The gendering of agriculture in late nineteenth century colonial Hokkaido: The case of Kane Watanabe (1859–1945)

Abstract

This paper uses a case study of the life history of the Japanese agriculturalist Kane Watanabe (1859–1945) to examine the gendering of agriculture in late nineteenth century Hokkaido. Hokkaido was in the process of being colonised by the Japanese during the Meiji period. Watanabe studied English, Japanese, and Chinese literature, and a range of other scientific and technical subjects, at Kyoritsu Women’s College, Yokohama, graduating in 1882. She and her husband Masaru Watanabe joined a pioneering agricultural company, the Banseisha Company, led by the charismatic pioneer Benzo Yoda, based at Hokkaido. The Watanabe family settled in Tokachi, where Kane opened a small private school for the children of both the indigenous Ainu and colonial settlers. This article analyses the male-dominated views found in records of the Banseisha company with Kane Watanabe’s narratives, shedding light on distinctive gendered perspectives on Hokkaido land and its people. A diary kept by Masaru and Kane Watanabe also reveals the processes involved in contesting and accommodating indigenous Ainu knowledge of the local habitat and environment.