Twelve Months of Feminine Manners Sugoroku Board 女礼式十二ヶ月寿語録

This sugoroku game board presents instruction in the rules of etiquette that a woman must master. It is printed on paper over 70 centimeters on a side, with title extending further above the upper side. The paintings in the squares depict the twelve months of the lunar calendar and show the proper way to enjoy annual events and the seasons of the year. The third month (cherry blossoms) and fourth month (peonies), for example, show women enjoying seasonal flowers. The square for the sixth month extends that theme, showing a middle-aged woman arranging irises in a vase placed on a table while a young woman assists her. During the Edo period, the popularity of ikebana flower arranging had spread to the townspeople. After the Meiji Restoration, the downfall of the warrior class and of many leading merchant houses, the demographic segments that were major supporters of ikebana, caused the art’s temporary decline. With the introduction of new types of flowers and techniques from the West, however, it then revived, with women as its new base of support. A major factor in increasing the number of women practicing ikebana was its inclusion in the curricula of women’s schools, where was positioned as an important element in the cultivation of women’s good taste and aesthetic sensibilities. In 1904, Ikenobo, the oldest ikebana society, prepared a textbook, Hana no shiori (The art of flower arrangement). This textbook, which begins with illustrations of the basic forms of ikebana, was easy to understand and became another factor in the rapid increase in the number of women taking up ikebana. In the Taisho period (1912-1926), magazines and even radio programs covered ikebana, leading to even more women making ikebana part of their lives.