Bluestocking

青鞜　Bluestocking

Seito was the first literary magazine run by only women and it discussed women's issues in society and had great influence on the later Japanese feminist movements and the 'awakening' of the woman.
Unfortunately, the magazine was met with a lot of criticism and hurdles throughout their rather short existence until 1916 when the Japanese government banned the publication for being 'disruptive to the society'.


Why Bluestocking?

The title was inspired by the 'Bluestockings Society' in England in the 18th century. Educated, intellectual women interested in literary discussions came together, which was quite extraordinary in that time. The meetings were hosted by Elizabeth Montagu (also called the 'Queen of the Blues'), who took over the property, after her husband died and was thus independent from any male guardians. This did not happen often in those times. The members wore blue stockings, an informal option to the formal black dyed version. Men were also allowed to participate. Later on, Bluestocking began to be used as an equivalent to 'frumpy woman'.


Bluestocking in Japan

The 5 founding members of the magazine were graduates of the Japan's Women University (日本女子大学) in Tokyo that celebrated their 10 year anniversary in the same year the first edition of Seito came out.

Hiratsuka at the far right

Led by Hiratsuka Raicho (平塚雷鳥), Yasumochi Yoshiko (保持研子), Mozume Kazuko (物集和子), Kiuchi Teiko (木内錠子), and Nakano Hatsuko (中野初子) established the magazine and published their first edition in September 1911 that sold 1000 copies nationally in a month. 
 Shortly after, many letters about subscriptions and questions for advise were recieved at their office.
 The name for the magazine, however, was conceived by a man - Ikuta Choukou (生田長江), an author, translator, and critic, but a teacher at that time for women's education. This is where he encountered several of the young women, including Hiratsuka. Although the name was given by a man, the women wanted to reclaim the negatively connotated word and take back the power of being a Bluestocking. Anyone reminded of modern day reclaiming of the word 'slut' yet?

Cover 

 The illustration on the first cover was designed by Naganuma Chieko (長沼千恵子).
Naganuma was an artist, who also graduated from the Japan's Women University in 1907. She was later diagnosed with schizophrenia. Her husband, Kotaro Takamura (高村光太郎), a poet, wrote several books about her, which are still enjoyed today.
The cover shows a woman standing in the middle, in her profile. She has long black hair, which is tied together and flows from her shoulder. She is wearing a modern dress, not quite 'Japanese', and the background is abstract with round and triangular shapes. On both sides of the woman, the kanji for seito are written. She looks like the goddess Amaterasu.



 I am a New Woman  私は新しい女である

Seito was first intended to give space for women to intellectually discuss topics around gender issues they faced in society. It was meant to start a discourse about how and when women lost their spiritual independence.
The first sentence of the poem 'In the beginning, woman was the sun' (元始、女性は太陽であった) penned by Hiratsuka, who picked up her pen name Raicho for the first time, became famous and made Hiratsuka inseperable to the feminist movement in Japan and it established the tone of the publication. Non-withholding, but poetic.
Hiratsuka is referring to the sun goddess Amaterasu, who is supposedly the originator of the Japanese imperial line. Indeed, a female god.

In the beginning, woman was the sun... Today, she is the moon. Living through others. Reflecting the brilliance of others. 
Now, Bluestocking, a journal created for the first time with the brains and hands of today’s Japanese women, raises its voice. The new woman does not merely destroy the old morality and laws constructed out of male selfishness, but day by day attempts to create a new kingdom... based on the spiritual values and surpassing brilliance of the sun.... The new woman is not simply covetous of power for its own sake.... She is simply crying out for strength... the strength to fulfill her own hallowed mission. 

(taken from Professor Hopson's chapter on 'Gender in Modern Japan and Interwar Japanese Culture)

元始、女性は実に太陽であった。真正の人であった。
今、女性は月である。他に依って生き、他の光によって輝く、病人のやうな青白い顔の月である。
さて、こヽに「青鞜」は初声を上げた。
現代の日本の女性の頭脳と手によってはじめてできた「青鞜」は初声を上げた。
女性のなすことは今は只嘲りの笑を招くばかりである。
私はよく知っている。嘲り笑の下に隠れたる或るものを。
そして私は少しも恐れない。
併し、どうしやう女性みづからみづからの上に新にした羞恥と汚辱の惨ましさを。
女性とはかくも嘔吐に値するものだらうか、
否ヽ、真正の人とは――
私どもは今日の女性として出来る丈のことをした。心の総てを尽くしてそして産み上げた子供がこの「青鞜」なのだ。
果たして心の総てを尽くしたらうか。あヽ、誰か誰か満足しやう。
私はこヽに更により多くの不満足を女性みづからの上に新にした。

(http://www.geocities.co.jp/Bookend-Ohgai/5423/s/raicho.html) 

Authors and Contributors

The magazine had a lot of contributors with different perspectives and views on women's issues. Some women were wives of famous and prestigious husbands, such as Shigeko Mori (森しげ子), wive of author Mori Ogai (森鴎外) or Seiko Iwano (岩野清子), wive of novelist and poet Houmei Iwano. Other contributors were from all ways of life, from poetress, screenplay writer to critic and commentator.   

Akiko Yosano

One popular writer was poet Akiko Yosano (与謝野晶子), who repeatedly wrote and appealed for equal responsibility in child rearing between spouses and financial independence for women from the government and men, because being dependent from one is ultimately one and the same. Her opinion on this was critizised by many feminists at that time, including Hiratsuka who advocated for financial support from the government.
 Although being a mother to 13 children, she didn't see herself as solely being a mother, but rather that being a mother was a part of her identity.

Nobuko Yoshiya

Another contributor to Seito was Nobuko Yoshiya (吉屋信子). She was one of the first commercially successful female authors in romance novels, girl's literature, and also lesbian literature. Interestingly, her work features same-sex love scenes that were accepted at that time and it was considered part of life to have homosexual relationships, because in the end it resulted in to a -heterosexual- marriage anyway.







Turbulences and Foreshadowing

In 1912, the magazine got involved in a scandal where an intern thoughtlessly wrote about how she accompanied her male friend to the Yoshiwara (famous red-light district in Tokyo) and got herself a boyfriend. This was heavily criticised by the community around the magazine and the term 'bluestocking' changed from 'awakened woman' to 'loose woman'. In the same year the women were evicted from their headquarters, because of the short text '手紙' (The Letter), which involved a husband's adultery and the edition was banned from selling. They got criticism from all around that effected their sales immensly.  

What began as a literary publication designed by women for women, changed into a political agenda of 'awakening' the women and bringing out their true self that got diminished by men. This change began in 1913, but wasn't successful with numbers dropping steadily. Right before the change of policy, Ikuta Choukou, who named the magazine and was actively involved in the back as a supporter and manager, left the group.

Hanayo Ikuta

From 1914 the magazine fell apart, when from the founding members all of them left, except Hiratsuka. But she was newly engaged to her husband and started on other projects, which you can read about in my Hiratsuka blog.
 Hanayo Ikuta (生田花世), not in anyway related to Ikuta Choukou tried to take over. Her articles were personal and were mainly about gender roles, especially in romantic relationships. She also explored the idea of 'new woman' (新婦人) further and commented on it.

Noe Ito

In the end, Hiratsuka's successor became Noe Ito (伊藤野枝), a suffragette, anarchist, and writer. She was responsible for the last publications of seito. The topics were more radical and controversial, they discussed about abortion, prostitution, and chastity.
 
In 1916 the last edition was published and Ito decided to stop production for the unforseeable future.




Conclusion

Not many people outside and inside Japan know about these young fabulous women who came together to discuss, promote, and fight for women's rights,  in a time where women were not seen as equal to men and moreover, were considered to be only good enough to give birth and raise children. These women showed the men in their times that this was not true, and that women were capable of doing so much more than they were told to do. To upkeep the legacy and honour their hard work they put in to their -our- fight, is our job now. We mustn't forget their huge effort and intellectual discussions revolving around gender issues and what it means to be a woman in Japan.

Thank you Bluestocking

Sources:

http://kari-kari.net/manmonth/2208/ 

https://ドラマ生活.com/asadora/toto/hiratukaraichou/

http://bunka-isan.awa.jp/About/item.htm?iid=395

Professor Hopson's Chapter 7 of 'Gender in Modern Japan and Interwar Culture'