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Abstract The Edo Period in Japan was a period of promoting culture and education, with significant advancements made in various fields of education, including female education. However, female education was primarily limited to family and terakoya education, while the field of Chinese Learning remained male-dominated with very few females, and research on women in kangakujuku (Chinese learning academy) during the Edo Period was also very rare.
This paper begins by examining data from Nihon Kyoiku Shiryo and presents statistics on kangakujuku in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka and seven local prefectures to shed light on the status of females in kangakujuku during the Edo Period. It reveals that (1) most of kangakujuku women appeared in the late Edo Period; (2) kangakujuku in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka had a higher proportion of female students compared with other local counties; (3) female teachers were extremely rare at kangakujuku during the Edo Period.
In the Edo Period, women in kangakujuku generally showed the following distinctive features: firstly, women in kangakujuku basically came from the families of intellectuals such as Confucians or medical doctors. Families of Confucians and doctors generally had a strong atmosphere of Chinese studies and knowledge accumulation, and some of them even operated kangakujuku at home, which laid a solid foundation for cultivating women with interest in and qualifications of Chinese studies; secondly, women in kangakujuku were mostly supported and cultivated by male members of the family (mainly fathers and husbands). Because during the Edo Period, Chinese studies and kanji were complementary to men, and Japanese studies and kana were mutually dependent on women, the time-consuming and costly study of Chinese studies at a private academy was not a necessary option for women during this period. Therefore, women in kangakujuku hardly appeared without the firm support and help of their fathers or husbands in the family. Furthermore, kangakujuku women showed a clear bias towards kanshi (Chinese poetry) in both their studies and career development, and many of them grew up to be Chinese poets, whereas Confucianism, which was the core essence of Chinese learning, was a field in which kangakujuku women were less involved or specialized. This is mainly because kanshi is easier to learn and master than Confucianism, and kanshi has a better social function, as well as the introduction of Yuan Mei’s (1716-1798) Chinese female poet collection at that time also contributed to the emergence of female Chinese poets in that period. Finally, in order to integrate into the male-dominated field of kangaku, women in kangakujuku had to somewhat discard their feminine qualities and become closer to men in terms of talent and dress. However, it has to be admitted that it is difficult to escape the evaluation of women in kangakujuku by their gender, and that the kangakujuku experience had a negative impact on women’s marriages.
We have discussed the specific situation of women in kangakujuku in the Edo Period from three aspects: the family conditions for women to enter kangakujuku, the kanshi preference and career orientation of kangakujuku women, and the gender dilemma of being a kangakujuku woman, which also confirms the difficulty of women’s integration into kangakujuku. At the same time, it can also be found that the emergence of women in kangakujuku during the Edo Period had a significant effect on the advancement of women’s education in Japan. The emergence of female teachers not only encouraged more women to enroll in the school, but also attracted women with their different teaching qualities from those of men, so that the seeds of learning were sown into the hearts of more Japanese women from one generation to the next. From ancient times to the present, Chinese studies in Japan have always been dominated by men, but in the Edo Period (mainly in the late period), a small number of women were able to receive kangaku education in kangakujuku, and a very small number of women were even able to become kangaku teachers, which is a very rare and noteworthy historical phenomenon.
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Published: 03 November 2025
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