An Outbreak of Emotion: Romantic Love and Middle-Class Identity in 1921 Japan

In 1921, a series of romantic love (ren'ai) incidents left Japan's literate public pondering the transformative power of human feeling. Was romantic love dangerous, injurious to public morals and social order? Or was it a liberatory force, releasing individuals from outdated gender norms and status hierarchies? These incidents and the attendant public discussion illuminate important stories of the 1920s, including the rise of the middle class as a social group defined by its pursuit of emotion, and the overlooked place of human intimacy in the story of Taisho-era democracy.