Danjo Dōkenron (On Equal Rights for Men and Women)

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Danjo Dōkenron ["On Equal Rights for Men and Women"]

Miru [Mill, John Stuart] [original text by]; Fukamauchi, Motoi [translated by].

Tōkyō: Yamanaka Ichibē, Meiji 11 [1878].

The first Japanese translation of John Stuart Mill's The Subjection of Women (first published in London in 1869), containing the first two chapters of Mill's acclaimed text. Fukamauchi Motoi (1846-1901), the translator, studied English at Keiō Gijuku (present-day Keio University), went on to teach English studies at Risshi Gakusha (an educational institution founded by a political group interested in promoting civil rights), and translated works of Western scholarship including Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason. A biography of Fukamauchi titled Danjo Dōkenron no Otoko: Fukamauchi Motoi to Jiyū Minken no Jidai ("The Man Behind "On Equal Rights for Men and Women": Fukamauchi Motoi and the Era of Liberal Civil Rights") by Suzuki Shizuko was published in 2007. A later translation by Kawada Shirō of Mill's work was banned in 1910 for espousing "destructive thoughts". In 1880, two years after Fukamauchi's translation was published, women's suffrage was granted for the first time in Japan (although only for homeowners in a specific district). Four years after it was granted, however, it was revoked. 

A scarce early Japanese translation of a work on equal rights for women and men, published over three decades before the foundation of the feminist magazine Seitō ("Bluestockings"). No copies traced outside of Japan in OCLC. 

One Western bound volume, complete. Original quarter leather boards, scraped and worn, losses to spine. Title and translator gilt-stamped to spine. Corners bumped. Board gutters cracked internally, not affecting tightness of binding. Marks and sticker residue to endpapers. A few small marks to text, but overall in very nice condition internally. 77, 58, [4] p. 17.8 x 12.5 cm.

Danjo Dōkenron (On Equal Rights for Men and Women)
Price: $3,580.00 (USD)