Koume’s World: The Life and Work of a Samurai Woman Before and After the Meiji Restoration

Kawai Koume, a poet and painter from a lower-ranking samurai family in Wakayama, kept a diary documenting her family's daily life during the Meiji Restoration. Simon Partner's book, Koumes World, offers a detailed portrait of Koume's life and the social, economic, and cultural changes in nineteenth-century Japan.

Format: Hardback
Length: 312 pages
Publication date: 12 December 2023
Publisher: Columbia University Press

Kawai Koume, a remarkable individual who lived from 1804 to 1889, possessed the dual talents of being a poet and a painter. In addition to her roles as a wife, mother, and grandmother within a lower-ranking samurai family residing in the provincial castle town of Wakayama, Koume was fortunate enough to witness numerous pivotal events that shaped Japan's history during the Meiji Restoration and the subsequent radical transformations. These events included the devastating famine of 1837, the catastrophic great earthquake of 1854, the devastating cholera epidemic of 1859, and the departure of samurai warriors to participate in the civil wars of the 1860s.

For over fifty years, Koume diligently maintained a diary, meticulously recording the daily life of her family. This diary encompassed a wide range of details, including meals and expenses, visits from guests, weather conditions, small-town gossip, and significant news events. Through the lens of Koume's experiences and words, Simon Partner provides a captivating glimpse into social, economic, and cultural life during some of Japan's most transformative nineteenth century.

Koume's World, a captivating work by Partner, offers a vivid portrayal of the daily activities, social interactions, information networks, cultural production, and household economy of a samurai family spanning the Tokugawa-Meiji divide. Partner's narrative provides a remarkably detailed portrait of the dynamic working life of a female artist and household manager, while also offering a regional perspective on the upheavals surrounding the Meiji Restoration. This microhistorical study of gender, economy, and society in nineteenth-century Japan is a compelling account of how one woman experienced both the mundane routines of daily life and the drastic social transformations that unfolded during this period.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780231211840