New Books in Education Fang Yu Hu, "Good Wife, Wise Mother: Educating Han Taiwanese Girls Under Japanese Rule" (U Washington Press, 2024)
Nov 6, 2025
Fang Yu Hu, an Assistant Professor of History at California State Polytechnic University, dives into the intricacies of gender and education during Japan's colonial rule in Taiwan. She explores the 'Good Wife, Wise Mother' program, highlighting its role in shaping female citizenship and modernity. Fang discusses the varied responses from Taiwanese elites, wartime mobilization of schoolgirls, and the long-term impacts on women's roles. She also touches on colonial nostalgia and her upcoming research on Taiwanese migrants, weaving a complex narrative of identity and adaptation.
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Research Sparked By Family Memory
- Fang Yu Hu traced her research roots to family memories of Japanese influence and her grandmother's school reunions.
- Those personal ties motivated her use of oral interviews alongside newspapers and textbooks.
Gendered Mass Education Strategy
- Japanese colonial education combined British and French colonial models to mass-educate Taiwanese at the primary level.
- Schools taught gendered roles: girls trained for domestic citizenship while boys trained for labor and future military service.
Domestic Citizenship As Assimilation
- The Good Wife, Wise Mother ideal framed female citizenship around household management and childrearing.
- Fang Yu Hu argues assimilation was explicitly gendered, making domestic roles central to colonial loyalty.
