The higher girls' schools in Japan from 1895-1926 are related to the family structure and cycle, the role of the wife and mother, the relationship between the sexes, and the relationship between generations. The higher girls' schools (comparable to secondary education), were created for the families of middle class society. They fostered the good wife/good mother ideology, the components of which include a patriot faithful to the emperor; a family member obedient to parents; a life style simple and economical; and a warm, good-minded, chaste, and gentle personality. The rationale for this approach to teaching was related to the life cycle of Japanese men and women at this time; both sexes averaged a 44.3 year life span. Educators considered the ultimate goal for a woman's happy life consisted of being a wife and mother and no more, since death and the end of the reproductive cycle were concurrent. Textbooks of moral instruction emphasized that the sphere of activity of the husband was clearly separated from that of the wife; the man devoted himself to his occupation, which promoted the happiness and prosperity of the state and society. Intergenerational relationships were based on the sense of indebtedness and obligation to the parents, in-laws, and teachers and thus reinforced the concept that woman's role was to serve the family. (KC)