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Woman and Education in the Meiji Era
The Life of Women, pp 251-254
Japanese Culture in the Meiji Era
Volume 4: Manners and Customs
Published by The Toyo Bunko (The Oriental Libraly)
Honkomagone 2-chome, 28-21, Bunkyo-ku
Tokyo, Japan
First Impression 1957
Reprint Edition 1969
Printed by Heibunsha Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan
Prior to the Meiji period, only a few ladies of the upper class could read and write to any appreciable extent. Therefore, in 1872 when Tsuda Umeko and four other young ladies agreed to be taken abroad by an American lady to study in the Western style, they aroused much interest and admiration. It is pleasant to note that they all subsequently became prominent and worthwhile members of society. Still, the feeling of the average person was that women did not really require book learning, and even after the establishment of modern educational facilities for women, the numbers of girls attending school was disappointingly small. At first many of those who did attend were saddled with their infant brothers or sisters, and when the latter began to wail during class there was nothing to do but go out into the hallway and wait till the crying ceased. Around 1905 the number of girl students began to increase quite noticeably, but even so few advanced beyond the required six years.
Though the traditional education for woman was meager, it at least provided them with ample knowledge of household affairs. The women of the past were largely responsible for handling finances, and the prosperity of the family rested on their ability to manage. This fact underlay the practice of requiring brides to serve a period of apprenticeship under their mothers-in-law.
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At the time when schools appeared, people in cities were very much in the habit of employing young girls to tend babies, and often these girls grew up with no book learning at all. The responsibility for their training was too heavy for their employers to accept, and their own families usually did not give the matter much thought. Finally, however, people began to take pity on them and to organize special schools where they could study for two or three hours a day.
Women and Classical Education
It was generally considered proper for a young lady to acquire a classical Japanese education rather than a Western one. Nevertheless, a few women by virtue of exceptional ability and perseverance progressed from the former to the latter. (note: text implies that a classical education consisted of study of the traditional literature and arts.)
In 1901 the first women’s university opened and girls of superior intelligence were given a chance really to display their ability. Still, aside from welfare work, education and the arts, there were few fields in which they could expect to succeed. The braver ones experimented with a variety of occupations, and although a few gained respect and admiration, many others failed miserably.