Itznogoud

Between 1839 and 1849 two low ranked samurai, a father and son, kept in touch by exchanging meticulous diaries. The two diaries, today known as Kuwano Nikki and Kashiwazaki Nikki total over 5,300 pages of text and records astronomical events, politics, the price of goods and official business, but above all they go into the minute details of child rearing, the joys and hardships and education of the grandson left behind by the young samurai (he was suddenly posted to a faraway feudal domain as a tax administrator) and his four other children, born and raised without the help of grandparents or relatives. Through these two loving fathers we get a long term picture of children and family life in feudal Japan. Notably, the parents spend a lot of time with their children and grandchildren. Playtime, games, excursions, picnics, festivals, every opportunity to allow their children to have fun is taken. The children never leave their sides. They are raised with more freedom than modern children, and gently steered toward appropriate education and subjects that fit their individual tempers and abilities when they are ready for it. The samurai men also put great importance on the health and wellbeing of their pregnant wife and daughter in law. When the young wife is exhausted by childbirth and breastfeeding the young samurai takes on cooking and cleaning and all other household duties by himself. The wife's only task is to nurture their newborn and to rest. And he does this while also going to his work in the feudal office as usual. The grandfather's diary ends three days before his death in 1849, and the son's ends sixteen days later, when the news finally reach him. If we want our our country to have more children, we should learn to be more like samurai parents, and we should put more emphasis on duty, care, and respect.