1st Edition

The Tea Ceremony and Women's Empowerment in Modern Japan Bodies Re-Presenting the Past

By Etsuko Kato Copyright 2004
    240 Pages
    by Routledge

    240 Pages
    by Routledge

    The subject of the tea ceremony is well researched both in and outside of Japan, but the women who practice it are hardly ever discussed. The Tea Ceremony and Women's Empowerment in Modern Japan rectifies this by discussing the meaning of the Japanese tea ceremony for women practitioners in Japan from World War II to the present day. It examines how lay tea ceremony practitioners have been transforming this cultural activity while being, in turn, transformed by it.

    Acknowledgments List of Tables, Figures and Plates A note on Local Terms and Transcriptions Introduction Part I: The Tea Ceremony as Bodily Discipline 1. The Tea Ceremony as Bodily Discipline 2. Bodily Discipline and Myths Part II: Two Postwar Phenomena in the Tea Ceremony 3. The Birth of Sôgô-bunka Discourse and Feminization of the Tea Ceremony Part III: Women's Tea Ceremony Today 4. Shachû and Women's Tea Ceremony Networks 5. The Past Re-Presented 6. The Meaning of the Tea Ceremony in Women's Lives Conclusion Glossary Bibliography

    Biography

    Etsuko Kato is Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at the International Christian University, Tokyo.