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Women's Rights and Modernization:
An Argument by Fukuzawa Yukichi
Molly Graepel
February 1, 2010
Submitted to the Haverford College and Bryn Mawr College East Asian Studies Department
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements of the Degree of Bachelor of Arts
Thesis Adviser: Professor Pauline Lin
Second Reader: Professor Hank Glassman
Abstract
In the Meiji period (1868-1912), Japan went through a time of intense change and
modernization. Within this process, Japanese women became a focus of debate and the
prominent figure Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901) advocated for women's rights. This
thesis seeks to explore why Fukuzawa wanted more equality for women and how he
envisioned achieving it.
Fukuzawa was a prolific writer and over his lifetime he wrote a series of articles
and essays focused on the issue of women's rights: "The Equal Number of Men and
Women" (1875), "On Japanese Women, Part I and II" (1885), "On Morality" (1885),
"On the Association of Men and Women" (1886), "Fukuzawa Sensei's Random Talks"
(1898), "A Critique of The Greater Learning for Women" (1899), and "The New Greater
Learning for Women" (1899). Using these texts, I argue that Fukuzawa believed women
should be given rights to develop into independent and equipped women that could
contribute to the advancement of Japan. This could be achieved through making reforms
in three areas: education, responsibilities and freedoms, and marriage.
Graepel 3
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Introduction
4
Chapter Two: Fukuzawa, the Meiji Restoration, and Japanese Enlightenment
6
Chapter Three: Repression of Women
9
Chapter Four: Education
14
Chapter Five: Responsibility and Freedom
17
Chapter Six: Marriage
28
Chapter Seven: Conclusion
36
Works Cited
40
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Chapter One: Introduction
Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901) was a leading voice for change during the pivotal
opening of Japan to the West in the second half of the 19th century. During this time,
Japanese leaders embarked on a process of modernization, believing it to be the only
defense against Western threats of colonization. Within this process of modernization,
Japanese women became a focus of debate. For the first time, the argument that women
played a significant role in society and were fundamental for a strong Japanese nation
emerged. As a pioneer of Western ideals, Fukuzawa was at the forefront of this
progressive belief, advocating for women's rights in many of his writings. His proposals
may appear archaic and obvious to modern audiences, but in the context of Meiji-Era
Japan, his ideas were nothing less than revolutionary. He was able to look critically at the
existing order of things in Japan, a quality that was truly unique for his time and setting.
Fukuzawa claimed a social revolution was necessary in order to improve the
quality of life for women in their traditional sphere. He attributed centuries of oppression
to the widely accepted notion that women in Japan were inferior to men; pressure from
deep-rooted customs had forced Japanese women into a repressed and submissive state.
He felt women were no different from men; they were just as capable and deserved the
same rights of happiness, respect and education as men. To liberate women from the
fetters of traditional ideas and customs that repressed them, Fukuzawa believed that
significant changes had to occur.
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41,
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Fukuzawa's passionate campaign for women's rights stemmed from his strong
nationalist beliefs. More than anything, Fukuzawa wanted to see Japan become a
wealthy, civilized, and powerful nation that stood among the leading countries in the
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world. He was convinced that women's contributions to society were an important aspect
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of Japanese progress. Because women constituted half the population and were
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responsible for ensuring a strong posterity for Japan, mentally, emotionally, and
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physically capable women were essential for a powerful race and country. To secure
Japan's success in the modern world, women had to be given rights that would allow
them to contribute fully in the nation's development. Furthermore, as the influx of
foreign contact with Japan increased, it was critically important for Japan to depict itself
as a civilized nation, one that treated its women with the same respect as western nations.
In order for this elevation of women to personhood to occur, a social transformation was
needed—one that would surpass old precepts restricting women and would promote the
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integration of new principles into Japanese society. Fukuzawa envisioned and wrote
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about social change that would allow Japan to join the ranks of modernized nations; this
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change could be achieved through three methods of comprehensive reform concerning
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women's rights: education, responsibilities and freedoms, and marriage. Education would
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enable a woman to develop intellectually; responsibilities concerning economic and
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familial matters and social liberation from the confines of the home would make a
40
happier and, in turn, a healthier woman; an egalitarian marriage would provide her with
respect and emotional fulfillment. Fukuzawa believed if changes in those three areas
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were made, a more mentally, emotionally, and physically stronger Japanese woman
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would emerge. This woman, he imagined, would be the foundation for the new powerful
and modernized Japan.
Chapter Two: Fukuzawa, the Meiji Restoration, and Japanese Enlightenment
Fukuzawa Yukichi was born on January 10, 1835 on the island of Kyushu. His
father, Fukuzawa Hyakusuke, was a low-ranking samurai of the Okudaira Clan of
Nakatsu and died a year and a half after Fukuzawa was born. His mother raised
Fukuzawa and his four siblings on her own. 1 In all likelihood, watching his mother
manage the household and raise the children alone fostered Fukuzawa's firmly held
conviction that women were as strong and capable as men. 2 Starting at a young age,
Fukuzawa was intrigued by Western civilization, specifically Western sciences and
military advancements, and in 1859, after encountering foreign merchants in Yokohama,
he became determined to learn the English language as it was the portal to Western
knowledge (Autobiography 98-99). Fukuzawa eventually became one of the few in feudal
Japan to master English and therefore became involved in translating Western works. In
1859, the Tokugawa Shogun selected Fukuzawa to embark on the first Japanese envoy to
America, providing Fukuzawa with the opportunity to experience Western culture and
civilization firsthand (Autobiography 104). After this first trip, Fukuzawa traveled to the
West as part of a government delegation two more times: to Europe in 1862 and again to
Fukuzawa, Yukichi. Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi. Trans. Eiichi Kiyooka. Lanham: Madison
Books, 1992, p. 1. This text will hereafter be referred to in parenthetical citations as Autobiography.
2 Hane, Miskiso. "Fukuzawa Yukichi and Women's Rights." Japan in Transition: Thought and Action in
the Meiji Era, 1868-1912. Ed. Hilary Conroy, Sandra T.W. David, and Wayne Patterson. London:
Associated UP, 1984, p.108. This text will hereafter be referred to in parenthetical citations as Hane.
Graepel 7
America in 1867 (Autobiography 124-166). After his travels, he compiled all the
information he had learned from his time abroad into a series books entitled Conditions in
the West. By this point in time, Fukuzawa was widely regarded as one of Japan's
foremost authorities on Western knowledge. 3
Fukuzawa composed the volumes about his tours of the West during a critical
moment in Japanese history. In the year after he completed his second trip to America,
the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the single most dramatic transformation of Japan,
occurred. 4 In the mid-nineteenth century, just prior to the pivotal Meiji Restoration, an
American fleet under Commodore Perry opened Japan, thus forcing it to abandon its
long-standing policy of seclusion by signing a series of unequal treaties. 5 Over the next
few years, a succession of internal pressures ended almost three hundred years of steady
Tokugawa rule; in 1868, the Tokugawa Shogun surrendered his power fully to the
Japanese Emperor, restoring imperial rule. With the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan
began a process of transformation from a feudal, anachronistic society to a modern,
unified national state. During this intense period of internal transition in Japan,
tremendous force from the West threatened Japan's autonomy; Japan became vulnerable
to the same threat of Western colonization that had already compromised Asia's great
powers in India and China. The Japanese government became convinced that by
emulating the Western world through rapid industrialization and modernization, Japan
3
Oei, Lee T. "Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901) and the Modernization of the Japanese Mind." The
American Asian Review 10.2 (1992): 1-50, p.3-4.
4
For more information on the Meiji Restoration, see Gordon, Andrew. Modern History ofJapan from
Tokugawa Times to the Present. New York: Oxford UP, 2009, p. 47-137.
The unequal treaties forced upon Japan by the United States allowed for the appointment of diplomatic
and consular agents in Edo, opened eight trading ports, expanded the travel privileges of Americans in
Japan, permitted them to practice their religions, gave Americans immunity from Japanese law
(extraterritoriality), and set tariff levels. Other powerful Western countries quickly secured similar
concessions, see Totman, Conrad. A History of Japan. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005, p. 289.
Graepel 8
could reinvent itself to be on par with Western powers, thus ensuring the autonomy of the
nation. The government sought to build Japan's power and national wealth rapidly
through economic and military development, enacting a series of reforms—based on
knowledge, ideas, and skills from the West—that brought about drastic change to Japan.
The rapid transformation of Japanese society following the Meiji Restoration
affected all sectors of society. In addition to the structural innovations adopted by the
Japanese government, social customs of the West began to be seen as the means toward
achieving a more civilized and advanced Japan. The practical importation of Western
culture became central to the Japanese Enlightenment of the 1870s. 6 Opinion journals and
newspapers thrived on discussions relating to the direction of the Meiji government and
society. Fukuzawa was at the center of this impressive drive to promote national strength
through the advancement of Western ways and removal of archaic, stagnant habits that
were deemed responsible for the Japan's backwardness.
In addition to publishing works on his own, Fukuzawa circulated a number of his
texts in the immensely popular Meiroku Zasshi, an academic journal founded by the
Meirokusha, or the Meiji Six Society. ? The Society's ten members, all leading Japanese
intellectuals, were deeply involved in the nation-building process; at a time when Japan's
path was not yet determined, the Meirokusha tried to influence the government and the
public to establish liberal reforms modeled on Western society (Gordon 61-80). With
Western ideologies flowing into Japan, it was not long before women's rights and their
role in society became significant issues of debate during the Japanese Enlightenment. A
For a more in-depth explanation of the Japanese Enlightenment, see Taman 305-312.
For extended information on the Meiji Six Society and its members, see Sinh, Vinh. "The Meirokusha
and the Japanese Enlightenment." Asian Thought & Society 9.26-27 (1984), p. 164-76.
6
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number of the Meiji leaders of the Japanese Enlightenment saw women's contribution to
society as a vital aspect of Japanese progress and industrialization. Between 1874 and
1875, Fukuzawa and his contemporaries Mori Arinori (1847-1889) and Nakamura
Masanao (1832-1891) published several essays in the Meiroku Zasshi supporting the
rights of women, one of which was Fukuzawa's article "The Equal Number of Men and
Women" (1875). Ten years later, in 1885, Fukuzawa continued his discussions on women
in a series of editorials for the newspaper Fijishimpo, entitled "On Japanese Women, Part
I and II." He continued to publish more texts concerning women, including "On
Morality" (1885), "On the Association of Men and Women" (1886), and "Fukuzawa
Sensei's Random Talks" (1898). Fukuzawa's final two articles, "A Critique of The
Greater Learning for Women" and "The New Greater Learning for Women," were
written in 1899. Analyzing these primary sources will provide a lens through which we
will be able to better understand Fukuzawa's influential stance on women.
Chapter Three: Repression of Women
The status of Japanese women in the late Tokugawa and early Meiji period was
restrictively defined, leaving women marginalized in society. Government codes and
laws enforced the legal subordination of women. Beginning in the 15th century, codes by
the daimyo (feudal lords) known as the "house laws" abolished the rights of women and
pushed them deeper into subservience. These codes, which continued into the Meiji,
confined women to an inferior legal and social status: men were held responsible for their
family members under law and thus husbands and sons had unquestioned authority over
Graepel 10
their wives and daughters. Furthermore, the patriarchal family based on the principle of
primogeniture allowed women few property rights. 8 A woman also had little rights in her
marriage, which was strictly controlled by her husband. A wife was basically a nonperson under law: any suspected adultery by a married woman was punishable by death,
while even proven adultery by a husband was permitted as long as his sexual partner was
unmarried. Furthermore, the wife had no right to divorce her husband, whereas a wife
who did not please her husband was vulnerable to a unilateral and almost immediate
divorce. 9 Men could complete a divorce by simply presenting a statement that comprised
three and a half lines (Robins-Mowry 26). The essence of marital relations was captured
in the borrowed Chinese phrase, "danson johi," or "respect for men, abasement for
women" (Tokuza 43). The expression was simple, harsh, and emblematic of the negative
image of Japanese women that pervaded society under the daiymo's "house laws."
Furthermore, prior to the Meiji Restoration there was no public education for women. 10
Women only learned practical skills like weaving and sewing. All these qualities were
vocational qualities; a woman's profession was her womanliness and her vocation was
marriage. The general belief was that education was not necessary for women because
they were under the constant control and care of men."
Also contributing to the denigration of women was the deeply rooted religion of
Buddhism, which fortified the oppressive laws expounded by the government. Introduced
from the mainland of China, Buddhism's doctrines asserted that women were sinful and
8
Robins-Mowry, Dorothy. Hidden Sun: Women of Modern Japan. Boulder: Westview, 1983, p.26-27. This
text will hereafter be referred to in parenthetical citations as Robins-Mowry.
9 Tokuza, Akiko. The Rise of the Feminist Movement in Japan. Tokyo: Keio UP, 1999, p. 42. This text will
hereafter be referred to in parenthetical citations as Tokuza.
1° In 1872, the Meiji goverment instituted a new system of education that declared compulsory education
for both girls and boys. This marked the beginning of public education for girls, see Gordon 67.
Dore, R. P. Education in Tokugawa Japan. Berkeley: University of California UP, 1965, p. 64-67.
Graepel 11
envious by nature. 12 Women were seen as the devil's instruments of corruption that
prevented men from following the way of the Buddha. Certain schools of Buddhism
denied women's ability to reach nirvana (Robins-Mowry 22). The negative perception of
women's abilities and worth that certain interpretations of Buddhism presented played a
large role in the total subordination of Japanese women.
Buddhism was not the largest factor in Japan's traditional ideas of women,
however. The origins of the negative image of women in Japan can mostly be traced back
to Confucianism, a social philosophy from China that stressed the importance of
hierarchical order. In this order, it was clearly laid out that men were superior to women.
Confucian tenets promoted the subordination of women by confining them to the familial
sphere while also conveying the notion that females were intellectually shallow:
The Master [Confucius] said, "In one's household, it is the women and the
small men that are difficult to deal with. If you let them get to close, they
become insolent. If you keep them at a distance, they complain." 13
Confucianism also attributed the concepts of yin and yang to men and women. Yin—the
soft, dark, passive and negative quality—was attached to women, whereas men were
identified by yang—the active, sunlit, and positive spirit. Although complementary in
concept, this dualistic principle resulted in a diminishing perception of women (RobinsMowry 24-25).
Confucian moral guides for women, or jokun, became widely popular and
published during the Tokugawa period. The Greater Learning for Women by the Neo12 The notions of five hindrances and three obediences repeatedly mentioned in the Mahayana sutras,
combined with the indigenous Japanese idea of ritual purity and blood as a source of impurity, led to the
view that women were inherently sinful. Blood impurity is a reference to a woman's menstruation and
childbirth, both seen as sources of uncleanliness and, therefore, a cause of ceremonial impurity, see Okano,
Haruko. "Women's Image and Place in Japanese Buddhism." Japanese Women New Feminist Perspectives
on the Past, Present, and Future. Eds. Kumiko Fujimura-Fanselow and Atsuko Kameda. New York:
Feminist, 1995, p. 15-25.
13 Confucius. The Analects. Trans. D.C. Lau. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1979, p. 148.
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Confucian scholar Kaibara Ekiken was among the most widely published and influential
of Tokugawa jokun. Written in 1729, the didactic text's fundamental idea was the
inferior role of women in society. The purpose of Kaibara'sjokun was to guide the
masses who had a vague understanding of female morality and their place in society. The
jokun presented women as inferior, saying that the nature of their sex was an ineradicable
failing and that it was men's obligation to lead them through life. Thus a woman's most
important role was to be loyal to her husband, which was the key to the entire doctrine.
Kaibara outlined and advocated specific manners and attitudes to reinforce a woman's
loyalty to her spouse.
In the guide, Kaibara teaches that a woman's role was strictly to serve her
husband: "A woman has no particular lord. 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." 14 She was therefore discouraged from
leaving her home and participating in non-domestic leisure activities. After making her
inferior and confined role in society clear to his readers, Kaibara describes a woman's
appropriate behavior: from the time she is a youth, a girl must observe the demarcation
separating women from men; she must always show proper respect, observe distance in
her relationship with men, be circumspect in her words, and only show qualities that befit
a woman: gentle obedience, chastity, mercy and quietness (Kaibara 33-35). In The
Greater Learning for Women, Kaibara asserts that women are inherently irrational. In his
opinion, five infirmities afflict seven out of eight women: indocility, discontent, slander,
14 Kaibara, Ekiken Women and Wisdom ofJapan. Trans. Basil H. Chamberlain. Comp. Shingoro Takaishi.
London: John Murray, 1909, p.38. This text will hereafter be referred to in parenthetical citations as
Kaibara.
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jealousy, and silliness. The Greater Learning for Women was the archetypical
representation of the negative image of women that dominated the Tokugawa and early
Meiji period in Japan and became the accepted and absolute rules of conduct for women.
It provided a neat summary of the moral qualities which required self-abnegating and
unfaltering obedience to men (Tokuza 40-43). The text was widely circulated to people of
all classes and thus had an enormous impact on how society, including women
themselves, viewed the female gender; it greatly reinforced their inferior status void of
happiness, respect, and knowledge.
Fukuzawa was highly critical of the male-dominated social order that prevailed
during the late Tokugawa and early Meiji era. He ascribed Japan's backwardness and
lack of progress in large part to the conventions of the time that restricted women to an
inferior and servile position. To express his concern over this matter, Fukuzawa writes in
"On Japanese Women, Part II,"
I have no doubt that the gloom and discontent is overflowing through the
country, though women do not express their feelings too openly...the
miseries and discontent of Japanese women should induce black clouds
everywhere over our island.''
Fukuzawa expresses an ominous concern that the "gloom" of women has been building
up, and that, soon enough, Japan would have to deal with the "black clouds" that resulted
from years of oppression. Fukuzawa believed this oppression of women caused great
unhappiness in the female population and ultimately resulted in the misery of half the
nation. He feared the consequences Japan would have to endure because its archaic
15
Fukuzawa, Yukichi. Fukuzawa Yukichi on Japanese Women Selected Works. Trans. Eiichi Kiyooka.
Tokyo: University of Tokyo UP, 1988, p.57. This text will hereafter be referred to in parenthetical citations
as Fukuzawa.
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customs of constraining women would prevent his country from moving forward and
joining the ranks of the world's civilized nations. The system concerning women
inherited from the past bred servility and submission—Meiji women would have to be
different, and in order to be different, they would have to be treated differently. The Meiji
time was vulnerable to change: the existing order could be replaced. Japan needed to
create a new generation of independent and equipped women to contribute to the
advancement of Japan— intelligent, spirited, and healthy women free of their servility.
His critical texts were in direct opposition to past practices, as he believed the only way
to correct the path of Japan was to suppress the outmoded ways inherited from previous
generations. A radical change that would reform and uproot the old, entrenched regime
was essential (Fukuzawa 77).
Chapter Four: Education
From the beginning of the Meiji period, discussions of women's rights were
closely related to discussions of women's education. Education for women was one of
Fukuzawa's primary concerns, and he wrote a great deal on school education and its role
as a requirement for the elevation of the status of women. Fukuzawa was introduced to
women's education through his three visits to the West, where he became familiar with
the conditions of school education for women there. In addition to observing that
women's education was part of Western civilizations, he also thought it essential as a
foundation for Japanese women to gain confidence and become influential members of
society. The importance he attached to women's education was so strong that in 1888, he
Graepel 15
planned for the establishment of a girl's school within Keio Gijuku, and though never
realized, it remained a dream of his. 16 Fukuzawa believed women had both the capacity
and right to be educated; repressing women by withholding education was wholly
unethical (Fukuzawa 38). Discussions on women's education were also often in the
context of the family and, by extension, the whole nation. Fukuzawa believed Japan
would benefit from educated mothers who could effectively exercise their innate capacity
to instruct their children, and in turn, contribute to an overall more educated society.
Pre-Meiji education for women consisted predominately of didactic moral guides
that reinforced the traditional roles for women: cleaning, cooking, and bearing children.
Not only did the educational texts constrain women by emphasizing their conventional,
servile role, but they also asserted that women did not have the capacity to learn.
Therefore, it was commonly held that it was useless to even attempt to educate a woman
because she was innately unintelligent. This belief was the first obstacle that stood in the
way of achieving a better education for women. In "Critique of The Greater Learning,"
Fukuzawa refutes this conventional idea, instead stating that women have all the
capacities to learn, that it is simply their unfamiliarity with the world and not their inborn
idiocy that causes their ignorance. There are very few women, Fukuzawa admits, who
understand the complexities of important issues concerning the country, such as
economics and politics. However, if they are asked about something in their sphere of
knowledge, they will show great aptitude from the management of servants to gift
exchange. Though these areas seem insignificant, they require the same precision,
intellect and subtlety of a man's duties in the workplace (Fukuzawa 213). Ultimately,
16 Fujiwara, Keiko. Introduction. Fukuzawa Yukichi on Japanese Women Selected Works. By Yukichi
Fukuzawa. Trans. Eiichi Kiyooka. Tokyo: University of Tokyo UP, 1988, p. xii-xiv.
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Fukuzawa asserts that when given proper training, a woman will be able to perform what
have traditionally been a man's jobs. Fukuzawa's audacious claim equates a woman's
learning capacity with that of a man's and places them on an equal level. Because
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women have the same facilities to process information as men, they should therefore be
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given the same access to education with no distinction between girls and boys—both
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should make the study of science, history, law, economics, geography, and physiology
the foundation from where they can advance into different specialties (Fukuzawa 221).
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Fukuzawa asserted that keeping a woman from achieving her potential by
neglecting to educate her was irrational and opposed Japan's best interests. In his
opinion, educating women would give them the knowledge to become more
economically and socially independent, resulting in stronger women with "firm and
unshakable self-respect" (Fukuzawa 243). Fukuzawa gives another rationale for
educating women in "The New Greater Learning for Women" (1899), saying that a
formal education would instill morals of proper etiquette and civility upon her better than
the training of "sealing her mouth" that old precepts supported (Fukuzawa 244). These
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intellectually and morally cultivated, self-respecting women, Fukuzawa argued, would
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lead by example in the family and in civil society. If a mother is strong, her child is
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strong, and by extension, if a mother is cultivated her child will be as well (Fukuzawa
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27). This would ensure a better posterity for Japan, advancing it as a society. In a
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foundation of a great nation.
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nutshell, Fukuzawa argued, educated mothers produce educated children who are the
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In addition to the contributions a woman could make on Japan through her
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children, a woman could play a great role in society in her own right. As Fukuzawa
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observes in his first section "The Critique on The Greater Learning,"
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In the West, women's education is encouraged and a number of prominent
women scholars are found in the fields of science, literature, economics,
etc. And because women excel in minute work, many are employed by the
government bureaucrats as accountants. Some scholars insist that women
are more talented in the study and practice of medicine than men, and in
reality the number of women doctors is on the increase. (Fukuzawa 214)
From his observations of the West, it is evident that if a woman were given the
opportunity to effectively use her intelligence, she could play a significant role in society.
By withholding education from women, Japan was preventing women from achieving the
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intellectual growth and personal maturity that could lead to its own advancement. And
though Fukuzawa never outright argues for Japanese women to have jobs outside their
traditional spheres, he implicitly states that they have the equal potential as men to effect
great change in Japan, and thus are crucial to Japan's modernization.
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Chapter Five: Responsibility and Freedom
In a number of his articles on women, Fukuzawa describes the lack of female
responsibilities and freedoms in Japan: women in Japan had no access to economic and
social responsibility; a woman had nothing to call her own— her husband had full control
over her children and property. In addition, there were heavy restrictions on freedom in a
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woman's daily actions. Fukuzawa asserted that the state of affairs for Japanese women
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the country. A woman could not fully develop her physical and mental capacities without
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must be rectified immediately because it was ultimately responsible for the stagnation of
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411responsibilities and freedoms, and if a mother's body were not strong, the child's body
11,
would not be strong or healthy, either (Fukuzawa 27). Having stated his opinions,
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Fukuzawa continued by advocating for societal reforms that he claimed would make for a
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stronger Japan by enhancing the position of women.
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Pains and pleasures were borne out of a person's responsibilities; without
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responsibilities, a person could not mentally flourish. In his article "On Japanese Women,"
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Fukuzawa explained the relationship between suffering, pleasures, responsibilities and the
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development of the mind Pains and pleasure, he argued, came from the stress and rewards
of managing heavy duties and only under these circumstances did the mind develop. Men
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1110
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and women molded their lives out of the pains and pleasures they experienced. The
hardships and joys they endured in life that came from taking on a responsibility made
their lives more fulfilling and their minds more enlivened. Fukuzawa explained further by
providing an example:
A merchant might make a fortune and an official might obtain a
surprise promotion, and we at the time might feel that the fortune or
promotion is not well earned. But after some time, these men acquire
dignity, and their appearance, too, changes. And we are amazed to
find them entirely different from the men they were in former years.
We come across such experiences often. We shall have to concede
that the advancement these men made was not the result of their
studies in school, but of education they obtained from their
responsibilities in real life. In order to expand a man's life
experiences and to enliven the activities of both mind and body,
classroom training alone will not do; a man must be given some sort
of responsibility. (Fukuzawa 8)
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Through his analogy, he argues that for both men and women, intellectual development is
410
contingent upon the experience that one has in managing responsibilities. It is by having
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responsibilities and managing greater burdens that one is able to learn and expand one's
life experience. It is not enough, Fukuzawa declares, merely to make provisions for the
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411
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education of women—they also need to be given real responsibilities. The intellectual
activity stimulated by maintaining some kind of crucial responsibility led to a smarter and
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more fulfilled woman that could add to society and improve Japan.
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411
41/
•
•
An effective way to ensure women had responsibilities, Fukuzawa insisted, was
through property. He felt women should be entitled equal property ownership,
inheritance, and authority in the household. However, the condition of women in Japan,
Fukuzawa believed, gave absolutely no responsibilities to women; they did not even own
•
•
their own possessions, and certainly did not own the homes they lived in. A girl was
411
brought up in her father's house when she was born; when she was grown and married,
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
she lived in her husband's house; when she became old and widowed, the house became
her son's. All her family property was her husband's property; women were only allowed
what the husband chose to share in the benefits of that property. After the Meiji
Restoration, a new law made it possible for women to head households or to own land or
public loan bonds, allowing her to possess movable and immovable property. However,
this law fell short of revolutionizing the way of life for individual women, as it was
generally the case that their positions as household heads were temporary. Even after the
passage of the law, women owners were mostly substitutes for absent men, and they were
•
•
quickly replaced by new husbands or adopted sons. Though a father or husband
•
sometimes gave his wife or daughter a little use of property, it was simply a small
•,
4111
for everyday use, amounting to nothing that could be spent publicly for a
purpose or gain. Fukazawa showed that, ultimately, property for Japanese women was
•
411
411
••
limited to clothes and food. Daughters, he contended, were also left in a vulnerable
position when they married into another family whose fortune declined— there was no
•
O
•
Graepel 20
guarantee that she would not lose her own property. In extreme cases, the husband was an
"immoral and vicious playboy" who intended on receiving his wife's property and later
•
•
•
41
contrived to divorce her (Fukuzawa 10-11).
In addition to denouncing the lack of property rights for women, Fukuzawa
•
also condemned inheritance practices, which, he said, left Japanese women at a severe
•
•
•
disadvantage. When there was no son, the custom prevalent in Japan called for adopting a
boy from another family and marrying him to the daughter of the family. Even if the
411
family's blood lineage might die out, people were more concerned that the family name
•
•
continued. Fukuzawa held that this was nothing but degrading for women; a daughter
should be able to inherit the family fortune, but instead, traditional practices meant that
•
she would be forced to bring in a husband, give him all the property, and serve him as if
•
•
•
•
he were a lord (Fukuzawa 51-52).
Fukuzawa advocated equal rights for husband and wife in the inheritance of the
house they lived in and all other property they owned. Society should afford women the
same rank, the same rights, and the same ownership as men. Owning property, he
explained, was an opportunity for a woman to exercise and increase her wisdom: "To
•
•
•
have wide contacts with people of the world and to worry about money matters will
•
•
•
seriously with money or property, there is no chance to obtain any worldly wisdom"
(Fukuzawa 54). In order for women to be spiritually independent, he believed that they
411
needed to be able to support themselves; for this, they needed to be provided with
•
•
sufficient property to be financially independent from their husbands. Fukuzawa
••
•
improve the workings of the brain, but for those who do not enjoy socializing or ever deal
contended that it was futile to expect women to take on this responsibility of their own
S
Graepel 21
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
40
resolve because they had thousands of years' worth of customs weighing against them; in
order to rectify the present state of women, the creation of new customs and laws were
necessary:
Because women today are weak in both body and mind, they are not
able to earn money right away. Therefore, women should be given
exclusive right on real estate, as in cases where children inherit
property from their parents. There should be a law passed providing
that no land or house can be owned except in women's name, and
also that no public loan bonds can be bold or bought except in
women's names. This would be a very effective device. (Fukuzawa
30)
In this quote Fukuzawa suggest not that property rights should be equal, but
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
that they should be reversed—the woman should have all ownership rights.
Through this, it becomes clear that Fukuzawa strongly believed in the
importance of responsibility of property for women.
Fukuzawa went on to explain that since the Meiji Restoration, equality of all
people was declared and the powerful feudal lords lost control of their lands, ending their
•
monopoly on real estate. Though still subservient in Japan, commoners saw vast
•
improvement to their position. If women were granted ownership of property as well,
41
"there is no doubt the position of women as a whole would improve a hundredfold"
•
• •
•
•
(Fukuzawa 30). He insisted that over the next century, Japan should make improvements
in all conceivable ways, even if only making one or two small steps toward the ideal
•
state. And while he did not expect this condition to develop rapidly, the consideration of
41110
revisions in the Civil Law regarding property ownership and inheritance for women
•
•
would be one such step that Japan could take to reach this ideal state.
•
responsibilities, including the ownership of properties, was to argue that women already
I•
•
A common reaction to Fukuzawa's claim that women should be granted more
•
•
•
•
Graepel 22
110
did bear an important responsibility in the management of their households and children.
•
•
•
Fukuzawa countered this by writing, "What is household management? It only concerns
•
•
•
as a seasoning for food" (Fukuzawa 9). He asserted that under the current system, women
0
clothing, which is perhaps the biggest item; the smaller items concern salt and bean paste
only controlled trivial tasks and were not allowed to exert any authority over issues of
actual importance such as household finances. In regards to her children, a Japanese
woman's role was confined under her husband's supervision. "It is natural that the work
involving the raising and feeding of children fall to the wife, but too often it turns out that
•
•
•
•
•
she is bringing up her husband's children and not her own," said Fukuzawa (Fukuzawa
9). A wife provided basic needs for her child, but ultimately, her husband's claim over
their children prevailed over any that she tried to exert. And in most cases, Fukuzawa
claimed, the father was always supervising the mother's control, as he was the sole
authority over any significant decision. Starting from her child's infancy, the mother's
subordinate position awarded her no say in matters such as her child's education.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fukuzawa concluded that if women in Japan had no say, it followed that they had no true
responsibility.
In "On Japanese Women, Part II," Fukuzawa writes that women should have
every right to decide how to bring up their children because a child is equally a part of
•
•
both parents. It was commonly believed that a woman's womb was just a borrowed thing
4110
used to bring a father's child into the world, but Fukuzawa presents a counterargument to
•
•
•
•
this claim. Making a rational argument based off human physiology, Fukuzawa reminds
••
the readers that the sperm alone cannot grow into a child nor can the ovum. The two must
come together to form the embryo that becomes the child who resembles each parent in
Graepel 23
•
•
equal proportions. If one were to follow the logic that a mother's womb is borrowed,
•
•
Fukuzawa commented, one could also argue that a father's body is a borrowed means for
•
•
•
inherent in the belief that a woman had no claim over her children's upbringing because
conceiving the mother's child (Fukuzawa 50). Fukuzawa pointed out the false logic
the children belonged entirely to their father.
Fukuzawa wrote in "On Japanese Women, Part II" that there was another
factor, in addition to lacking responsibility, that greatly affected women in Japan and kept
•
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•
•
•
•
•
them constantly depressed, made them nervous and sensitive, and undermined their
health. This second significant factor that Fukuzawa highlighted was social oppression,
which forced women into narrow confinements and placed strict limits on their daily
behavior. Japanese women, Fukuzawa asserted, enjoy so little freedom and had so few
pleasures that their sphere of social intercourse was unnatural (Fukuzawa 157).
The restriction on women's behavior, Fukuzawa explained, began during the
•
•
prolonged peace of the Tokugawa period. Confucianism gradually rose to regulate
110
morality and to rectify personal behavior. Under Confucianism, women's interests and
4110
emotions were so neglected that Japanese women deteriorated to their current state,
•
•
which he found pitiful and counterintuitive to national progress. Because this ideology
11
remained for hundreds of years, it became reality and people began to forget the
11
freedoms they had enjoyed in earlier times. Women were once allowed to associate with
•
both men and women outside the home, enjoying music, poetry, singing, dancing, theater,
•
•
and attending "moonlight parties," among other activities. The freedom granted to
4111
women in these ancient times had allowed women to seek happiness, and helped
•
•
exhilarate and develop both the mind and body. But these freedoms were lost with the
••
••
•
•
Graepel 24
heavy restrictions imposed by Confucianism upon women, severely limiting their
development. Consequently, said Fukuzawa, contemporary Japanese women and men
•
•
•
•
were much less active and robust, which resulted in weaker offspring, and therefore a
weaker nation; he argued further that this weakness should be a source of shame for
modern men (Fukuzawa 26-27).
•
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40
40
•
40
•
II
46
•
•
Fukuzawa sharply criticized the restriction of liberties and freedom suggested in
The Greater Learning for Women, as described in the following passage:
A woman must rise early in the morning, retire late at night, and
must not indulge in naps during the day, nor should she have the
luxury of wine or tea, nor indulge herself at all in music or plays; and
until after forty years of age, she must refrain from going to festivals
where many people gather; she must be diffident in exchanging
words with her husband's friends and other young men; she must also
be discreet in visiting her own parents, and more discreet in
visiting other houses; she must not leave her own house without her
husband's permission, the same applying to writing letters or sending
presents; then, women's dress must be clean, but that is not enough:
colors and designs that attract people's attention are to be frowned
upon. (Kaibara 40)
•
•
•
Fukuzawa explains that current Japanese customs afford no pleasures to women in life
•
for the simple reason that they are women. He writes that, ideally, a person's life should
•
•
•
•
110
be balanced with pleasures and hardships, but if a woman were to follow the accepted
codes of conduct outlined above by Kaibara, she would spend her life in misery with no
freedom to enjoy even the simplest pleasures: picking her own clothes, seeing friends,
participating in festivals, watching plays, etc. (Fukuzawa 197-198).
In addition to those extreme restrictions, a Meiji woman was allowed no leniency
in regard to sexual pleasures. To illustrate this, Fukuzawa recited the general custom that
•
••
40
•
•
410
a widow was expected to abide by: a woman whose husband passed away was expected
to remain faithful to her deceased spouse. If this woman decided to remain a widow for
•
•
•
Graepel 25
S
410
the rest of her life, her friends and relatives generally expressed great approval for her
•
choice to remain alone, despite her practically inevitable loneliness. In the writings of
ID
•
Confucian scholars and in fiction, this idea was often depicted as the model for a faithful
and honorable wife. It created a general trend in society and even women themselves
•
•
came to think of it as the way of life. Few protested their misery— they contained their
•
gloom within and suffered silently. Fukuzawa claimed a widow's natural sexual desires
•
were smothered and she was left emotionally unfulfilled. Compared to this, men enjoyed
•
great liberty and even licentiousness—they often lived freely under the law of multiple
•
wives, enjoyed adventures in the gay quarters with geisha, participated in flower-viewing,
411n
river-boating, and congenial parties, remarried quickly without criticism, and pursued
•
recreational activities all while their wives wasted their youth in the confines of the
•
•
•
•
home; women were nothing more than caged birds (Fukuzawa 20). "A human being is a
human being," said Fukuzawa, "and any freedoms that apply to one should apply to all"
(Fukuzawa 200). In Fukuzawa's eyes, a woman should have no restrictions on her social
life that a man does not bear; it is unfair and unnatural to extend rights to men while
•
denying them from women.
Fukuzawa stated that this lack of freedom for women ultimately resulted in
•
•
physical sickness: "nervous indigestion, spasmic pain and headaches, nervous diseases,
•
hysterical insomnia, irregular menstruation, indigestion, dizziness, [and] severe panic
attacks" (Fukuzawa 21). These women passed long, miserable days, half alive, half dead,
until they finally submitted to death. Doctors were consulted, but they could do nothing;
•
•
•
S
•
the sickness was a result of unspent lives and lack of pleasures.
Fukuzawa believed that the restraint of women's freedom had a direct hindrance
Graepel 26
on national improvement. If these ailing women had children, there was no hope for these
children to be strong and healthy. The suppressive environment for Japanese women
produced mothers that were mentally, emotionally, and physically deprived who would,
as a result, only produce children of the same nature. It is difficult, Fukuzawa concludes,
to have children that will render great services for their country when women are treated
inhumanely. All women in Japan suffered from the same kind of suppression, and
because of it, the health of future generations was at stake (Fukuzawa 20-21). Since it
was a mother's role to bring up healthy subjects for a new nation, it was important that
the manners and customs she lived with supported her as opposed to demoting her to a
lesser status where she would be unable to nurture her children properly. Fukuzawa
argued that since women played such an invaluable role in creating a strong, new Japan
that could retain its independence against the threat of Western expansion, they should
enjoy equal freedoms and happiness. Japan needed societal reforms, therefore, not only to
elevate the status of women for their own sake, but because by doing so Japan would
ensure its improved posterity.
Fukuzawa extended his argument for social liberation and responsibilities further
by citing women in the West, as he often did when advocating reform. He comments that
these Western women held heavy responsibilities and were liberated from the shackles of
traditional culture; women appeared happy as they enjoyed various freedoms, owned land
and headed households. Wealth was the source of authority and power. Therefore,
Fukuzawa held, it was not accidental that the women of the West possessed authority, for
they had access to wealth. They acted as independent entities within their families or in
their activities outside the home. This allowed women to excel in scholarship and become
Graepel 27
instrumental in the success of the Western countries. Such customs, having been passed
down through generations, were instilled in the general population in the West. Fukuzawa
argued that if proper reforms were made and Japanese women were given responsibilities
and freedom like in the West, their minds and bodies would develop naturally and lay the
foundations for a Japan that would be equally as strong as the western nations (Fukuzawa
13- 14). He argued this could only occur when men begin to accept that it is best to
respect women, give them responsibility, and allow for equal rights and positions for
women. Furthermore, women have to realize that half the country belongs to them and
they should alter their attitude and decide that in all matters they will not accept a
secondary status to men. Fukuzawa concluded that the traditional roles that Japanese
women assume do not benefit the nation and had to be overturned; only women with
comparable freedoms and responsibilities of the West could produce a strong Japan.
To ensure a strong future generation of Japan, Fukuzawa proposed that
measures be taken to make women more active and to give them more freedoms. Society
must realize, he wrote, that the deplorable condition of Japanese women was not a natural
phenomenon; it was entirely due to human causes. Thus, releasing women from their
social chains had to be accomplished through human measures. Fukuzawa believed that
men enjoyed excess proportions of freedom: there were countless things men were
allowed that women were not. Women were censured for being overly forward and men
were praised while monopolizing society's freedoms. In order to succeed in the modern
world, said Fukuzawa, Japan would need to contrive a plan for reintroducing the
intellectual and recreational activity that women had enjoyed in ancient times; happiness
and pleasures had to be divided equally among women and men. Fukuzawa knew that
Graepel 28
this would be no easy task; the roots were so deeply ingrained in society that daring
change had to be made at the foundations of Japanese culture. But if there were no
reform, nor any dialogue for reform, he declared, a better and more developed Japan
would never come (Fukuzawa 28).
Chapter Six: Marriage
Central to Fukuzawa's argument concerning women is the significance of a
marriage based on mutual respect and intimate love. The foundation of human morality,
Fukuzawa declared, lies in the relationship between husband and wife: a wholesome
marriage acts as the core of a healthy family that, in turn, is the basis for a strong
nation. 17 Fukuzawa stated that the old prescriptions concerning marriage were
detrimental to society: men and women were deprived of emotional relationships with
their partners and suffered in a droning and heartless society that ultimately retarded the
growth and progress of civilization. A good marriage was not the hierarchical
relationship stipulated by tradition Confucian doctrine, but a contract based on equality
that allowed for the greatest happiness. Furthermore, Fukuzawa argued, Westerners that
observed Japanese marriage customs would find them so dissimilar from their own that
they would start to question Japan's honorable reputation. Traditional concepts intrinsic
to Japanese marriage, such as polygamy, couple interaction, and divorce, which were
entrenched in society, needed to be uprooted and replaced. Real reform in Japan,
Fukuzawa believed, needed to come with reforms in marriage.
17 Blacker, Carmen. The Japanese Enlightenment: A Study of the Writings of Fukuzawa Yukichi. London:
Cambridge UP, 1964, p.78. This text will hereafter be referred to in parenthetical citations as Blacker.
Graepel 29
Fukuzawa's support of gender equality in marriage seems to have been based on a
firmly held belief that monogamy was the only acceptable relationship between a
husband and wife. The Japanese practice of polygamy, he asserted, was grounded in
thousands of years' worth of history and, since ancient times, under the pretext of
continuing the family line and producing male children, it was common for men to have a
concubine (or multiple concubines) in addition to a wife. Not only did the custom
humiliate legitimate wives by supporting their adulterous husbands, the practice was
extremely hypocritical and prejudiced towards women. It was not at all acceptable for a
woman to possess two men. Believing that anything disagreeable to women was equally
disagreeable to men, Fukuzawa fervently supported the abolition of the concubine
system. What would happen if a housewife obtained a male concubine, Fukuzawa
posited? A divorce would be immediately called for and the woman would be shunned
from society. Wives were just as human as their husbands and could not help from having
unhappy feelings accumulate from this unfair practice. In extreme cases, Fukuzawa
explained, concubinage could even cause wives to commit suicide (Fukuzawa 156).
Japan's traditional custom of keeping concubines contributed to the idea that women
were inferior to men.
Fukuzawa believed that not only was this practice degrading and damaging to
women, but it was also directly destructive to Japan. In his article "The Equal Numbers
of Men and Women," he wrote,
Since the number of men and women in the world are roughly equal, the
calculation will show that one man should marry one woman. If, contrary
to this, an excessive number of women is taken into one house, there must
be a scarcity in another. (Fukuzawa 386)
Graepel 30
One man to one woman is respectful of nature's balance; it is a simple mathematical
computation that allows for the majority of people in Japan to have a partner, thus
producing the maximum amount of children. The concubine system, Fukuzawa argues,
distorts this rational calculation and obstructs population growth. By inhibiting the
natural pairing up of mates, concubinage was restricting Japan's progress. For this
reason, in addition to the negative emotional qualities that it inspired in women,
Fukuzawa argued that the concubinage custom should be stopped.
The West, Fukuzawa reminded the Japanese, is made up of countries where
monogamy is the only lawful form of marriage. If Westerners were to observe the
practice of concubinage, they would be appalled, seeing it as both unfair and immoral,
and would deem Japan an uncivilized and inferior nation. Fukuzawa argued that not only
does the low and disgraceful act of possessing concubines clearly oppose human
morality, but it puts the practicing country's reputation and honor at stake (Fukuzawa
149). Fukuzawa also stated that the openness of other customs that debase women, such
as geisha and prostitution, additionally damage relations with the West. The existence of
prostitutes and geisha were "shameful, hateful, and absolutely against human
morality...the woman who becomes one abandons her rights of womanhood and the men
who seek such a person renounce their honor of manhood, both having fallen out of
social standing, they enjoy animal pleasures" (Fukuzawa 90). These practices publicized
the weakness of Japanese men as they try to escape the responsibility of conforming to
important social rules, and therefore did not only destroy the foundation of marriage
(monogamy) but also damaged Japan's international standing. In Western standards of
civilization, the status of women was an important measure of any society's progress.
Graepel 31
Fukuzawa believed that improving the status of women was essential to gaining approval
and respect from the West, but when Westerners saw the actual conditions in Japan, they
would condemn Japan as a "hell and inferno for women" (Fukuzawa 57). He reasoned
that this scorn was motive enough to destroy the evil custom of polygamy and establish
rights for women.
Another area concerning marriage that Fukuzawa believed needed drastic revision
was the relationship between husband and wife. The matrimonial relationship set by the
Confucian canon and perpetuated by texts like The Greater Learning for Women was
socially oppressing and restrictive to the point that it prevented people from enjoying the
benefits of civilization. Marriages were unequal and lacked sincere respect and love,
leaving both the husband's and wife's emotional needs unmet. The unbalanced
relationship in marriage made it a cold arrangement:
In a family consisting of a husband and wife, the husband naturally wields
greater power. He considers the gentleness of his wife's talk and behavior
as a proper reasoning for belittling her and decides that it is useless or
bothersome to confide serious matters to her. He does not bother to
discuss anything with her other than food, drink, and clothing. Even when
the wife raises a question on things which she considers serious, the
husband scolds her as they are not the concerns of women or he simply
laughs and does not tell her the answer. (Fukuzawa 63)
Fukuzawa claimed that men ran their households with "airs," holding an attitude that they
were far superior to their wives and should be treated as lords and regarded as Heaven, as
prescribed by Kaibara (Kaibara 38). Men exercised all the power, did not acknowledge
the intellectual capacity of their wives, and constantly disparaged their thoughts and
actions. Furthermore, the wife was to bear all the hardships, as Fukuzawa describes:
"Whenever there's work to be done, women will take on this burden; whenever there is
wine and food men will be the first to enjoy it" (Fukuzawa 11). Men acted selfishly and
Graepel 32
treated their wives as servants. Women's husbands made insulting attempts to fulfill their
needs through gifts of luxury, in the same way a master treats his pet dog (Fukuzawa 63).
Ignoring their true needs, men debased women, treating them as servants and pets rather
than as equal human beings.
One of the commonly believed notions about marriage was that it was that a
man's sole objective in taking a wife was to ensure posterity. This concept was not only
inaccurate, but it was insulting and degrading to women. It insinuated that a woman's
sole role in life was to procreate to carry on the husband's family line, which was valued
above all other things. The family line was preserved entirely by male members of the
family, pushing women into a position of virtual non-existence. A woman was lessened
to being a mere womb, an instrument for developing her husband's unborn infant
(Fukuzawa 48). Fukuzawa took issue with this portrayal of women because it was
dehumanizing and furthered the notion of a women's inferiority.
The final objection Fukuzawa had to contemporary Japanese marriage was the
attitude that husband and wife could only relate on a physical level. According to this
attitude, a man loved his wife because she was beautiful and could satisfy his sexual
desires. This "love", Fukuzawa believed, was superficial and left both men and women
deprived of emotional and intellectual relations with their partners (Fukuzawa 112). True
love and intimacy, as Fukuzawa defined them, were rarities under this definition of
marriage. Even in this restricted vision of marriage, certain aspects that had the potential
to be rewarding were never allowed to formulate because of old precepts calling for
distance between a couple; a husband and wife were supposed to act almost like strangers
(Fukuzawa 118-119). When a woman began to lose her physical grace and beauty with
Graepel 33
age, the only connection that kept the marriage together (physical intimacy) was lost and
whatever harmony that was once there disappeared (Fukuzawa 33). Fukuzawa held that
true intimacy based on a friendship between the couple could make a strong, loving
marriage, but that, unfortunately, it was uncommon for intimacy to act as the foundation
for marriage in the Japan that he knew. Instead, sex was the unstable core of the husbandwife relationship.
Fukuzawa believed it vital to Japan's success in the modern world to rethink the
concept of marriage within society. The first step toward equal marriages, he said, was
for men to re-evaluate the way they viewed their wives, to see them as something more
than servants, instruments, and sex objects. A husband must regard his wife as a "full
fledged human" and place her on an equal level with him. Fukuzawa even suggested that
women stop taking their husbands' last names; instead, newlyweds would combine their
names together to form a new one (Fukuzawa 29). They should share everything—riches,
poverty, hardship, pleasures, values, love, and respect. In Fukuzawa's ideal marriage,
they would run the household together, sharing duties equally, with the husband
consulting his wife on matters and seeking advice (Fukuzawa 238).
Fukuzawa argued that women and men should relate beyond the physical level,
that they should share common interests and activities and challenge each other
intellectually. He suggested that they should be honest and frank about "affairs of the
heart" and enjoy the "spiritual and mental intercourse of true friendship" (Fukuzawa
228). Inevitably, arguments will arise, Fukuzawa wrote, but an argument is something
born out of mutual respect, different from the indulgent "love" that compels a husband to
provide luxuries to his wife the way a master provides treats for his dog (Fukuzawa 60-
Graepel 34
64). Fukuzawa described ideal marriage as one that, when attained, would elevate
husband and wife to a level of true love and companionship, bringing them the utmost
happiness (Fukuzawa 48). Fukuzawa believed this concept of "romantic love" was an
important reform because "[t]he importance of relations between men and women is such
that is determines the happiness of each individual, each family, and even the whole
nation" (Fukuzawa 103). A marriage where the husband does not dominate over the wife,
where she is seen as an equal and not as a servant, instrument, or sex object, would allow
for the strongest and happiest relationship. This kind of harmonious marriage would be
the foundation for a harmonious Japan.
Following this logic, an arranged marriage, he proposed, was an absurd practice
that takes away a girl's important decision from her own hands. The parents, acting out of
utter selfishness, disregard their daughter's fate in an effort to elevate their status by
establishing connections with wealthy or prestigious families. Ignoring details such as the
man's morals, age, or personality, a parent seals the fate of his daughter, maybe forcing
her to waste away the rest of her life in an unloving and miserable marriage. The
husband, too, will suffer because he commits to this marriage established for improper
reasons. The practice of arranged marriage, said Fukuzawa, countered all that was
important about marriage (mutual respect, love, cooperation) and needed to be abandoned
(Fukuzawa 55-56). Fukuzawa believed that if arranged marriages were discontinued in
Japan, only couples with loving connections would get married, thereby ensuring that the
overall population would be happier, which would then lead to a more prosperous nation.
In order to create marriages based on equality, Fukuzawa believed drastic reforms
regarding divorce were also needed. He felt it was unfair that women did not have the
Graepel 35
right to seek divorce, while men could easily divorce for arbitrary reasons. Under
Kaibara's The Greater Learning for Women, if a wife showed any signs of disobedience,
sterility, lewdness, jealousy, contagious disease, verbosity, or theft, she could be divorced
(Kaibara 34-36). These reasons were nothing but unreasonable and excessive. With
regard to disobedience, Fukuzawa argued, men do not have perfect intellect, so to follow
them blindly when they are "babbling unreasonable demands" is foolish. Disobedience
should not always necessitate a divorce; arguments lead to a greater understanding
between husband and wife and therefore a good wife will argue with her husband
(Fukuzawa 190). To bring up women's lewdness was preposterous, said Fukuzawa,
because since ancient times, men have been significantly looser in moral behavior than
women (Fukuzawa 182). Fukuzawa thought Kaibara's reason of jealousy lacked any
logic, saying that demanding that women disregard their husband's licentiousness, "never
even dream[ing] of jealously," was absurd; a wife should have every right to defend
herself and demand redress for her husband's sins (Kaibara 44). Forcing her into a silent
submission with the word jealousy and the threat of divorce was also unfair (Fukuzawa
193). Both men and women were vulnerable to sterility and contagious diseases. If Japan
had any ethical values, Fukuzawa stated, neither a wife nor husband would leave a spouse
because of something as uncontrollable as the spread of illness. With regard to verbosity,
it was unreasonable to make this one fault reason for divorce. As far as the argument
about women being more prone to becoming thieves, Fukuzawa stated that men were as
likely to commit this sin as were women; to single out women as thieves was unjust
(Fukuzawa 183). As Fukuzawa saw it, the ultimate purpose of Kaibara's rules on divorce
had little to do with the rules of marriage; they were merely designed to restrict women's
Graepel 36
activities and rights while allowing men the liberty to abandon their wives if they so
desired.
Fukuzawa urged the Japanese people to dismiss Kaibara's reasons for divorce and
remember what he believed was the true promise of marriage: "one man and one wifethey are to share a house and grow old together and be buried together" (Fukuzawa 193).
The right to seek a divorce should be equal for both the husband and wife: if either
disregards the promise of marriage and willingly becomes dissolute, the offended party
should have the right to openly demand legal divorce in court (Fukuzawa 32). Fukuzawa
believed passionately in the contractual type of marriage that restored reciprocity and
ethical responsibility. These contractual marriages, based off of equality, were a model in
which all other relationships could be constructed after and thereby act as a solid
foundation for the entire country. In fact, Fukuzawa was one of the witnesses of this, the
first "free and contractual marriage in Japan.
"
18
The degrading policies of marriage and
divorce in Japan resulted in the diminution rather than the evolution of the woman as a
person, and by promulgating his idea of marriage, Fukuzawa hoped to create stronger
women and therefore a stronger Japan.
Chapter Seven: Conclusion
While it may seem that Fukuzawa was extremely adamant about women's rights,
his views on women were actually fairly complex and at times contradictory. Fukuzawa
18 On February 26 th , 1875, Mori Arinori, Fukuzawa's friend and a fellow leader of the Japanese
Enlightenment, married Hirose Tsuneko in what was taken as the first free and contractual marriage in
Japan. Fukuzawa was a witness to the marriage contract which stated: both parties would love and respect
each other whole-heartedly and maintain the proper husband and wife relationship for the rest of their lives,
all property shall be shared by both parties, and in the event of a contractual breach, the injured party may
appeal to authorities for redress, see Hall, Ivan P. Mori Arinori. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1973, p.251.
Graepel 37
was by no means was an advocate of women's suffrage. Though he believed strongly in
the basic principle of equality between the sexes that granted women equal rights in the
traditional sphere, he never believed that women should hold the same political rights as
men (Hane 107). He even went as far as to publicly criticize the advocates of women's
suffrage rights for making immoderate demands. 19 Ironically, the women in Fukuzawa's
own family did not match the liberal vision of women that Fukuzawa preached so
fervently about in his articles. In an interview, Fukuzawa's daughter Taki Shidachi stated
that her mother was a very traditional woman who was convinced of her own innate
inferiority; she had a limited education, rarely went outside the home and had contact
with other men, and seldom expressed her opinion on matters. Even in his own home, it
appears that Fukuzawa failed entirely to put his precepts into practice concerning women
(Blacker 157-158).
Fukuzawa was not alone in failing to follow through on making immediate,
positive changes for Japanese women. Even with a large public support base for
improved women's rights and more egalitarian family forms during the Enlightenment,
the establishment of the Meiji Civil Code of 1898 confirmed the pre-modern dominance
of men and the subordination of women. The Code established a patriarchal family based
on the principle of primogeniture (all property ownership and custody of children was
exclusively held by the husband) as opposed to implementing something more
progressive and favorable to women. Furthermore, the Code legally subjugated women to
19 Sievers, Sharon L. Flowers in Salt: The Beginnings of Feminist Consciousness in Modern Japan.
Stanford: Stanford UP, 1983, p.21-22.
•
••
•
Graepel 38
men in a number of ways, and women continued to hold a marginalized place in a society
•
•
•
where men exercised almost complete authority. 20
•
•
•
improving the status of women was to construct a wealthy, civilized, and powerful Japan.
4111
It must be kept in mind, however, that Fukuzawa's ultimate intention for
Fukuzawa continuously stressed the importance of a social revolution, one that redefined
women through education, freedom and responsibilities, and marriage, to keep in
•
harmony with Japan's attempts to modernize. While there were no immediate successes
•
•
•
in his battle for women's rights, there was certainly success in the modernization of
•
•
•
•
•
41/
•
•
•
•
Japan. The unequal treaties that were inflicted upon Japan by foreign aggressors were
removed in 1894 and Japan soon became the most powerful country in the East. It is true
that Japanese women had to remain in their traditional spheres as their country marched
forward, but we should not fault Fukuzawa for failing to make real and immediate change
for the women in his country, for he was battling against thousands of years of historical
tradition and bias.
We cannot let Fukuzawa's failures or personal inconsistencies detract from the
fact that he stood up and publicly and called for an end to the traditional Japanese social
•
•
•
the first public figures in Japan to speak out against the flagrant repression of women and
•
to challenge the deeply rooted prescriptions of the past. Having such a significant figure
•
in Japan concern himself with the rights of women brought much importance and
•
awareness to the issue. By simply bringing the subject of the equality of sexes to the
•
forefront of intellectual discussion during the Japanese Enlightenment, Fukuzawa
41
•
•
•
S
•
order, condemning the status of women as abysmal and calling for change. He was one of
Bernstein, Gail L. Introduction. Recreating Japanese Women, 1600-1945. Ed. Gail L. Bernstein.
Berkeley: University of California UP, 1991, p.8.
20
Graepel 39
provided the issue with the potential to come to fruition in the future. 21 Ultimately,
Fukuzawa's support of the notion of women's potential personhood was a necessary
prerequisite for the later emergence of effective women's social and political movements,
which occurred in the early twentieth century. The admirable efforts he made through his
writings on behalf of women paved the way for real change to happen in the future; it is
hard to imagine how progress for women in Japan could have been made without
Fukuzawa's influence.
21
For more information on the movement for women's rights in Japan, see Tokuza, Akiko The Rise of the
Feminist Movement in Japan. Tokyo: Keio UP, 1999.
•
•
•
Graepel 40
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