Handicrafts and Gender in Modern Japan.

This article¹ traces the transformation of handicrafts (shugei) in modern Japan, from a concept which referred generally to manual skills to an exclusively female sphere of activity that incorporated sewing, weaving, sericulture, and cooking. The first part of the article sets the stage by discussing the role of education in the gendering of handicrafts and by defining the sphere of handicrafts during the Meiji period through a detailed analysis of a handful of similar concepts which circulated at the time. In the second part, the article turns to the ways in which the new concept of handicrafts was disseminated through the medium of textbooks and popular magazines. The examination of these media suggests that handicraft-making was conceptualized and explained as a type of activity that offered comfort and cultivated feminine virtues, while also preparing women for their future role as mothers. Furthermore, handicrafts acted as a sort of safety valve for the labor market, offering women the possibility of supporting themselves in times of need and supplying cheap labor in times of war, when there was a shortage of male labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]