/lib/uccie-ebooks/reader.action?docID=7104355&ppg=353
Nakajima, K. (2003). Hiratsuka Raicho: Pioneer of the Women’s Liberation Movement in Modern Japan. Journal of Japanese Trade & Industry, N/A,
38-41. https://www.jef.or.jp/journal/pdf/pioneers0307.pdf
National Diet Library. Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures: Hiratsuka Raicho [online] [cited 25 November 2024] Available from Internet:
URL: https://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/e/datas/380/
Tomida, H. (2022). The life and achievements of Hiratsuka Raicho-, a Japanese ‘new woman’. The Global Management of Nagano, 7, 1-21.
https://u-nagano.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/1411
Q&A
SESSION
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EVERYONE
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