ABSTRACT
East Asians' quests to transform their societies, including developing new ideas about gender, between the mid-nineteenth century and the eve of World War-I took place against a backdrop of unprecedented European and North American expansion in power and wealth. Modernity came in many forms in this half century, and these changes were often as stunning in their countries of origin as they were in East Asia. The Tokugawa government in Japan became increasingly concerned about the world outside their borders by the middle of the nineteenth century. The new manufacturing-based wealth of Europe and the United States following the Industrial Revolution and the increasing speed of sea travel intensified Western pressure on East Asia to expand trade and formal diplomatic relations. Other aspects of modernity affected gender as well, in particular the rise of the industrial economy and the recruitment of a female labor force, but this was more evident in Japan in the nineteenth century.
