Some females born in the Edo period

Some females born in the Edo period  Originally the article was intended for the world international women's day, but I couldn't finish it till today. I'd like to introduce you to the female figures who were born in the Edo period. The phrase “womens in the Edo period“ might make people imagine “the oppressed females”. Even if it's true that their morals were far from gender equality in the modern standard, we can still find the small sprouts in their lives. 1 The first woman who climbed Mt. Fuji  In the era, many sacred mountains including Mt Fuji prohibited women from climbing, partly because of women's “impurity” in the religious term. Takayama Tatsu （高山たつ）（1813- 1876）was the first woman who climbed this mountain in the male disgust along with 5 men in 1832 or her 25 age. She was born as a daughter of a wealthy farmer, and once worked as a maid in Edo yashiki(a kind of embassies or secondary residence palaces in the Japanese capital city to represent each clan which consisted of Japan). As her career suggests, she was in a relatively educated class. Her background of this action was a religious belief. She was a member of a newly emerged sect called Fujikō(不二孝), which worshipped Mt Fuji. Kotani Sanshi(小谷三志), the founder of the sect negated women's inferiority and proclaimed the upcoming “millennial kingdom” where values including gender roles would be reversed. According to him, women should be put on top of the society, in order to make perfect harmony with Ying(the feminine side of Yin-yang) with downward tendency and Yang with the upward tendency. In his future visions, women would work in occupations formally belonged to men and dress in a men's clothes and vice versa. He planned to make his female disciple to climb Mt. Fuji to prove his ideals. http://inuiyouko.web.fc2.com/folklore/j-maturi16.html 2. Freedom to choose husband  Kudō Ayako (工藤綾子)（1763年 -1825年）better known for her penname Tadano Makuzu(只野真葛), was a philosopher and author. Her father, Kudō Heisuke(工藤平助) was also a scholar, who was famous for his studies on Russia.This intellectual environment stimulated her curiosity and opened-mind. In her original philosophical work “Solidary thought “(ひとりかんがへ) published in 1817，she claimed controversial opinions opposed to the common sense in those days, like •Advocates for marriages by the agreement between husband and wife in Russian way, opposes marriages arranged by parents of husband and wife in Japanese way •Asserts no intellectual difference between both genders, as prominent female figures in history proved, for instance Amaterasu the sun goddess, or Murasaki Shikibu who is the writer of the first Japanese long novel “Tales of Genji”. • shows her hypothesis that metal differences in both genders come from differences in our genital shapes. Men can feel confident because he thinks he has something excessive in his body, while women feel insecure because she always thinks she lacks something in her body. This discrepancy in confidence finally leads to discrepancy in the social status of both genders. （This part somehow pioneers Freudian theory in the 19th century, but she was earlier.） Kabuki actors who play female roles never are similar to real women no matter how they would play well, because their physical difference brings the mental difference. 3. Traceling poet  Hara Saihin(原 采蘋 1798- 1859） was a female poet in classic Chinese style. In these days, classical Chinese literature was considered as the most authoritative education learned by men, like an equivalent of Latin language in Europe. Her father was a classical Chinese literature specialist, and taught her how to write Chinese classical poems expecting her talents. After growing up, she became a professional poet and calligrapher. She wore masculine clothes with a sword, travelled all over Japan and met other poets to exchange their works with each other while drinking sake alcoholic beverages. Her poetry style was magnificent and dynamic. One of her disciples sent a phrase in the epitaph:雌而不伏(She was a female, but never lay low. The idioms 雌伏（lit:female - lie down）means “lie low” or “remain in obscurity“, but the disciple used it in the deconstructed ways. 4.Right to vote for women  Kususe Kita(楠瀬喜多 1836 - 1920） was a civil right activist, known for her nickname “civil right granny”（民権婆さん）. Unlike the above-mentioned women, her life was mostly in the modernization era. In 1878，she solely started to protest the lack of voting rights for women by boycotting tax, and sent a letter to Kōchi prefecture and the ministry of home affairs claiming that: “Tax and the right to vote are in exchange.No right no duty.” Even though the town congress admitted the right to vote for women in 1880, a newly installed law by the Nation government in 1884 negated this right. She engaged the activity for this civil right and supported other young activists till her death,so people called her “civil right granny” Which story of the women do you find most interesting? Do you know any other interesting or inspiring women stories in history? Please leave your comments if you like this article. Good bye.