Japan's Private Spheres: Autonomy in Japanese History, 1600-1930

385 Pages·2021·15.91 MB·English

by  W. Puck Brecher

Japan’s Private Spheres: Autonomy in Japanese History, 1600– 1930
The Intimate and the Public

in Asian and Global Perspectives
Managing Editor
Ochiai Emiko (Kyoto University)
Editorial Board
Daniele Belanger (Laval University)
Fran Bennett (University of Oxford)
Mary Brinton (Harvard University)
Melanita Budianta (University of Indonesia)
Chang Kyung- Sup (Seoul National University)
Harald Fuess (University of Heidelberg)
Barbara Hobson (University of Stockholm)
Shirlena Huang (National University of Singapore)
Ito Kimio (Kyoto University)
Barbara Molony (Santa Clara University)
Oshikawa Fumiko (Kyoto University)
Rajni Palriwala (University of Delhi)
Ito Peng (University of Toronto)
Carolyn Sobritchea (University of the Philippines)
Tseng Yen- Fen (National Taiwan University)
Patricia Uberoi (Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi)
Thanes Wongyannava (Thammasat University)
volume 13
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ ipap
Japan’s Private Spheres: Autonomy

in Japanese History, 1600– 1930
By
W. Puck Brecher
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover illustration: “Shochū kyūka” (Summer vacation) in Fuzoku gahō 386 (July 1908), p. 21.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Brecher, W. Puck, author.
Title: Japan’s private spheres : autonomy in Japanese history, 1600-1930 /
by W. Puck Brecher.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2021] | Series: The intimate and
public in Asian and global perspectives, 2213-0608 ; volume 13 |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021001662 (print) | LCCN 2021001663 (ebook) |
ISBN 9789004447547 (hardback) | ISBN 9789004450158 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Autonomy (Psychology)–Japan–History. | Individuality–
Japan–History. | Privacy–Japan–History. | Public sphere–Japan–History. |
National characteristics, Japanese. | Japan–Social life and customs.
Classification: LCC DS821 .B655 2021 (print) | LCC DS821 (ebook) |
DDC 952/.025–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021001662
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021001663
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/b rill- typeface.
issn 2213-0 608
isbn 978-9 0-0 4-4 4754-7 (hardback)
isbn 978-9 0-0 4-4 5015-8 (e- book)
Copyright 2021 by W. Puck Brecher. Published by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi,
Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag.
Koninklijke Brill nv reserves the right to protect this publication against unauthorized use. Requests for
re- use and/ or translations must be addressed to Koninklijke Brill nv via brill.com or copyright.com.
This book is printed on acid- free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.
For my family
∵

Contents

A cknowledgments xi
F igures and Tables xii
キーワード
K eywords ( ) xiii
P rologue xv
part 1
Contextualizing the Private Sphere in Japanese History
1 I ntroduction
The Private “Problem” 3
1 C ontexts of Privacy in Modernizing Japan 12
2 C hallenges and Methodologies 15
2 P ublic and Private in Pre- Meiji Thought and Society 21
1 I ntroduction 21
2 P ublic and Private in the Japanese Context 24
3 P ublic and Private in the Medieval Period 31
4 P ublic and Private in the Edo Period 36
3 T he Private Self and the Meiji- Taisho State 47
1 T he Individual’s Relationship to the State 47
2 P rescribed Private Spheres: Religion, the Home, and Leisure 59
3 H istoriography on Modern Japan’s Private Spheres 66
part 2
The Autonomous Self in the Edo Period (1600– 1868)
4 P eripheries as Private Spheres 73
1 E verything in Its Place: City, Suburb, Countryside 73
2 K ōetsumura 75
3 I tami 86
3.1 Itami Saké 90
3.2 The Itami Salon 92
4 N egishi 96
4.1 Negishi as a Homegrown Living Space 102
4.2 Resignation and Reclusion 106
viii Contents
5 B oyhood as an Autonomous Sphere 110
1 I ntroduction 110
2 P ractical Childrearing 115
3 D iaries 123
4 R ole Models and the Moral Authority of the Private 128
6 “ Publicizing” the Private
Self- Interrogation and Self- Indulgence in the Arts 136
1 H uman Difference in Early Modern Thought 139
2 T he Self- Interrogation of Hakuin (1685– 1768) and Kinkoku
(1761– 1832) 144
3 S elf and Self- Portraiture 149
4 M aster Depravity and the Self as Spectacle 158
part 3
Public and Private Selves in Meiji and Taisho (1868– 1926)
7 T he Deviant in Meiji Society
Autonomy, Individuality, and Public Power 167
1 M eiji’s New Normal 168
2 L oser Literature 173
3 A nguished Art 178
4 I deology and Rupture: Eccentricity and Its Place in Meiji’s Cultural
Field 182
8 T he Private Individual in Early Meiji Education (1872– 1890s) 191
1 T he Individual in Early Meiji Education 192
2 O n the Practice of Keeping Individuality Charts 204
3 E arly Student Charts in the United States 211
4 I ndividuality as Control 215
9 E ducation and Public Individuality (1890s– 1927) 218
1 K osei in Public Education 218
2 C hanges in Student Evaluations 225
3 K osei as “Public Individuality” 236
Contents ix
part 4
The Nationalization of Private Leisure (1868– 1930s)
10 V acationing and Moral Authority 243
1 S chool Summer Vacations 248
2 M oral Authority and Vacationing for Adults 257
3 A mbivalence and Contestation 263
11 N ationalizing the Body
Physical Exercise as a Public Ethic 275
1 “ Civilizing” the Physical Body 276
2 W estern Athletics 281
3 P ublic Fitness as Statecraft (1920s~) 290
12 C onclusion
Can Modern Japan’s Private Spheres Be Moral? 298
1 R econciliations of Self and State 303
E pilogue 311
B ibliography 317
I ndex 345