A01=Raich Hiratsuka
A01=Raicho Hiratsuka
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_Raich Hiratsuka
Author_Raicho Hiratsuka
automatic-update
B06=Teruko Craig
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=BGA
Category=DNBM1
Category=JBSF11
Category=JFFK
COP=United States
Delivery_Pre-order
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Language_English
memoirs
PA=Temporarily unavailable
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
social science
softlaunch
Product details
- ISBN 9780231138130
- Dimensions: 156 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 30 Mar 2010
- Publisher: Columbia University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
"In the beginning, woman was truly the sun. An authentic person. Now she is the moon, a wan and sickly moon, dependent on another, reflecting another's brilliance."-Hiratsuku Raicho Raicho Hiratsuka (1886-1971) was the most influential figure in the early women's movement in Japan. In 1911, she founded Bluestocking (Seito), Japan's first literary journal run by women. In 1920, she founded the New Women's Association, Japan's first nationwide women's organization to campaign for female suffrage, and soon after World War II, the Japan Federation of Women's Organizations. Available for the first time in English, In the Beginning, Woman Was the Sun is Raicho Hiratsuka's autobiography of her childhood, early youth, and subsequent rebellion against the strict social codes of the time. Hiratsuka came from an upper-middle class Tokyo family, and her restless quest for truth led her to read widely in philosophy and undertake Zen training at Japan Woman's College. After graduation, she gained brief notoriety for her affair with a married writer, but quickly established herself as a brilliant and articulate leader of feminist causes with the launch of the journal Seito.
Her richly detailed account presents a woman who was at once idealistic and elitist, fearless and vain, and a perceptive observer of society. Teruko Craig's translation captures Hiratsuka's strong personality and distinct voice. At a time when interest in Japanese feminism is growing in the West, there is no finer introduction to Japanese women's history than this intimate, candid, and compelling memoir.
Teruko Craig is senior lecturer emerita of Tufts University and an associate in research at the Reischauer Institute of Japanese studies, Harvard University.
