Japanese Women's Language (JWL) is not a new topic of research in the social sciences, but Miyako Inoue's Vicarious language is an original contribution to the field. According to Inoue, women's language references linguistic forms distinguishing the speech of women and brings with it certain connotations of “femininity” such as politeness or nonassertiveness. In line with other current research, Inoue asserts that JWL is not part of the linguistic repertoires of many women.

Inoue's central thesis is that JWL is inextricably connected to Japan's modernity. Furthermore, women's language is one of the key features differentiating its modernity from that of other cultures. Inoue maintains that this discussion remains incomplete without consideration of the politics of women's language that creates hierarchy and inequality among women. Inoue skillfully develops the central components of her thesis through the division of her book into three parts. In part I, she disparages the common myth that “women's language” has ancient roots and traces its emergence to the late 19th century. Parts II and III discusses “women's language” in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In part I, “Language, gender, and national modernity: The genealogy of Japanese Women's Language, 1880s–1930s,” Inoue traces the roots of “women's language” to the speech of schoolgirls of the late 19th century. This is a clear example of how a stigmatized form develops into a prestige variant. In chapter 1, Inoue traces the development of “schoolgirl speech” to male intellectuals citing their speech. Chapter 2 concerns the relationship between the language modernization movement, genbun ‘itchi, and the emergence of “women's language.” In the space of the novel, “schoolgirl speech” was quoted and represented as “the voice” of a modern Japanese woman. The focus of chapter 3 is on how magazines targeted at young women became sites where they were exposed to “women's language.” It is here that schoolgirl speech lost much of its stigma and became generic “women's language.” Part II (chapter 4), “The nation's temporality and the death of women's language,” focuses on the public mourning of the death of “women's language.” Inoue's discussion focuses on public thoughts on the linguistic corruption of “women's language.” In part III, “Re-citing Women's Language in late modern Japan,” Inoue draws from her ethnographic fieldwork in a corporate office in Tokyo to demonstrate her hypotheses. Chapters 5 and 6 illustrate how actual women skillfully utilize JWL to suit their unique situations.

Inoue's training in linguistic anthropology makes this accessible volume appealing to both scholars and students in the social sciences. Detailed historical background is combined with ethnographic research, resulting in a complete picture of the various factors that have contributed to the development of “women's language.”