Japanese Women Encountering the Economics

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25380253
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Economic doctrine/Economic thought
• Research Institution: Tokyo Woman's Christian University
• Principal Investigator: Kurita Keiko 東京女子大学, 現代教養学部, 教授 (80170083)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): MATSUNOO Hiroshi 愛媛大学, 教育学部, 教授 (30239058) ; IKEGAKI Kotoe 小樽商科大学, 教育開発センター, 学術研究員 (90646093)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 経済思想史 / 日本 / 女性 / 経済学教育 / 女性経済学者 / 家庭経済学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The first result of our investigations is finding 3 social functions of the economic education for Japanese women begun in 1918: a part of Liberal Arts which lead Japanese women to a better understanding of the civil society beginning in Japan; a part of Home Economics which develop their capacity to manage their home in the rational way; a part of professional education which may offer them a higher estimated and remunerated profession.
Our second result is determining, as the first Japanese female economist, Tomoko MATSUDAIRA (1894-1970) who inaugurated the course of “Housekeeping” Economics in 1922 and founded the base of Home Economics in Japan. We analyzed the works and practice of a labor economist, Emiko TAKENAKA(1929- ). She pointed out the hidden relation between housekeeping work without market value and women’s weak position at labor markets and so influenced greatly women’s social movements. These are the theoretical and practical feature of female economists.

Free Research Field

経済思想史