History

カナダの戦争と女性 by 広瀬直子（2013年3月）

日本で大河ドラマ『八重の桜』が放映中だ。この原稿を書いている3月上旬時点でのドラマの進行状況では、会津藩の武家の娘である山本八 重は実家にいて、銃に興味をもって研究したり練習しているだけだ。しかし、ドラマを見続けるとわかるだろうが、この後の八重はたびたび戦争に関わることに なる。1868年の戊辰戦争では男装し、銃をもって戦火をくぐる。また晩年には、日露戦争、日清戦争で赤十字の看護師として再び従軍する。

さて、地球を半周し、時代を半世紀ほど遡って、現在のカナダ（当時は英国領）に目をやると、ここにも戦争で活躍した女性がひとりいた。Read more

 

Stories of Women in Medieval Japan by Caitilin Griffiths　 (2011年10月)

As I hiked along the ancient roads of Kumano and walked the old paths that led into Kamakura I was struck by a desire to find out who, how, and why these roads were traveled centuries ago. This curiosity led to a decade-long research on itinerant women from medieval Japan. Historical records often neglect or omit the role of women in society beyond a superficial and often stereotypical description. Throughout history there remain few sources written by, or about women which present us with a woman’s perspective.

The paucity of resources makes it a difficult challenge to understand the lives and thoughts of women from the past. Yet enthusiastic research continues, and as a result more information on the history of women has become available.
Medieval Japan cannot be talked about without reference to Buddhism and especially the spread of Buddhism among the populace by holy-men, religious figures often referred to as hijiri.

Within medieval tales numerous holy-men appear, but it is rare to encounter holy-women. Research that focused on monastic Buddhism and on individual ascetics has had difficulty identifying the participation of women.

Women were considered a distraction for the monks in pursuit of enlightenment and were believed to be defiled beings that carried the five obstructions.

The institutional nunneries were overshadowed politically by the monasteries and it was often the case that monks from a monastery controlled their administration and records. What though, were women’s experiences and reception inside and outside the monastic culture?　Read more