1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910815027803321

Autore

Lublin Elizabeth Dorn <1968->

Titolo

Reforming Japan [[electronic resource] ] : the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in the Meiji period / / Elizabeth Dorn Lublin

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Vancouver, B.C., : UBC Press, c2010

ISBN

0-7748-1818-2

1-299-58797-6

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (266 p.)

Collana

Asian religions and society series, , 1705-4761

Disciplina

363.4/1095209034

Soggetti

Women social reformers - Japan - History

Social problems - Japan - History

Japan Social conditions 1868-1912

Japan Social policy

Japan Moral conditions

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

pt. 1. The WCTU in Meiji, Japan : an organizational history -- pt. 2. Under the guise of national strengthening and "good" citizenship : pillars of the WCTU's reform program.

Sommario/riassunto

In 1902 the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) petitioned the Japanese government to abolish the custom of rewarding good deeds and patriotic service with the bestowal of sake cups. Alcohol production and consumption, its members argued, harmed individuals, endangered public welfare, and wasted vital resources. The petition was only one initiative in a wide-ranging program to reform public and private behaviour. Between 1886 and 1912, the WCTU launched campaigns to eliminate prostitution, eradicate drinking, spread Christianity, and improve the lives of women. As Elizabeth Dorn Lublin shows, members did not passively accept and propagate government policy but felt a duty to shape it by defining social problems and influencing opinion. Certain their beliefs and reforms were essential to Japan's advancement, members couched their calls for change in the rhetorical language of national progress. Ultimately, the WCTU's activism belies received notions of women's public involvement and



political engagement in Meiji Japan.