Japanese Girls and Women / Revised and Enlarged Edition

The author offers a systematic, observational portrait of female life in Japan, tracing experiences from childhood through education, marriage, motherhood, and old age and surveying court and samurai households, peasant and urban women's routines, domestic service, and household customs. Chapters combine descriptive ethnography, social and legal practices around marriage and divorce, and accounts of domestic organization, while an appended chapter assesses recent changes and reforms affecting women's roles. Material derives from prolonged personal acquaintance with Japanese women and includes historical notes and updates to situate traditional customs alongside evolving conditions.