11 h 13 minAudiobook12 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 11 h 13 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Inside the Japanese home, a girl's earliest lessons reveal a society caught between old customs and new ideas.
In Japanese Girls and Women, Alice Mabel Bacon follows women's lives through homes, schools, marriage and work in Meiji-era Japan. An American teacher in Tokyo, she draws on what she observes within Japanese households. Her childhood connection with Sutematsu Yamakawa, later Princess Oyama, opens doors that most foreigners cannot enter.
Bacon explores the gentleness shown to young children, the obedience expected of girls and the duties placed on wives. She also looks beyond wealthy families to servants, farm women and city workers. As education and customs change, her account asks how much room women have to shape their lives—and reveals the limits of her own Victorian American outlook.
What you’ll discover
- Behind household doors See how family structure shapes women's daily duties, relationships and standing within the home.
- The lessons of girlhood Follow the path from gentle early care to expectations of obedience and changing opportunities for schooling.
- Marriage beyond the couple Explore arranged matches and the household responsibilities that await a wife.
- Women across social classes Meet servants, farm women and city workers whose experiences broaden this portrait of Japanese life.
- An observer worth questioning Read Bacon's affectionate observations while noticing where her own cultural assumptions shape what she sees.
Who will love it
This book suits readers who love social history, travel writing and women's stories, and anyone curious about everyday life in nineteenth-century Japan, told by a warm, opinionated guide.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Friendship opens the closed door
- Childhood is gentle, bright and quietly disciplined
- Schooling is rich in skill and short on reasoning
- Marriage is arranged and divorce is easy
- A wife serves first and a mother rules gently
- Old age brings honor, freedom and a quiet haven
- The court shows women shaping culture and compassion
- Castle ladies and samurai women live by loyalty
- Common women work, bargain and enjoy the city
- Ten years of progress bring new roles and new questions
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Japanese Girls and Women
by Alice Mabel Bacon · 1891
A New Haven teacher shows you Japanese women from cradle to old age through friendships made in Tokyo.
Challenging10–20 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
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- Print and large print at cost
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In short
What does it take to see inside a Japanese home? In the 1880s, an American teacher named Alice Mabel Bacon found the answer in friendship.
Japanese Girls and Women at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 5 min4 h 50 min fast, 7 h 15 min slow
- Length
- 86,700 words13 chapters
- Pages
- 275 pages416 in large print
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1891by Alice Mabel Bacon
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Friendship opens the closed door
Bacon begins with a problem of access. Earlier writers covered history, art and politics, yet left out half the people. Women and the homes they ran got only passing mention.
She explains why. Japanese people keep personal matters private from foreign guests, and even long-time foreigners rarely see inside a family. A foreign man, she adds, cannot hope to know Japanese women's daily lives.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 12 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1891
- Language
- English
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Bacon, Alice Mabel. Japanese Girls and Women. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/japanese-girls-and-women.
Bacon, A. M. (2026). Japanese girls and women. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/japanese-girls-and-women (Original work published 1891)
Bacon, Alice Mabel. Japanese Girls and Women. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/japanese-girls-and-women.
@book{bacon2026japanese,
author = {Bacon, Alice Mabel},
title = {Japanese Girls and Women},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/japanese-girls-and-women},
note = {First published 1891}
}
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What is Japanese Girls and Women about?
It describes the lives of women in Meiji-era Japan, following them through childhood, schooling, marriage, motherhood and old age. It also visits the imperial court, samurai households, farms, cities and servants' quarters, with many scenes drawn from the author's friendships.
Who was Alice Mabel Bacon?
Bacon was an American educator who taught in Tokyo in the 1880s and later wrote about what she learned. Her close friendships with Japanese women, especially Umé Tsuda and Stematz, gave her access to family life that most foreigners never saw.
Is Japanese Girls and Women a true account and when was it written?
It is a nonfiction record based on the author's own observations and conversations. It first appeared in 1891, and a revised edition in 1902 adds a chapter on home customs, a chapter on ten years of progress, and updating notes.
The author
Alice Mabel Bacon
1858–1918 · American writer and educator
Alice Mabel Bacon was an American writer and educator. She was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1858 and died there in 1918. She lived and taught in Japan and advised its government during the Meiji period. Her books include Japanese Girls and Women (1891) and A Japanese Interior (1893).
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