{"id":1630,"date":"2022-07-11T11:30:31","date_gmt":"2022-07-11T10:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/japanese-childhood\/?page_id=1630"},"modified":"2022-07-25T11:39:43","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T10:39:43","slug":"for-girls","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/japanese-childhood\/home\/home-en\/topics-2\/selective-secondary-education-1900-1945\/for-girls\/","title":{"rendered":"For girls"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” fullwidth=”on” next_background_color=”#000000″ global_module=”322″][et_pb_fullwidth_menu global_parent=”322″ _builder_version=”3.0.106″ menu_id=”7″ submenu_direction=”downwards” fullwidth_menu=”off” background_layout=”dark” module_class=”main-navigation” \/][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” custom_css_main_element=”padding-top:0px” module_class=”header-image-section” prev_background_color=”#ffffff” next_background_color=”#ffffff”][et_pb_row allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”off” make_equal=”off” custom_margin=”||0px|” custom_padding=”||0px|” module_class=”header-image” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_image show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” align=”left” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” force_fullwidth=”off” custom_margin=”0px|||” animation_direction=”left” show_bottom_space=”off” border_color_all=”#ffffff” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off” custom_padding=”||0px|” prev_background_color=”#ffffff” next_background_color=”#ffffff”][et_pb_row allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”off” make_equal=”off” custom_margin=”||0px|” custom_padding=”||0px|” module_class=”breadcrumbs-row” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Breadcrumbs (do not remove)” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” module_class=”breadcrumbs” custom_css_main_element=”border-bottom: 1px solid #ececed;” module_alignment=”left” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”]<\/p>\nJapanese Childhood<\/a><\/span><\/span>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”off” specialty=”on” transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” parallax_2=”off” parallax_method_2=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”2″ prev_background_color=”#ffffff” next_background_color=”#1d1d1d”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_sidebar admin_label=”Left Nav Sidebar” area=”et_pb_widget_area_1″ orientation=”left” remove_border=”on” background_layout=”light” module_id=”left-nav-menu” show_border=”off” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ specialty_columns=”2″][et_pb_row_inner admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column_inner type=”4_4″ saved_specialty_column_type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”For girls Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” module_alignment=”left” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.17.6″]<\/p>\n

Selective secondary education for girls, 1900-1945<\/h1>\n

The main form of selective secondary education for girls was the girls\u2019 high school (k\u014dt\u014d jogakk\u014d, or k\u014djo for short). The regular course at girls\u2019 high school was four years (whereas boys\u2019 middle schools were five years). As the decades progressed, increasing numbers of girls\u2019 high schools lengthened their programmes to five years, indicating the growing demand for higher levels of education for girls; even so, such schools were always in the minority.<\/p>\n

Boys\u2019 selective secondary schools could lead to a wide variety of opportunities for higher education. However, higher educational opportunities for girls were much more limited, focused on programmes in teacher training medicine (mainly nursing). The role of women was considered to be primarily in the home \u2013 although in practice, married women in farm families normally did a lot of agricultural work too. The official ideology of the Ministry of Education was to educate girls to be \u2018good wives and wise mothers\u2019 (ry\u014dsai kenbo).<\/p>\n

The curriculum of girls\u2019 high schools reflected this ideology. Several hours a week were devoted to needlework (saih\u014d) (Japanese, and later Western too), which was considered an essential skill for housewives. Domestic science and household management (kaji) was also important. Elegant arts and manners were taught in etiquette lessons (sah\u014d); this included traditional arts such as tea ceremony, as well as Western etiquette. Music and moral education were given more time than in boys\u2019 schools. At the same time, the core of the curriculum was made up of academic subjects, as at boys\u2019 secondary schools. The clearest difference was that whereas English was perhaps the most important subject at boys\u2019 middle schools, at girls\u2019 high schools English was taught for fewer hours, and was sometimes optional. Subjects such as mathematics and science were not taught to such a high level as in boys\u2019 schools either, though even so, some girls\u2019 high schools had dedicated science labs by the early 1920, as emphasis on science increased after World War One. One of the interviewees for our project used her pre-1945 girls\u2019 high school education to go on to teacher training college and become a junior high school mathematics teacher after the war.<\/p>\n

The increasing emphasis on science reflected Japanese observations of the role played by European women during World War One. It became considered that Japan could not compete with Western powers unless women were well educated and physically strong. This also led to increasing emphasis on sport and physical education, and expedited the introduction of Western dress as school uniform, as it was easier to move about in.<\/p>\n

During the 1920s and 1930s, increasing numbers of Japanese young women were taking up occupations, from teacher and nurse to department store assistant, telephone operator, and bus conductor. The (largely male) principals of the girls\u2019 high schools often advocated improved and expanded education for women, although this was still seen as subordinate and ancillary to their role as \u2018good wives and wise mothers\u2019.<\/p>\n

The students of girls\u2019 high schools were associated with a particular type of \u2018girls\u2019 school culture\u2019 (jogakusei bunka), centred on sensibility, art, literature, and feeling. The study of literature (especially classical Japanese literature) was important at the schools, and many girls were also very keen readers of contemporary novels. A particular favourite were the novels of Yoshiya Nobuko. Like many authors who wrote for a mainly female readership, Yoshiya\u2019s stories were serialised in the monthly magazine Sh\u014djo no tomo (Girl\u2019s Friend), which was particularly popular with girls\u2019 school students, as was with its more conservative rival, Sh\u014djo kurabu (Girl\u2019s Club). The cult of sensibility and feeling expressed in works like those of Yoshiya helped to nurture a culture of intense romantic friendships known as \u2018S\u2019 (for \u2018sister\u2019) relationships, usually between an older and a younger student. While such relationships were generally considered acceptable, relationships with boys were completely prohibited. Interviewees told us that boys and girls were expected to travel in different train carriages, and even frequent different bookshops; even speaking to one\u2019s own brother on the way to school might be thought to invite suspicion.<\/p>\n

There were different types and levels of girls\u2019 high school, as with selective secondary schools for boys. Girls\u2019 practical high schools (jikka k\u014dt\u014d jogakk\u014d) had a curriculum with many more lessons for needlework than ordinary girls\u2019 schools. They were less popular, and easier to enter. There were also significant numbers of private girls\u2019 high schools, of varying levels. Interviewees pointed to a clear hierarchy among girls\u2019 schools in their local area. Like boys\u2019 selective schools, entrance to girls\u2019 high schools was via an entrance examination and interview, and elementary school teachers would coach those attempting the exam with special after-school lessons. Whether talented girls could actually apply depended on their family\u2019s wealth and attitude to female education. However, as with selective secondary education for boys, the proportion of female elementary school graduates entering girls\u2019 high school rose considerably over the decades, from about 10 percent in 1915, to 25 percent in 1940.<\/p>\n

Peter Cave<\/p>\n

How to Cite This Source<\/h3>\n

Peter Cave, \u2018Selective Secondary Education for Girls, 1900-1945\u2019, in Childhood, Education and Youth in Modern Japan [add URL and access date].<\/p>\n

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