Una insolita partita di kemari. Testimonianze di predominio maschile e mercificazione del corpo femminile nel Towazugatari.

In this paper, after a brief introduction of Towazugatari (A tale no one asked for, 1306), I focus on a particular scene of this work describing, an unusual kemari game played by a group of young ladies in waiting of the abdicated Emperor GoFukakusa (1243–1304). This scene very skillfully provides a picture of the world of politics in the Kamakura period (1185–1333), when using sex and gender to achieve political goals was a widely acknowledged social standard. Starting from the description of the kemari game, I analyze the role of ladies in waiting, the sexual culture at court, and the personal experience of Lady Nijō, whose sexuality was an exchange commodity among the men and even used as a gift. Her memoir, written in retrospect when she became a nun, presents the dramatic story of a woman whose life took a particular direction because of the dominant roles in the patriarcal society, where she was expected to obey the will of her father and his surrogate, GoFukakusa.