Author: Feminist Sugoroku. Maeda Masujiro.
Title: [Onna Tenko Sugoroku].
Description: Osaka 1915 (Taisho 4). 53x77cm colour broadside. Natural browning of the paper, small holes and tears with some repairs. ¶ Rare and wonderful. Not the greatest copy maybe, but until someone sees a second copy we won't know. Onna Tenko - woman's world - can be translated as 'petticoat government' and graphic reversals of male and female was long a favourite tool of the anti-feminist anti-suffragists. Which has long made me wonder: the horror of men at having to fill women's roles and do women's tasks is surely the most persuasive argument for equality.As unlikely as it seems in Japan in 1915 when women were forbidden any political activity, I'm almost convinced that the argument here is for women, why else would they have the arrogant, exasperated, indifferent, harsh, demanding expressions that they must see on men's faces every day.As far as I can find, Maeda Masujiro is just a name on a couple of later samurai sugoroku that don't look a lot like this. This one seems to have a fair bit of Rakuten in it so I guess he grew into more burly he-man types.

Keywords: paper games pastimes illustration manga sugoroku c20th Japan modernism graphic art progress women feminism reformmeiji