The Impact of Women on Japanese History

Japanese history is not all shoguns and samurai: women played a prominent role. In the early centuries Chinese envoys called the part of Japan they knew ‘Queen Country’ because there were so many female rulers. Today there is much debate about whether a woman can ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne. But in fact in the past there were several empresses, including a couple in the fairly recent past.

In her talk Lesley Downer will tell the story of Himiko, the shaman queen, and of some of the early empresses. Even after women ceased to be rulers, brilliant and powerful figures such as Nene-dono, Hideyoshi’s wife, continued to wield power from behind the throne. There were also women writers and artists who helped shape Japanese history, such as the witty and irreverent court ladies of the Heian period, along with women warriors who were as doughty as men, courtesans who were the queens of pleasure quarter culture and the indomitable feminists of Taisho.

By discussing the many roles women have played throughout Japanese history, Lesley will provide a new and refreshing perspective on that history, while putting paid once and for all to the egregious stereotype of the ‘submissive geisha’.