The Problem of Women in Early Modern Japan

Book excerpt: Early modern Japan was a military-bureaucratic state governed by patriarchal and patrilineal principles and laws. During this time, however, women had considerable power to directly affect social structure, political practice, and economic production. This apparent contradiction between official norms and experienced realities lies at the heart of The Problem of Women in Early Modern Japan. Examining prescriptive literature and instructional manuals for womenÑas well as diaries, memoirs, and letters written by and about individual women from the late seventeenth century to the early nineteenth centuryÑMarcia Yonemoto explores the dynamic nature of Japanese womenÕs lives during the early modern era.