ABSTRACT
Women in Japan have, over the past two thousand years, occupied a wide range of symbolic, occupational, and familial statuses. In the earliest recorded history, Japanese women appear to have had political, social, and religious influences in society. Even in peasant communities, until relatively recently, women have been powerful, expressive, and even publicly recognized as decision-makers. Internal and external sources of change have over time affected women's influence and status, sometimes enhancing and valuing their roles, and sometimes reducing their visibility and access to status and power.
