Koume's world the life and work of a samurai woman before and after the Meiji restoration Life and work of a samurai woman before and after the Meiji restoration Partner, Simon 1958- creator author. text bibliography biography History nyu 2024 monographic eng print xx, 289 pages : illustrations; 24 cm "Kawai Koume (1804-1889) was an accomplished poet and painter and a wife, mother, and grandmother in a lower-ranking samurai family in the provincial castle town of Wakayama. She was an eyewitness to many of the key events leading up to the Meiji Restoration and the radical changes that followed, including the famine of 1837, the great earthquake of 1854, the cholera epidemic of 1859, and the departure of samurai to fight in the civil wars of the 1860s. For more than fifty years, she kept a diary recording her family's daily life-meals and expenses, visitors and the weather, small-town gossip and news of momentous events. Through Koume's eyes and words, Simon Partner opens a window on social, economic, and cultural life amid some of the most dramatic periods of Japan's transformative nineteenth century. Koume's World vividly portrays the everyday activities, social interactions, information networks, cultural production, and household economy of a samurai family across the Tokugawa-Meiji divide. Partner's narrative offers a remarkably detailed portrait of the dynamic working life of a female artist and household manager while also giving a regional perspective on the upheavals surrounding the Meiji Restoration. A compelling microhistorical study of gender, economy, and society in nineteenth-century Japan, Koume's World is a compelling account of how one woman experienced both mundane routines and drastic social transformations"-- Growing up in Kishu Domain -- A year of calamities -- In the shadow of the black ships -- Work and family -- War and revolution -- The artist's life -- Across the divide. Simon Partner. Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-276) and index. a-ja--- Kawai, Koume 1804-1889 Kawai, Koume 1804-1889 Diaries Kawai, Koume 1804-1889 Women Japan Social life and customs 19th century Samurai Social life and customs 19th century Wakayama-ken (Japan) History Japan Civilization 1600-1868 Japan Civilization 1868-1912 Femmes Japon Mœurs et coutumes 19e siècle Samouraï Mœurs et coutumes 19e siècle Japon Civilisation 1600-1868 Japon Civilisation 1868-1912 Civilization Diaries Samurai Social life and customs Women Social life and customs Japan Japan Wakayama-ken 1600-1912 fast DS881 .P37 2024 952/.025082 Koume's world Partner, Simon, 1958- New York : Columbia University Press, 2023 (DLC) 2023022352 9780231211840 0231211848 9780231211857 0231211856 9780231559102 2023022351 pda,print LBSOR 230603 20250318222301.2 in00004770880 eng