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Women'S Education In The Tokugawa Society

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Women'S Education In The Tokugawa Society

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i
WOMEN'S EDUCATION IN THE TOKUGAWA SOCIETY
by
Chisato Shuyama
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(East Asian Languages and Cultures)
Copyright 1996
May 1996
Chisato Shuyama
UMI Numbert 1380486
UMI Microform 1380484
Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. A H rights reserved.
This microform edition Is protected against unauthorised
copying under Title 17, United States Code.
UMI
300 North Zccb Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY FARK
LOS ANOELSS. CALIFORNIA S0O67
This thesis, written by
CHISATO SHUYAMA
under the direction of h.SJ.....Thesis Committee,
and approved by att its members, has been pre *
tented to and accepted by the Dean of The
Graduate School, in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
O w
THESIS COM M ITTEE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
C hapici
I . INTRODUCTION................................................ 1
11 . PHILOSOPHICAL BACKGROUND (WOMEN’S
POSITION IN THE REALM OF TOKUGAWA
PHILOSOPHY)....................................................... 5
III. THE CONTENT OF JOKUN............................... 25
IV . EDUCATION IN TOKUGAWA.......................... 3 8
V . EDUCATION OF SAMURAI WOMEN............... 4 5
VI . EDUCATION OF PEASANT WOMEN............... 64
VII. EDUCATION OF MERCHANT AND ARTISAN
WOMEN.................................................................... 75
VIII. CONCLUSION...................................................... 92
BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................................... 100
ii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The Tokugawa era (1600-1868) was not the static feudal or
traditional period in Japanese history, that has been often described.
Rather, it was a time of active development which prepared Japan
for the following era of modernization. Therefore, many scholars
have studied various aspects of Tokugawa history of Japan, but, what
is neglected in their studies is the subject of the education of women.
Obviously, learning of whatever kind is of importance to any society.
What did women learn, and how did they leam?
Ieyasu, the first Shogun, set up a rigid and inflexible class
system as part of on attempt at total control of society in every part
of Japan. Within that system there were four major categories,
namely the samurai at the top, followed by the peasants, artisans,
and at the bottom, the merchants who finally gained control of the
system as money became of primary importance. Along with those
were the people who did not quite fit any category: the courtesans,
entertainers, priests, doctors, and diviners. Each group developed its
more or less distinct way of life and particular modes of thought and
1
action. Of course, no group was completely disassociated from
another group, but usually the lines were drawn and observed.
Within each group, there was also an accepted structure. The
father of the family was supreme, and his word was supposed to be
the law. The women of the family counted for only as much as the
father, and later the eldest son, permitted. Wives and daughters
acted as society demanded and as the men in the family ordered.
There seem to have been few attempts to revise the system. Of
course, it must be assumed that the lines of authority were not
always strictly enforced within the privacy of the family, and that
not every woman was forced to comply with the demands of societal
expectations.
It is true that educational opportunities for women were not as
extensive as those for men. The Tokugawa government required
educated men to keep the system running; there was no real demand
for educated women. Only within the family was there need for any
kind of learning other than the general training required for the
daily operation of the household. So practical training became the
primary education for women. Reading, writing, social skills, and
knowledge useful in the family occupation formed the rest of what
might be called the curriculum.
This study attempts to provide some answers to questions
2
about women*s education in Tokugawa Japan. First, there will be
some exploration of the philosophical background which controlled
much of the educational process, especially the influence of
Confucian and Nco-Confucian tenets accepted by the Japanese.
Second, there will be some consideration of the status of women
during the Tokugawa period, since status often controls opportunity.
Most of the study will explore the education of women in the
various strata of regulated society. Were there differences between
the women of the samurai,the farmers, and the merchants? What
did they learn? What of the women not formally included in one of
the accepted categories? Since their occupations and conditions of
life did not quite fit into usual society, there will be no consideration
of those women who were present in Japanese society but still
remained outside: courtesans, nuns, entertainers, diviners, outlaws.
Some may have been highly educated, and certainly trained in their
particular areas, but this study can only suggest that another
researcher explore that interesting field.
As for research material, it must be said that first-hand
accounts are limited. Material for this study comes from anything
that is available, some in Japanese, most of which has been
translated by the writer of this study, and accounts provided by
others. Occasionally diaries still exist which provide hints of what a
3
girl studied.
It is important to understand what happened in Japan during
the Tokugawa era. It was a period of military dictatorship; of an
attempt to bring foreign influence into a country which wanted to
remain isolated; of the introduction and violent rejection of a foreign
religion; of an explosion of art and literature; and finally, of a change
from an agrarian to a mercantile society, leading to the overthrow of
the Tokugawa shoguns, and the restoration of the Emperor. It can be
assumed that some of those changes were the result of education, of
the need to know, and the use of that knowledge to bring about
change.
A
CHAPTER II
PHILOSOPHICAL BACKGROUND (WOMEN’S POSITION IN THE REALM
OF TOKUGAWA PHILOSOPHY)
As a primary Tokugawa philosophical concept, the Confucian
emphasis on education indirectly fostered the expansion of general
and, particularly, women’s education. Throughout the Tokugawa
period, many Confucian intellectuals produced essays on the
importance of women’s education and commanded parents not to
neglect their daughters’ education.1 Despite the concern expressed,
women’s educational opportunities were not necessarily as extensive
as those for men. It was possible for women to learn at the
elementary level or to engage in practical studies (calligraphy,
sewing, home management, or arithmetic and so on) in their own
i Among the important works about women are: Nakae Toju
(1608*1648), K agam igusa (1648) and H arukaze (1644*1649);
Kumazawa Banzan (1619*1691), Jyoshikun (?); Yamaga Soko (1622-
1685), Sangagorui (1666), Bunkyoshogaku (1657); Nakamura Ryosai
(1629-1702), H im ekagam i (1662); Kibara Ekken (1660-1714),
W azokudoshikun (1711): Nonaka En (1660-1725), O boroyanotsuki
(?); Miura Baien(1723-1789), Teshima Toan (1718*1786), Zenkun
(1774); Matsudaira Sadanobu (1758-1829), 5/iufhfnroku(1782);
Yoshida Shoin (1830-1859), Bukyozenshokoroku (1862); Nakaizumi
Tetsutoshi, Nihon kinsei gakko ron no kenkyu (Tokyo: Kazama
shobo, 1976), p. 88-89.
houses as well as in terakoya (private temple schools) or private
schools. However, although there is evidence that some women had
relatively high levels of education (sometimes even higher than
men's), realistically, higher education for women was not
encouraged in the realm of Tokugawa society. In fact, all public
schools (government supported institutions) such as ryoko or hanko
were not open to women.2 And yet, even within the private
schools for higher education, such as the Kangaku school where
Chinese clasics were studied, women were refused entry. This is
because it was assumed that the basic purpose of women's education
was to indoctrinate and cultivate wifely or motherly virtues.
Only a select few women managed to combine exposure to
intellectual matters with training in home management, self-
discipline, courtesy or propriety, and the upbringing of children.
The Confucian idea of the role of women did not encourage broad
education, considering it a potential peril to society if women
pursued higher educations and thereby neglected their obligations
as wives or mothers.
Women needed to be indoctrinated to fix in their minds the
belief that the Confucian ideal woman should be passive, obedient,
* Further comment on this topic can be found in Umihara Toru,
Kinsel no gakko to kyoiku (Kyoto: Shimonkaku shuppan.1988),
p. 260.
6
chaste, and subordinate to men. Therefore, gender biases were a
part of curricular and school practice, and throughout the period,
male perspectives continued to dominate the school society.
Because of these conditions, some argue that women's position
in Tokugawa period was "low" or at a "nadir", and that the Tokugawa
was a "black age for women". Some hold those opinions to be
exaggerated. Which is true? I will examine how governmental
policy and its philosophy were reflected in the education of
Tokugawa women. I will explain something about what that
philosophy may have been and then attempt to establish the position
of women in the Tokugawa era, following which I wilt examine some
«
of the major sources of moral instructions which served as guides to
learning.
The Tokugawa government needed a secular ideology that
would buttress its own rule. What they sought was less peace of
mind than the peace of the nation, and it was natural that they
should turn to Confucianism for this, since it was par excellence the
philosophy which devoted itself to peace and order.
Historically, Japan adopted various religions and moral
traditions. Though different traditions were absorbed, the addition
of new ideas was not used to uproot existing value systems. Rather,
they were incorporated into an amalgam that itself might be termed
7
the Japanese religion. Shintoism and Buddhism, as they fused during
the seventh and eighth centuries in Japan, provided a religious base
for the nation and "a wcll-articutated view of man in the context of a
religious and ethical order of nature, a view worked out over many
centuries in Japan.**3
In Tokugawa ideology, Confucian concepts are interconnected
with non-Confucian concepts. Therefore, though the Tokugawa
society's mainstream ideology was derived from Confucianism and
N eo-C onfucianism ,4 one cannot understand the Tokugawa state
without considering other religious bases. In an effort to establish
women's secondary status, it could be said that "both Buddhism and
Confucianism gave strong spiritual and moral backing,"5 and that
"Buddhism still has many adherents in Japan and also usually
3 Robert Bellah. N, "Baigan and Sorai: Continuities and
Discontinuities in Gightcenth-Ccntury Japanese Thought." in Najita
Tetsuo and Irwin Scheiner, eds., Japanese Thought in the Tokugawa
Period (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978) p. 148.
« It did not, however, achieve the status of a state orthodoxy until
late in the period, and it had little influence on the structure of
political institutions, although it was patronized at government level
by the bakufu and by daimyo administration. Richard Bowning, and
Peter Komicki, eds., 7V ie Cambridge Encyclopedia o f Japan,
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993) p. 166.
• Koyama Takashi. The Changing Social Position o f Women in
Japan, (Switzerland: Unesco, 1961) p. 10.
8
maintains a secondary status for women.”6 Thus, claims were made
that there was both a religious and a philosophical base for woman's
inferiority to man.
What was the origin of the idea that a woman's position was
secondary? We can find two structures which categorize women's
position: one is in the "Five Relationships”, and the other is in the
hicrarchal system of the family or ie (household). The former is
derived from Neo-Confucianism and emphasized doing one's duty
according to one's place and "the need to maintain proper human
relationships in terms of the five basic relationships”, the five
relationships being lord/subject, father/son, husband/wife,
brother/younger brother, and friend/friend.7 Among them, a wife's
relationship to her husband was similar to the lord/subject basic
• Joyce Gelb and Marian Lief Palley eds., Women o f Japan and
Korea. Continuity and Change, (Philadelphia: Temple University
Press) p. 6.
7 Joy Paulson,"Evolution of the Feminine" in Women in Changing
Japan, edited by Joyce Lebra, Joy Paulson, and Elizabeth Powers
(Colorado: Westview Press, 1976) p. 10.
9
relatio n sh ip .8
The second governing principle was derived from
Confucianism. In the Tokugawa era, “in the family, the position of
kacho (head of the ie or family grouping) became predominant or
superior, with all the rights and privileges associated with the office,
and the shufu (wife) and all other members of the ie occupied
subordinate positions.**9 The treatment of women, in particular,
illustrated the authoritarian nature of both systems. A wife was to
be obedient to her husband and to serve without any doubts.
The subordinated position of women derived from four notions:
1. yin-yang theory, 2. sa n ju /sa n sh o 1 0 (three obediences), 3.
shichikyo (the seven reasons for divorcing a woman), and 4. gosho
(five obstacles). One and three arc derived from Confucianism; four
• In the Confucian views of the five human relationships, there is
no indication of a husband's authority over his wife. It is only stated
that "Between father and son there should be affection, between
ruler and minister there should be righteousness, between husband
and wife there should be attention to their separate functions,
between elder and younger brothers there should be order, and
between friends there should be good faith." (Han Young Woo, A
Study o f Social Thought in the Early Yt Dynasty, Seoul: Jisiksanob-sa,
1983) p.62-66 There is a statement about the different functions of
wife and husband, but no consideration of dominance or
subservenice.
• Koyama Takashi, The Changing Social Position o f women in Japan
(Switzerland, 1961) p. 10.
io Although the word uses the same Chinese characters (£ . tit, ), it
is called sanju in the Confucian context, and sansho in its Buddhism
context.
10
is derived from Buddhism; and two has its roots in both traditions.
In the moral instruction for women, usually two and three are
connected, and called sanju shichikyo. Similarly, two and four arc
also often connected and called goshoo sanshoo.
The Confucian image of women based on the theory of yin-
yang has exerted influence on the belief system in which men and
women are seen as having totally different roles and functions. A
central position of the I Ching (the Book of Changes) limited female
education to feminine virtues and domestic skills.
The philosophy of organism or life-ontology in
Confucianism is best represented in the
metaphysics of the I Ching, The original Confucian
concept of Heaven gives place to the idea of change.
But change is nothing but the continuous
production and generation of life. The process of
continuous generation of life is conceived in terms
of yin-yang metaphysics. Yin and yang arc
universally observed and experienced as qualities
of things and forces of happenings. They stand for
two aspects, two sides, and two polarities of reality.
Though yin and yang are two, they are
dynamically one-that is, they pull toward each
other and pull away from each other in different
cases. In fact, they are not to be conceived of in
separation from concrete things and processes. All
individual things are composed of yin and yang
forces, but their internal structure as well as their
relations to other things are determined by the yin-
yang distributions and their proportions therein.
Both the intra- and interrelations of things are
conceived to various forms or directions of change.
The totality of things forms the context in which
11
such change will take place. It is regarding the
determinants of change and their structure and
relationship to the other things in the fold of all
things that a thing finds its proper place in the
world. 1 1
Regardless of what may be the original idea offered by
Confucius or his followers, individual scholars have offered different
perspectives. Some argue for polarity so that, "According to this
theory, creation of the universe begins with the Great Ultimate,
which engenders the negative material force yin and the positive
force yang."12 And on the other hand, some scholars argue that yin
and yang are merely complementary, and that yin-yang theory
"plays neither positive nor negative philosophical role in the text."’3
Indeed, this theory may identify differing yin-yang functions, but
there can not be seen any indication of yin as infeior force, and yang
as superior force in the original theory. Therefore from the original
metaphysics, either women's inferior position nor men’s dominant
position over women can be proved.
n Chung-ying Cheng,New Dimensions o f Confucian and Neo-
Confucian Philosophy (New York: State University of New York,
1991) p.95.
it Con Chu Won. "Overcoming Confucian Barriers: Changing
Educational Opportunities for Women in Korea" in Joyce Gelb and
Marian Lief Palley, eds., Women o f Japan and Korea: Continuity and
Change, (Philadelphia: Temple University press) p. 207.
tsRobcrt Eno, The Confucian Creation o f Heaven, (New York: State
University of New York, 1990) p. 141.
12
However, the idea of the lowly woman based on the yin-yang
theory is seen in Tokugawa moral texts for women in as Onna kokyo
(Filial Piety for Women) or Shlnsen nyoi daigaku (New Great
Learning for Women) so that “as the distinction between men and
women is compared to that of heaven and earth, and yang and yin,
the men and women arc absolutely different. Therefore, no matter
where and under what circumstances, a woman should be
appreciative of m an's protection, and pleased to obey his
dom inance.“ ,4
Then how did the government justify the idea to fit their
purpose? They found a scholar by the name of Hayashi, Razan who
succeeded in adopting the yin-yang concept to justify one's inferior
or superior position. He linked the "Five relationships" with yin*
yang metaphysics. Maruyama sums up Razan’s understanding as
follows: “ 'the righteousness that governs the relationships between
the high and the low, and the ruler and the base,’ i.e., the ruler's
relation to his subjects, the father to his sons, and the husband’s
relation to his subjects, the father's to his sons, and the husband’s to
his wife, is justified by the authority that heaven exercises over the
earth, and yang over yin, i.e., by principles of the natural world
14 Umihara, Kinsei no gakko to kyoiku , (Kyoto: 1988), p. 248.
i* Maruyama, Studies in the Intellectual History o f Tokugawa
Japan. translated by Mikiso Hane, (Princeton: Princeton
U niversity.1989) p.196.
13
In other words, the husband and wife's relationship is described as
high and low, or as that of the noble to the subject. In the "Five
relations", as Hayashi also states, “When a man brings order into the
world outside his house, he behaves like heaven. He stands for yang.
When a woman keeps order in the house, she behaves like the earth.
She stands for yin,”1 6 He also divides a husband's and a wife's
functions, considering husband as outside and wife as inside.
Therefore by stressing the concept of yin and yang, Hayashi
succeeded in justifying women's inferiority to men and limiting their
freedom to deal with matters. In this way, women were confined
spatially to the home, and thus to the spheres of work, pleasure,
worship, or study.
Those ideas were reflected in the Onna Dalgaku :
She must look to her husband as her lord, and
must serve him with all worship and reverence, not
despising or thinking lightly of him. The great
lifelong duty of a woman is obedience. In her
dealings with her husband, both the expression of
her countenance and style of her address should be
courteous, humble, and conciliatory, never peevish
and intractable, never rude and arrogant**lhat
should be a woman first and chiefest care.1 7
The notion of sanju can be seen most often in Confucian and at
i« Maruyama, Studies in the Intellectual History o f Tokugawa
Japan. (Princeton, 1989) p. 196.
17 Paulson, Women in Changing Japan, (Colorado, 1976) p. 10.
14
times in Buddhist thought, and sansho can be seen in Buddhist
thought. Sanjyu/sansho are both translated to mean “three
obediences.” Women had to obey their fathers before their marriage,
their husbands upon their marriage, and their sons in widowhood.
This is related to the hierarchical system in the household. Since the
head of the household was always a man, women always had
someone to obey.
The Confucian context of sanju is derived from “the Confucian
dictum ‘Thrice Following* (sancong , often rendered ‘Three
Obediences') and represents an attempt to signify a woman by the
occupational ‘class' of the paterfamilias in each stage of her life cycle:
father, husband, son."1 8 The meaning of Thrice Following is
explicated in the Book o f Rites, part of the classical canon. According
to that:
‘T he woman foltows (and obeys) the man: in her
youth, she follows her father and elder brother;
when married, she follows her husband; when her
husband is dead, she foltows her son."1 9
As we can see, the Japanese version of sanju or "three
obediences" is very similar to the original idea, except that in her
« Dorothy Ko, Teachers o f the Inner Chambers : Women and
Culture in Seventeenth-Century China (Stanford: Stanford Univ.
press, 1994) p. 6.
i* Li Chi. Book o f Rites, vol. 1 translated by James Legge, (Oxford:
Oxford University press, 1885) p. 441.
15
youth rather than also obeying her elder brother as in the original
idea, a woman only obeys her father in her youth in the Japanese
version.
Moreover, a woman had to obey not only her husband but also
her parents-in-laws in her marriage. A&Onna Daigaku states:
While thou honorest thine own parents, think not
lightly of thy father-in-law! Never should a woman
fail, night and morning, to pay her respects to her
father-in-law and mother-in-law. Never should
she be remiss in performing any tasks they may
require of her. With all reverence must she cany
out, and never rebel against, her father-in-law and
mother-in-law, and abandon herself to their
direction. Even if thy father-in-law and mother-in-
law be pleased to hate and vilify thee, be not angry
with them, and murmur not. 20
Another concept, yongyo (four virtues), is connected with the
teaching of sanju. Yongyo is in the Onna Chuyo (Doctrine of the
Mean for Women), where the four are identified as: futoku
(womanly virtue), fugen (womanly speech), fuyo (womanly
deportment), fuko (womanly work).2 1 The ‘‘Four Virtues”, however,
originally derived from Confucianism, and are first mentioned in the
Book o f Rites** Among them, fu ko or womanly work is limited to a
woman's or wife's work on the domestic level, such as weaving,
to L. Crammer-Byng, and Dr. S. A. Kapadia eds., Women and
Wisdom o f Japan. (London: John Murray, 1914) pp. 37-38.
> i Umihara, Kinsei no gakko to kyoiku , (Kyoto, 1988) p. 248.
« Ko, Teachers o f the Inner Chambers, (Stanford, 1994) p.145.
16
sewing, needlework, or laundry.
In Buddhist thought, one can also find the notion of
sanju/sansho. According to Daijo bukkyo (Mahayana Buddhism)23
as recorded in the "D aichidoron"24 vol. 99 :
The rite of women is that in her youth, she follows
her father and mother; when married, she follows
her husband; and when she becomes old, she
follows her son.*’25
Some scholars argue that in Buddhism the notion of
sa n ju /sa n sh o was already fully formed by the time the patriarchal
system was established in India and China.26 The Confucian notion of
sanju and the Buddhist notion of sanju/sansho have very similar
meanings. However, since the origin of sanju has not been clarified,
it is not clear how the Buddhist notion of sanju/sansho and the
Confucian notion of sanju influenced each other, and which notion is
> 3 "Literally, the great vehicle (to enlightenment). One of the two
most fundamental schools of Buddhism. It was probably founded
after the Christian era, and its attitude is liberal in contrast to
Hinayana. Its scriptures were written in Sanskrit, Tibetan, and
Chinese. Hayashima Kyosei and ct. al eds. Japancse-Engllsh Buddhist
Dictionary (Tokyo: Daito shuppansha, 1965) p. 39.
t4 “Mahaprajnaparamitopadesa. A one hundred-fascicle
commentary on the Mahaprajnaparamita-sutra attributed to
Nagarjuna and translated by Kumarajiva. The first thirty-four
fasicles supply commentary on the introductory chapter of the
sutra.” Ibid, p. 37.
2i*Osumi Kazuo and Nishiguchi Junko eds., Shirilzu josei to bukkyo:
sukui to oshie, (Tokyo: Heibonsba, 1989) p. 14.
2 * Ibid., pp. 42-43.
17
the prior. It is clear that these two notions are related each other,
but the question of how needs further investigation and is beyond
the scope of this study.
Such concepts determined much of what was expected of the
idea of marriage. In the Tokugawa period, marriage was not to be
sealed by love or affection; rather marriages were arranged by
parents in the interest of the families concerned, especially among
samurai families. The prospective wife was expected to accept her
assigned place, whatever that might be, and to do all that was
expected of her without complaint. Whether she always complied
was, of course, a matter of personal power or charm. And, “while a
man was permitted to have many wives, a woman was allowed only
one husband in her lifetime."27 Although it may be assumed that
divorced or widowed women did not always live alone, a woman's
legal status was completely dependent on her husband during her
marriage. While she could be divorced by her husband if he or his
parents desired, women were not entitled to initiate divorce. No
legal proceedings were necessary beyond handing to a wife or her
parents a short notice of divorce** so short that it was known as
m lkudarbhan (three lines and a half.) So insecure was a woman’s
position in the family that “it was permissible for the husband to
«t Mikiso Hane, Premodern Japan: A Historical Survey (Colorado:
West view Press 1972) p. 154.
1B
declare as a proper ground for divorce that his wife was out of
harmony with his family’s customs.”28 "Out of harmony” is a phrase
vague enough to encompass anything imaginable, and so offered an
excuse for separation on the mere spur of the moment. Therefore, in
order not to be expelled from the home, a woman had to observe
proper decorum and etiquette, to do whatever was expected of her,
and continually to please or submit to the wishes of every male
member of the family.
Shichikyo (The seven reasons for divorcing a women), another
Confucian concept, likewise reveals discriminatory measures against
women. If a woman failed in her duty, her husband had the right to
dismiss her from his house. Many moral instruction text books
include the concept of shichikyo , and among them Onna Daigaku
states a key formulation of these ideas as follows:
There are seven faults, which are termed the
’Seven Reasons for Divorce’; (i) A woman shall be
divorced for disobedience to her father-in-law. (ii)
A woman shall be divorced if she fails to bear
children, the reason for this rule being that women
are sought in marriage for the purpose of giving
men posterity. A barren woman should, however,
be retained if her heart is virtuous and her conduct
correct and free from jealousy, in which case a child
of the same blood must be adopted; neither is there
any just cause for a man to divorce a barren wife, if
he has children by a concubine, (iii) Lewdness is a
h George Sansom, A History o f Japan 1615-1867. (Stanford:
Stanford University Press, 1963) p. 89.
19
reason for divorce, (iv) Jealousy is a reason for
divorce, (v) Leprosy, or any like foul disease, is a
reason for divorce, (vi) A woman shall be divorced
who, by talking over-much and prattling
disrespectfully, disturbs the harmony of kinsmen
and brings trouble on her household, (vii) A
woman shall be divorced who is addicted to
stealing. Alt the 'Seven Reasons for divorce* were
taught by the Sage.29
This concept had been introduced from China into the Japanese
legal codes more than a thousand years earlier, but at that time,
when the custom of uxorilocal marriage was still prevalent, the gap
between the Chinese notion and Japanese practice was great, and the
concept existed only as a formalistic premise. By the Tokugawa
period, however, the structure of the family had changed
substantially, and at this time these ideas, spreading widely and
sinking deeply into society, became a dominant factor in marital life.
» This translation of The Greater Learning fo r Women is taken
from that by B. H. Chamberlain in Things Japanese (London: John
Murray, 1905), pp. 503-504.
20
The source of "the seven reasons for divorcing a women"30 can
be found in the one of the classical Chinese didactic writings for
women, Nil xiaojing (The Book of Filial Piety for Women). The text
taught that "there is no greater sin than jealousy" and warned that
jealousy was the first of seven reasons for a divorce. 31
The Japanese belief is the same. The private relationship
between husband and wife is a matter of secondary consideration, if
it is considered at all. In a middle or upper-class samurai family,
"the wife’s function is to give birth to children, or as it was crudely
put, ‘the womb is a borrowed thing* (hara wa karimono)." 32 In other
words, a husband could have concubines (to have sons) in order to
a o The seven reasons for divorcing a wife were first listed in Ltena
zhuan (The Biographies of Exemplary women). Yamazaki Junichi.
Kyolku kara mita Chugoku joseishi shiryo no kenkyu (Tokyo: Meiji
Shoin, 1986) pp.364-5
Lienil zhuan (The Biographies of Exemplary women) was printed
by the Yu family of Fujian, probably during the Yuan dynasty
(1280-1368) as a didactic work intended for women. The text was
the classical textbook on exemplary women, good and bad, originally
written by Liu Xiang (79-8 B.C.). Ko, Teachers o f the Inner Chambers
(Stanford, 1994) p. 51.
Liu Xiang's Biographies o f Exemplary Women, the archetype of
didactic literature for women, includes tales of women who were
sagacious, wise, chaste, self-sacrifcing, and eloquent. All were
intended as contrasts to a group of femme fatales at the end of the
book.
silbid., p. 107.
» * George Sansom, A History o f Japan, 1615-1867, (Stanford:
Stanfrod University Press, 1958-1963) p. 90.
21
maintain the household from generation to generation, and the wife
was not to complain or to give any expression of resentment. It is
clear that the teaching, by pitting tire wife’s personal feelings
against the presence and importance of concubines, was intended to
serve the interests of the husband. Again, the wife submitted to
societal expectation. Shichlkyo was thus absorbed and understood
as women's destiny. The concept was found in the moral instructions
studied throughout the Tokugawa era.
Although Coufucian thought had a direct impact on the
Tokugawa moral instructions for women, Buddhism also helped to
build the idea of women's inferiority, The Buddhist notion of gosho
(the five obstacles for a woman) is found in Hokkekyo (the Lotus
Sutra) among other sources.
The original meaning of gosho is that a “woman can not become
a Mahabrahman (Bontenno), an Indra (Taishaku), Mara (Ma-o), and
Wheel-Rolling King (Tenrinno), or a Buddha."33 However, later in
Japan the original idea came to contain the notion that women
harbor sin from the very beginning of life and “a woman's only hope
for salvation is to be reborn as a man."34 It is a clear expression of
the inferiority of women to men. Probably the “five worst
u Hayashima and et al., Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary
(Tokyo, 1965) p. 88.
s« Paulson, Women in Changing Japan (Colorado, 1976) p. 9.
22
infirmilies” inOnna Daigaku arc also somehow related to gosho . The
writer states that the:
five worst infirmities that afflict the female are
indocility, discontent, slander, jealousy, and
silliness. Without any doubt, these five infirmities
arc found in seven or eight out of every ten
women, and it is from these that arises the
inferiority of women to men. 33
The idea of women's inferiority to men thus already existed in
the concept of Japanese Buddhist thought. Therefore, although
Confucianism expounded women's obedience to men, this was
already a well established and uncontrovcrsial sentiment. By the
eleventh century, the notion of gosho tended to be used with sa n ju ,
and was called gosho sanju, which is found not only in the sutras of
Buddhism, but also in literature of that time.36
Regardless of whether the original statement of women's
subordination is to be found in Chinese or Japanese religion and
philosophy, and their purposes in guiding public and private life, the
Tokugawa government adopted certain ideas, and then either
3* Crammcr-Byng and Dr. Kapadia, Women and Wisdom o f Japan
(London, 1914) pp. 44-45.
3* For example, Muryojukeishaku [One of the three sutras of Pure
Land teaching according to Honen. (1133-1212)], Hokedaimokusho
[written by the founder of the Nichircn Sect, Nichiren(1222-1282),
O tog/zojhi(the book of fairy tales), Soga monogatari{The Soga
Brothers)] and so on.
Nihon daijiten kanko kai ed., Nihonkokugojiten vol.8 (Tokyo:
Shogakkan, 1974) p. 168.
23
accepted or changed concepts to serve its own purpose, which was
to control society from top to bottom. Some ideas had already been
adopted before the rise of the first Tokugawa Shogun, again as an
expression of control from above. To continue the harmony in
Tokugawa society, the government mixed both new and old concepts
to justify its ideology and actions.
Among other demands was to be found this requirement for a
distinction between inner/outer or woman/man. A man and
woman's relationship was not only inner/outer, but also
superior/inferior. Ideal womanhood was humble, quiet, and
domestic. Supposedly the purpose of this subjugation of women was
the prevention of disorder, and though it was not fair, it was the
rule. In the next chapter, I will exomine Japanese moral instructions
for women in the Tokugawa period and the textbooks which later
formed the basis for women's education.
24
CHAPTER III
THE CONTENT OVJOKUN
Throughout the Tokugawa period a number of texts were
distributed throughout the country and provided a means to assure a
sense of sameness to many elements of women's education at time
when such education was not standardized by content or purpose.
As part of the educational process, as well as throughout their lives,
educated women of both samurai and commoner background, which
included peasants, merchants, and artisans, often read the same
books and so were exposed to the same teachings. The idea
contained in eighteenth and ninetccnth-ccntury Jo ku n, those moral
guides for girls and women, often relied on a Japanese version of
Nco-Confucian ethical principles, as welt as those strictures imposed
by the government as part of its plan for control of society.
Although some historians criticize jokun for what they contain, since
they conflict with much modem thinking about the rights and
position of women at home and in general society, the very existence
of those texts and the many editions of each published through the
years offer evidence for a considerable breadth and depth of
25
Tokugawa educational traditions for women. In the minds of many
critics, assessment of the content of jo k u n has contributed to a
negative image of both the status of Tokugawa women and the
purpose and variety of their educational opportunity. Too often
those books arc considered more propaganda than enlightenment.
Yet jokun was only one of several categories of books
published for its specific audience. Along with jo ku n there were
others, more wide-ranging in approach, often cataloged as joshl yo
oraim ono. These joshi yo oraimono, or instructional writings for
w om en, probably began as guides for the nobility in the late Nara
period (710-784) and continued in use primarily as a privilege of the
court until the rise of the military class in twelfth century. Initially,
the instruction was in music, poetry, and calligraphy, all of which
played a prominent part in the life of the Emperor and those who
surrounded him and which remain to this day a symbol of culture
and achievement. With the rise of the military class education
expanded to include the samurai families, both as a result of a need
for communication and a desire to emulate their superiors at court.
Whether women of the lower classes were given any opportunities
for formal instruction in areas other than those required for daily
life is a matter for speculation. It is possible, through perhaps not
provable,
26
Examination of extant material, whether original or preserved
within other books, from the eighth through the fifteenth centuries
reveals that the main intent was to offer instruction in music, poetry,
and calligraphy as proper subjects for women. Additionally, there
was offered practice in the customs and social graces that nobility
and samurai were expected to acquire prior to marriage or
appearance at both formal and informal occasions. Women learned
etiquette, the cultivation of beauty of face and form, and the
discipline of maintaining proper facial and bodily expression at all
times. There are so many stories about a wife's refusal to vary the
expression on her face even slightly when watching the execution of
husband or son that there must have been a strong emphasis on a
particular form of action for each occasion. That was part of the
behavior to be learned. In addition, young women and girls learned
such practical arts as weaving, textile dyeing, and embroidery, as
well as others which might be useful to a daughter or wife, since it
appears that the primary goal of education was to prepare for
marriage and life in the household of a particular class.
Later, perhaps beginning in the fourteenth century, Buddhist
and Confucian thought began to influence women's education and
brought more changes to the content concerning proper thought and
behavior. New concepts brought changes, and the number, variety,
27
and scope of texts multiplied, indicating a continuing expansion of
the horizons of education within the confines of the court and the
military, and the possible expansion to include the commoner class.
The number of Joshi yo oraimono grew as the years passed.
One recognized expert, Ishikawa Ken, has catalogcdl 109 volumes.
He divides them into four categories based on content: moral guides,
letter-writing manuals, almanacs, and basic academic primers on a
single subject such as arithmetic.37 Another modem scholar,
Ishikawa Matsutaro, suggests a different scheme based on setting up
three classifications: one that centers on stressing the importance of
learning and using social graces expected from a woman in her place
in society, whatever level that might be; another that centers on the
social graces expected from a woman in her place in society,
whatever level that might be; and a third that centers on (he
indoctrination of moral principles. Whatever the division, those
tracts designed to teach social graces possess the longest history.
Many included excerpts from the Tale o f Genji, possibly as a guide to
the legendary life of those in the highest rung of society. Along with
the Tale o f Genji there was often found poetry from standard
ar Ishikawa Ken, Joshi yo oraimono bunken mokuroku. (Tokyo:
,1960)pp. 6-13.
28
collections such as the Kokinshu** (Collection of Ancient and Modem
Poetry).39 These offered proper topics of conversation as well as
displays of learning.
Another modem author, Yokoya Fuyuhiko, provides as an
example of joshi yo oraimono a work called Onna Chohokt, dating
from about 1692 and listing three publishers: Yorozuya Kiyobet in
Edo, Itamiya Tarobei in Osaka, and Yoshinoya Jirobei in Kyoto. There
is no reason given for those three to collaborate. The work is in
three volumes with the contents of each listed as follows:
Vol. 1: moral instructions
expansions of women's social status
maintenance for beauty (make-up and womanly speech)
Vol. 2: etiquette and ceremony of marriage
Vol. 3: child delivery
child rearing
Vol. 4: calligraphy, writing for women
medicine for women's diseases
knowledge of koto, songs and incense
Vol. 5: vocabulary for cloth, texture, dyeing, as
» K okinshu was complied by Ki-no-Tsurayuki and three other
poets in the beginning of the tenth century. It included eleven
hundred poems from the time of the M anyoshu (an anthology
completed in the eighth century on). In its preface Ki-no-Tsurayuki
wrote: "The poetry of Japan has its roots in the human heart and
flourishes in the countless leaves of words." Mikiso Han, Premodern
Japan: A Historical Survey, p. 49.
a* Ishikawa Matsutaro ed., Nihon kyokasho taikel oraihen. Vol. 15,
Joshi yo, (Tokyo, 1973), pp. 11-18.
29
well as the Tale o f Genji table of contents40
Also included among the moral texts were Chinese sources:
Confucian classics, moralistic biographies, and anecdotes. Some of
these were used in the original Chinese language; other retained the
Chinese characters but were read in Japanese; and yet others,
especially those intended for women, were translated into the
simplified characters of Japanese kana. Whatever seemed useful
became part of the process.
The term “ jo ku n " is perhaps not specific. Usually, however, it
may be thought to contain at least four elements. First, there are
fictional biographies of ideal women, intended to teach what is
expected for all women, as well as other writings concerned with
expounding the varieties of women's virtues. Second, there is a
presentation of Confucian ethics, as interpreted by Tokugawa
authorities, reinforcing the idea of woman as subordinate to man.
Third, there is an acknowledgement that women are also to observe
the customs acceptable to their age and status. Finally,there is a
suggestion that study of the tracts will lead a woman to the desired
virtues and to conformity with her place in society.
In the categories for jokun can be found those emphasizing
40 Yokota Fuyuhiko, “Onna daigaku saiko” in Gender and Japanese
H istory, vol. 2, edited by Wakita Haruko and Susan B. Hanley ,
(Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1995) p. 367.
30
filial piety, or deference to the father and the elders, which was so
much a part of Chinese and Japanese society. Another could be
regarded broadly as “moral instruction/' which was really a series of
rules and suggestions for a woman's conduct of affairs among various
sexes, ranks, and family positions. There were also versions which
served as textbooks for schools and tutors, differing little or not all
from others read by women, and used to practice reading and
w riting.4 1
Joshikun, written by Kumazawa Banzan in 1691 and one of the
earliest moral instruction textbooks for women, was adapted from
the Chinese Confucian Book o f Songs. In using the book as the basis
for jokun the writer kept the kanbun (Chinese characters) basis for
jo k u n and did not convert the contents into the Japanese kana
syllabary. However, realizing that Chinese characters would present
problems for much of his intended audience, he added explanations
in kana to guide readers to an understanding of the contents.
Another Chinese work, The Four Books fo r Women, was
converted into a Japanese version called Onna Shlsho. This included
sections called Onna tmashime (Moral teaching for women), Onna
Rongo (Analects for women), Naikun (Precepts for women), and Onna
41 This idea is based on Kakehi Kumiko's article in Joseishi sogo
kenkyukai cd„ Nihon joseishi vol. 3, (Tokyo; Tokyo Daigaku
Shuppankai, 1982) pp. 310-312.
31
Kokyo (Book of Filial Piety for women) . 4 2 The textbook emphasizes
man’s superiority over women and expounds the virtue of woman as
wife and mother.4 3 Kana Retsujoden (1663) written by Kurosawa
Hirotada, and Honcho Onna Kagami (1661) written by Asano Ryoi arc
biographies of ideal women who followed the Confucian path.
In addition to the straightforward adaptation of Chinese
classics, other works of moral instruction included elements of
Buddhist thought, the authors* perspectives on education, and other
opinions. Significant works among these arc Jokunsho t4 4 written in
1642, which reflects Buddhist thought, and K agam igusa, written by
Nakac Toju in 1647, which contains the author’s views on the
importance of home education for women. Other examples include
Onna Shikimoku (1649), and Jokunshu (1646), and Onna Kagami
(1649).45 However, these early moral-instruction textbooks for
women were not commonty used, since the contents required broad
knowledge and were too long for easy reading.
4* The original Chinese version of The Four Books fo r Women
includes the Nu fan (Female Exemplars) instead of the Book of filial
piety for women. Kakehi, Nihon joseishi (Tokyo, 1990) p. 310.
43 Ishikawa Matsutaro, Ibid,, p. 300.
44 Based on H okekyo (Lotus Sutra), the idea is conveyed that a
woman has to exert herself to follow the correct path in order to
expiate her sin. Umihara, Klsnsei no gakko to kyolku (Kyoto, 1988)
p .247.
4t Ishikawa Matsutaro, Onna Daigaku shut (Tokyo, 1977) pp. 300-1
32
As time passed, however, jokun or moral-instruction books
changed, both in content and in appearance. Especially with the rise
of the merchant class and a dilution of the power of the
samurai,there was a tendency to modify some of the moral
instruction and to begin a gradual movement toward what might be
considered an educational approach which stressed reading, writing,
and practical management in daily life. Books were often simplified
both in thought and in length, and also in complexity of sentences.
Along with the general emphasis on what could be considered moral
instruction, there were often books or parts of other books which
stressed the practical aspects of life for women.
A characteristic jokun, Onna Imagawa46 (published in 1695)
lists twenty-three prohibitions for women, such as: Do not belittle
your husband; do not neglect parenls-in laws; and do not make
pilgrimages to shrines and temples. Each of those statements only
contains fifteen to twenty-five characters. Since the sentences were
short, even small children understood the words and more readily
absorbed the message than would be the case with the complex
material written in earlier Tokugawa times. This tendency to
4* "Onna Imagawa was modeled after the Admonitions o f Imagawa
(Imagawa jo ), instructions written by the Muromachi warrior and
poet Imagawa Roshun upon adopting his younger brother as his
heir," Yam aka w a Kikue, Women o f the Mito Domain, (Tokyo:
University of Tokyo, 1992) p. 25.
33
simplify style can be seen in the other jo ku n . Onna Jitsugokyo
contains a short 47 provisions, and Onna Dojikyo consists of 128
short provisions.
Among the texts directed at women’s moral and ethical
training, the early Tokugawa jokun present a straightforward
adaptation of Chinese Confucian philosophy, among which those from
the late seventeenth century emphasize the importance of ethical
and moral teachings to women’s education as preparation to be
domestic managers after marriage. For the whole of the Tokugawa
period, Ishikawa Ken catalogs 377 texts that he classifies as jokun or
moral texts. Altogether, between 1789 and 1868, publishers issued
178 volumes on geography while publishing only 165 moral texts.47
Meanwhile another category of text from the mid-seventeenth
century until 1868, but especially common from the beginning of the
nineteenth century, was written for women and gradually expanded
and appealed to a wider audience. For example, the earliest guides
to letter writing were limited to examples for formal correspondence,
while later guides contained information on daily note writing and
more popular epistolary forms, indicating an expansion of literacy
into daily life. Them is the evidence that joshi yo oraimono and
jokun were sold more during that time than bestseller novels of
*i Ishikawa Matsutaro, Joshi yo, (Tokyo, 1973) p. 46.
34
writers like Saikaku.4® Therefore, it was necessary for the
booksellers to change the appearance and content of women’s books
to present more attractive works in order to find more women
consumers. Gradually, when publishers republished the jo ku n or
joshi yo oraimono, they inserted more illustrations and variety of
content in those books, and the context or moral instructions was
shortened to a more reasonable reading length.
As stated above, as time passed, both joshi yo oraimono and
jo ku n expanded their content so that gradually the books exceeded
the original category of oraimono ot jo ku n . Later still, they changed
again to the new type of book which contained, along with the
general emphasis on what could be considered moral, other sections
which stressed the practical aspects of life. This new genre grew in
importance in the Tokugawa era. For much of the Tokugawa period,
this new type of book dominated textbook publishing aimed at
women, and it may be regarded as the predecessor of the modern
textbook for women.
One of the major examples of the new type of book which
4* Ihara Saikaku's Life o f An Amorous Man (Koshoku ichldai
otoko), captured the interest of a receptive reading public while
opening up an entirely new concept of fiction, and its “first printing
of some 1,000 copies sold out almost immediately." Peter Nosco,
Remembering Paradise: Nativism and Nostalgia in Eighteenth-
century Japan, ( Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University,
1990) p. 27.
35
4
contained both old and new material was the Onna Daigaku
Takarabako. The original of Onna Daigaku Takarabako, published in
about 1716 by Yorozuya Kiyobci of Edo, Itanya Tarobeimon from
Osaka, and Yoshinoya Jirobci in Kyoto, continued as a model
throughout the Tokugawa period. It was perhaps used as much as a
textbook for learning to read and write as it was to provide moral
guidance to women. The practical task of learning calligraphy could
thus be combined with indoctrination into the proper way of
thinking and living. Perhaps the most famous jokun, the Onna
D aigaku49 was originally a separate portion within this text.
The function of Onna Daigaku Takarabako is instruction in
reading and hand writing (calligraphy), as well as in moral behavior.
It contains many illustrations and pictures. One version of Onna
Daigaku Takarabako contains 135 pages, with material covering four
major areas:
1. Moral instructions (Jingireichishin, Onna Daigaku
and so on.) . . . 49% (66 pages).
o According to Ishikawa Matsutaro*s research, Onna Daigaku was
published as a text book for calligraphy and reading by
Kashiwabaraya Kiyoemon. Between 1714 to 1729 and until the end
of Edo period it was republished several times. Kokushi daijiten
Henshu iinkai eds, Kokushi daijiten vol. 2 (Tokyo: Yoshikawa kobun
kan, 1972), p. 986-87.
36
2. Literary arts (excerpts from the Tale o f Genji,
selection of poems of Hyakunin isshu and so on) . . . 20% (27
pages).30
3. General knowledge useful in the daily life of
ordinary women (the management of countenance,
first*aid medicines for children, child rearing, and so on)
. . . 6% (8 pages).
4. Explanations and pictures of thirty different forms
of women's labor and occupations, including
farmers, artisans, and merchants,
courtesans). . . 24% (33 pages).
5. Other material. . . 1%3 1
•o "Hyakunin isshu, or One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets
is a widely known early Kamakura compilation of poems. The poems
were made the basis of a game of matching cards, greatly increasing
general familiarity with them." Yamakawa, Women o f the Mito
Domain (Tokyo, 1992) p. 25.
•i Yokota, Gender and Japanese History (Tokyo, 1995) p. 365.
37
CHAPTER IV
EDUCATION IN TOKUGAWA
During the Tokugawa period, four major types of school
emerged, all (caching a Confucian curriculum:
1. The official leadership schools headed by the
Shohciko, the Confucian college established in 1630
in Edo for the Shogun's relatives and retainers, and
including 277 clan schools (hanko) modeled after
the Shohciko in most feudal domains.
, 2, Some 400 "local schools" (gogaku) scattered in
the larger towns of the domains, often as branches
of the clan schools.
3. Private academics (shijuku), numbering by the
lime of the Restoration approximately 1,100 and
organized by a distinguished scholar for instructing
a few able disciples, both samurai and commoners.
4. Temple schools (terakoya) some 12,000 small,
private elementary schools for the practical
training of children of commoners.32
However, only the last two types of schools, shijuku (private
academy) and terakoya (temple school) provided instruction to
women.
it Ronald Anderson, Education in Japan: A Century o f Modern
D evelopment, (Washington, DC: HEW, US Government Printing office,
1975) p. 15. The numbers of the shijuku and terakoya are based on
Umihara, Kinsei no gakko to kyoiku (Kyoto, 1988) p. 296.
38
There were no restrictions on being admitted to a shijuku
based on sex. Usually anyone who completed elementary education
in a terakoya (which I will discuss later) was eligible to attend a
shijuku. Nevertheless, since the content of the curriculum was quite
advanced, not many women were eager to attend shijuku. In fact,
among the 123 shijuku within the city of Edo, only 48 women's
shijuku existed, and the average enrollment of those women's
shijuku was 27.7 people, with a total number of 1329 females. This
is only 8.3% of the men's enrollment of shijuku within the city of
Edo.53
There were variations in organization, curriculum, and course
of study in shijuku. The majority of the women attended shijuku in
which they could learn advanced calligraphy and drawing. Among
shijukut however, fCangaku (Chinese classics) schools were not
popular with female students. In numerical terms, among the
students who attended shijuku in Edo, the total female enrollment of
the artistic shijuku versus total female enrollment of the K angaku
school was 46.2% versus 9.8 %.54
Although there were no restrictions to enter shijuku based on
sex, men and women students usually used different textbooks.
Basically, women were taught Confucian virtues for women and
ki Umihara, Kinsei no gakko to kyoiku (Kyoto, 1988)p. 269.
Ibid, p. 269.
39
elementary- level Chinese classics. Generally, male teachers taught
both men and women students. However, there were some female
teachers who specifically taught female students. The number of
female instructors was 3.2% (8 people) of all shijuku teachers in
Edo.23 Both male and female teachers were highly educated. The
average female teacher’s length of education was approximately 10.8
years. The majority of those female teachers in Edo were samurai
i
wives and doctors* wives.36 One can also see the same phenomenon
in countryside shijuku. Women’s attendance at shijuku in the
countryside was lower than men’s. In the Choshu han (Yamaguchi
prefecture), for instance, among the total number of shijuku (106
schools), female students were found in only 35 schools, and their
percentage was 13.9% of all enrollment in shijuku in Choshu.37 In
addition, compared with the total enrollment of city women, the
women's enrollment in the countryside was about half that of the
city ’s38 and sometimes even less.
Another kind of teaching facility was the terakoya.
A terakoya was a completely voluntary organization, unregulated by
the government. There were variations in organization, curriculum,
* » Ibid, p. 272.
u Ibid, pp. 282-283.
ir Ibid, p. 272.
saThis example is Choshu han's case. Ibid, p. 272.
40
and course of study, but they followed a general pattern. Usually the
child first entered a terakoya at the age of 6 or 7 and continued his
or her education until 10 to 13. Teaching was based on individual
tutoring, concentrating on reading and writing (calligraphy), learning
syllabaries, and calculation (using the abacus), with the addition of
sewing for girls. Boys and girls shared the same classroom if the
number of the girl students was small, although Confucius had taught
that male and female had to be separate. Both were taught the
same basic skills, although some textbooks were different. Women
were provided as subjects for girl's textbooks in order to build
female virtue and feminine attitudes,59 Reading and writing for both
sexes, however, went beyond mere rudimentary levels. In the
process of learning these skills, children studied what arc now called
social studies, vocational arts, and moral values based on Confucian
virtues, which in turn provided them with the knowledge and skills
they needed for future jobs and more immediately for
apprenticeship in useful areas, Terakoya teachers included Buddhist
and Shinto priests, doctors, samurai, dispossessed samurai (ronin),
commoners (wealthy retired farmers, artisans, merchants), and
some women.
(•Examples of the textbooks for women are listed as Onna
imagawa, Onna Daigaku, Onna shogaku (which were used at some
terakoya in Niigata prefecture). Karasawa Tomitaro, Kyokasho no
rekishi , p. 35.
41
The number of children in a terakoya ranged in general
between 20 and 50. But in the large cities, such as Edo, Osaka and
Kyoto, some had more than 100 children, and at least five schools
had more than 300. 60 Women’s enrollment was 148,138, or about
20% of all students enrolled in terakoya. However in Edo or Osaka, in
some terakoya women's enrollment exceeded men’s enrollment. For
example, there were 488 terakoya in Edo, and among them, women
attended (with at least one student in the school) 484 terakoya.
Moreover, in 144 terakoya, women’s enrollment exceeded that of
men. In Edo particularly, women's enrollment was 45.2% of the total
enrollm ent.6 1
In the cities and towns, a large number of merchants resided.
Merchants needed women’s labor, especially owners of small
businesses. Therefore, some women were expected to receive
education in reading, writing, and arithmetic in order to provide
support for their future husband's family business. For women,
elementary education was training for married life.
In the case of shijuku and terakoya, there were regional
differences in numbers of schools as well as the contents of the
educational material. Big cities had many more schools than the
countryside, and in many cases, schools in various areas provided
•oKobayashi Tetsuya, Society, Schools and Progress in Japan, p. 17.
•1 Ishikawa Ken, Nihon shorn In kyoikushi, p. 294.
42
different textbooks in order to meet student needs. "There were
different textbooks for children destined for different occupations-
farmcrs, shop keepers, traders. These texts were often ostensibly in
the form of letters on different subjects, written in such a way as to
hang a large vocabulary on a slender storyline."62
Tuition varied according to location and other conditions. This
was only to be expected given the different kinds of support
required for teachers to make a living in the two environments.
Rural communities could provide housing and produce for meals out
of local community resources, while city dwellers themselves were
involved in a more heavily cash-dependent economy and so paid for
schooling for their children in cash also.
Those were not the only sources from which women could
learn. Some were provided education at home, and some could
continue to study through a form of correspondence education by
exchanging letters with shijuku teachers. "The offspring of the
wealthiest — the daimyo, high-ranking samurai, aristocrats, and
prosperous merchants — were usually taught to read by private
tutors, such training beginning at about age 6. Those from slightly
more humble circumstances generally were taught to read within the
home and received instruction from women, most often their
•i Estelle James and Gail Benjamin, eds., Public Policy and Private
Education in Japan, (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1988) p. 10.
43
mothers or close female relatives.**65
There were regional and social status differences among the
various kinds of women’s education, and even within the same social
status, education differed based on students' financial status or
necessity to participate in the labor force. Differences can also be
seen between the early Tokugawa and late Tokugawa. There were
growing differences, usually based on the social status of the student,
in the teaching of moral instruction, reading and writing, etiquette,
and practical learning.
Original sources arc limited, and therefore any investigation of
educational activities for various levels of the social structure of the
Tokugawa era contains both fact and conjecture. Certainly it may be
expected that the samurai received a broad range of teaching which
suited their station, and the merchants and others may have
included some of the same education but may also have received
training useful to their occupation and expectation. These
differences are examined in the following three chapters.
uN osco, Remembering Paradise, (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1990)
p. 25.
44
CHAPTER V
EDUCATION OF SAMURAI WOMEN
The samurai arc usually thought of as the military men of
Japan, warriors who spent their time fighting or enforcing the law.
In reality there were many levels of samurai, some of very high
rank who ruled from castles, and some who held the classification
but no longer either acted as traditional fighters or possessed
political power. Then, too, as is true in all societies, there were those
who zealously pursued the occupation of samurai, and those who
enjoyed the status but shunned the action. As always there is a wide
variety in the status and activities of those who regarded themselves
as members of a special class.
Although there could not be a specific course of education
which might be called “education for samurai wom en/' there were
perhaps certain expectations for most women and approved subjects
for study for many others. Of first importance was moral education,
or the learning of ways of thinking and action expected from a
samurai woman. As women in a controlled society, they had to be
trained to follow goals set by the government and the expectations of
45
their class. What might be proper for a farmer would often be
unacceptable for a member of a samurai family. It can be said that
the aim of emphasis on proper moral attitudes “is a natural
consequence of the inherited, of the kind of society they lived in, and
of the role which their patrons expected them to play in it/’ 64
The primary aim of education was to indoctrinate girls into
ways of thinking and action expected from one of their rank, and to
cultivate wifely virtues by presenting the exemplars of virtuous
Confucian women, although those virtuous Confucian women might
be artificial creatures who existed only as remote models. Those
ideals, however improbable, were offered as the standard, and the
student was expected to follow with some degree of fidelity. The
usual textbooks, the jokun, were guides to the desired reaction.
Confucianism, as adapted by the Tokugawa government, was
accepted as providing an adequate basis for both ideal and practical
norms. Besides offering models for proper conduct, there was a
secondary value for controlling society:
It was the norm requiring the segregation of boys
from girls, with the idea of the superiority of men
and the inferiority of women, that was elaborated
into a doctrine and a philosophy of life.63
m Ronald Dore P. Education in Tokugawa Japan (London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul, 196S) p. 34.
•# Koyama, The Changing Social Position o f Women (Switzerland,
1961) p. 10.
And so there was a convenient, classically sanctioned reason for the
division of women from men. Of course, throughout the history of
the world such divisions existed and still exist, but in Tokugawa
Japan it was an admitted part of governmental policy.
In Tokugawa society, the main duty of samurai women was to
provide the means to continue the family. The supreme task of a
woman was "to marry and product heirs to safeguard the succession
in some other family, and her position in her husband’s household
was merely that of an instrument to ensure the continuance of the
line."66 Furthermore, the "keeping of concubines to increase the
chances of begetting an heir was allowed, for the bloodline was
traced through the father."67 Therefore women were educated to
observe certain virtues:
Woman should never betray a sign of
jealousy for anything. If her husband leads a
dissolute life, she should advise him to the
contrary, without feeling angry or spiteful. If
she is strongly jealous, her words or looks will
prove disagreeable to her husband, and she
will be neglected or even deserted against her
expectation. When he is in the wrong or
mistaken, she should speak to him with
gentle words and looks to dissuade him, but if
he gets angry and turns a deaf ear to her
advice, she should keep silent for a while and
••Joyce Ackroyd, “Women in Feudal Japan," Transactions o f the
Asiatic Society o f Japan, 3d ser., 7 (November 1959), p. 62.
•i Barbara Rose, Tsuda Umeko and Women's Education in Japan
(New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1992) p. 3.
47
advise him again when he gets quiet. By no
means should she betray a sign of irritation
or use angry words to contradict her
husband.68
One of the most important books used for women's education,
the Onna Daigaku, summed up well enough other kinds of moral
qualities which were rcquired-preem incntly self-abnegating
obedience to her parents, to her husband, and in widowhood to her
son. There is also occasional insistence that their yielding qualities
should be spiced with reserves of aggressiveness which would make
her capable of defending her honor and her husband with the
ferocious courage of some of the heroes of thcLtena zhuan ,69 a book
which was indeed often used as a copy-book for girls.
W omen's education during the Tokugawa can be called
indoctrination in that it aimed to fix in their minds the belief that the
Confucian ideal woman should be passive, obedient, chaste, and
subordinate to men.
A indication of the importance of Onna Daigaku, is the
following:
As part of the trousseau, which a girl of Japan
took with her when she was married, was
always a copy of O nna-D aigaku. It was a
•• Onna Daigaku, quoted in Sakai Atsuharu “Kaibara Ekiken and
Onna-Daigaku" Cultural Nippon 7, 4 (December 1939) p. 53,
•• Japanese name is R etsujoden. There were also numerous similar
compilations of biographies of Japanese heroines.
48
Bible to every woman of the samurai class in
the feudal days, and she tried to live up to
the precepts it contained.70
Daughters of samurai family were expected to read those virtues in
Onna D aigaku thoroughly from their childhood. The precepts found
there could be noted down so that they might be read every now
and then and memorized.
If people of these days marry their daughter by
teaching her these articles well, they will prove
more valuable to her during her married life than
would the purchase of much clothing and trousseau.
According to an old saying, a man would rather
give his daughter in marriage at the cost of a
million coppers than instruct her with a hundred
thousand coppers. The parent of every girl should
know the truth of this wise saying.71
Another stricture, especially imposed on samurai women, was
that against divorce. As Joyce Ackroyd observes:
Among the military classes, no grounds were
recognized as justifying divorce from the wife’s
side, and she could obtain release only with her
husband's consent, but divorce for any reason was
considered the greatest disgrace for a woman.72
ro Sakai, Cultural Nippon 7, 4 (December 1939) p. 49.
n From the text of Onna Daigaku, cited in Sakai, Cultural Nippon 7,
4 (December 1939) p. 56.
7 * A ckroyd, Transactions o f the Asiatic Society o f Japan, 3d ser., 7
(November 1959) p. 61.
49
The idea was not limited to those of samurai status, but samurai
women observed this strict order more than did women belonging to
other classes. For example, Yoshida Shoin73 (1831-1860) stated in
his jo ku n that “a girl should be taught that if she cannot endure life
in the family into which she is married there is nothing for her to do
but to commit suicide, and if she dares to return to her home, her
father should compel her to kill herself."74 As is obvious from the
lives of Tokugawa Japanese,
the predominance of man over woman was
thoroughly injected into the psychology of the
Japanese people. Conditioned fropi childhood to
play the role that would best assist the smooth
functioning of feudal society, taught to regard
herself as lowly and her proper realm of
responsibility in the kitchen, the Japanese woman
was forced into a mould hard to break.7*
Thus, daughters of samurai learned such women's virtue from their
young age, although they did not yet have the ability to understand
the meaning.
t» Yoshida Shoin was influenced by Yamaga Soko. In fact
throughout his work, ‘Bukyo zensho koroku* (1862), samurai
women's education was exceptionally strict.
m Nihon kyotku bunko (Jokun Hen) p. 743, quoted in Ackroyd,
Transactions o f the Asiatic Society o f Japan, 3d ser., 7 (November
1959)p. 61.
ri Ackroyd, Transactions o f the Asiatic Society o f Japan, 3d ser., 7
(November 1959) p. 66.
SO
There was a variety of books used in the educational process,
some concentrating on part of what should be expected and others
stressing other ideas. Among the books were several often grouped
together as the Japanese Analects, including: A Woman's Imagawa,
The Greater Learning fo r Women, A Woman’ s Epistolary Guide, and
AWoman's Classic o f Filial Piety.16 They were standard texts, but
they were difficult for girls to read:
Although these works were all written in the
Japanese syllabic script rather than Chinese
characters, the script used had many irregular
forms and the letters were run together in the
cursive style. Not only were they thus difficult to
read, their meaning was largely beyond the
understanding of a scvcn-or eight-year-old child.
Consequently, the girls did not so much study these
works as learn them by rote.77
It is, incidentally, worthwhile noting that despite the implied
contempt shown toward the character and intelligence of women,
they were nevertheless expected to act wisely and resourcefully,
but above all, a quiet yielding manner was demanded, or “tenderness
is the means; resolution is the essence."78 A woman should never
disfigure her face with anger, should be diffident in speech, and
Yamakawa, Women o f the Mito Domain (Tokyo, 1992) p. 25.
it Ibid, p. 25.
i» Yoshida Shoin, “Jokun" in Nihon kyoiku bunko (Ibid.), p. 740.
quoted in Ackroyd, p. 66.
51
should never presume to be familiar with her husband.79 She must
shun pleasure as a distraction from dutifulness, and must endure
without com plaint.80 Therefore, "especially in samurai society, her
husband's authority completely overshadowed hers, and thus there
was no problem whatever because the question of her 'rights' was
never given any serious thought.'*81 It is obvious that men imposed
constraints on women in Tokugawa Japan and virtually excluded
them from participation in the political process.
Ideology, however, does not always coincide with reality. It
was possible for women in Japan to play an influential political role,
although that was not officially recognized. Wakita Osamu lists two
major exceptions to the "rule": Tokugawa leyasu's mother, Dcntsuin,
and the mother of Toyotomi Hideyori, Tenjuin. Both had power to
stop political decisions.82 As Jean Pierre Lehmann has observed, "In
fact women do wield a considerable amount of power, not in the
limelight, but from the concealed confines of the interior.'*83 Again,
t* Yoshida, "Joshikun”, Ibid, p. 644, cited in Ackroyd, p. 66.
•o Yoshida, "Ashi no shitane" Ibid, p. 643, cited in Ackroyd, p. 67.
•i Koyama, The Changing Social Position o f Women (Switzerland,
1961) p. 34.
•* Wakita Osamu, "Bakuhan taisei to josci" in Joseishi sogo
kenkyukai ed., Nihon Joseishi vol. 3 (Tokyo: Tokyo Daigaku
Shuppankai, 1982) pp. 11-12.
•a Jean Pierre Lehmann, The Roots o f Modem Japan (New York: St.
Martin’s Press, 1982)p. 90.
52
that has been part of the reality of the world. The influence of
women in private has long been noted and accepted, although not
always publicly admitted.
In one area, perhaps only partly political, women did offer
advice which was both expected and accepted. The birth of children,
especially that of the heir apparent and next shogun or daimyo, was
certainly a concern to the wife as well as to the men of the house,
and there decisions properly belonged to women. Further, there
were always problems concerned with the other women in the
household. Their actions and dispositions could affect not only the
so-called "interior" but also the prosperity, reputation, and even the
survival of the family. Here advice, whether based on actual
conditions or personal prejudice, was expected and usually given.
Supposedly the woman giving the advice would be guided by the
principles she had been taught by her tutors and would follow the
example of the outstanding women represented in her textbooks.
The result might not always be favorable.
Along with the usual Confucian principles, women were also
53
supposed to follow the ideas of bushido , 84 a code of valor partly
based on some elements of Confucian philosophy, which women,83
including the question of suicide.
A woman of the samurai estate might, under
certain circumstances, follow her husband in
suicide, though she would not disembowel herself
(seppuku), but thrust her own small dirk (kaiken)
into the jugular vein.86
The woman, especially the wife, was supposed to follow the accepted
path.
However incorruptible a man may be in
conforming to the way of the warrior, if his
wife deviate from the path of morals, the
family will not be tranquil and the
descendants will be deprived of the means
for receiving instruction.87
Bushido may have provided some rules of conduct, but the idea of
■ « BushidofShido(Jhc Way of the Warrior) was written by Yamaga
Soko (1622*1685), Confucian scholar . “In essence, he argued that
the samurai were the custodians of the moral principles of the land,
a role the warrior could claim only if he maintained his moral
superiority. Soko agreed with the Bakufu’s contention that the
samurai had to be well educated in the Confucian classics and history
as well as skilled in the military arts. Above all, however, the
samurai had to lead lives grounded upon just principles. It was
essential that they comport themselves properly in all familial and
social relationships.” Hane, Premodern Japan (Colorado, 1972) p. 164.
•* Lehmann, The Roots o f Modern Japan (New York, 1982) pp. 90-
91.
•• Ibid, p. 89.
•r Cited in Ackroyd, p. 66.
the moral path seems to remain its principal contribution to
education.
Books played an important part in education, and yet not all
critics at the time thought that women should be exposed to books:
“Some would grant that they should read at least the Four Books and
the Hslao'hsueh."** One scholar argued that women should receive
education from books, because women have the chief responsibility
for bringing up children and so need knowledge. In addition he
warned that “men of medium intelligence or less are often led astray
by the example of their wives."®9 Supposedly, proper education
might avoid wifely displays of such dangerous folly.
What can be made of the difference in thought? Perhaps it can
be best explained by one man’s view, which over the years has been
shared by many others. Matsudaira Sadanobu (1758-1829) wrote in
his Rakutei kanna hikki: “A woman does not need to bother with
learning; she has nothing to do but to be obedient.’’90 For Matsudaira
education in areas other than in pleasing and serving a man in the
way that he wishes is thus unimportant. Further, “In Mito people
said that if a woman was too highly educated, she would find it
•• Dore, Education in Tokugawa Japan (London, 1965) p. 65.
•• Shudo Yasuzaemon, Kengisho (Mombusho, ed., Nihon kyoikushi
shiryo, 1890-92,5) p.595, cited in Dore, p. 65.
to Takamure Itsuc, Josei no Rekishi, Vol. 2, p. 268, quoted in
Ackroyd, p. 56.
55
difficult to marry and the bloodline would be lost to another
h o u s e /'9 1 There arc people in Japan who still claim that an educated
woman is a danger to the happiness and efficiency of a household.
For many people at the time, whether scholars or ordinary
people, it was considered enough if a woman could write instructions
in the Japanese syllabary, sew her own clothing, or dress her own
hair. This was often the extent of the education of the ordinary
samurai girl before she was married (from age thirteen to sixteen),
when her training was handed over to her mother-in-law, whose aim
was merely to drill her in the ways of her new family. As the Hlme
kagam l{\109) states, "Women's job is to work in the kitchen.”92
Unless they were of the higher class or belonged to an
ambitious family it was not thought necessary for women to engage
in the arduous training in classical Chinese or in artistic endeavors.
Some were encouraged to study Japanese writing, which was
considered less of a challenge than Chinese. Perhaps this was a
result of the Heian tradition of dividing the ways of men and women
and so creating special and sometimes quite separate literary
languages and styles of composition. Just as today the sports section
of a newspaper does not closely resemble the society page, so in the
•i Yamakawa, Women o f the Milo Domain. (Tokyo, 1992) p.27
•t Takamune Itsue, Josel no rekishi, Vol. 2 , p. 265 cited in
Ackroyd Transactions o f the Asiatic Society o f Japan, 3d ser., 7
(November 1959) p. 56.
past there were sometimes often clear differences between writing
for women and that for men. Often of course there was no real
difference, but it can be said that there was a certain tendency for
women to concentrate on Wafu no narai, which is reading in
Japanese of poetry and novels, especially in the Hcian period, as
opposed to the masculine rigors of the Chinese classics. Again, there
is always difference between theory and practice. Let it be said that
the Japanese stories were important, supposedly offering a look into
n injo, the exploration of human emotion, especially among the
privileged, and further expanding the horizons of feelings for nature,
always so important to the Japanese.
One of the more rigid Confucian scholars, Yamaga Soko, warned
that young women, and presumably older ones too, should not read
the Tate o f Cenjt and the Tales o f Ise because they were lewd and
could corrupt the mind.93 That is the old argument used to counsel
and ban books of all kinds. Evidently Yamaga was not too successful
in his warning, for Tale o f Genji continued as a text throughout the
Tokugawa era. Kumazawa Banzan, who organized education in Bizen
and founded the pioneering Okayama Clan School, showed no such
•> Ise M onogatarl: narrative prose fiction, which included poetic
tales.
57
opposition,94 nor did a Gcnroku period author of a book for women
who recommended the Tale o f Genji as "the acme of elegant diction
of graceful manner.”95
Aside from learning to read and write ordinary Japanese, the
daughters of higher ranking families were usually expected to learn
to read and to write W aka96 , one of the formal poetic genres, as well
as to study the Chinese classics as well as the Japanese. These skills
set them apart from those who had neither the time, money, nor
inclination to study things which were not of everyday value.
Because they were what today would be called "society,” they
also practiced arts designed as much to impress or to display
uncommon skills as to accomplish any useful purpose. Those
uncommon skills included advanced calligraphy, incense
m George Sansom, A History o f Japan 1615-1867 (Stanford, 1958-
1963) p. 79.
The Honcho Jotei kngarni, quoted in S. Okuma, Fifty Years o f new
Japan, 2, p.200 cited in Dore, p.66
•• The standard vcrsc-form, the W aka, consists of only 31
syllables, arranged in five lines of 5,7,5,7, and 7 syllabtcs, without
rhyme or quantity. Anyone could compose a W aka, but it was
deemed unworthy of attention unless it showed a mastery of the
poetic traditions of the past. A technique evolved which many be
characterized as "virtuoso.” Only a restricted number of themes
were recognized as being suited to poetry, and this meant that there
were innumerable poems composed on such popular subjects as the
cherry blossoms or the autumnal moon, often with only a slight
change in wording or imagery between one poem and its much
appreciated imitation of a century later. Ryusaku Tsunoda, Sources
o f Japanese Tradition vol.l (New York: 1964) p. 442.
58
identification, drawing, music, dance, and the tea ceremony.
Sometimes there was opposition to any kind of artistic
endeavor, how much it might be admired. According to the U chi
{Book o f Rites), "harmonious music was a way of producing social
harmony by sympathetic induction."97 However, others saw no
value in music or anything else of its kind. The Mito daimyo
Tokugawa Nariaki (1800-1860) implemented a reform program
which in part "prohibited bushi girls from indulging in things like
playing the ko to , flower arrangement, and the tea ceremony," and,
instead, “they were to devote themselves to studying the naginata,9*
the traditional martial art for women, and to learning how to sew
and weave."99
As Dore points out, however, women were not to "make any outward
display for what learning they have; they should keep it a profound
secret. “,0°
Then there were always the everyday matters of the home.
Although “wives of high ranking warriors employed servants,
including full-time nannies, to do most of the practical work in their
•r Dore, Education in Tokugawa Japan (London, 1965) p. 48.
•• A pike-like weapon with a curved blade at the end.
•• Yamakawa, Women o f the Mito Domain (Tokyo, 1992) p. 19.
ioo Dore, Education in Tokugawa Japan (London, 1965) p. 66.
59
work in ihcir household,*'101 it was obvious that “the better-off
samurai wife was not completely idle. She waited on her husband
and in-laws, prepared special foods, entertained guests, inventoried
household goods, decorated the home, sewed clothing, and managed
serv an ts."102 Therefore, daughters of those high ranking samurai
families learned the same home management techniques and skills.
We can assume that many of these skills were learned from mothers,
grandmothers, household managers, and the servants. For some of
the specialized tasks, which might include serving at a ceremony
honoring the daimyo, or even the shogun, it could be assumed that
an expert in the field might be brought to ensure conformity to
tradition. In most eases practical experience took precedence over
words from a book. Probably there were examples of especially
privileged, or arrogant, families in which instruction consisted
merely of demonstration by others of lesser status and a
condescending viewing by a young woman who would never be
bothered with any common tasks. Such women must have been
very unhappy when the family fortune disappeared and they were
reduced to keeping their own houses with no knowledge of how to
101 Kathlen Uno, “Women and Changes in the Household Divison of
Labor” in Recreating Japanese Women, 1600-1945, edited by Gail
Lee Bernstein (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California
Press, 1991) p. 27.
ioi Ibid., p. 28.
60
do anything of practical value.
For all this, it would appear that samurai education for women
was almost entirely a product of the house, whether carried out by
family members or by private tutors. It is true that upper-class
samurai women were discouraged from mingling with commoners
and so were discouraged from attending terakoya, which catered to
children from lesser families. As it so happened, the families close to
the top of the scale were afraid of contamination by the presence
and thoughts of the commoners or even those of lesser samurai
status. Even when they went to the same schools, the classes often
studied in separate classrooms: “Girls from foot soldier or commoner
families studied in a different room, also known as the lower
q u arte rs."103 In all societies, at all times, ranks, status and financial
position counted for a great deal, and Tokugawa Japan believed in
rank, status, and financial position.
But there were those without the advantages of status and
money. The system could not support a vast array of samurai
families engaged in nothing but fighting, and when the need for
warriors declined and as families split into other families as one
brother took charge and another left the house, there were many,
legally called samurai, who survived as merchants, farmers, or even
io j Yamakawa, Women o f the Mito Domatn (Tokyo, 1992) pp. 11-
12.
bandits. What happened to the daughters of those families?
Obviously money, location, and necessity ruled the things to be
learned. Probably, when possible, the girls learned to read and
write, although the level may not have been as high as that of the
more powerful and may not have been concerned with the Chinese
classics. For some learning the kana syllabary would be enough,
with enough common kanji (Chinese characters) to understand the
many signs enountered in town and on the road.
For others there would be the need for housekeeping skills, the
everyday running of the house, whether purchasing and preparing
food or patching clothing and bedding. For the farm family there
was the necessity for learning how to plant and harvest crops and to
market them. And for some there was the problem of working for
survival. It was often noted that “low-ranking warrior wives
engaged in secondary occupations to supplement the household
meager incom e."104
It is known that especially in the latter part of the
Edo era some poor samurai sought to find
remunerative activity for their females, albeit
perhaps clandestinely; certainly in the north-east of
Japan (the Tohoku region), poor samurai females
worked in textiles and a number of regional
products, notably in those of Sendai-hira or
Yonezawa shoku, were produced by samurai female
104 Uno, Recreating Japanese Women (Tokyo, 1992) p. 28.
62
lab o r.105
For most of the families forced to send their daughters to work
outside the house, there was little time or opportunity for providing
any but the basic kind of education. Some, through poverty or (he
recklessness of their fathers, sank even lower into the underworld
where other skills were learned, most of which were obviously not
available through formal training in classic books.
The more fortunate were those who settled into the life of a
teacher or craftsman. “The mastcrlcss warriors usually retained
their samurai status and became teachers of swordsmanship or
Confucianism, some were assimilated into the towns people."106
Their daughters, freed from the need to participate in the artificial
life of upper classes, could then attend the terakoya with other girls
and learn the practical aspects of education, including arithmetic and
the abacus, ordinarily not encouraged for samurai.107 Times were
changing, and the absorption of the samurai into (own society was
one of the many reasons for the decline of the samurai system and
the restoration of the Emperor.
io» Lehmann, The Roots o f Modern Japan (New York, 1982) pp. 90-
91.
to* Hone, Premodern Japan (Colorado, 1972) p. 143.
tor “ 'Arithmetic', it is generally agreed, is to be limited to the
severely practical-m oney exchanges, percentages, surveying,
trench-digging and so forth." Dore, Education in Tokugawa Japan
(London, 1965) p. 49.
63
What can be said about the education of samurai women? Only
that it was varied, sometimes practical, sometimes not, sometimes
thorough, sometimes sketchy. There was no single pattern. It was
determined by what the family wanted, what the family could
afford, and what the Tokugawa government permitted.
64
CHAPTER VI
EDUCATION OF PEASANT WOMEN
As was true of the other categories of society, some farmers
could be rich and influential; others were so poor that they were
forced to send their children away to find their own place in the
world. There was a considerable gap between those who could
afford to live well and those who lived on the verge of starvation,
and so there were differences in educational opportunity.
Undoubtedly there was more emphasis on practical training than on
preparation to read Chinese and Japanese literature.
As individuals, peasant women in Tokugawa Japan are not
known well as individuals, and most of the emotional content of their
lives remains unrecorded. But, gathering from a variety of different
sources, we can speculate what the pattern of those women's lives
may have been.
One source is village records, such as the population
registers (shum on aratam echo), petitions, passports
(m u ro 'o k u rf'frrarsu ), promissory notes for brides,
and deeds of inheritance, which, although their
main purpose was to promote social stability, tell us
something about women's experiences. In addition,
agricultural handbooks describe the kinds of work
65
women performed, and precepts for women tell us
what they were expected to do. Early-ninctecnth-
ccntury family histories and diaries kept by
wealthy peasant entrepreneurs are a third, more
vivid source for the historian interested in
exploring the fabric of Japanese women’s lives.108
From that kind of evidence one can find the contradiction
between peasant women’s lives and Tokugawa political and social
ideology. Although women were expected to be obedient, gentle, and
discreet in speech, “women might serve as a household head,’* 1 09 Of
course, there were differences among those peasant women based on
geographical, economic, and historical differences. However,
“peasant women had higher economic value, in terms of labour.” 110
Therefore, even when women did not serve as the household head,
“women in the household were freer and more equal to their
husbands.” 1 1 1 In fact, as Ann Walthall has observed, “parents
appear to have made few distinctions between boys and girls in
infancy,’’ and “the upbringing of both sexes in their early years, was...
«• Ann Walthall, ’T he Life Cycle of Farm Women” in Recreating
Japanese Women, 1600-1945, edited by Gail L Bernstein. (Berkeley
and Los Angeles: University of California, 1991) pp. 42-3.
to* Ibid, p. 43.
no Jean-Pierrc Lehamann, The Roots o f Modern Japan, (New York,
1982) p. 98.
ni Ibid, p. 98,
66
fairly equal/*112 This attitude, of course, contradicts the Confucian
dictum that “a girl should observe the distinction between man and
woman from her childhood, nor should she be shown or told of
flirtation even for a w hile/'113
Depending on economic circumstances, family composition, and
other factors, peasant girls might go to school. Wealthy peasant
families, for instance, believed that it was necessary to invest in
their daughters* schooling and so devoted tremendous amounts of
both income and energy in the upbringing of their daughters. The
reasons were varied and probably included concern for the parents’
reputation, a wish to increase their daughter’s value in the marriage
market, or a tradition among the wealthy peasant's family. Thanks
to the parents' enthusiasm, some peasants were highly educated. For
instance;
The Suzuki family from Echigo demanded much
more than the simple skills learned by ordinary
peasants. Taka, bom in 1777, went to a temple
school to learn penmanship at age eight and,
together with her niece Shin, then studied the
Chinese classics, selections of Chinese poetry, and
correspondence. Her sister Fuji, like some other
wealthy rural women, became an accomplished
poet, leaving over a thousand poems at her
11* Walthall, Recreating Japanese Women (Berkeley and Los
Angeles, 1991) p. 44-5.
119 Sakai, Cultural Nippon 7,4 (December 1939) p. 51.
67
d e a th .11 4
Parents sent their daughters to terakoya and also to samurai
households in order to learn feminine deportment, such as graceful
movement, elegant language, appropriate dress and bodily care, and
the techniques of managing a household.
Although the girls received nominal wages, their
parent had to provide all of their daily necessities,
bedding, pillows, mirrors, shoes, pocket money, and
clolhing»thrcc changes a year-* as well as presents
and fees for the go-betweens and the employers.115
The Sckiguchi family, which sent their three daughters into service
in 1812, spent five to six percent of the family’s household budget
for each daughter. Not included were emergency expenses,
preparations made before the girls went into service, and presents
for the samurai households.116
In spite of the costs, peasant families believed that the expense
was worthwhile, for the common wisdom was that "if a girl remains
with her parents she will never know how to deal with misery. If
114 Walthall, Recreating Japanese Women (Berkeley and Los
Angeles, 1991) p. 47.
in Ibid., p. 48.
in According to Oguchi, the gifts were sent from the Sekiguchi
family to the samurai household twice or four times in a year
(mainly in June, August, September, or December). The gifts were
usually such food products as beans, sesame, potatoes, peaches,
chestnuts, eggs, and a fish. Oguchi Yujiro, Joset no iru Kinsei (Tokyo;
Keisoshobo, 1995) p. 171-172.
68
she has not suffered, she will not make a good bride, so girls
apprentice themselves to learn self-discipline." 117
For the daughters of wealthy peasants who lived
too far from samurai households and the
educational opportunities they offered, costly
pilgrimages functioned more or less as finishing
schools. The pilgrimage both strengthened faith
and provided an occasion for sightseeing and
observation; it was a learning experience that took
young women outside their home communities and
forced them to interact with strangers. Taken
usually a year or so before marriage, the pilgrimage
made it possible for teenagers to travel with their
friends and female relations largely apart from
male society, except for one companion-cscort.118
Moreover, from reading the diaries which were kept by Oba
Misa (1833*1905), one can gain an appreciation for the educational
level attained by one early- nineteenth century commoner raised in
an agricultural setting on Edo. She was born in 1833 as the daughter
of Kaburagi into one of the wealthier farm families.119 She kept
diaries from 1860 to 1904, writing forty-five volumes. Among the
forty-five, thirty-two volumes still remain (those which she kept
nr Hisoki and Mita, "Edo kinko noson ni okeru joshi kyoiku, " pp.
83-85, 90 cited in Walthal, p. 48.
ua Walthall, Recreating Japanese Women (Berkeley and Los
Angeles, 1991) p. 48.
in Tokyo to Setagaya ku kyoiku iinkai, Oba Misa no Nikki, vol, 1,
pp. 285-86, quoted in Martha Tocco, "School Bound: Women’s higher
Education in Nineteenth-Century Japan." (Ph. D. diss., (Stanford
University, 1994) p.42.
69
from 1860-1871).
Because Misa began diary-keeping after she
married, her diaries provide no direct information
about her education. The form, content, style, and
syntax of Misa’s diary entries arc all that arc left to
attest to the superior level of the wealthy farm
daughter’s education— Misa wrote in dense
Chinese characters and used little of the kana script
assumed to be standard in Tokugawa women’s
writing. She filled one hand-tied volume each year
with terse prose that occasionally recorded
important national events.120
Thus, since Misa’s diaries provided insight into aspects of many
social and political matters, one can assume that she was aware of
geography and both national and local politics. Misa’s diaries remind
us that some Tokugawa women were conscious of and concerned
about the political events engulfing the nation at the end of the
period and eventually led to the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate and
the installation of the Emperor.
From the evidence, we can also assume that the most of girls
from middle-level peasant families could go to school so long as their
family was willing and able to afford the costs of lunch, clothing,
shoes and rainwear as well as the loss of a labor source. ’’Girls
studied for two to five years— not enough time to learn difficult
Chinese characters, even had they been thought capable of it, but
long enough to absorb moral instruction. Popular texts, like jo ku n
itoTocco, “School Bound’’ (Stanford University, 1994) p. 43.
70
(Precepts for women), were based on Chinese classics that taught the
virtue of obedience. . . these texts provided practice in reading and
writing that enforced the code of behavior thought appropriate for
w om en.” 1 2 1
Perhaps these ordinary peasant parents indulged their
daughters whenever they could. In the latter half of the Tokugawa
period, some of those girls went to work as indentured servants
(hokonin). They worked as servants and were paid by the
household, However, there was also the possibility that they could
learn some etiquette from the samurai household.
Poor peasants usually could not afford to send their daughters
to any school. Children of such families helped to sustain the
household, and their labor was often too necessary to allow for lime
for schooling. "Young employees, both boys and girls, performed a
variety of menial tasks for their em ploycrs-cleaning, stoking fires,
cooking, minding infants, running errands, or working some aspect of
a craft->depending on their master's trade and instructions."122
Girls/women were also a crucial labor force for poor peasant
families' survival. As Uno has observed, "the farm wife's work
varied according to locality, and invariably encompassed planting,
1*1 Shiga, Nihon joshi kyoikushi, p. 282-288, cited in Walthall, p.
47.
m Uno, in Recreating Japanese Women (Berkeley and Los Angles,
1991) p. 34.
cultivating, weeding, and harvesting paddies and vegetable
fields."123 In addition, 'T he peasant wife's duties included domestic
chores as well; doing laundry, scrubbing pots, sewing garments, and
the maintenance and livelihood of the ordinary farm."124 Therefore,
daughters of poor peasants were almost always trained from a young
age to be good farmers. They usually observed their mothers or
sisters and learned household skills such as sewing, weaving, dyeing,
cooking, and cleaning at their home. They also learned from their
sisters and mothers the farmer's style of conduct at ceremonial
occasions and annual events, which they shared with their neighbors
in the agricultual community.
Ordinarily peasant daughters were sent to sewing schools
instead of terakoya. Reading and writing were secondary to the
practical training useful for daily living, Sewing-which included
work on clothing and bedding** was a necessary skill, especially for a
family with seldom enough money to spare for new clothing or
bedding, and so sewing schools were a valuable local resource.
Teachers in those schools were usually not educated but were simply
women from the neighborhood. In the schools girls learned not only
sewing but also how to spin thread into yarn, how to weave, and how
to dye fabric. In their own houses they could produce much of what
us Ibid, p. 27.
im Ibid., p. 27.
72
they needed for daily life. In addition to those skills, they
sometimes learned home management practices such as cooking,
cleaning, and laundering.125 The number of sewing schools is not
known, probably because they were not associated with institutions
(like terakoya) which kept records, but it must be assumed that
there were a great many of them in village areas.126
Along with sewing schools there was an institution called
musumc yado (girl's rooms), which were community gathering places
where women and girls could share gossip and news and also work
on household items, crafts and perhaps food preparation. They
might also cooperate in the preparation for festivals, both by
making material and by practicing ceremony and dance. The
musume yado resembled the wakashu yado,127 the young men's
associations which served some of the same purposes. Both acted as
training facilities and places for social interaction.
Attendance at the musume yado was supposedly compulsory
(though perhaps not for the rich and prosperous) from age fourteen
until marriage, and in some regions a girl was not considered to be a
respectable, marriageable adult until she had been a member for
m Umihara, Kinsei no gakko to kyoiku (Kyoto, 1988) p. 257*58.
«• Ibid, p. 257*258.
it? These facilities were established originally as young farmers'
recreation rooms in order to take a break from their hard work.
Ibid, p. 257.
73
several years. During the day she would help with the work at
home, but at night she would go to the musume yado, where she
would learn handicrafts, talk with other girls and the older women
who supervised work and play, and perhaps sleep, although some
historians have argued that the chief purpose was to provide a place
for common study. Needle shops, which were open only during the
winter, likewise concentrated on the skills required for everyday
life. A farm wife skilled at sewing and other crafts became the "little
mother" to her students, teaching them sewing and cooking, and
perhaps knowledge of household management.128 In the girls* rooms
and needle shops, poorer farm women learned from other women, an
opportunity unavailable to women from wealthier farm households
who were discouraged from mingling freely with ordinary peasants.
Not all children of the poor farmers were prohibited from
experiencing what might be called “advanced education** beyond that
offered in the sewing shops or the musume yado. Probably the
m usum e yado offered more of value to a farm family, both in
practical training and in the formation of friendships and alliances
useful in early and later life in the farm community, than a lengthy
course in calligraphy or in the etiquette and customs of the wealthy.
it« Higuchi Kyoshi, Nippon josetshi hakkutsu, (Tokyo: Fujin
Gahosha, 1979) p. 220.
74
As so often happens there were girls who succeeded in
achieving higher aims despite poverty. A girl known as Atomi Kakci
(1840-1926) of Kyoto was the daughter of a wealthy family which
lost its money and so dropped into poverty. Her early education was
provided by her father, who was a learned man. Perhaps he was not
a trained teacher, but he taught his daughter well enough to provide
a good background for her future work. At age twelve she went to
Osaka to study drawing and sewing, as well as koto and sham isen.
How that was financed is not known. At seventeen she entered a
private school and read the Chinese classics. At nineteen she
returned home and became a teacher at a local terakoya. Evidently
during all of the time away from home, she was self-supporting,
although there is no record of how she obtained the money. She was
determined, and she did what she wanted to do. Unfortunately she
did not rise financially and was forced to refrain from marrying,
supposedly because of a need to support the family. She was,
however, an example of a woman who did go to school when there
seemed to be little hope that she could.129
«• Umihara, Kinsel no gakko to kyoiku (Kyoto, 1988) p. 285-286.
75
CHAPTER VII
EDUCATION OF MERCHANT AND ARTISAN WOMEN
When the Tokugawa government assumed control over Japan,
it instituted a class system with the samurai at the top and the
merchants at the bottom. Whatever the reason for the division may
have been, there was a gradual blurring of the lines, since it was
obvious that the samurai and the government could not exist without
the contributions of the merchants. Money and needed service
always make a difference. In whatever society, whether a
dictatorship or a democracy, there are always those who have to
feed the desire for money and the need for all the things that make
life possible and comfortable. The samurai needed everything
required for survival, comfort and pleasure, and there were
merchants and artisans prepared to provide whatever was needed,
for a price. And so, the merchants and artisans became a necessity.
With the rise of the merchant class came the usual need for
education required for the pursuit of profit, as well as, especially for
the wealthier of the group, exposure to higher literary and artistic
culture of the court and the samurai.
76
Combined with the growing importance of the merchants, there
was another change at the time, and that was the growing
availability of books and manuscripts. As C. Andrew Gcrstle
observed:
The introduction of commercial printing in the
seventeenth century, as in Europe, transformed
society as had no other technological advance since
the invention of writing. Ordinary people were
able for the first time to gain access to culture
previously confined to the privileged holders of
manuscripts in courtier or samurai households, or
in Buddhist monasteries. The classics were literally
up for sale. As a consequence the economic
ascendancy of merchants and tradesmen by the
end of the seventeenth century gave rise to a new
social hierarchy and popular self-awareness.130
The Confucian classics and their adaptations, as well as Tale o f Genjl
and poetry collections, continued to be a source of educational
material. The major purpose of education for women was still the
requirement that they learn their proper place in the family and
their surroundings and all that was required to set their minds and
bodies on the path chosen by the society of the time. There may
have been more material existing for study, and there may have
been more opportunity. But these were not always used, nor were
they always available to everyone who sought access to them.
w o C. Andrew Gerstle, cd. l&th Century Japan (Sydney: Allen and
Unwin, 1989) p. xii.
77
Certainly the wealthy merchants could afford much more than small
retailers, and the owner of a store in the city had more opportunity,
and perhaps more desire, for expansive education than a roadside
seller of merchandise in some rural area, Then, too, as the Tokugawa
era aged, there were even more changes in opportunity and
aspiration.
Much of the history of women’s education is missing, and what
remains is limited. Conjecture plays an important part in
reconstructing what happened, Many women in a merchant
household were expected to participate in the operation of the
business. "The traditions of the merchant class apparently
encouraged women to be active in their natal family’s business."131
Fortunately, or because of perceived necessity, "feudal laws did not
bar merchant women from assisting in the household occupation."132
So it was expected that wives and children help at home and in
the business. What was required in that assistance? Three obvious
skills, aside from the practical considerations of the trade, were
reading, writing, and arithmetic.
As Oin Soken observed, there were two reasons why a woman’s
reading and writing ability was emphasized:
tat Gail Lee Bernstein, Recreating Japanese Women 1600-1945
(Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California, 1991) p. 6.
i3» Uno, in Recreating Japanese Women 1600-1945 (Berkeley and
Los Angeles, 1991) p. 28.
78
1. When they become wives of merchants, to
support their husband's or the family business.
2. To be a wise mother in order to be able to raise
her children.133
It can be assumed that the second item may have been the result of
a combination of training in those jokun which emphasized ways of
thought and action for women, and suggestions of proper ways to
deal with children in matters of health or behavior.
As for the idea of support for the family business, obviously
there was not always enough money to pay for help, and so the
responsibility for the operation of a family enterprise depended on
every member of the family. There was thus a need for some degree
of reading and other skill required from each member of the
household.
"In smaller enterprises," as Kathleen Uno explains, “ merchant
wives kept books, waited on customers, and took care of personnel
matters, such as hiring and employee welfare."134 Keeping books
required knowledge of writing and enough mathematical skill to
enter the correct numbers. Was such knowledge acquired within the
family, or was there outside instruction? For the most part there is
1 3 3 Those statements were written in Choke shiklmoku bungen
tam ano ishlzue and Teisetsu kyokun onna shiklmoku. Umihara,
Kinsei no Gakko to Kyoiku (Kyoto, 1988) p. 258.
is* Uno, in Recreating Japanese Women 1600-1945 (Berkeley and
Los Angeles, 1991) p. 29.
79
only silence on this issue. Confucian classics, which formed the core
of the formal curriculum, offered little help in the problem of
addition and subtraction. It may thus be assumed that much of the
needed instruction was provided by someone in the family, by an
acquaintance of the business owner, or by some teacher who offered
his services.
Despite the training in mathematics, whether it was carried out
in the home or outside, the normal subjects of a girl’s education were
probably still the expected moral and ethical indoctrination, as well
as all the domestic skills and graces. It is obvious that wives in
lesser households did some or all of the domestic tasks themselves.
Regardless of who actually performed the work, a woman's skill in
social relations and in providing food, clothing, fuel, and other daily
necessities benefited the family business.133
In a wealthier family the wife or daughter might play a
somewhat different role. She might never be seen by the customers,
at least not in a business sense, although she might at times act as a
hostess or companion for an important customer or his family. As
has been noted, “wives seem to have become less active in the
business affairs of the great merchant.*'136 That is certainly to be
expected. The great merchant had the money to pay those who
m Ibid., pp. 28-29.
is* Ibid., p. 28.
80
worked for him. The small merchant often had no one but his wife
and children to help. Further* for the wealthy merchants;
wives’ careful supervision of many nominally
domestic activities, including shopping, cooking,
sewing, cleaning, entertaining guests, and
exchanging gifts, could advance the fortunes of the
enterprise...the wives of rich merchants left
childrearing and menial chores to servants,137
It appears that for the wealthy in Japan, the family’s women
came to represent upscale progress, and so the family may have
abandoned the merely useful for the trappings of success. Instead of
standing behind a counter in a store, the wealthy family’s women
now appeared in public or in private as symbols of success. As part
of that exhibition of independence from common demands, they
followed the path of the upper classes and extended their knowledge
of literature, music, and art. They had both the time and the money
for education as well as a reason to extend themselves and their
children.
Freed from the demands of serving customers, the women of
the great merchants had time to study the Chinese classics, as well as
the newer books which were becoming more available. Perhaps the
terakoya could provide opportunity for advanced reading, or
perhaps the family engaged a private tutor.
m Kathleen S. Uno “Day Care and Family Life in Industrializing
Japan” (Ph. D. diss., University of California Berkeley, 1987).
81
Aside from reading and writing there was time for upper-
income women to leam such social graces as the tea ceremony and
flower arrangement, as well as painting, and music, and dance.
Mastery of music, or even competency, requires time, and the
women of the wealthy had the luxury of time to learn and practice.
K oto and sham lscn were considered appropriate for women, and
some probably became almost as expert as professionals. The
women most likely played for their own or their family's pleasure
and not for the public, although it is always possible that they played
for invited guests and perhaps even for one of the many festivals.
For most women of the merchant and artisan class, reading was
more necessity than pleasure, and the level of both reading and
reading ability was probably limited. Again, the books referred to in
previous chapters were among the usual texts. Then there were
those like the Onna Shobai Oral (1807) which contained such
material useful in business as the following:
The one who was bom in a merchant family will
become the merchant's wife, and therefore, she
should know special words for business, how to
write a business diary, how to order, bookkeeping,
how to sign a deed, money exchanging, and so on. . .
Women should have almost the same abilities as
m e n .138
ni According to Kotensekl sogo mokuroku, this book is categorized
as an oralm ono, and so far only one version has been discovered. It
was also used in some terakoya. Ishikawa Matsutaro, Nihon
kyokasho taikel, vol.15. pp. 585-586.
82
There is no clear indication of how the wife was supposed to learn all
of those things, but evidently it was expected and so there must
have been provision to learn, whether formally in some kind of
school or informally within the family or the business of a friend or
the family. Again we see the need for the ability to read and write,
thus emphasizing the fact that education of some sort was not only
available for women but was also expected. The woman might not
be able to read Chinese classics in the original language, but she
could communicate in standard Japanese and engage in what often
required complex legal language.
Aside from the usefulness of a wife and daughter in the family
business, there were always the requirements on the domestic side
for women. As late as 1845 Ikeda Yoshinobu was counseling:
A merchant's daughter should start to learn
calligraphy from her young age, and when she
becomes twelve or thirteen she should be
encouraged to learn sewing.139
Sewing could be both necessary and ornamental. As for where the
daughters learned to sew, it is probable that they learned from
cither their mother or older sisters. Also, some would commute to a
dressmaker shop or sewing school.140
mUmihara, Kinsel no Gakko to Kyoiku (Kyoto, 1988) p. 258.
ho Kaigo Tokiomi, Japanese Education: Its Past and Present
(Tokyo: Japan Cultural Society, 1968) p. 46.
83
Through childhood, (he some local temple school, the terakoya,
provided a place for learning, practice in various domestic skills, and
the discipline required for life in the structured society of Tokugawa
Japan. In a society such as that of Japan, it was important to know
what was expected and to do what was expected. This was part of
the task of teachers, and it is most likely that they were effective.
There was yet another vehicle of learning not often considered
as such, but which nonetheless offered an opportunity to see how a
proper lady might act, and which offered a view of society at all
levels and in all conditions. Some merchants, especially those of the
upper class, wanted their daughters to possess some of the graces of
samurai women. To do this, a girl, usually at an age of fourteen or
fifteen, would become a maid in a great house. This was called
oyashlki boko, or house*maid service. Other girls might enter
service at six years of age and were accompanied by a nurse.
Sometimes the daughter of great merchant family would be sent to
the house of a daimyo, a great lord. In such cases she would be
accompanied by her own servant.141
During their period of labor they would receive instruction in a
variety of areas and would be drilled in every phase of domestic life.
They would either learn the rules for or practice in reading, writing,
m Ibid., p. 46.
64
and the composition of poetry. Music and dancing also formed part
of their instruction. Further, in a particular large mansion, she might
act less as a servant and more as a companion of the daughter of the
house, or even of the wife or some other family member, and share
lessons in the various arts with the family.
In the U kiyoburo (here is a clear expression of the usefulness
of household service;
Housemaid service is important. One learns good
manners without being taught. So long as a girl
lives with her parents, even the severest words
cannot correct her bad manners. Once she is sent to
a mansion of a lord, her manners gradually
improve in one way of another.142
For the daughters of upper-class merchants, oyashiki boko was thus
less vocational training than experience and practice in etiquette and
proper ways of behavior, along with learning some of the techniques
of playing the koto or sham isen, or dancing, or the usual arts and
graces expected of a sophisticated wife.
Along with the teaching offered by service in the house of a
family, there might be some additional compensation in the form of
clothing, bedding, and household items required for a bride's
trousseau. Such items would be most welcome gifts, since some
might go well beyond the financial capabilities of the girl's family.
uiShikitei Sanba, Ukiyoburo (1776-1827) translated by Kaigo,
Japanese Education (Tokyo, 1968) p. 46.
Some girls would consider themselves fortunate to undergo the
experience; some might encounter unpleasant conditions. Life
sometimes ran smoothly; sometimes there were problems. But
usually the system worked.
Much of what is known about household service and other
forms of education is provided by diaries written by women who
went through the experience. Summaries of some of these follow.
Tamura. Kaiikof 1785-1862)
She was the first daughter of an upper-class merchant
involved in the weaving business in Kiryu. Even at an early age she
enjoyed studying. When she turned seventeen, she was sent to the
Shogun's seraglio. Her adventures there are not chronicled in her
diary, so we do not know what she studied or did. After spending
some time in the Shogun's establishment, she returned to her
hometown, married (the husband took her family name, which was a
common practice at the time), and joined the family business.
About the some time she opened a terakoya, which was called
Shoseido, and taught calligraphy, poetry and etiquette. The school
had both male and female students, with the female students
outnumbering the male. There were more than one hundred
students. Evidently her education from various sources had been
86
thorough enough to prepare her to be a teacher of others.143
Yoshida Ito (1824-71
She was the daughter of a Kiryu weaving family and also a
student of Tamura Kajiko at the Shoseido terakoya, entering at the
age of eight and studying calligraphy, Japanese song, and etiquette.
The families undoubtedly knew each other and, drawing on Tamura’s
experience in leaving home to pursue educational opportunities,
approved the actions of the daughter Ito. At the age of fifteen Ito
went to Edo and there resided in the home of Ilo’s father’s former
teacher, Tachibana Moribe. There she studied music and calligraphy
with Moribe and read the Tale o f Genjl and M an yo sh u 144 with
Moribe’s son Fuyuteru. At night she look instruction in sewing from
Moribe’s wife. On days when the school was not open, she went to
other teachers to learn to play the koto and sham isen and to arrange
flowers. It is obvious that her days and nights were filled with
information to be absorbed.
After a little less than two years under the Edo regime she
went back to her home town and very soon after married and
u> Hayashi Reiko, “Choka josci no sonzaitaikei” in Joseishi sogo
kenkyukai cd„ Nihon joseishi vol.3 (Tokyo: Tokyo Daigaku
Shuppankai, 1982) p. 108.
t«4 Ibid., pp. 109*10; Umihara, Klnsel no Gakko to Kyoiku (Kyoto,
1988) pp. 284-5.
87
returned to her family life.143 Evidently she continued to correspond
with her teacher Moribe and may even have sought further
instruction. It is most likely that she also often saw her first teacher,
Tamura Kajiko, and may even have taught at the terakoya. Her story
provides another example of how both urban and rural middle-class
women coutd acquire education that went beyond basic literacy.146
Tachibana Haruko (1817-18451
The first daughter of the same Moribe who taught Yoshida Ito,
Tachibana Haruko, likewise learned reading and writing from her
father. When she was fourteen she went to an oyashtkl boko, but
illness caused her to drop out and return home. However,
throughout her short life,147 she continued to learn and read books
like the Tale o f Genjl, She also wrote
Waka and practiced sewing. Probably she was skilled in the
expected domestic and social skills. In her home area in Edo,148 she
was noted for her intelligence. She was known well enough to
ms Umihara, Kinsel no Gakko to Kyolku (Kyoto, 1988) p. 285.
i4« Tocco, "School Bound" (Stanford University, 1994) p. 41.
i4r Unfortunately she died very young at age 29.
m The Tachibana family lived in Betcnyama within the precincts
of Asakusa temple for eleven years.
88
become a character149 in a kabuki play.150 Among her
accomplishments was the writing of a biography of her father.
Tachibana Mine <1771-18281
She was the only daughter of an upper class townsman,
Numano Kokkan, who lived in the castle town of Kishu in Wakayama.
Her mother died when Mine was four, and she was taken care of by
her father. According to her father's diary, Mine memorized twenty
poems of the Hyakunin isshu anthology when she was five, and at
eight she started to learn writing. Unfortunately her father died a
year later, and so the diary entries ceased. However, her own diary
(which she kept after her marriage151 ) contains references to her
activities. In her diary one can find an indication of her educational
level and the role that education played in her adult life. She also
stated that she was taught to write W aka by a K okugaku (National
Learning) scholar by the name of Motoori Taihei,152 According to
her diary, which was written in 1871, it was a pleasure for her to
1 4 » Umihara, Kinsei no gakko to kyolku (Kyoto, 1988) p. 110.
ito “At fifteen Mine married the son of the local rice merchant
family adopted into her family as her husband." Tocco, “School
Bound" (Stanford University, 1994) p. 37.
»(t Hayashi, Nihon joseishi (Tokyo, 1982) p. 111-12,
it> Suikoden is the Japanese transliteration of the Chinese title,
Shuihu zhuan.
89
«
read the Chinese novel Shuihu zhuan133 (Water Margin) before
retiring for the night. Concerning her own level of literacy, Hayashi
states in her book that "Mine was sufficiently literate to read
Takizawa Bakin’s rendition of the novel Suikoden (Shuihu zhuan in
C hinese)"1 54
Although her husband and employees or servants did almost
all of their business, she was responsible for much of the family
correspondence and helped with bookkeeping when they needed
help.
Mine and her husband entertained themselves by
reading poetry (W aka) to each other. As mistress
of the hosehold, Mine supervised the servants in
the preparation of food used as ceremonial gifts,
and she kept the records of gifts given and
received, an important family social function. She
often referred to the state of the family business
and her husband's and son's activities for the day,
providing a picture of closely-knit family
113 Imported into Japan in thirteenth to mid-seventeenth century,
the earliest extant version in Japan of the Chinese novel Water
M argin was cataloged as part of the extensive personal library
collected by the Buddhist monk Tenkai(1536-1643). This version,
written in Chinese, ran to eight volumes. Takizawa Bakin(1767-
1848), the author of the version of Suikoden that Numano Mine read,
was perhaps the greatest novelist of the Edo period. The Bakin
version was written in both hiragana and Chinese characters, which
were further glossed with their correct readings. An introduction to
this novel and the myriad versions of it that have appeared in
Japanese since the mid-seventeenth century; in Takashima Toshio,
Suikoden to Nihonjin: Edo kara Showa made quoted in Tocco,
"School Bound" (Stanford University, 1994) p. 38.
i* « Tocco, "School Bound” (Stanford University, 1994) p. 38.
90
involvements that integrated personal, economic
and urban social life.135
Merchant houses could select the most talented apprcnticc-clerk, or
some other worker with prospects as a successful merchant or
artisan, as a husband for the daughter and then adopt the husband
into the family, thus ensuring the success and fortune of the family
name and business.
Although the family could strictly restrict the life and actions
of the women, whether married or not, such actions usually
represented the prevailing expectations of the society in which they
lived and reflected an attitude toward the prevailing patterns of
Japanese existence and toward the usual problems involved in the
status of primogeniture and the succession of the heads of
households. Whether the women appreciated such treatment may
be a matter for dispute. Social pressures, from their own class and
from the governmental system above, controlled the actions of
family and individual. There were always rebels, and there were
always compromises, and quite often, the women exercised both
authority and power even though it might not be acknowledged and
was not often socially acceptable.
Nevertheless, despite the need for women's work in the family
ici Bernstein, Recreating Japanese Women (Berkeley and Los
Angeles, 1991) p. 6.
business, especially when the business was so small that everybody
in the family contributed labor of some sort, and despite a degree of
prejudice against the education of women, there were opportunities:
some in schools, such as the terakoya; some within the family; some
in an apprenticeship to another merchant; and some in household
service, where they learned both academic and practical skills.
Education was available. It was the choice of student and family
whether the opportunity was transformed into reality.
92
CHAPTER VIII
CONCLUSION
The view of women's education in the Tokugawa era presents
both negative and positive aspects. It can be said that the basic aim
of education for women was to indoctrinate women into ways of
thinking and acting set forth by a male-oriented and government-
controlled society. Women were taught to find and to accept their
assigned place in their community and home. Thus, both practice in
literary skills and instruction in practical training were guided
toward reinforcing the desired female altitude inside the house and
outside, and preparing the young woman for marriage and the
upbringing of children. Anything else was secondary and usually
limited to a very small section of the upper reaches of society.
The primary texts encountered were those called jo k u n . These
were compcndiums of what is ordinarily called “moral instructions
for women," a term which encompasses philosophical concepts
borrowed from Confucianism, Buddhism, and the thoughts of the
writers. The emphasis was on the idea that women were inferior to
men and were expected to act in certain ways. Regardless of the
original ideas of Confucius or the Buddha concerning women, there
was the insistence that women were inferior to and so owed
absolute obedience to men, thus becoming subservient to men
throughout the entirety of life. Filial piety, chastity, and self-
discipline were expected, all to serve the men of their family and
those outside the house. The jokun repeatedly emphasized those
demands. So it can be seen that the primary purpose of education
was to prepare a girl mentally for the life that was to follow.
Since it was believed that a women's purpose in life was to
marry, to produce children, and to care for the household, most
education was focused on domestic skills. There were the practical
matters of everyday chores of meal preparation, cleaning, laundry,
repair and construction of clothing and bedding, and all the other
projects required for the proper care of home and family. Again it
was emphasized that certain tasks belonged to women and others to
men, although, quite often, especially in farming and in some trades,
men and women shared the work and so the knowledge and training.
Despite its faults the Confucian emphasis on education helped
in the emergence of learning for women. As time passed conditions
changed. As the hold of the Tokugawa shogunate weakened, basic
educational opportunity expanded, both in availability to greater
numbers and in the extent of what was taught. If the Tokugawa
94
government had maintained the strict class system and restricted
education to only the samurai sector, the common people would
probably have remained illiterate. There would have been no
progress, and probably Japan would have remained what is today
called a “third>world”country. But there was change, and by the end
of the Tokugawa era in the 1850’s, there were enough educated
women to provide the teaching staffs for the schools which sprang
up and flourished when feudal Shogunate Japan gave way to the
modernization instituted upon the restoration of the Emperor and
the installation of the Meiji regime. So there was educational
progress, however difficult the circumstances may have been.
Class cannot be ignored. For whatever reason, but most likely
in order to establish and maintain control of a diverse empire, the
Tokugawa government instituted a rigid class society, with samurai
at the top, farmers following and artisans and merchants at the
bottom. Each class had its special privileges and restrictions.
Supposedly no one could cross from one class to another. At the top
the women were expected to know more of literature, the arts, and
the social graces. At the bottom there was supposedly no reason for
anything except propaganda and domestic training. Of course, the
restrictions were often overcome. Artistic skills, usually cultivated
by upper-class women with time to spare and money to spend, could
95
be acquired by the daughter of a merchant or farmer with enough
money to pay the price. At times such deviations from the standard
code were met with severe retaliation, and a merchant might find his
business confiscated by the government or a farmer seized in the
fields and taken to prison.
Nevertheless, people tend to want to better themselves and to
reach out for the privileges of those higher in the scale. So women
learned to draw pictures, compose poetry, and to read books other
than the propagandist^ Jokun. Some became skilled in serving
important guests or taking part in elaborate rituals. Social order
may have been set by the government, but there were always
exceptions. However, it must be said that the ordinary samurai
woman's education was superior to that of those of the lower classes.
The strictures imposed, the money involved, the family and
individual desire, and the free time available - - all controlled access.
Then there was the growing self-awareness of women.
Throughout the era there were women who questioned the idea of
inferiority and the subjugation of women to men. These were the
women who pushed themselves to learn more than only what was
necessary. Some learned to read the Chinese classics written in
kanbun (Chinese writing), when ordinary reading was done in
Japanese and usually then in the simpler, purely phonetic katta.
96
Further reading, whether of philosophy or of novels and poetry,
reinforced the idea that women were not really inferior to men but
were relegated to that status by men who needed to keep power in
their hands. There were women who wrote critiques of the
Confuctan scheme, one of whom was Tadano Makuzu, who produced
Dokko in 1817. Other women wrote jo ku n to provide ideas which
might resemble those of the male-oriented books but also offered a
woman's perspective, chief among which is probably the K aranishiki
of Naruse Isako, written with the help of her husband in 1694
although not published until 1800.
The term jo k u n recurs throughout the history of women’s
education, for these were the primary textbooks. Of these the most
famous is Onna Dalgaku, which originated about the middle of the
Tokugawa era and went through many editions. The author is
unknown, although a name is usually attached. One of its repeated
points is that women are intended by nature to be domestic and to
care for husband, children, and the house. At this time, it was still
not so much a matter of women's actual inferiority. Although self-
awareness was beginning to appear among those women, they did
not yet have sufficient strength to confront the feudal society.
For merchants and farmers practical training was the means to
prosperity or at least survival. Reading and writing, and sometimes
97
arithmetic, were required in many transactions and so were
provided to the daughters of the family. Sewing schools seem to
have been fairly common, although what they offered in the way of
instruction, other than sewing itself, is not clear. It can be assumed
that construction and repair of clothing and bedding was of primary
importance.
One common practice of the time was oyashiki boko, the
training of a girl of a family of lesser status in the house of someone
of a higher status, usually of the samurai. There the girl learned
what the samurai learned and practiced what they practiced. It may
be assumed that much was learned through observation rather than
actual work at the task, although there was evidently a sharing of
skills such as social graces appropriate to various occasions, reading
of poetry and novels, flower arrangement, hair arrangement, proper
movement in kimono, and all the activities of women of the upper
class. Presumably the girls from the lower classes were not treated
as servants but as companions for the girls and women of the house.
Whether that was always true is a matter for exploration. There can
never be any inflexible rule.
Oyashiki boko provided a way to break the barriers between
established classes. The original idea of absolute separation proved
to be impractical. It is likely that the practice of oyashiki boko
98
owed much to the need of the samurai for the money and services
offered by the artisan, merchant, or farmer and so the trade was
made: training for the daughter in exchange for what the samurai
wanted. As the years passed the samurai could not maintain their
special status. The need for soldiers declined, and so did the need
for samurai warriors. Further, their families grew, and the sons
were forced to strike out on their own. Very soon money became
the basis of power. The practical samurai, whether by choice or not,
often became a merchant or farmer or descended into the world of
the outcast and sometimes the bandit, seeking money first and status
last.
Eventually the daughters of the samurai without money and
power attended the terakoya with the commoners. The government
might not approve, but necessity brought changes. Samurai and
commoner mingled and became much like each other. The age of
Emperor Meiji was approaching.
The varieties of educational opportunity usually reflected the
wishes of the family, the availability of teachers, the time required,
and in many cases, the restrictions imposed by the government.
One writer, Tadano Makuzu, described women as "birds in a cage,"
and their fate was to be moved from one cage to another and then to
another after that, as a woman from childhood in the cage of her own
99
home, to the cage of a married woman in another home, and finally,
if widowed or somehow exiled from her married home, to the cage of
her sons. Her knowledge, whether gained from experience or the
reading of the lives of other women, helped her to cope with the
prison of her cage.
Finally, it can be said that the family dictated what a girl would
learn and how she would learn it, and there were many who were
willing and able to learn. In the nineteenth century the rate of
women’s literacy stood at about ten per cent, or a little over, which is
comparable to that of Europe or America at the time. Slowly,
education became a commodity, available for a price, but available to
an increasing number. Toward the end of the Tokugawa era the
commodification of educational opportunity at all levels allowed for
the expansion of the teaching profession and the creation of the
modem school system.
Women's education has made major strides and continues to
expand. The ambitious women of the Tokugawa helped make this
possible. It would be pleasant to announce that a complete picture
of women’s education throughout the Tokugawa era has emerged
from this study or that a thorough examination is even possible.
There remain major areas to explore. There must be contemporary
accounts waiting to be found and used.
100
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Creator Shuyama, Chisato (author)

Core Title Women'S Education In The Tokugawa Society

Degree Master of Arts

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Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag education, history of,history, Asia, Australia and Oceania,OAI-PMH Harvest,women's studies

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