Manga “Ooku” reveals inconvenient truths via reversed gender roles

What would happen if men and women swap their roles entirely, and women had social and political power? You may find out the answer in a Japanese Sci-Fi manga series, “Ooku: The Inner Chambers,” by Fumi Yoshinaga, that has been made into TV drama series by NHK, which started airing this January. In 2009, Yoshinaga received the Otherwise Award, an award encouraging the exploration and expansion of gender, for this work of hers.

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In the manga, a female shogun, in other words, a military dictator who rules Japan in the feudal system, rules the country, the shogun council composed of women controls the politics, and mothers are entitled as the head of their families, while men are expected to play a role in impregnating women.

The world ruled by females

The story starts with an abnormal situation happening in the Edo period, where the male population plummeted to one-quarter of the female population due to the outbreak of the strange disease as known as “redface pox” which only affects young males. People think it was unfavorable to have female leaders and shogun until the first female shogun Iemitsu (III) makes it possible for women to openly succeed their families because Japan had been male-dominated. The system gradually becomes the norm to the point no one remembers a time before a female shogun.

What would you discover within yourself through the story?

The story where noble female leaders rule society gives me new perspectives and hope. As a feminist, I almost wish it was a true history. Witnessing that society stays almost the same and organized although gender roles are swapped, I keep thinking that gender roles are fragile and vague, which are made by people arbitrarily.

However, I also discover that I still have an unconscious gender bias that appears as my uncomfortable feeling through reading the story. It is no more than a historical fact that male shoguns had many concubines to have the successor, but I was disgusted when a female shogun does the same. I found it was odd and ridiculous that many gorgeously dressed men perform their strength in front of the female shogun to become her favorites although I never felt this way when I learned about harem.

What men can’t do is giving birth

“Ooku” also confronts us with the uncontrollable fact: only women can give birth. Although female leaders come to power, providing an heir still is one of the most important duties of a female shogun in a society that values direct biological heirs the most. No one suffers from the successive crisis more than Tsunayoshi (V) whose life collapses after her only daughter’s death, and literally devotes herself to getting pregnant.

“Ooku” is full of elements that attract many readers, such as beautiful and detailed drawings, fluttering romance and a heart-moving plotline. Most of all, I want all genders to read this manga and experience prevailing issues that have been invisible surrounding gender roles.