Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) offered a view into Japan during the Meiji Restoration with his books: Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, Out of the East, Kokoro, The Boy Who Drew Cats, In Ghostly Japan, Kwaidan, and other books. He lived in Japan for 14 years before his death; his writings provide a snapshot of the land and…
Category: History
Old Proverbs about Japanese Women
World War II marks a dramatic shift in Japanese history, equal in impact to the Meiji Restoration on the culture. The proverbs I will discuss trace deep into Japan’s cultural views of women and to the Confucian influence China had on Japanese culture. Women’s roles and freedom varied across the different eras of Japan, and…
Ryōnen Gensō, The Poet Who Disfigured Herself
Japan has a long history of literary and artistic women. If you look at the education of women, Japan’s history would resemble a sine curve. Some periods have widespread female education among the nobility and even among some peasant groups. Other periods neglected or limited female education. The most literary women cluster around the Heian…
What the Historical Silence of Japanese Women Says
By the title you may be expecting me to write about the patriarchy in history. You’re right to a degree. After all, the patriarchy has hurt women, but it has also hurt men too. What we have of history comes from those who worked within and often benefited from historically male-dominated power systems. However, little…
Collecting Ukiyo-e, Several Things to Consider
Ukiyo-e translates to “images of the floating world.” The Floating World refers to the pleasure districts of the Edo period. This was the world of actors, prostitutes, geisha, bath girls, and other entertainers. The districts were set aside for those purposes by the Shogun. Prostitution was banned outside these districts. Yoshiwara and Gion numbered among…
What is Moxa?
If you read any Japanese literature or history, you see moxa and moxa treatments mentioned. Basho in his travel writings discusses getting a moxa treatment before he travels. But what is moxa? What did it treat? Moxa treatments, often called moxibustion, is a folk treatment used to treat cholic, arthritis, gout, cancer, gastrointestinal problems, and…