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Inter-area/Border Crossing
Organized Panel Session
In contrast with many courts in East Asia where women serving royals occupied servile positions, Japanese female attendants (nyōbō) in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries were considered free even after moving into a royal household. Drawing clues from what we know about the renowned poet Fujiwara no Teika’s family, I argue that, in contrast with the gender inequality visible at other premodern East Asian courts, in early medieval Japan daughters of noble families serving at court, known as nyōbō, could visit their family homes easily and also had their own maids while attending the monarch, his wives, or other royal-family members. Moreover, just as was the case for male courtiers, career advancement as a nyōbō brought honor to the woman’s family. In contrast, Chinese and Korean court societies considered noble women working apart from their families to be impermissible.
Here I will make suggestions about the historical background in which nyōbō status developed, while also providing a short overview of rituals held by and for these female attendants, the socio-political hierarchical order defining nyōbō members in royal households, and their day-to-day livelihoods. My hope is that discussion with colleagues here will aid us in exploring diverse gender roles and changing social relations in East Asian court societies.
Akemi Banse
University of Tokyo, Japan