Mass Literacy in Modern Japan: Transformed Practices of Reading and Writing
Organizer: Yusuke Tanaka, National Institute of Japanese Literature
Chair: Yusuke Tanaka, National Institute of Japanese Literature
1) Mayo Kakimoto, Kyoto University
The Lives of Children and Their Reading Habits in the Meiji Period: A School Boy’s Diary
2) Kyoko Ōoka, University of Tokyo
The Act of Writing by Women in the Boundary between Private and Public: An Analysis of Contributions to“Shufu-no-Tomo”
3) Yusuke Tanaka, National Institute of Japanese Literature
Polyphonic Space for Self-expression: Christian Dormitory Diaries at the Second Higher School during
World War Two4) Ayako Nakano, Waseda University
The Expansion of Reading Environment: An Analysis of the Practice of Reading and Writing by Soldiers
Discussant: M. William Steele, International Christian University
Mass Literacy in Modern Japan: Transformed Practices of Reading and Writing
Organizer and Chair: Yusuke Tanaka, National Insititute of Japanese Literature
Japan’s rapid modernization after the Meiji Restoration transformed the way people read and wrote. The new
education system installed shortly after the restoration played a major role in this transformation, but equallyimportant was the growth of printed materials and their circulation system nationwide. Newspapers,
magazines and books were essential for developing reading literacy in the everyday life; moreover, readers
nourished their writing literacy by keeping diaries, exchanging letters and sharing their thoughts in thediscursive space of their favorite media. In order to understand the meaning and function of this developing
mass literacy, noting both how literacy was obtained as well as how it was practiced, it is crucial to examinesocial change and individual behavior in modernizing Japan.
This panel examines the phenomena of mass literacy in modern Japan with particular focus on daily
practices of reading and writing. Kakimoto will investigate the reading life of children in early and mid-Meiji
period through an analysis of a diary written by a higher elementary school boy. Ōoka will reveal the reading
and writing practice of housewives in Taisho and early Showa periods, focusing on their contributions toShufu No Tomo. Tanaka will discuss the significance of wartime diaries kept by Christian dormitory students
in the Second Higher School. Nakano will illuminate the reading and writing environment of Japanesesoldiers on the fields of battle. Based on these four studies, the panel aims to provide new perspectives to thesocial history of literacy in modern japan.
1) Mayo Kakimoto, Kyoto University
The Lives of Children and Their Reading Habits in the Meiji Period: A School Boy’s Diary
During Meiji period, the establishment of the educational system brought about many changes in literacy
education of children and reading materials for children. Not only enlightening books translated fromAmerican textbooks, but also magazines only for children appeared. In the 1870s, many of these werecontribution magazines, as typified by Eisai Shinsi, first published in 1877. These magazines aimed toimprove the writing ability of children. However, in the middle of the 1880s, particularly after Shonen En
was first published in 1888, the magazines began to print mainly the articles for children’s reading written by
educators or thinkers rather than contributions by children. What kind of influence did these new media forchildren have on the lives of children? To understand the reading habits of children in the Meiji period, thispaper will examine a 10 year-old boy’s diary included in the Fukuda Hideichi Diary Collection stored in thelibrary of the Institute of Asian Cultural Studies, International Christian University. This diary was kept by astudent of the higher elementary school in Minami-Kuwata-Gun, present-day Kameoka City, Kyoto
Prefecture, during the period from 1895 to 1896. In his diary, the boy wrote about various events, such as thecontents of his classes, running errands and seeing a magic lantern show. It provides valuable clues as towhat children’s lives were really like at that time. In addition, I hope to illuminate the context of the boy’slife by referring to local histories, such as The History of Kameoka City.
2) Kyoko Ōoka, University of Tokyo
The Act of Writing by Women in the Boundary between Private and Public: An Analysis of Contributions
to “Shufu-no-Tomo”

The history of women’s magazines in Japan goes back to the beginning of the 20th century. Previous
researches on reading habits of women have been mainly classified into two categories: 1) one type wasreading actively, 2) the other was reading passively. Women who had been classified as active readers wereregarded as “new women” (atarashii onna). They chose liberal political magazines, for instance FujinKoron, and kept their distance from the thought of ryosai kenbo (good wife, wise mother). On the other
hand, the latter type of women read popular magazines, including Shufu no Tomo which sought to provide
practical information in order to deal with various problems faced by women in managing their family, as
well as everyday household duties. Popular women’s magazines such as Shufu no Tomo were generally
regarded as an apparatus to facilitate women in accepting their gender role. Household works that reinforced
gender roles have been discussed mainly from the point of view of the sociology of the family and Marxist
feminism. However, any discussion on unpaid domestic work based on love relations is one-sided. Drawing
on a textual analysis of contributions to Shufu no Tomo, this study reveals that women gathered information
on housework, especially cooking, from the magazine and expressed themselves through the act of writing. Iwill discuss the agency of women who composed and renewed themselves dynamically with regard to theroles that they played in their family and in society, thereby emphasizing the act of writing about housework
as a social practice.
3) Yusuke Tanaka, National Institute of Japanese Literature
Polyphonic Space for Self-expression: Christian Dormitory Diaries at the Second Higher School during
World War Two
This presentation focuses on the discourse of highly educated Christian students in World War Two. Chūai
Ryō Nisshi 忠愛寮日誌 is a series of diaries kept by the Christian dormitory students at the Second Higher
School in Sendai city. Under the cruel religious oppression in wartime, Chūai dormitory managed to sustain
its operation and students continued their common practice: praying in the morning, singing hymns, group
Bible study, and, most notably, keeping dormitory diaries. The diaries are vivid documents of how young
elite students, with high level of reading and writing literacy, sought to understand their lives and dreamt
about the future in the ever-worsening situation of Japan’s holy war. Moreover, the diaries show how they, as
believers or at least as having sympathy for Christianity, suffered from jingoistic aggression by professors
and other dormitory’s students. In contrast to general diaries that provide users private space for reflection
and self-expression, the Chūai dormitory diaries were shared among the dormitory students. Students leftcomments on what other student wrote; the diaries were not purely private, but rather a sort of polyphonicsocial space for self-expressions and intense discussion, sometimes erupting with criticism and anger against
an inflammatory note. By listening to the various voices of the diaries, this presentation aims to elucidate not
only what Japanese elite youth in World War Two thought and believed in fear of impending death, but also
how they communicated and interacted with each other in a school culture characterized by high literacy.
4) Ayako Nakano, Waseda University
The Expansion of Reading Environment: An Analysis of the Practice of Reading and Writing by Soldiers
During the Pacific War, it was thought that reading on the battlefield had been nearly banned. And if readingwere permitted, only textbooks for soldiers would be allowed. However, in reality, comfort magazines (imonzasshi) were printed by major publishers or by the Japanese Army and Navy, and were sent to the battlefield.
In addition to magazines, newspapers and books were sent. It is therefore important to examine the culture ofreading on the battlefield. Through an expansion of the reading environment, a new type of reader, “thesoldier reader” emerged. People belonging to different classes came to perform the same reading acts as "asoldier" while maintaining their differences. For example, people who had never read a book began to readbooks, and those more educated began to read even simple books that they would not have read before. It canalso be said that this change in reading influenced writing as well. The purpose of this paper is to analyze theexpansion of the reading environment to the battlefield, how it originated and what effect it had on thepractice of reading and writing by soldiers. First, I will discuss the types of comfort magazines byinvestigating the distribution status on the battlefield. Next, through an examination of diaries, letters, andpoems and other texts by soldiers, I hope to reveal the practice of reading and writing by soldiers thatdeveloped in the unique reading space of the battlefield.
Discussant: M. William Steele, International Christian University