1. It is often argued that Japan was modernized by the spread of education. School functioned as an institution to select talented people irrespective of blood or social status. But higher education was not open to women as a general rule.
2. The analysis that I made on the characteristics of women of high class, based on the “chronicle of women, ” shows that the ratio of housewives to working women was 94 fo 6 in 1908. This ratio changed to 82 to 18 in 1958, which indicates a marked increase in working women.
3. That the names of the housewives in a high society are listed in the chronicle is due to the high social status of their husbands. Therefore, this status of women can be regarded as a latent one. Eighty-seven per cent of such women, however, were graduated from girls' high school. It is to be noted that high educational attainment was also considered important for women.
4. In the Meiji Era, teachers and nurses were the two major occupational careers of women. Gradually, women became medical doctors, college professors, or Diet members. But there is still a difference in opportunities between sexes.
5. With the advance of industrialization, it has become increasingly necessary to develop women's abilities. Conditions necessary for women to go out for work are becoming increasingly favorable. Therefore, it is expected that it will become usual for women to continue to work even after marriage. When this becomes a reality, it would be possible for women to have a real status, of their own.
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