Tsuda Umeko

If you are lucky, you will soon notice Tsuda Umeko. Her portrait is on the new ¥5,000 banknote. She was the daughter of an expert on Western agricultural techniques and became one of the first Japanese women to study overseas. Not only that, she was only six years old when she went with a group of students to the United States with the diplomatic Iwakura Mission in 1871. She lived with a host family in Washington, D.C., and received education in the U.S. until she was eighteen.

When she returned to Japan in 1882, she had virtually forgotten how to communicate in Japanese. She became a tutor in the household of the prominent Ito Hirobumi. Later she taught at an innovative school for the daughters of the nobility. From 1889 to 1892 she once again studied in the United States, at Bryn Mawr College.

Returning to Japan again, she was disappointed to discover that Japanese education basically emphasized educating girls to be “good wives and wise mothers.” She dedicated her energies to improving education and opportunities for women and founded the Women’s English School (Joshi Eigaku Juku), which later became Tsuda College.

Although the Education Order of 1872 set up primary schools for both boys and girls, education for girls after that was limited. Public education at the secondary level continuing through college was aimed at males. Schools for females were usually private and often related to Christian missionaries.

When Tsuda established her school, most girls were in these private schools, which were much in demand. It was thanks to Tsuda and other educators that women were also able to receive first-class higher education.

(274 words)

Another version of this story can be found on pages 140-141 in “Introducing 100 Impressive Japanese” (日英対訳 世界に紹介したい日本の100人).