HI, ladies!!
Yesterday, I visited the Josei kaikan to get a book for my essay, and lent some. One magazine is very interesting for me, and I’ll write about it now.
It depicts the High Treason Incident related with discriminated settlements in Shingu, Wakayama. There were some outstanding people within victims, who were executed after the incident. One of them is Seinosuke Oishi, a dedicated doctor and Christian. He was punished simply because he had contributed his socialistic articles on papers or magazines, and had close friendship with Shusui Kotoku.
He was a kind doctor in a small village, and greatly helped the needy and discriminated people with his medical examination for free. On the other hand, he asked rich people for much payment. So as not disgracing to poor, he told them to knock the door three times when they had no money. Famous novelist Kenji Nakagami, he also came from Shingu, used to talk about his grandmother receiving great help from the doctor. (Nakagami wanted to write a novel about the High Treason Incident, but couldn’t)
In Wakayama, there were also Buddhists who advocated socialist activities. They were priests of Soto-shu, Jodoshin-shu and Rinzai-shu, respectively. Beyond the difference of their religion, they started a study group to stop such discrimination. Then the government had concerned about the power of these discriminated people and socialists, and begun serious suppression. As a result, the Incident occurred.
I was impressed by their story and another victims had their own great achievement, I assume. Anyway, there must be a lot of hidden histories in modern Japan.
Thank you for reading. Well, see you next. Have a good weekend!
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Hello, Cherry and my precious friends.
I watched several powerful speeches at the Republic National Convention for two consecutive days.
I felt that McCain is lucky to have powerful women's supports. This is my honest feeling after watching the Convention.
I could not help feeling that women’s speeches were especially powerful and inspiring so that they produced roaring cheers. To say nothing of Sarah Palin’ speech which attacked Obama sarcastically and generated roars of approval, the ones of Curly Fiorina, a former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and Cindy McCain, a wife of John McCain, draw great attention from delegates.
I was especially interested in Cindy.
Cindy married McCain when she was 24. On the other hand McCain was 41. The couple had four children and he had three from a previous marriage. They had seven including adopted one from an orphanage in Bangladesh.
Moreover it’s amazing that his mother is 96 years young. She looked not only healthy but also very fashionable. She wore white suit dress with her lip painted red.
Cindy stressed McCain is a good father and wise husband, saying that John showered children with the unconditional love and support every family dreams of.
While I was listening to her speech that valued family and patriotic feelings, I remembered Miyake Yoshiko’s essay where the motherhood and patriotism were emphasized to support nation.
In her speech she also aid that “ I know John. You can trust his hand on a wheel. But do you know something? I’ve always thought it’s a good idea to have woman’s hand on a wheel as well.”
McCain had a very good family to support him.
Dear Cherry and friends,
Hello.
Cosmos, thank you for giving us a comment about Japanese religions.
I was once asked by an American.
“How do Japanese people develop a sense of morality without attending religious services?”
In Japan, parents have to teach it to their children, don't they?
It came from another religion, Confucianism.
Until the World War II, Japanese school curriculum included a subject called shushin which was based on the Imperial Rescript on Education. Its foundation was Confucianism.
Thanks to Jesus, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammad, and other religious leaders,
many people in the world behave decently.
People have looked to them for moral guidance.
Religious doctrines have exerted a great influence on our lives.
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The book of this week is “Victorian Education and the Ideal of Womanhood” by Joan N. Burstyn.
The second chapter argues how Victorian women were expected to behave.
They were expected to be pure and responsible for organizing the household.
“Women were men's solace when they returned home.” (p. 32)
Both men and women lived in the separate spheres. Men in the public sphere while women in the private sphere.
The ideal of womanhood was maintained by Victorians and could be a strong motivation to control society, therefore, women's lives.
The ideal of womanhood expected that women should be clever. However, they should not be educated as much as men were. Household management was allowed to be learned by women. Therefore, Mrs. Beeton's The Book of Household Management and Mrs. Eliza Warren's How I Managed My House on Two Hundred Pounds a Year were popular manuals.
The opponents' higher education for women were “strongly against competition between the sexes.” (p.43)
As I listed last time, there are 3 main arguments against higher education for women.
1)Economic ramification
2)anatomical and physiological evidence
3)Biblical authority and social conventions
1) Pessimistic people demeaned women's economic roles. Their argument was that even if women were qualified as a professional through higher education, they would not have had chance to get a job. To make matters worse, men and women might have had fight over the same job vacancy.
Such a situation should be avoided, they insisted.
2) Anatomists' and Physiologists' argument was based on empirical studies. Anatomists measured and weighed brain and compared the brains of both sexes and concluded women have less evolved than men. We have already read about it in the book about Victorian education.
3) The ideal of womanhood owes much to women who appear in the Bible. Genesis tells us Eve was created by God to become a help meet of Adam. Therefore, it was seen that woman had been man's help meet. Those who support the ideal of womanhood and sought Biblical grounds saw that women were not good at reasoning because Eve was deceived. Similarly, a woman had been a sinful creature because Eve tempted Adam to eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge. It was interpreted the bible or God assigned women to the subordinate position and demanded them to exercise self-restraint and self-denial by themselves. Although “a woman had to develop her religious understanding,” she did not have to do by studying academic subjects as men did. (p. 108)
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Good night.
Hello, everybody!
It’ strange that the Japanese medias have been focusing on U.S. presidential election with excitement, while they have been having a chill cast over the election for the next Prime Minister of Japan. American election campaign is just like a big national festival and Japanese election campaign is just like a trading on the black market.
Anyway every candidates are shouting, ” Change! Change! ” (I’ve recalled Jonathan.) Sunflower said that she was impressed the powerful speeches of running-mate, Sarah Palin and McCain’s wife. The Republicans are emphasizing on being a “good family’s member”. As you mentioned, I also feel something fishy just like the air of Japanese Imperial war-time. Yoshiko Miyake depicted the powerful arrogant women encouraging citizens to fight against the enemy without flinching during the war-time. Many such active women were influential intelligent in their areas. I knew that Sarah is very proud of her son fighting in Iraq. Is this another déjà-vu, isn’t it? We shouldn’t be cheated and be careful not to be made used of by Government..
Good bye, today, my precious friends. See you again.
Hello Cherry and wonderful friends,
After watching the Republican National Convention, I became to notice that John McCain used the good strategy in his speech to attract people who have not decided which party they would support. That is, he appealed that he was very independent and very different from the old Washington operators by using the phrase “Change is coming” again and again. It would be easy to be confused about which party was really gathering, because the Democratic presidential nominee, Obama, always uses “We need change” and “We can’t afford four more years of the same.” The word “change” is the strong slogan for the Democrat. But now the Republican, McCain, also stressed that he would be changing Washington and that he was always ready to listen to everybody whichever party or group he or she belonged to and ready to stand for the American people not for the party. On the other hand, he chose a very conservative young woman governor, Sarah Palin, to get more attention by the old conservative people and women. Sarah Palin gave a wonderful address, too. I was so moved and surprised by her speech. The way of deliver her speech seemed to very effective to move many mothers and grandmothers.
I was very impressed by several splendid speeches, however, I feel a kind of anxiousness which comes from the extreme conservative idea and patriotism. I think “extreme “ something is sometimes very dangerous. As a person, and as a mother, I’m still thinking the Iraq War was wrong as well as the Vietnam War.
By the way, it was amazing for me to find that so many supporters in each Notional Convention were so excited and shouting and even tearing. It can’t happen in Japan.
Don’t you think so?
Thank you for reading. Have a good night.
Dear friends,
Today I went to Yamanashi. I was given an invitation ticket. It was a packed tour including visiting lots of shopping malls. Horse radish processing factory, winary, jewlies....I was exhausted with getting in and out of the bus.
A baby as old as one year was crying on the bus. I felt sorry for her.
Hi, ladies!!!
It is Monday, September 8, 2008, today, and it has been as humid and hot as yesterday. I hope autumnal breeze will comfort and bless us, who are sick and tired of the summer heat and humidity in central Japan, in the very near future.
Peach, I would like to ask you just one question. How many days a week do you go out to work? Do you stay at school all day or just a few hours when you work. I think I have heard that you are required to stay at school all day though you work part time. Am I right? Is this still true in the fall semester? The reason I asked this question is I want to know whether you could spend as much time as you want studying English and doing your research. If you have just a little time left for your study and research, please spend your scant time wisely and efficiently.
Gloriosa and Alice, how many books and articles have you read so far since the day when we gathered and had a discussion, perhaps in June? Do you remember that you are requested to read one book a week? I also would like you to think about your thesis composition from now on, and if you do not mind I would like you to write down your thesis plans in this blog.
I have been doing some interesting research into ten male Lutheran missionaries who came to Japan by the year 1912. (The Lutheran Church in the USA started their evangelical activity in 1892.) (I think I have to remind you that I am not a Christian though one of my academic genres is missionary studies.) I came across a most intriguing discovery as a result of my research. I will let you know this fantastic revelation next time.
Cherry, thank you for letting us know an episode about a doctor in Wakayama narrated in a magazine article you found at the library. I would like you to tell us more about your encounter with historical Japanese in your research.
My dear friends, I really hope you are enjoying your English study and your research as well as your own interests.
I will get back to my work, my lovely friends. Have a brilliant Monday afternoon.
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