Reforming Japan
The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union in the Meiji Period
This fascinating study of Christian moral and social reformers
challenges received notions about women and politics in Meiji Japan.
Description
In 1902 the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
petitioned the Japanese government to stop rewarding good deeds with
the bestowal of sake cups. Alcohol production and consumption, its
members argued, harmed individuals, endangered public welfare, and
wasted vital resources. This campaign was part of a wide-ranging reform
program to eliminate prostitution, eradicate drinking, spread
Christianity, and improve the lives of women. As Elizabeth Dorn Lublin
shows, members did not passively accept and propagate government policy
but felt a duty to shape it by defining social problems and influencing
opinion. Certain their beliefs and reforms were essential to
Japan's advancement, members couched their calls for change in the
rhetorical language of national progress. Ultimately, the WCTU’s
activism belies received notions of women’s public involvement
and political engagement in Meiji Japan.
Reviews
The author makes a valuable contribution to Japanese and feminist history...revising the traditional view that women were not involved in politics during this period. Highly recommended. All collections in modern Japanese history and the history of feminism in East Asia
- M.D. Ericson, University of Maryland University College