Miho Hamaguchi

Miho Hamaguchi (Japanese: 浜口 ミホ) (March 1, 1915 – April 12, 1988) was a Japanese architect and the first female architect to be licensed as a Class 1 architect in Japan.

Early life and education Hamaguchi was born to a well-to-do family, the Hamadas, in Dalian, China. She started her studies in home economics at what is now Ochanomizu University and would actively attend architectural lectures without enrolling as women were not officially permitted to do so. She went on to practice under Kunio Maekawa and later start her own firm in Aoyama.

Domesticity and social change Hamaguchi is credited with influencing and pioneering the modern Japanese kitchen. Her book, The Feudalism of Japanese Houses (Nihon jūtaku no hōkensei, 1949), advocated for the dissolution of gender and class hierarchies. Much of the residential realm at the time operated under traditional feudal structures in which spaces were meant to prioritize ‘the master of the house’ while women were reduced to the role of housekeeper. Later in the decades directly following the Second World War, the gendering of spaces changed to giving those considered more public and productive masculine associations while feminine spaces were those characterized by being private and domestic.

Hamaguchi saw housing reform as not only a way to reduce the hierarchy in the domestic realm but also as a way to change the perception of women and their status within society. Housing Corporation - Stainless Steel Sink Kaiyo Club (1984, 1987)