Women in the House

Family Structure (Ie)

The ie was the basic family structure that dominated the Muromachi period into Edo and first burgeoned from the disuse of the Ritsuryo system in the late 11th or early 12th century (Kamakura period). [1] The ie had a few basic defining features that did not change throughout its use across periods. First the basic family unit consisted of a married couple, the parents of the couple, children, brothers, and sisters. Second, the ie possessed and managed property and house servants. As for warrior and Aristocrats that would likely include retainers [2]. This property usually went from parent to child. Third the “property” often involved some or all of the following: stipendiary land, official post, family business, and social standing. Fourth and finally, the ie was the basic unit of production, labor, and management. [3] Wakita Haruko, a prominent researcher of Japanese women’s history during medieval Japan, argues that the was the basis for all forms of occupation and institution. All things traditionally of the “male realm” such as religion and culture, Wakita argues that they were all fostered in the ie by both husband and wife. Thus, the ie still allowed the wife significant sway within her Husband’s domain. [4] However, it is important to note that the form and function of an ie differs between classes and each class seems to have their own version.

Image Credit:
Male and Female Deities Seated
Kamakura Period, 13th Century
Masterworks from the Nara Buddhist Sculpture Hall at the Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 2010, p.139, no.147.

Family gender roles

During the Kamakura period, within western Japan there was a strong matriarchal lineage in both aristocrat and warrior houses. [5] But with the rise of yometori practices, the ritual of taking a woman into the men’s household marked a shift on the valuation of women’s body and new understandings of sexuality. It, in Tonomura’s words, “organized the appropriation of female sexuality in a new era, which demanded one sided chastity and imprisoned bodies to beget patrilineal offspring, all for the perpetuation of the lineage’s private property.” [6] In other words a wife’s primary function was to produce offspring to keep property in the patrilineal line and she was expected to maintain monogamous ideals while the husband practiced polygamy. However, the wife still shouldered much responsibility and carried great authority. Women were by no means powerless. Within the system Women derived their authority in proportion to that of their husbands [7] (this only applies for the main wife, all other women the house head courted were considered mistresses and likely considered a servant of some sort). The couple managed the household together and the wife was central to this management. [8] Under this couple and organization everyone underneath was to display their subordination. Within the household, the wife shared equal power to that of her husband. Though this example is from the of the mid-Heian period, the same responsibilities were typical of the main wives in the such as overseeing “the acquisition of and preparation of food and clothing, but also managing household budget, arranging the sale of tributary items, purchasing provisions, maintaining weapons and armor, and generally looking after other subordinate members and ensuring that they remained loyal to their master.” [9] Women in the Kamakura period in some special cases were allowed to become legitimate vassals of the Kamakura Bakufu (via special inheritance circumstances). [10] Also Hojo Masako, wife of, Minamoto Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamkura Bakufu, was a typical example of what a “main wife” was supposed to be. It was also noted her husband’s subordinates always obeyed her because she took good care of them. Further following her husband’s death, she took control of the shogunate. While taking real political power is a bit of an exception, resuming the husband’s responsibilities was expected within the wife’s role. [11] This however would change somewhat in the Muromachi period. Also, in largescale households like Hojo’s, the ability to not work was seen as a luxury, often relegating work to court women (nyobo) and especially to wet nurses (menoto). [12] Interestingly, the actual raising of children was not done by the official wife or any concubine, but rather these wet nurses. Motherhood was a virtue, but in the modern sense of a “mother” it was the wet nurses that raised the children. Raising children was not one of the responsibilities of the wife.

Inheritance and Land

Inheritance in the system was always from parent to child unless there are complications such as a death resulting in no valid direct heirs. A big change from the Kamakura to Muromachi is who is considered a valid heir. In the Kamakura period, landowners were registered in official documents, most of which contained men’s names, but these registries were a formality and often women owned, or at least managed, the holding’s registered under a man’s name. [13] Further, these women who owned land and paid taxes could hold official imperial posts. [14] In one case with a temple land known as Tara-no-Sho, at one point it was owned by a Kamakura Bakufu vassal. Following that vassal’s death, his female descendants fought over claim of the land eventually going to a daughter of the Nakahara family. The interesting thing about this is that this land was only allowed to be ruled by a vassal and thus it can be concluded that woman in the Kamkura period were allowed to become a vassal and own vassal lands. [15] Also land was split amongst both boys and girls, but with boys receiving larger portions, but soon into the Muromachi period the inheritance pattern shifted toward a male only primogeniture inheritance. However, women during Muromachi could still own land, but not in a formal capacity like in Kamakura and were only allowed to keep “movable land” such as property from dowry. [16] When married women came with dowries that expressly belonged to them. Should the husband try to pawn or steal his wife’s dowry, it can be used as grounds for divorce. Also, should divorce occur for any reason, the husband is expected to return the wife to her family along with her initial dowry.Typically, the land women owned in this time was residential and not agricultural, but she’s still able to inherit her husband’s land should he die and there is not suitable heir at the time. In this case it is the woman’s, but she is unable to will it away to someone of her choosing, rather this is predetermined by the woman’s father or relevant male head. While not able to formally own land during Muromachi, women, should it be contained in the , would still be able to manage the people (such as servants and vassals) who worked their land and exert influence. Women were not powerless, but their means of which to truly own land was now heavily restricted.

Footnotes

[1] Wakita 2006, p. 17

[2] Goto 2006, p. 184

[3] Wakita 2006, p. 19

[4] Wakita 1993, p. 85

[5] Yoshihiko 2012, p.220

[6] Tonomura 1998, p. 146-148

[7] Wakita 1993, p. 88

[8] Goto 2006, p. 184

[9] Wakita 1993, p. 88-89
[10] Yoshihiko 2012, p. 220

[11] Wakita 1993, p. 89

[12] Wakita 2006, p. 17

[13] Wakita 2006, p. 82

[14] Yoshihiko p. 226-227

[15] Yoshihiko p. 227-228