ABSTRACT
The chapter discusses the ryosai kenbo ideology that emerged in the late nineteenth century. Hence, it explores the ideology of 'good wife, wise mother' from the late nineteenth century until after the First World War in order to demonstrate how women were incorporated as members of the modern nation-state. Nevertheless, the chapter analyses the discourse of 'good wife and wise mother' because it considers the gendered division of labour assigning paid work to men and housework and child-rearing to women to be an indispensible aspect of understanding modern society and the modern nation-state. According to this ideology, women's relationship with the nation-state was through their husbands and children. The chapter discusses the reasons why a new image of the 'good wife, wise mother' was considered to be necessary in the social context of the time. It explores that new ideology created a way for women to form a direct relationship with the nation-state through their domestic roles.
