Gender and Law in the Japanese Imperium

Acknowledgments

vii Acknowledgments This volume is the result of a collaborative effort that involved not only the authors whose work is included here but also many others who as readers and interlocutors pushed us to sharpen our analysis, widen our perspective, and polish our prose. While many of us were not trained as legal historians, our work on gender, social, political, and intellectual history compelled us to take up the problem of law. In 2006, the Japan Committee of the University of Chicago sponsored a conference that brought many of us together for the first time. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of all those who participated in this initial event. Although the papers presented by David Ambaras, Marnie Anderson, Loren Edelson, Suzanne O’Brien, Holly Sanders, and Leila Wice are not a part of this volume, we benefited greatly from their involvement in the workshop. Chen Chao-ju, Daniel Botsman, and Matsutani Moto­ kazu were unable to attend the conference but graciously contributed their papers for discussion. We also wish to James Ketelaar, Norma Field, Katsu­ hiko Endo, and Tomomi Yamaguchi, who chaired the panels and offered invaluable questions, comments, and suggestions. Mamiko Suzuki, Tanya Maus, Patti Kameya, and Fei-hsien Wang, graduate students at the time of the conference, not only helped with its organization but were also thoughtful and critical participants. The path toward publication was a long one, and we gratefully acknowledge the patience and goodwill of our contributors, including Darryl Flaherty, who joined us several years after our initial gathering. We are grateful to Patricia Crosby of the University of Hawai‘i Press for her support of the project and to the anonymous readers of the Press whose advice prompted us to rethink and rewrite. We also thank Grey Osterud, who carefully edited three of the essays, and Wendy Bolton, our copy editor. The Japan Committee of the University of Chicago provided a subvention to support publication. FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY viii Acknowledgments Sadly, Barbara Brooks died after a long and courageous battle with cancer just as this volume was going into production. Her passionate engagement with her work and her devotion to her family were an inspiration to all who knew her. The essay in this volume is a testament to her groundbreaking research on issues of gender in the Japanese empire. This book is dedicated to her daughter, Isadora Brooks Jaffee, and my own, Hannah Burns Tomio. When we began this project, they were girls; now they are young women, poised to enter a world where, we hope, law will be used to further the goal of gender equality. FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY ...