Japanese Girls and Women Revised and Enlarged Edition

An intimate portrait unfolds as the author draws on decades of close friendships with Japanese women, offering a viewpoint rarely found in Western accounts. She guides listeners from the tender days of childhood through schooling, marriage, and motherhood, revealing how personal aspirations intersect with cultural expectations. The narrative balances careful observation with heartfelt anecdotes, making the everyday rituals of Japanese households feel both distinct and universally human.

Organized into vivid chapters—covering court life, samurai households, peasant families, city dwellers, and domestic service—the work paints a comprehensive mosaic of women’s roles across social strata. A newly added “Within the Home” section and updated notes bring the latest changes of the early twentieth century into focus, while a concise survey of the past ten years highlights emerging progress. Listeners will come away with a richer, nuanced understanding of how Japanese women have shaped—and been shaped by—their world.