From the 1870s to the 1930s the textile industry was Japan's largest manufacturing industry and it had a predominantly female labour force. This book examines the institutions of the labour market during this period of economic development. 'Janet Hunter's numerous articles on the textile industry and its female workers have, since the 1980s offered tantalizing hints of the issues shes develops in this fine monograph, which will be the standard treatment of the Japanese textile industry and its workers for years to come. Hunter leaves no stone unturned , and even those topics that she claims to set aside for other studies benefit from her keen analysis.' - Monumenta Nipponica "Hunter's volume is a considerable achievement, one that should be consulted by all scholars concerned with pre-Pacifi c War labour and the status of women in modern Japan." - Carl Mosk, Pacific Affairs: Volume 83, No. 3 - September 2010