Analysis of Early Meiji Period Distinct Court “雇人” Female Employee Employment Contract Cases

Abstract

This paper analyzes 44 early Meiji Period district court rulings regarding the employment contracts of female employees known as “雇人”. Almost all of the cases involved employers wanting to take back female employees who walked off their jobs and refused to go back, but the courts ruled that employers can't take back female employees by force because it would be unforgivable to deprive women of human liberty.