Women During Meiji Restoration

Woman in Japan During the Meiji Restoration

Throughout history women have been neglected and disregarded. Women have received less rights than men since the beginning of time. Women in Japan during the Meiji Restoration can atest to this unjust time for women. Proof of these unjustices against women are evident in a collection of primary sources found in Politics and Society in Japan’s Meiji Restoration brought together by Anne Walthal and M. William Steele. These primary sources contain the information needed to conclude how woman were truly treated and how they weren’t allowed to have a role in Japan’s government. Women really barely had any control over much in their lives, and this truly affected the dynamic of the soceity of Japan.

It is titled Women of Aizu, it was written in October of 1868. “Published in women’s journals at the end of the nineteeth century, these reminiscenes are from women who were in their teens or twenties in 1868.” (137) This is a basic summary of this source. The Aizu women’s dedication to the code of the warrior shows so much about japanese culture and the people’s thoughts during the Meiji Restoration. This quote is from Yamakawa Misako’s story. She is merely seventeen years old. She writes in her journal “ However I was allowed to do that because to put women into battle would have reflected badly on our lords name.” (139) This shows the dedication to the code of the warrior, and again a women’s place. The next passage is conclusive to the same idea. Its also shows how dedicated women were to this system they were forced into, they went along with what the men were saying, but were disregarding their importance to Japan and even the world around them. “ –and we meet our end in such a fashion, for a woman this would have been the most shameful disgrace.” (139) This sentence is so powerful to the true feelings of women in that time period. They tried to gain approval by following the code and bowing to men, but helping in anyway they could even if it was seen as a

It is part of the primary source Ordinances Issued by the Shogunate 1841-1842, which begins on page 43. The evidence from page 46 is vital to again showing the role of women was to do nothing and to keep their head down and obey man. This particular piece of evidence is from April 25th 1842: Directive to the Wards, “Men should teach men. Female instructors should not have male pupils, particularly those who wear swords. Even in the case of the townspeople, there have been directives in the past that practices taught by women to men are unnecessary.”(46) This is proof that men see women as not their equal and not knowledgeable enough to teach males. I feel like this is worth mentioning, because this really shows the brokeness of how people viewed women and why they had no control over what they could do with their own