Departments
Intermediate Japanese - Free Online Course
YAMATO NADESHIKO
大和撫子
"a traditional woman"
Yamato is an old word for Japan. A nadeshiko is flower called a “pink” (scientific name: Dianthus superbus). This flower has a delicate pink blossom, and a long, sturdy stem.
At some point the flower became a metaphor for a woman who embodies traditional Japanese virtues of femininity: gracefulness, modesty, faithfulness, and quiet strength. Before World War II, the concept of the yamato nadeshiko was used to describe what every young girl should aspire to be.
The yamato nadeshiko is of course based on outmoded concepts of masculine and feminine role models, and few Japanese women use the term today. Like the “old-fashioned girl” of the American Midwest, the yamato nadeshiko has been replaced by a more flexible, individualistic view of femininity in Japan.