"Copeland's intelligent and cogent study ... is a welcome addition to the field." --Journal of Asian Studies, May 2001

"Copeland's careful scholarship makes clear both the challenges these women faced in a world governed by male constructions of their sex and the significance of their achievement for future generations of women writers. [Recommended for] All collections--lower division undergraduate through faculty." --Choice, January 2001

"They were remarkable women who lived in a fascinating age, and the story of their lives and works ... is a moving and even inspiring one." --New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, June 2001

"Copeland's study ... should inspire scholars to reconceive the Meiji literary scene and to seek out buried talents and forgotten names." --Monumenta Nipponica 56 (2001)

Most Japanese literary historians have suggested that the Meiji Period (1868-1912) was devoid of women writers but for the brilliant exception of Higuchi Ichiyo (1872-1896). Rebecca Copeland challenges this claim by examining in detail the lives and literary careers of three of Ichiyo's peers, each representative of the diversity and ingenuity of the period: Miyake Kaho (1868-1944), Wakamatsu Shizuko (1864-1896), and Shimizu Shikin (1868-1933).

In a carefully researched introduction, Copeland establishes the context for the development of female literary expression. She follows this with chapters on each of the women under consideration. Miyake Kaho, often regarded as the first woman writer of modern Japan, offers readers a vision of the female vitality that is often overlooked when discussing the Meiji era. Wakamatsu Shizuko, the most prominent female translator of her time, had a direct impact on the development of a modern written language for Japanese prose fiction. Shimizu Shikin reminds readers of the struggle women endured in their efforts to balance their creative interests with their social roles. Interspersed throughout are excerpts from works under discussion, most never before translated, offering an invaluable window into this forgotten world of women's writing.

Rebecca L. Copeland is associate professor of Japanese language and literature at Washington University in St. Louis.