Women in Edo Japan

Welcome back to the Museum of Femininity. In this episode I explore the role women played in Edo period Japan. A fascinating time of economic growth and cultural flourishing, with a rich visual culture, that I have always admired. As the period stretches over 200 years, this is very much a brief overview of some key topics like marriage and education. I also explore women artists, the Geisha, the role of women in the service industry and farming in addition to the lives of courtesans in the Yoshiwara pleasure district.  

As well as this we spend some time analysing the work of Kitagawa Utamaro, to try and tease out some specific examples of how women might have been perceived and the expectations they met in terms of how they behaved and conducted themselves. 

It was a wonderful subject to explore and there is so much more to learn.

For images mentioned in the episode please visit our Instagram page @the museumoffemininity 

Sources

Utamaro Revealed: a guide to subjects, themes and motifs by Gina Collia-Suzuki

Hiroshige by Adele Schlombs

Great Women Artists, Phaidon 

https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/japanese-weddings-in-the-edo-period-1615-1868

https://www.japanpowered.com/japan-culture/gender-expectations-of-edo-period-japan

https://dash.harvard.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/f71fdf5d-ec93-40d8-9e0c-5c42dfd54414/content

A great book about Geisha: Geisha by Liza Dalby