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Beauty In Disarray
In twenty-eight short years, Noe Ito was married three times and gave birth to seven children; she is now considered a prototype of modern feminism. No two readers will view her story the same way, but all will agree that Beauty in Disarray is a remarkable portrait of an exceptional woman.
352 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 1993
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About the author
Harumi Setouchi
39 books18 followersBirth name Harumi Setouchi (瀬戸内 晴美).
After taking the tonsure in a Buddhist order, now known as Jakucho Setouchi (瀬戸内 寂聴).
She has publications under both names.
After taking the tonsure in a Buddhist order, now known as Jakucho Setouchi (瀬戸内 寂聴).
She has publications under both names.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 4, 2022
This is an important book for anyone interested in the women's movement in Japan. This historical novel, penned bye Harumi Setouchi (who later became the Buddhist nun Jakuchō Seitouchi), follows the dramatic lives of the women behind the first magazine run by women called Blue Stocking (Seito). The magazine's founder Raicho Hiratsuka (having previously made headlines for an attempted double suicide with her lover novelist Sohei Morita), started the magazine in 1911 and Noe Ito, the protagonist of the story, took over the magazine in 1912 after Raicho fell in love with a man and dedicated her life to him.
As a high school student, Noe ran away from provincial Tokushima in Shikoku to escape an arranged marriage. She went to Tokyo and lived with a man who was her former teacher, the translator Jun Tsugi, who introduced her to Seito magazine. She soon started working for Raicho as an editor at the magazine, and also penning articles herself. After giving birth to two children, she separated from Tsugi, taking only the newborn with her and leaving the older to live with her ex-husband in the house of his mother and sister. Eventually, overwhelmed with the responsibilities of motherhood and running a controversial magazine by herself, she gives up her youngest child to a care-giver and enters headlong into an affair with anarchist Sakae Osugi, knowingly competing in a quadrangle love affair involving Osugi, his wife Yasuko, his mistress Ichiko Kamichika and Noe herself. In the end Noe prevails, marries Osugi, and mothers five children by him. There is plenty of drama in between.
It seems no mere coincidence that Harumi Setouchi, also from Tokushima, who herself left her own daughter behind with her husband to move in with a lover, wrote this biography of Noe Ito. In fact, you wonder if the protagonist's life didn't influence some of Harumi's own actions, since the events in the book took place long before Setouchi was born, in 1922 (in Tokushima).
Quotable:
"Beauty exists only in disharmony. Harmony is deceptive." Sakae Osugi
"In the beginning Woman was the Sun." Raicho Hiratsuka
See our review of Jakucho Setouchi's semi autobiography Places
As a high school student, Noe ran away from provincial Tokushima in Shikoku to escape an arranged marriage. She went to Tokyo and lived with a man who was her former teacher, the translator Jun Tsugi, who introduced her to Seito magazine. She soon started working for Raicho as an editor at the magazine, and also penning articles herself. After giving birth to two children, she separated from Tsugi, taking only the newborn with her and leaving the older to live with her ex-husband in the house of his mother and sister. Eventually, overwhelmed with the responsibilities of motherhood and running a controversial magazine by herself, she gives up her youngest child to a care-giver and enters headlong into an affair with anarchist Sakae Osugi, knowingly competing in a quadrangle love affair involving Osugi, his wife Yasuko, his mistress Ichiko Kamichika and Noe herself. In the end Noe prevails, marries Osugi, and mothers five children by him. There is plenty of drama in between.
It seems no mere coincidence that Harumi Setouchi, also from Tokushima, who herself left her own daughter behind with her husband to move in with a lover, wrote this biography of Noe Ito. In fact, you wonder if the protagonist's life didn't influence some of Harumi's own actions, since the events in the book took place long before Setouchi was born, in 1922 (in Tokushima).
Quotable:
"Beauty exists only in disharmony. Harmony is deceptive." Sakae Osugi
"In the beginning Woman was the Sun." Raicho Hiratsuka
See our review of Jakucho Setouchi's semi autobiography Places
June 20, 2024
A lo largo del libro yo tambien he pecado de esperar un desarrollo teorico del pensamiento de cada uno de los personajes como para considerarlos pioneros tanto del feminismo como del anarquismo, para ello debería buscar sus escritos directamente. Esta obra intenta narrarnos sus vidas y el cómo lo hacian bajo la atenta mirada crítica de la sociedad tan hermetica en la que vivian. Creo que despues de haberme desprendido de mis expectativas he podido disfrutar más ya no solo de la obra si no de la narrativa.
September 2, 2025
Incluso quienes luchan por grandes ideales pueden ser un desastre en lo personal. Algo así nos cuenta la autora, que al narrar las vidas de Osugi, pionero del comunismo en Japón, y Noe, pionera del feminismo, no se detiene tanto en aquello que hicieron y defendieron, como en sus imperfecciones y miserias personales. No son personajes heroicos sino seres humanos contradictorios.
July 16, 2024
No es para nada lo que me esperaba. Lo venden como un libro que habla sobre el feminismo incipiente en Japón y el anarquismo. Las 2 cosas se tocan muy de pasada, siendo generosa. El libro se centra en las historias amorosas de la protagonista, Noe Ito, y ya está. Empieza de una forma y cambia completamente la narración de un capítulo a otro. En fin, iba sin muchas expectativas con este libro, pero aún así he quedado decepcionada.
October 19, 2020
suffers from uneven plotting and clumsy sentences (no doubt the translation being the culprit here),
but the already compelling story of Seitō/Itō is made fiery and thrilling with a Tolstoyan rendering of characters whose strengths and weaknesses blur realistically together as sides of the same personality traits. Setouchi is brilliant at presenting people to us through the biassed perspectives of the characters around them, and this novel might be all the more wonderful if those character zones had been less haphazard and more carefully chosen. for example, that so much of the story is told from the point of view of Itō's first husband Tsuji Jun (a man who, in Ōsugi's words, i found to be "mild and mediocre") and so little is told from the point of view of Itō's love-tortured rival Kamichika Ichiko (an intellectual and feminist whose perspective abruptly comes to dominate the last part of the novel) seems almost criminal. at the risk of making things more formal and undermining the "disarray" of the title, i think this could have benefitted from being done in three main sections: Tsuji Jun, Hiratsuka Raicho, and Kamichika Ichiko. also, while on that "disarray", i personally would have liked much more quotations from Seitō to hear the women's actual voices and arguments, whereas i felt the novel was more weighted towards scandal and drama, which all was very fun to read but also kind of gave the impression that at the end of the day maybe these pioneering feminists were in fact as the negative press portrayed them: just a bunch of privileged, brash, and overly passionate women whose dependence on male love and economic support contradicted their outspoken cries for emancipation and a new role for women in society. there is plenty in the novel that counters that reading, but not enough for this reader. still, i am so happy to have read this and to have felt a connection to these real-life heroes and the world they moved in.
but the already compelling story of Seitō/Itō is made fiery and thrilling with a Tolstoyan rendering of characters whose strengths and weaknesses blur realistically together as sides of the same personality traits. Setouchi is brilliant at presenting people to us through the biassed perspectives of the characters around them, and this novel might be all the more wonderful if those character zones had been less haphazard and more carefully chosen. for example, that so much of the story is told from the point of view of Itō's first husband Tsuji Jun (a man who, in Ōsugi's words, i found to be "mild and mediocre") and so little is told from the point of view of Itō's love-tortured rival Kamichika Ichiko (an intellectual and feminist whose perspective abruptly comes to dominate the last part of the novel) seems almost criminal. at the risk of making things more formal and undermining the "disarray" of the title, i think this could have benefitted from being done in three main sections: Tsuji Jun, Hiratsuka Raicho, and Kamichika Ichiko. also, while on that "disarray", i personally would have liked much more quotations from Seitō to hear the women's actual voices and arguments, whereas i felt the novel was more weighted towards scandal and drama, which all was very fun to read but also kind of gave the impression that at the end of the day maybe these pioneering feminists were in fact as the negative press portrayed them: just a bunch of privileged, brash, and overly passionate women whose dependence on male love and economic support contradicted their outspoken cries for emancipation and a new role for women in society. there is plenty in the novel that counters that reading, but not enough for this reader. still, i am so happy to have read this and to have felt a connection to these real-life heroes and the world they moved in.
January 19, 2015
Did I like Noe Ito - No. Did I like the book - yes!
Noe was a fascinating character, a person I had never heard of before. And in all honestly I've never even thought about a feminist movement in Japan. I really didn't like her as a person but her life was pretty interesting so you don't need to like her to enjoy her story. At first I got where she was coming from, who wants to be forced into an arranged marriage? She stood her ground and managed to get out of that and marry the man she actually loved. So far so good.
I think for me the point of dislike starts when she has children. I believe children should come first, don't interpret this as I don't think women should work because I do! I also believe in providing for your own child and not letting someone else pick up the tab. But she never seems that interested in them, I don't feel any motherly love coming from her. She leaves but only takes one with her and then just expects someone else to pay for her. Then she ends up giving that one away! What!? Not a great mother that Noe Ito, and she goes on to have five more children!
I wish I had read the introduction after the book. It was starting to get near the end and she'd only just met Osugi - for the record I didn't think much of him either, free love!? pah! I was expecting the book to end with their brutal murder but instead it ends with Osugi being stabbed by a jealous lover who has given up her job, her money and her time for him to prefer Noe. Hell have no fury.....
Noe was a fascinating character, a person I had never heard of before. And in all honestly I've never even thought about a feminist movement in Japan. I really didn't like her as a person but her life was pretty interesting so you don't need to like her to enjoy her story. At first I got where she was coming from, who wants to be forced into an arranged marriage? She stood her ground and managed to get out of that and marry the man she actually loved. So far so good.
I think for me the point of dislike starts when she has children. I believe children should come first, don't interpret this as I don't think women should work because I do! I also believe in providing for your own child and not letting someone else pick up the tab. But she never seems that interested in them, I don't feel any motherly love coming from her. She leaves but only takes one with her and then just expects someone else to pay for her. Then she ends up giving that one away! What!? Not a great mother that Noe Ito, and she goes on to have five more children!
I wish I had read the introduction after the book. It was starting to get near the end and she'd only just met Osugi - for the record I didn't think much of him either, free love!? pah! I was expecting the book to end with their brutal murder but instead it ends with Osugi being stabbed by a jealous lover who has given up her job, her money and her time for him to prefer Noe. Hell have no fury.....
May 1, 2024
Esta es una obra autobiográfica insuperable en cuanto a narración, pero esto fuerza que la historia sea antes de amor que no del desarrollo del feminismo en el siglo XX en japon o sobretodo del desarrollo del anarquismo (lo que yo esperaba). Aun así muy interesante y mas top de lo que pensaba.
No estoy seguro si me cae bien Noe Ito. Para mí lo único que tiene de especial como persona es que tiene la mente de un niño. Cosa implica sus mayores virtudes y defectos.
Aunque no sea un "estado y revolución" ni un manifiesto político, recomiendo el libro, la verdad. Y si te mola el romance o autobiográfias de gente curiosa, lo recomiendo aún más!
No estoy seguro si me cae bien Noe Ito. Para mí lo único que tiene de especial como persona es que tiene la mente de un niño. Cosa implica sus mayores virtudes y defectos.
Aunque no sea un "estado y revolución" ni un manifiesto político, recomiendo el libro, la verdad. Y si te mola el romance o autobiográfias de gente curiosa, lo recomiendo aún más!
May 21, 2012
SurprisingLy this is quite an 'easy' read, but I don't think that I Learned anything from it. And the ending is weird.
November 8, 2024
Le pondría 2,5 pero no se puede.
Ha resultado ser una decepción. No por la biografía extensa que muestra la vida completa de Noe Ito con mucho detalle y siguiendo los diversos puntos de vista.
Esperaba más explicación de su aportación al mundo...
Sin embargo se ha centrado extensamente en las relaciones amorosas que tiene con 2 hombres y la hipocresía de querer vivir una relación matrimonial con libertades en cuanto a la cantidad de amantes de su marido y su ira por no ser la única h que su marido tenga amantes.
La autora a conseguido que odie a Noe más de lo que pensaba cuando leí las primeras páginas. En el caso de defender una idea que no termina de comprender. Ser capaz de arruinar la vida de su profesor por un amor que termina con el divorcio y el abandono a uno de sus dos hijos (pues uno se queda con ella y el otro con el padre) para ser libre de obligaciones de las que no quiere hacerse cargo.
De hecho, su historia es tan extensa que este libro tiene segunda parte, por lo que puede (y espero, puesto que me sigue afectando que un libro tan esperado sea decepcionante)
Me plantearé leer en algún lado un resumen de la segunda parte o buscar una forma de leerlo. Tal vez, y no estoy muy segura de ello, empiece a ver algún cambio en Noe Ito que me permita cambiar mi opinión al respecto.
Por ahora probaré a leer otra cosa lejos de esta obra hasta que vuelvan las ganas.
Ha resultado ser una decepción. No por la biografía extensa que muestra la vida completa de Noe Ito con mucho detalle y siguiendo los diversos puntos de vista.
Esperaba más explicación de su aportación al mundo...
Sin embargo se ha centrado extensamente en las relaciones amorosas que tiene con 2 hombres y la hipocresía de querer vivir una relación matrimonial con libertades en cuanto a la cantidad de amantes de su marido y su ira por no ser la única h que su marido tenga amantes.
La autora a conseguido que odie a Noe más de lo que pensaba cuando leí las primeras páginas. En el caso de defender una idea que no termina de comprender. Ser capaz de arruinar la vida de su profesor por un amor que termina con el divorcio y el abandono a uno de sus dos hijos (pues uno se queda con ella y el otro con el padre) para ser libre de obligaciones de las que no quiere hacerse cargo.
De hecho, su historia es tan extensa que este libro tiene segunda parte, por lo que puede (y espero, puesto que me sigue afectando que un libro tan esperado sea decepcionante)
Me plantearé leer en algún lado un resumen de la segunda parte o buscar una forma de leerlo. Tal vez, y no estoy muy segura de ello, empiece a ver algún cambio en Noe Ito que me permita cambiar mi opinión al respecto.
Por ahora probaré a leer otra cosa lejos de esta obra hasta que vuelvan las ganas.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 18, 2025
As a novel, this is a one-star book. It's genuinely bad in every way: language, pacing, characterization, psychological insight. Just everything. Everything is bad. But I'm giving it a second star for its historical importance and the fact that it tries (and fails oh so utterly) to engage with the history of Seito magazine and the rise of the Japanese New Woman. If you can access primary sources on these topics, you'll be better off than reading this, but if you absolutely must have an awkwardly translated, excessively soapy, deeply boring fictional take, this is for you.
September 15, 2024
(3.5⭐)
Muy interesante ventana a la que asomarse para conocer un poco la revista Seito, a la nueva mujer , a los hombres que las apoyaban y al socialismo en el japón de los 1920-30.
Me deja con una lista de muchas autoras y autores a los que quiero leer. Pero me ha resultado un poco pesado el nivel de detalle, casi folletinesco, de la relación entre Noe Ito y sus parejas. Bueno, de todas las mujeres que aparecen, en realidad.
Muy interesante ventana a la que asomarse para conocer un poco la revista Seito, a la nueva mujer , a los hombres que las apoyaban y al socialismo en el japón de los 1920-30.
Me deja con una lista de muchas autoras y autores a los que quiero leer. Pero me ha resultado un poco pesado el nivel de detalle, casi folletinesco, de la relación entre Noe Ito y sus parejas. Bueno, de todas las mujeres que aparecen, en realidad.
August 12, 2009
kata pembukanya bilang bahwa kecantikan ada di ketidaksempurnaan, kalau ada yang cantik sempurna maka sesuatu itu adalah palsu. novel itu bercerita tentang kehidupan Noe Ito, seorang perempuan yang berhasrat tinggi untuk mengangkat derajat kaumnya. kesukaannya membaca. lain daripada perempuan Jepang pada zaman Taisho (saat itu), ia tidak suka berurusan dengan kerjaan rumah. menurutnya, perempuan tidak bisa maju kalau terus-menerus dikekang urusan domestik semacam itu.
di buku itu juga diceritakan tentang majalah feminis pertama di Jepang, judulnya Seito (Blue Stocking). pendiri majalah ini, seorang feminis juga, namanya Raicho Hiratsuka. dulu perempuan ini terkenal karena insiden bunuh diri. dia mau bunuh diri dengan kekasihnya yang sudah beristri. tapi dia tidak punya perasaan dengan kekasihnya. dia hanya bilang, dia mau bunuh diri karena dia yang mau. tidak ada hubungannya dengan laki-laki.
majalah itu sukses dan sangat berpengaruh di Jepang. tapi sejak dia jatuh cinta dengan laki-laki lebih muda 5 tahun, Hiroshi, artikel majalahnya mulai tidak bermutu dan penerbitannya sering kacau. akhirnya majalah ini diambil alih oleh Noe Ito. di tangan Noe, majalah ini berakhir karena Noe bukan perempuan yang benar-benar intelek dan dia sering mengambil keputusan yang salah.
Noe menikah tiga kali. Yang pertama, dijodohkan tapi dia kabur setelah menikah. Yang kedua, guru bahasa Inggrisnya, Tsuji. Yang ketiga, Sakae Osugi, sosialis anarkis yang sering diburu-buru polisi. Dengan suami ketiganya ini, Noe mati disiksa oleh polisi.
Osugi sendiri sudah punya istri, namanya Yasuko. Simpanan satu orang, namanya Ichiko Kamichika. Ichiko ini perempuan yang sukses, reporter perempuan pertama di Jepang. Intelektualitasnya jauh di atas Noe. Masing-masing dari perempuan itu tahu Osugi punya perempuan lain.
Hubungan segiempat ini, bagi Osugi, eksperimen pet theory of free love. Menurut dia, kesetaraan gender hanya bisa dicapai dengan free love. Ada tiga syarat. Pertama, masing-masing pihak harus independen secara ekonomi. Kedua, masing-masing pihak tinggal terpisah. Ketiga, masing-masing pihak mesti menghormati hak pasangannya untuk punya pasangan lagi.
Tapi ketiga syarat ini tidak terpenuhi. Yang pertama, Osugi sering minta uang pada Ichiko yang lebih mapan. Yasuko dan Noe bergantung pada Osugi sepenuhnya secara ekonomi. Kedua, Osugi dan Noe tinggal serumah. Ketiga, Ichiko marah besar ketika tahu Noe jadi simpanan Osugi juga. Dari awal, Ichiko menganggap teori Osugi cuma bentuk egoisme lelaki. Singkat kata, eksperimen ini gagal.
Pelajaran yang diambil: jangan terjebak dengan pihak-pihak yang berusaha untuk mengambil keuntungan dari sebuah perjuangan kalau tidak mau perjuangan itu jadi disfungsional.
Review ditulis tanggal 21 Desember 2006
di buku itu juga diceritakan tentang majalah feminis pertama di Jepang, judulnya Seito (Blue Stocking). pendiri majalah ini, seorang feminis juga, namanya Raicho Hiratsuka. dulu perempuan ini terkenal karena insiden bunuh diri. dia mau bunuh diri dengan kekasihnya yang sudah beristri. tapi dia tidak punya perasaan dengan kekasihnya. dia hanya bilang, dia mau bunuh diri karena dia yang mau. tidak ada hubungannya dengan laki-laki.
majalah itu sukses dan sangat berpengaruh di Jepang. tapi sejak dia jatuh cinta dengan laki-laki lebih muda 5 tahun, Hiroshi, artikel majalahnya mulai tidak bermutu dan penerbitannya sering kacau. akhirnya majalah ini diambil alih oleh Noe Ito. di tangan Noe, majalah ini berakhir karena Noe bukan perempuan yang benar-benar intelek dan dia sering mengambil keputusan yang salah.
Noe menikah tiga kali. Yang pertama, dijodohkan tapi dia kabur setelah menikah. Yang kedua, guru bahasa Inggrisnya, Tsuji. Yang ketiga, Sakae Osugi, sosialis anarkis yang sering diburu-buru polisi. Dengan suami ketiganya ini, Noe mati disiksa oleh polisi.
Osugi sendiri sudah punya istri, namanya Yasuko. Simpanan satu orang, namanya Ichiko Kamichika. Ichiko ini perempuan yang sukses, reporter perempuan pertama di Jepang. Intelektualitasnya jauh di atas Noe. Masing-masing dari perempuan itu tahu Osugi punya perempuan lain.
Hubungan segiempat ini, bagi Osugi, eksperimen pet theory of free love. Menurut dia, kesetaraan gender hanya bisa dicapai dengan free love. Ada tiga syarat. Pertama, masing-masing pihak harus independen secara ekonomi. Kedua, masing-masing pihak tinggal terpisah. Ketiga, masing-masing pihak mesti menghormati hak pasangannya untuk punya pasangan lagi.
Tapi ketiga syarat ini tidak terpenuhi. Yang pertama, Osugi sering minta uang pada Ichiko yang lebih mapan. Yasuko dan Noe bergantung pada Osugi sepenuhnya secara ekonomi. Kedua, Osugi dan Noe tinggal serumah. Ketiga, Ichiko marah besar ketika tahu Noe jadi simpanan Osugi juga. Dari awal, Ichiko menganggap teori Osugi cuma bentuk egoisme lelaki. Singkat kata, eksperimen ini gagal.
Pelajaran yang diambil: jangan terjebak dengan pihak-pihak yang berusaha untuk mengambil keuntungan dari sebuah perjuangan kalau tidak mau perjuangan itu jadi disfungsional.
Review ditulis tanggal 21 Desember 2006
February 9, 2013
8 ratings, 2 reviews.
I've found the most obscure book on Goodreads! hahaha
biography of Noe Ito, socialist-anarchist-feminist in Taisho Japan. (Taisho being the liberal democratic period between the Meiji and Showa)
a b-list celebrity. or of course that description if BS. a radical feminist socialist anarchist reformer!
some people can never resign themselves to reality !
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noe_Ito
beauty in disarray... a fukuoka girl
I've found the most obscure book on Goodreads! hahaha
biography of Noe Ito, socialist-anarchist-feminist in Taisho Japan. (Taisho being the liberal democratic period between the Meiji and Showa)
a b-list celebrity. or of course that description if BS. a radical feminist socialist anarchist reformer!
some people can never resign themselves to reality !
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noe_Ito
beauty in disarray... a fukuoka girl
August 11, 2013
Got off to a good start, easy to read but odd abrupt ending.
May 20, 2017
The three star review I'm giving here is not a reflection of the book's quality. It's a reflection of the fact that this is a very specialized work of fiction. if you are not interested in the subculture of anarchist thought that existed in the early part of the twentieth century in Japan, this book will probably not appeal to you. But if you are, this novel provides a fascinating peek into a part of political life at the time that really hasn't seen much discussion outside of that country. Given that one of my most prized movie purchases of the last year or so was the Kiju Yoshida box set that included "Eros + Massacre", an avant-garde film treatment of some of this same material, you can probably guess I was very much the target audience. I can't guarantee you will be, but if you got this far into my discussion and you're still curious, grab the Kindle sample and see if that sparks interest.
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