Takamure Itsue: The first historian of Japanese women

Takamure Itsue was born in a small mountain village on the southern island of Kyushu. Cherished by her parents as a child given by Kannon Buddha, she was educated to be a teacher. Her stormy marriage to Hashimoto Kenzo paralleled her career as a poet, writer, and anarchist. Through a spiritual crisis she came to the decision to study the history of Japanese women. Exchanging a pledge with her husband who promised to support her in every way possible, she engaged in the task of identifying the path that Japanese women had taken. From the day in 1931 when she was 37, till the day she died, she literally dedicated herself to this goal by never leaving her study. Her findings about the matriarchal tradition of Japan were revolutionary and provided a unique historical framework for feminists of the 60s and 70s as well as an invaluable legacy for historians, sociologists, and anthropologists. Both because of her scholarly achievements and the poignant relationship she wove with her husband. Takamure Itsue remains a star that Japanese women seek in the dark sky.