Marnie S. Anderson (Department of History, Smith College, Massachusetts)

This talk examines the lives of two reform-minded individuals during Japan’s Meiji period (1868-1912): Nakagawa Yokotarō (1836-1903) and Sumiya Koume (1850-1920). I contend that this era of rapid modernization and social upheaval offered each of them a new start and the chance to create a new identity. In 1868, Nakagawa, a samurai bureaucrat bought out Sumiya’s geisha contract and made her his concubine. After moving in with Nakagawa and his wife, Sumiya gave birth to a daughter. Nakagawa then became interested in Christianity, and he sent Sumiya to Kobe College, an institution run by western missionaries. Ultimately, Sumiya decided that concubinage was sinful, converted to Christianity, and left Nakagawa, leading him to complain that “Jesus stole my mistress.” After their breakup, both played prominent roles as local reformers. Together their stories shed light on how individuals in late nineteenth-century Japan forged new gender roles and created a new world.