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What has value as architecture? The answer varies from one historical moment to another, and is deeply linked to the cultural and geographic circumstances. But this fundamental question is also linked to the identity of the creator. A journey through the histories of Japanese women architects involves unraveling the meaning of these intersecting words. This article will briefly review key women whose proposals and visions contested the value system, enriching Japanese architecture in the past century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Miho Hamaguchi (1915-1988) was a pioneer in the modernization of Japanese residential architecture. Despite being the first woman in Japan to be licensed as an architect, developing a theory of the emancipated dwelling, writing, consulting, teaching, and designing over a thousand projects, her life and work have been little explored by canonical historiography. Hamaguchi's goal was to use architectural practice - in all its forms - to achieve an egalitarian society devoid of patriarchal distinctions of gender, class, or ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]