二十一世紀的現在，女性主義及性別研究相當盛行，日本女性的地位也逐漸獲得改善，然而在半世紀之前，日本卻還是一個男女極不平等的國家，日本的女性究竟是何時開始、為何受到壓抑，而變得地位較男性低下呢? 小稿為探討日本文學裡的女性形象，特別聚焦於《古事記》、《日本書紀》、《伊勢物語》、《源氏物語》等上代及中古時期的文學裡的女性，以考察日本古典文學裡的女性形像。

In the 21st century, the study on feminism and gender is prevalent. The social status of the Japanese women has gradually improved. However, half a century ago, Japan was still a country of extreme inequality between the male and the female. When did the Japanese women start to be so suppressed and why did they have lower social status than the Japanese men? In this paper, I intend to study the female image in the Japanese literature and focus on the works of the ancient and classical ages, Kojiki, Nihon shoki, Ise monogatari, and Genji monogatari, to have a better understanding of the female images in the Japanese classic literature.