Jogaku zasshi

Jogaku zasshi (Japanese: 女学雑誌; Education of Women Magazine) was a women's magazine published in Tokyo, Japan, during the Meiji era between July 1885 and February 1904. It is the first women's magazine in the country.[1] In addition, it was the most significant publication in its category.[2]

Jogaku zasshi
EditorIwamoto Yoshiharu
CategoriesWomen's magazine
Founder
Founded1885
First issueJuly 1885
Final issueFebruary 1904
CountryJapan
Based inTokyo
LanguageJapanese
OCLC13749099

History and profile

The first issue of Jogaku zasshi appeared in July 1885.[3] The founders were Iwamoto Yoshiharu and Kondō Kenzō.[4] It was launched as a successor of their former magazine, Jogaku shinshi, that was launched in 1884.[4] Iwamoto also edited the magazine.[3] Early editions of Jogaku zasshi featured plain informative articles which soon became more sophisticated and more literary-oriented to compete with its rival Kokumin no Tomo which was started in February 1887.[3]

In May 1887 Iwamoto Yoshiharu published an article in Jogaku zasshi criticizing Japanese prime minister Ito Hirobumi who held a costume party at the official residence.[3] It led to six-week closure of the magazine by the Japanese government.[3] From June 1892 the magazine began to publish articles on literature and social reform one week and articles on family and home another week to accommodate the conservative tendencies of Meiji era.[3] It targeted women and played a significant role in introducing Christianity to the Japanese society and in advocating the western lifestyle.[5]

Although Jogaku zasshi was a women's magazine, the early contributors were mainly male with some exceptions such as Nakajima Shôen (1863-1901), Shimizu Shikin (1867-1933), Miyake Kaho (1868-1944) and Wakamatsu Shizuko (1864-1896).[6] The contributions of the latter two were fiction and translations.[6] However, from 1889 women writers became dominant in the magazine.[4] Next year there were eight women as permanent editorial staff.[4] Well-known contributors included Hoshino Tenchi (1862-1950), Shimazaki Tōson (1872-1943), Kitamura Tōkoku (1868-1894) and Ishibashi Ningetsu (1865-1926).[7] In addition to these literary figures Japanese educator and journalist Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835–1901) was also a frequent contributor of Jogaku zasshi.[8]

The contributors and particularly, the editor of the magazine, Iwamoto Yoshiharu, encouraged women to become active in life, including becoming writers instead of being passive readers.[6][7] They also advocated equal rights for women and marriages based on love and harshly criticised the lack of social awareness among women.[8] In line with these views an interview with Ogino Ginko who was the first Japanese female physician was published in Jogaku zasshi in October 1893.[9]

Over time the magazine lost its influence and finally folded with the issue published in February 1904.[3][10] During its lifetime Jogaku zasshi produced a total of 526 issues.[11]

References
  1. Akiko Okada (2009). "Christian Reformism and Literature in Jogaku zasshi". Japanese Sociological Review. 60 (2): 242–258. doi:10.4057/jsr.60.242.
  2. Angela Coutts (Autumn 2006). "Gender and Literary Production in Modern Japan: The Role of Female‐Run Journals in Promoting Writing by Women during the Interwar Years". Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. 32 (1): 168. doi:10.1086/505271. S2CID 144653111.
  3. Michael C. Brownstein (1980). "Jogaku Zasshi and the Founding of Bungakukai". Monumenta Nipponica. 35 (3): 319–335. doi:10.2307/2384263. JSTOR 2384263.
  4. Margaret Mehl (2005). "Book review (Frauenerziehung und Frauenbild im Umbruch. Ideale von Mädchenerziehung, Frauenrolle und weiblichen Lebensentwürfen in der frühen Jogaku zasshi (1885-1889))". Monumenta Nipponica. 60 (1): 112–115. doi:10.1353/mni.2005.0009. S2CID 162338004.
  5. Akiko Okada (2006). "Westernization and Japanese-ness in Jogaku-Zasshi". Collection of Sociology. 2006 (19): 61–71. doi:10.5690/kantoh.2006.61.
  6. Hitomi Yoshio (2017). "The Ideal Woman and Jogaku zasshi: Translating Womanhood in Late 19th-Century Japan". Waseda Rilas Journal (5).
  7. Mara Patessio (2001). "Iratsume and Journals for Women in the Early Meiji Period" (Conference paper). Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies. S2CID 55751884.
  8. Barbara Sato (2018). "Gender, consumerism and women's magazines in interwar Japan". In Fabienne Darling-Wolf (ed.). Routledge Handbook of Japanese Media. London: Routledge. pp. 39–50. doi:10.4324/9781315689036-4. ISBN 9781315689036.
  9. Ellen Nakamura (2008). "Ogino Ginko's Vision: "The Past and Future of Women Doctors in Japan" (1893)". U.S.-Japan Women's Journal. 34 (3): 3–18. JSTOR 42771973.
  10. Hisayo Ogushi (2014). "American Literature in Japanese Shojo Comics". In Paula Rabinowitz (ed.). Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature. New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.013.207. ISBN 978-0-19-020109-8.
  11. "Jogaku Zasshi (Education of Women Magazine) (女学雑誌)". Japanese Corpus. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
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