Takamure Itsue, Japanese Antiquity, and Matricultural Paradigms that Address the Crisis of Modernity: A Woman from the Land of Fire

This book explores Takamure Itsues (1894–1964) intellectual odyssey as Japan's most notable pioneer in the study of womens history. She embarked on scholarly projects to dismantle patriarchy and embraced matricultural paradigms that embodied life-sustaining and life-enhancing values. She asked big-picture questions and addressed contemporary relevance, including beauty standards, human trafficking, wealth disparities, war and imperialism, science and religion, and humanity's relationship with nature.

Format: Hardback
Length: 343 pages
Publication date: 01 July 2023
Publisher: Springer International Publishing AG

This captivating book delves into the intellectual journey of Takamure Itsues (1894–1964), a prominent pioneer in the field of women's history in Japan. In response to the challenges of modernity, she embarked on a series of scholarly projects that explored marriage patterns and kinship systems in ancient Japan. Driven by her unwavering quest to dismantle patriarchy, this remarkable "woman from the Land of Fire" (a nickname for her birthplace, Kumamoto Prefecture) secluded herself in 1931 and dedicated the remainder of her life to conducting research on female-friendly societies with matrilocal arrangements under kinship-based communal systems. Through her meticulous analysis, she sought to expose the patriarchal norms that undergirded the capitalist nation-state while embracing matricultural paradigms that upheld life-sustaining and life-enhancing values through communal child-rearing and matrilineal inheritance. Takamure, a visionary thinker, posed profound questions and addressed a wide range of contemporary issues, including beauty standards, human trafficking, wealth disparities, war and imperialism, science and religion, and humanity's relationship with nature. Her insights and perspectives offer valuable insights into the complexities of Japanese society and shed light on the ongoing struggle for gender equality and social justice.

Weight: 596g
Dimension: 210 x 148 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783031179082
Edition number: 1st ed. 2023