Following is the English translation of: YOSHIKAI Naoto. “Furuta Masayuki cho Heian monogatari ni okeru jijo no kenkū (Kasam Shoin, 2014)"Nihon bungaku 63.8 (2014): 104–105.
*For citations, please use the original publication.
YOSHIKAI Naoto. “Book Review: A Study on Female Attendants in Heian Vernacular Tales by FURUTA Masayuki.”
Translated by Sachi Schmidt-Hori
Translator’s note:
A menoto is often translated as “a wet nurse.” However, menoto is a lifetime appointment that lasts far beyond the task of breastfeeding the nursling. Further, in reality, a menoto may not have breastfed her young lord/mistress for a variety of reasons. The derivative term of menoto is menotogo (lit. a menoto’s child), which is commonly translated as a “foster sibling.” However, a “foster sibling” erases the hierarchical structure of a noble person and his or her menotogo. Due to these discrepancies, it is problematic to equate menoto and menotogo with “wet nurses” and “foster siblings,” respectively. For this reason, I will simply use romanized forms of the terms.
＊＊＊
It has been almost twenty years since I proposed conceptualizing “menoto studies” in my Heianchō no menoto-tachi: Genji monogatari e no kaitei (The menoto of the Heian period: Steps towards the Tale of Genji, Sekaishisōsha, 1995: 1997). After this, Nitta Takako published the masterwork Eiga monogatari no menoto no keifu (The menoto’s lineages in the Tale of Flowering Fortunes, Kazama Shobō, 2003) and my second menoto book came out: Genji monogatari no menoto-gaku (A menoto study of the Tale of Genji, Sekaishisōsha, 2008). I would not go so far as to say that these three books made research on menoto extremely popular, but it is discernible that an increased number of scholars have recently tackled this topic. Among them, I was particularly looking forward to the work of two young scholars: Ikeda Daisuke and Furuta Masayuki. Now that Furuta has published a monograph, I was very curious to find out how he would adopt, critique, and/or further what I have written thus far.
I excitedly received this book—but its title puzzled me. My proposal of establishing “menoto studies” was premised on the necessity of distinguishing menoto from the various live-in employees at the households of Heian elites. By practicing what I preached, I made an important discovery, too. That is, I recognized the pattern where Heian tales tend to depict menoto as more loyal to their lords/mistresses than general ladies-in-waiting (nyōbō) are. Focusing on subcategories of characters has been effective for Toyama Atsuko’s Genji monogatari no rō-nyōbō (Old ladies-in-waiting in the Tale of Genji, Shintensha, 2005) and Kanie Kiyoko’s studies on me-no-warawa, which separated girl attendants from their adult counterparts. Because I assumed Furuta was on board with the idea of separating menoto from other female attendants, it was a surprise for me to see this book analyzing a wide range of serving people under the blanket term of “female attendants” (jijo).
Now, let us take a look at the table of contents:
Introduction: Female attendants depicted in Heian tales
Part I: Aspects of female attendants and variations in their depictions
Chapter 1: Hikaru Genji’s relationships to his female attendants
Chapter 2: Borderlines between “adult” and “child” attendants
Chapter 3: The differences between the notion of meshiudo (concubine-attendants) and the protagonist of the Diary of Izumi Shikibu
Part II: Female attendants’ “support” (ushiromi) of their lords/mistresses
Chapter 1: Positions and prospects of female attendants’ “support” of their lords/mistresses in Heian literature
Chapter 2: The menoto Shōnagon’s “support” of Murasaki during her childhood
Chapter 3: Transformations of female attendants in the Tale of Sagoromo
Part III: Relations between menoto and their families
Chapter 1: Menoto who serve at the imperial court
Chapter 2: Lineages of the menoto families in the Tale of Genji
Chapter 3: Relationships between birthmothers and menoto
Part IV: Menotogo’s roles and their contributions
Chapter 1: Definitions of menotogo during the Heian period
Chapter 2: Lady Yūgao’s menotogo in the Tale of Genji
Chapter 3: The two Ukon of the Uji chapters of the Genji
Chapter 4: Ben no Kimi’s position in the Uji chapters
At first glance, this table of contents gives us the bird’s-eye view of a concise study on female attendants depicted in Heian tales. Yet the latter half of this book turns out to be what should be called a study of menoto and menotogo. Although the first half focuses on female attendants in general, the various dimensions thereof (e.g., adult attendants, meshiudo, ushiromi, surrogate mothers) that Furuta discusses also pertain to menoto and menotogo. For instance, Lady Murasaki’s menoto, Shōnagon, is an adult attendant and she provides ushiromi to her mistress, as well. The reason why I aimed to theorize the menoto as an independent category is because I realized much of the pre-existing research on ladies-in-waiting was actually examining menoto and menotogo, unbeknownst to these studies’ authors themselves. Despite the intervention I proposed in my two books, Furuta seems to have reverted back to the old ways. From my personal standpoint, even the first half of this book can be sufficiently presented as a part of a menoto study. I think that Furuta’s decision to use the overarching lens of “female attendants'' made this book seem out of focus.
Furthermore, calling this book a “study on female attendants” results in unnecessary contradictions with the contents thereof. For example, it comes off as strange for Furuta to include an analysis of Koremitsu, a male menotogo of Hikaru Genji. The same goes with the many “surrogate mothers” who are not female attendants but Furuta nonetheless includes in this book.
I am fully aware of the importance of various subcategories of female attendants; not just menoto but also a female attendant who is kin of her lord/mistress. Through my own work on menoto, I came to discover that the blood-kin-attendant typically functions as the protagonist’s close confidante, someone who is as loyal as her menoto. That said, I suspect that Furuta thinks focusing on menoto may be too limiting, as he is particularly interested in a character—Akogi in the Tale of Ochikubo—who is certainly not a menoto. Because the Tale of Ochikubo is a so-called “stepchild narrative” whose protagonist does not have a menoto, which fuels the stepmother’s abusive behavior. Nonetheless, it is possible to incorporate Akogi into the broader discussion on menoto. For instance, the absence of the protagonist’s menoto can be an effective perspective to employ. (I must say that Akogi is atypical even as a female attendant, too).
As for Furuta’s analysis of meshiudo, it alludes to the well-known research by Abe Akio and others, but he has omitted the work by his contemporary, Ikeda Daisuke. Because these two young scholars share many research interests, I wish they would actively engage with each other’s work.
In this piece, I have reviewed Furuta’s book from the perspective of someone who advocated for menoto studies. I would ask the reader to forgive my rather critical comments; it is all because I sincerely hope that menoto studies will continue to develop and expand. In closing, I must mention that this book includes the author’s articles that were originally published in the top-tier journals such as Nihon bungaku and Chūko bungaku. I am also aware of Furuta’s other projects, including those on the Tale of Genji and waka poetry. He is clearly a rising star of the literary studies of premodern Japan texts and I look forward to his continuous contributions to our field.