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Cultivating Femininity: Women and Tea Culture in Edo and Meiji Japan
The overwhelming majority of tea practitioners in contemporary Japan are women, but there has been little discussion on their historical role in tea culture ( chanoyu ). In Cultivating Femininity, Rebecca Corbett writes women back into this history and shows how tea practice for women was understood, articulated, and promoted in the Edo (1603–1868) and Meiji (1868–1912) periods. Viewing chanoyu from the lens of feminist and gender theory, she sheds new light on tea’s undeniable influence on the formation of modern understandings of femininity in Japan.
Corbett overturns the iemoto tea school’s carefully constructed orthodox narrative by employing underused primary sources and closely examining existing tea histories. She incorporates Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of social and cultural capital and Norbert Elias’s “civilizing process” to explore the economic and social incentives for women taking part in chanoyu . Although the iemoto system sought to increase its control over every aspect of tea, including book production, eighteenth- and nineteenth-century popular texts aimed specifically at women evidence the spread of tea culture beyond parameters set by the schools. The expansion of chanoyu to new social groups cascaded from commoner men to elite then commoner women. Shifting the focus away from male tea masters complicates the history of tea in Japan and shows how women of different social backgrounds worked within and without traditionally accepted paradigms of tea practice. The direct socioeconomic impact of the spread of tea is ultimately revealed in subsequent advances in women’s labor opportunities and an increase in female social mobility. Through their participation in chanoyu , commoner women were able to blur and lessen the status gap between themselves and women of aristocratic and samurai status.
Cultivating Femininity offers a new perspective on the prevalence of tea practice among women in modern Japan. It presents a fresh, much-needed approach, one that will be appreciated by students and scholars of Japanese history, gender, and culture, as well as by tea practitioners.
Corbett overturns the iemoto tea school’s carefully constructed orthodox narrative by employing underused primary sources and closely examining existing tea histories. She incorporates Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of social and cultural capital and Norbert Elias’s “civilizing process” to explore the economic and social incentives for women taking part in chanoyu . Although the iemoto system sought to increase its control over every aspect of tea, including book production, eighteenth- and nineteenth-century popular texts aimed specifically at women evidence the spread of tea culture beyond parameters set by the schools. The expansion of chanoyu to new social groups cascaded from commoner men to elite then commoner women. Shifting the focus away from male tea masters complicates the history of tea in Japan and shows how women of different social backgrounds worked within and without traditionally accepted paradigms of tea practice. The direct socioeconomic impact of the spread of tea is ultimately revealed in subsequent advances in women’s labor opportunities and an increase in female social mobility. Through their participation in chanoyu , commoner women were able to blur and lessen the status gap between themselves and women of aristocratic and samurai status.
Cultivating Femininity offers a new perspective on the prevalence of tea practice among women in modern Japan. It presents a fresh, much-needed approach, one that will be appreciated by students and scholars of Japanese history, gender, and culture, as well as by tea practitioners.
202 pages, Hardcover
Published March 31, 2018
66 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 6, 2021
The literature maven at GR Catching Up on the Classics suggested to us to read this book Cultivating Femininity as a companion to The Book of Tea by Kakuzō Okakura. I am glad I followed the suggestion.
Because Corbett was talking of periods Edo (1603 -1868) and Meiji (1868-1912), a much more limited period of tea culture. While Okakura write of tea culture in a large holistic ways, Corbett writes about how tea culture entered women's lives and changed their lives and cultural status. Within a caste-bound cultural group, there were statuses with statuses, cultural leaders and cultural followers in each caste. The woman improved the status of their men folk by being graceful and competent in providing tea service.
This book Cultivating Femininity provides a feminist understanding of tea culture. Nothing new when considered and pondered upon, but enlightening about how universal is women's experience.
Because Corbett was talking of periods Edo (1603 -1868) and Meiji (1868-1912), a much more limited period of tea culture. While Okakura write of tea culture in a large holistic ways, Corbett writes about how tea culture entered women's lives and changed their lives and cultural status. Within a caste-bound cultural group, there were statuses with statuses, cultural leaders and cultural followers in each caste. The woman improved the status of their men folk by being graceful and competent in providing tea service.
This book Cultivating Femininity provides a feminist understanding of tea culture. Nothing new when considered and pondered upon, but enlightening about how universal is women's experience.
December 22, 2020
I first heard about this book when Nicole at Tea for Me Please wrote a review on it. Since scholarly works don’t scare me, I decided to download the free ebook and give it a go.
Cultivating Femininity makes the case that women have been involved in the tea ceremony as far back as Edo-period Japan, but that their presence is often overlooked as they may have been marginalised in the largely-male dominated tea world.
The argument basically goes like this: while women did not have official positions in many tea school, they would have attended tea ceremonies as guests. Hence, at least some women would have had basic knowledge of the tea ceremony. That’s chapter one. From chapter two onwards, the book uses tea guides, sugoroku games, and general guides for women to show how the tea ceremony became a way for women to learn etiquette and grace.
For me, the most interesting parts of the book was Chapter Three, which discussed why some commoner-class women would want to learn the tea ceremony. The book points out that status is given to units of organisation (by this point, the ie system would have been the default), which mean that women would assume the status of her husband’s household. This made upward social mobility for women much easier (compared to men). Learning about tea was one way that commoner-class women could learn etiquette, which would prepare them for service in a noble family (being in service in a noble family was also seen as a way for these women to learn etiquette, a sort of paid finishing-school/job).
The book ends with Japan in the Meiji era, where tea had been feminised to the point where it was something recommended to women (although it should still be noted that the heads of the tea schools are invariably male). Because of this, I find that this book works as a complement to Making Tea, Making Japan by Kristin Surak, which is a slightly broader look at the role that the tea ceremony has played in Japanese culture.
I can’t lie, this book is pretty academic in tone and is not the easiest thing to read. But if you’re interested in the Japanese tea ceremony, you should consider picking up this book because it fills in a gap in the way the tea ceremony has been viewed. Plus, the ebook is free so why not, right?
This review was first posted at Eustea Reads
Cultivating Femininity makes the case that women have been involved in the tea ceremony as far back as Edo-period Japan, but that their presence is often overlooked as they may have been marginalised in the largely-male dominated tea world.
The argument basically goes like this: while women did not have official positions in many tea school, they would have attended tea ceremonies as guests. Hence, at least some women would have had basic knowledge of the tea ceremony. That’s chapter one. From chapter two onwards, the book uses tea guides, sugoroku games, and general guides for women to show how the tea ceremony became a way for women to learn etiquette and grace.
For me, the most interesting parts of the book was Chapter Three, which discussed why some commoner-class women would want to learn the tea ceremony. The book points out that status is given to units of organisation (by this point, the ie system would have been the default), which mean that women would assume the status of her husband’s household. This made upward social mobility for women much easier (compared to men). Learning about tea was one way that commoner-class women could learn etiquette, which would prepare them for service in a noble family (being in service in a noble family was also seen as a way for these women to learn etiquette, a sort of paid finishing-school/job).
The book ends with Japan in the Meiji era, where tea had been feminised to the point where it was something recommended to women (although it should still be noted that the heads of the tea schools are invariably male). Because of this, I find that this book works as a complement to Making Tea, Making Japan by Kristin Surak, which is a slightly broader look at the role that the tea ceremony has played in Japanese culture.
I can’t lie, this book is pretty academic in tone and is not the easiest thing to read. But if you’re interested in the Japanese tea ceremony, you should consider picking up this book because it fills in a gap in the way the tea ceremony has been viewed. Plus, the ebook is free so why not, right?
This review was first posted at Eustea Reads
December 26, 2024
The detail and stories is so satisfying - you won’t look at tea ceremony quite the same way again - hoping for a book like this on Koto !
March 22, 2023
I would not recommend this book as a first read into the subject of tea culture, I would recommend the wisdom of tea by noriko morishita.
I would recommend this book as a resource of information on women in tea, it has wonderful quotes, examples and images. The book itself reads like a thesis paper, however there is not a lot of books on this subject thus it makes it rare and incredibly interesting.
Overall I'm glad I read it, this is my 3rd book on the subject and I have learned a great deal.
I would recommend this book as a resource of information on women in tea, it has wonderful quotes, examples and images. The book itself reads like a thesis paper, however there is not a lot of books on this subject thus it makes it rare and incredibly interesting.
Overall I'm glad I read it, this is my 3rd book on the subject and I have learned a great deal.
September 11, 2023
3/5 Ok. I don't really care about Japanese tea culture when I first read this. But this book not only sparked a bit of interest, but also taught me a lot about Japanese feminine history and culture. I feel like I learned a lot about Japan and its views of women over the last three centuries. Definitely not for everyone, but I enjoyed it.
November 26, 2018
Interesting book if your interested in Japanese Tea Ceremony. See the history of tea with different eyes.
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April 4, 2019394.15095 C7898 2018
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April 12, 2019394.15095 C7898 2018
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews