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Paper short abstract:

I take a gender perspective on the function of the state spectacle of death in modern Japan. By focusing on politicians’ widows in funerals from Meiji to Taishō, I explore how widows were portrayed politically as mibōjin, and became the models for military widows in wartime.

Paper long abstract:

Discussions of widows in modern Japan have focused till now on military widows in War World II. The Japanese word for widow, mibōjin means “a woman who should have died with her husband, but is still alive.” Thus defined, Japanese widows were required to remain single and raise their children in such a manner as not to bring shame on the dead, the family or even the country. I call this narrative manifestation of Japanese widows the “apotheosis of mibōjin,” and it merits an historical approach that locates its origins in peace time. Here I propose to analyze mibōjin over a longer time span from the Meiji to Taishō period, and to focus on the upper class.

In this presentation, I argue that politicians’ widows played an important role in such ritual performances as state funerals. Although posthumous peerages and state funerals may seem an appropriate way to commemorate the dead, the living are not always desirous of such honors. Regardless of their personal views, widows had to cooperate with the political party to which their husbands belonged, and respond to requests from the government. Moreover, it was more important for the state to narrate the widow as a mibōjin than to respect their real feelings. As the widows of upper-class men were narrated politically as mibōjin, they subsequently became the models for, and exerted an influence on, women of lower social classes.

I explore the fashioning of the state spectacle of death in modern Japan, and the struggle of the women whose fate it was to be apotheosized as mibōjin. It is indeed the case that the image of mibōjin was a by-product of widows’ relationships to men, to family, and to country. My concern here is to highlight the individuality of women as they encountered the deaths of their husbands. A study of widows as subjects will, I believe, deepen our understanding of the Japanese empire’s state funeral ceremonial. A gender perspective on this problem will render possible a comparison with other Asian countries (China and Korea), where the status and role of widows were similar to Japan.