Amanda C. Seaman - Writing Pregnancy in Low-Fertility Japan

2017 University of Hawaii Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Seaman, Amanda C., author.

Title: Writing pregnancy in low-fertility Japan / Amanda C. Seaman.

Description: Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, [2016] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016032949 | ISBN 9780824859886 (hard cover; alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Japanese literatureWomen authorsHistory and criticism. | Japanese literature20th centuryHistory and criticism. | Pregnancy in literature. | Childbirth in literature.

Classification: LCC PL725 .S43 2016 | DDC 895.609/354dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016032949

University of Hawaii Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources.

Acknowledgments

One of the most vivid memories associated with the writing of this book has nothing to do with pregnancy or childbirth. Early on in my research, I was asked to speak in Professor Kan Satokos undergraduate womens literature course at Ochanomizu Womens University. After expressing my frustration at the lack of positive terms in Japanese for talking about older women in Japan, I spoke directly to the forty or so young women in the classroom and encouraged them to come up with their own word. I hope that they have taken this charge to heart, for in many ways this book really is for themfor the next generation of Japanese women, who have it in their power to shape their own destiny.

Moments like this one also make it clear to me how indebted I am to people all around the world who have helped me and my project in a myriad of ways. In 20072008, a generous grant from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences provided me with the chance to live in Japan, collect many of the materials for this book, and have the time and mental space to give it early shape. Later research was made possible by a Northeast Area Council grant from the Association for Asian Studies, and by a sabbatical enhancement grant from the University of Massachusetts Amhersts College of Humanities and Fine Arts. The Universitys Center for Teaching Excellence and Faculty Development has been instrumental in providing me with the space and time to actually write the pages that follow; my special thanks to Mary Deane Sorcinelli and Brian Baldi for the faculty writing retreats (and the caffeine) that they have provided over the last few years.

In Tokyo I was lucky to have a number of colleagues who supported and advanced my research and writing, in particular Professor Kan and Kayo viii Takeuchi at Ochanomizu University. In the early stages of this endeavor, Kim Soon Ah introduced me to Yonemoto Tamao, who gave me a firsthand account of what giving birth in Japan is really like. Later, Diana Kallinina, Akitsu Oe, Yoshimura Kaori, and Beverly Yamamoto shared their own experiences with, and takes on, motherhood and womens culture in Japan. During subsequent visits, Hasegawa Junko took the time to discuss her stories with a strange American professor and listened to my own interpretations of her work with patience and good humor. Throughout my time in Japan, and after my return to the United States, Glenda Roberts has remained a patient listener and generous source of ideas and scholarship.

The arguments made in this book took initial form in talks about pregnancy and childbirth given at the University of North Carolina, the University of Utah, the University of Texas at Austin, and Wellesley College. At the University of Bologna, Paola Scrolavezza offered me the opportunity to share my work with students and colleagues from across Europe and Asia, something for which I remain deeply grateful. Eve Zimmerman, Joshua Roth, and Tim Van Compernolle have all patiently read and critiqued drafts, and I also have benefited from the comments and insights of Jan Bardsley, Sarah Frederick, Brett Iimura, Trent Maxey, Chris Nelson, Mamiko Suzuki, and Maria Tymoczko. The Bhutan gangSusan Burns and Nancy Stalkerhas been an invaluable source of intellectual and emotional support. I thank Anna Strowe, Marian Walker, and Suzanne Smith for giving a good edit to several chapters.

My colleagues and students in Asian Languages and Literatures at the University of Massachusetts have provided me with a ready (and willing?) audience for my work-in-progress. Bruce Baird, Steve Forrest, and Stephen Miller have been fabulous at reading drafts, answering questions, and helping me with etymologies, and I remain deeply indebted to the best librarian in the world, Sharon Domier, who has enthusiastically helped me track down references, found me new things to read, and made me a cup of tea when things got overwhelming. Over the years, my ISHA writing group has read and commented on drafts of every chapter; thanks to its members Sky Arndt-Briggs, Mari Casteneda, Betsy Krause, Laetitia LaFollette, Laura Lovett, Nina Scott, and Patricia Warner. I also want to acknowledge Naomi Chiba and Fusako Yamagiwa, whose efforts (and occasional freelance contributions as translators) helped get the book to the finish line.

At the University of Hawaii Press, Pamela Kelley has been a consistent supporter of this project from its earliest days; my thanks to her, to the three anonymous readers whose comments, critiques, and suggestions made the manuscript better, and to the presss outstanding production staff. ix

Closer to home, I could not have written this without Sean Gilsdorf, who was willing to put his life on hold to live in Tokyo for a year so I could do research. He discussed Japanese pregnancy (and writing about it) for what seemed like forever, and read and commented on chapter draft after chapter draft. I also appreciate the love and forbearance shown by my children, Anna and Benjamin, despite their moms tendency to leave her fuzzy sex books all over the house. To my father, who read a draft; my sister and brother-in-law, who patiently answered visual representation questions; and my mother: thank you!

Finally, I would like to dedicate this book to the memory of my mother-in-law, Ann Marie Gilsdorf, who helped deliver babies for forty years, and Kan Satoko, who supported this project by rigorously questioning its assumptions and forcing me to make its arguments stronger. May they both rest in peace. x

CHAPTER ONE

Write Your Mother