baez_tokugawa_period

During the Tokugawa period or the Edo period, there were many changes in the society. The role of women and the class order were the primary changes in the society. Society tried to keep everything in order by creating four class orders: the samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants. The role of the women was quite simple. The women's life relied on her family's social status. If a women's family status was a samurai she was expected to give all order to her husband or male figure of the household and if he died she would then be the authority figure of the household. Society had less expectations of the women of lower class and they were able to have more privileges than the women of higher class. They could participate in the family's business and/or were expected to do household chores and work in the fields.

Women could also often work in other places than the fields. Women could and often would work in the pleasure quarter. The women who worked in the pleasure quarter were known as the "tayu." Women in the pleasure quarter were ranked very high in their social position and were expected to be experts in music, poetry, painting, calligraphy, and other arts. They would receive dozen of men and would serve them.