Abstract

Edo Japan is male-dominating age. The husband owned the right of divorce, while the wife didn’t, the wife could only be at the mercy of their husbands. If the husband wanted to divorce, they just need to give their wives a piece of "Mikudarihan", which was the certificate of divorce at that time, while the wives didn’t have the right of asking divorce. That was a well-rounded argument. In fact, about divorce, the wives were not so completely passive, the wives themselves also could actively divorce, and obtained divorce by some means, for example the wife could run into Enkiridera. Enkiridera was a kind of temples in which women seeking release from marriage could take refuge and obtain divorce by the help of the temples. The existence of Enkiridera gave wives a possibility of obtaining divorce.

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