Japanese Girls and Women

What It's About

Written by an American educator who lived and taught in Japan, this book is a detailed, firsthand account of the lives of Japanese women and girls in the late nineteenth century. It moves through childhood, education, marriage, motherhood, and old age, and also looks at how women lived across different levels of society, from the imperial court and samurai households down to peasant and city life.

Key Concepts

Bacon explores the influence of Confucian and Buddhist thought on women's roles, and traces how Westernization and the reforms of the Meiji era were beginning to reshape customs around education and family life. She frequently compares Japanese and American social norms, drawing on years of personal acquaintance with Japanese families rather than distant observation. The book has since been noted for reflecting the author's own Christian, American outlook, and at times a paternalistic or judgemental tone toward the society she describes, alongside its genuine sympathy and detail.

About the Author

Alice Mabel Bacon (1858–1918) was an American writer and educator. She formed a lifelong friendship with a young Japanese woman who stayed with her family as a girl, which later led her to teach in Japan and serve as an advisor to Japanese educational reformers during the Meiji period. She also worked for many years at the Hampton Institute in Virginia.