Harvard University’s Law Library has put 22 Heian, Kamakura and Muromachi period documents online. The online exhibit includes a discussion by Professor Mikael Adolphson [pdf] about how to read and interpret these materials.
There’s a review in the NYTimes about an exhibit at the Met: arms and armor of the samurai. For some commentary and criticism of a similar exhibit from San Francisco, see here
Joe Jones at MutantFrog Travelogue (don’t let the name fool you, it’s a fantastic blog about Japanese culture, politics and history) has an excellent overview of the law and demographics of divorce and child custody in Japan, especially when foreigners are involved. Jones is a lawyer, with extensive international experience. The topic has come up because of a fairly prominent ongoing dispute between a Japanese woman and her dual-citizenship former husband over child custody, involving both US and Japanese law. You can find details in the links of Jones’ post.
A new traveling exhibit on Jomon-era “dogu” sculptures highlights the evolving debates about culture and physical remains, etc.
One of the beautiful things about the internet is that if you ask for help, often you can get it. I posed the question about the mysterious circular gear on the medieval samurai to my blog audience, and got an answer very quickly: they are spare bow string spools. The best picture I’ve been able to find of a “tsurumaki” online is this ebay auction, where you can clearly see the groove around the edge which holds the string.
In the discussion today the “Five Colors” of Buddhism came up, and I mentioned the Tibetan Mandalas. If you look at this sand-painting mandala done at PSU last year, you’ll see the five colors:
Note the border around the edge: White, Yellow, Red, Green, Blue, over and over (clockwise). You can see the same colors in this hand drum. As near as I can tell, the five colors predates most of the explanations offered for their meanings — which is to say, there are lots of different explanations, because everyone seems to be making up new rationalizations for an old practice.
Lady Nijo, in her Confessions, cites a visit to “Atsuta Shrine, in Owari.” Owari is now Aichi Prefecture and the city is called Nagoya. Atsuta Shrine still exists and is a major attraction, with their annual festival serving as a kind of city celebration.
In the Amaterasu eclipse story, the gods use a rope to draw her out of the cave. Ropes have a long tradition in Shinto as symbols of divinity and authority. Often you see ropes as part of Shinto shrines, as in this sacred tree:
You see a similar rope as part of the ceremonial garb worn by Sumo Yokozuna — the title is usually translated “Grand Champion” but literally means “horizontal rope”!
There are some truly extraordinary shrine ropes, though, created as part of massive community festivals:
On 3 lists:
- http://japanese-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/womens_status_in_japan, “Women’s Status in Medieval Japan: Female Marriage and Labour in Japan’s 14th-17th Centuries.”
- www.womeninworldhistory.com/sample-08.html – on women warriors
On 2 lists:
- www2.gol.com/users/friedman/writings/p1.html, “The Changing Roles of Women in Japanese Society,”
- http://www.koryu.com/library/wwj1.html – on women warriors.
On one list:
- http://asianhistory.about.com/od/imagegalleries/ss/samuraiwomen.htm – female Samurai.
- http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/_generate/JAPAN.html – compilation of female writers from Japan
- http://homepages.which.net/~james.phillips/hist.htm female wrestlers in Japan
- http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art153.asp – brief but informative reality of what exactly a Geisha is, and how their were different “ranks” among them, and how this was, in many ways, far from the ideal life for a young Japanese girl.
- http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art24550.asp female samurai rule in ancient Japan.
- http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/BIB95/03womens_studies_kline.html – Resources in Japanese Women’s History.
- http://www.immortalgeisha.com
- http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/fukusyoku/kosode/50.htm – ancient hairstyles of Japanese Women,
- http://www.samurai-archives.com/women.html – specific women famous in Japanese history. It covers their roles in history and society.
- http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ANCJAPAN/WOMEN.HTM – Women and Women’s Communities in Ancient Japan
- www.iop.or.jp/0313/kurihara.pdf, “A History of Women in Japanese Buddhism: Niceren’s Perspectives on the Enlightenment of Women,” told of how Buddhism helped women, but also injured them by labeling women “impure.”
Due midnight, Tuesday (8/25) by email to me (jdresner@pittstate.edu)
Spend a little time (half an hour to an hour) researching the history of Japanese women on the internet. Keep track of the websites you visit, and make note of any themes, continuties, oddities or great finds. Write a short summary of your experience (400 words, max) and include five to ten of the most interesting (best, worst, whatever) websites, with notes about what makes them interesting. Email your results to me by midnight on Tuesday, and also bring a copy to class.
