Re-Imaging Japanese Women

by Anne E. Imamura

Re-Imaging Japanese Women takes a revealing look at women whose voices have only recently begun to be heard in Japanese politicians, practitioners of traditional arts, writers, radicals, wives, mothers, bar hostesses, department store and blue-collar workers. This unique collection of essays gives a broad, interdisciplinary view of contemporary Japanese women while challenging readers to see the development of Japanese women's lives against the backdrop of domestic and global change.

These essays provide a "second generation" analysis of roles, issues and social change. The collection brings up to date the work begun in Gail Lee Bernstein's Recreating Japanese Women, 1600-1945 (California, 1991), exploring disparities between the current range of images of Japanese women and the reality behind the choices women make.

372 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1996

Reviews

[Annie Koh · Rating 4 out of 5]

a thumpingly solid collection of essays, ranging from bar hostesses in sapporo to flower-arranging housewives to socialist politicians. p. 256: writer Hayashi Mariko quoted: "Anyway I've decided to be the woman pro wrestler of words. I'm going to break to pieces those neatly written, beautifully scripted essays." Her first novel Runrun o Katte Ouchi ni Kaero (Let's buy a scooter and return home) condemned the cult of the beautiful woman.