Ryōsai Kenbo: the educational ideal of 'good wife, wise mother' in modern Japan

In: The intimate and the public in Asian and global perspectives, v. 1

Abstract

"The famous ryōsai kenbo, or 'good wife, wise mother' role of women was not, after all, a traditional Confucian view but a modern construct. In fact, its first appearance in Japan, as Koyama Shizuko points out, was in the latter half of the nineteenth century - due principally to the influence of European ideas about women. Girls at the time were proud to fulfill their new role of contributing to not just the family but to the formation of the state. Koyama's discovery has transformed how we see modern women's history in Japan and the similar discoveries that have followed regarding China's 'wise wife, good mother' and Korea's 'wise mother, good wife.'