was a Japanese educator in Hawaii. She founded the Tachikawa Japanese Language School in
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
.
Early life and education
Tachikawa was born in
Fukuoka, Japan
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the southwest, Kuma ...
in 1889. She was an orphan, and was raised by her grandparents. As a child she took
tea ceremony
Tea ceremony is a ritualized practice of making and serving tea (茶 ''cha'') in East Asia practiced in the Sinosphere. The original term from China (), literally translated as either "''way of tea''", "''etiquette for tea or tea rite''",Heiss, M ...
classes, and fell in love with Japanese culture. She studied at the Kurumei Jogakko, then earned a teaching certificate from the Tokyo Bijutsu Senmon Gakko.
After graduation, she returned to Fukuoka to become a teacher. She met Ryurei Kimura, who arranged a
picture bride
The term picture bride refers to the practice in the early 20th century of immigrant workers (chiefly Japanese, Okinawan, and Korean) in Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States and Canada, as well as Brazil selecting brides from their nat ...
marriage for her with Shinkyo Tachikawa, a missionary in
Ōōkala, Hawaii. He was also the principal and only teacher at a Japanese language school.
Career
Soon after Tachikawa settled in Hawaii in 1911, the couple were transferred to Hakalau, where Shinkyo was promoted to the head of the Hawaii
Jodo mission. While they initially taught Japanese classes together, Tachikawa took on more of the workload as her husband's administrative burdens grew. She taught at the ''Hawaii Jogakko'', which was attached to the temple. She was also the dorm mother, preparing meals and taking care of the boarding students. The school and the dormitory steadily grew during her tenure, and a second building was built.
Shinkyo grew ill, and returned to Japan for treatment in 1918.
He died after returning to Hawaii in 1925. After his death, Tachikawa took his ashes to Japan with two of their four children. When she returned to Hawaii, Tachikawa decided to start her own, all-girls school called the ''Tachikawa Jogakko'' in
Honolulu
Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
. She wanted to mold her students into ''
yamato nadeshiko
''Yamato nadeshiko'' ( or ) is a Japanese language, Japanese term meaning the "Anthropomorphism, personification of an idealized Japanese woman." The term is the archetype of conservative and traditional femininity.
Name origin and connotatio ...
'', ideal Japanese women.
Though the school closed during World War II, it reopened in 1949 as a
co-educational
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...
Japanese language school. It grew to 650 students at its peak. She and the teachers she employed taught Japanese language,
embroidery
Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...
, ''
koto'', ''
ikebana
is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is also known as . The origin of ikebana can be traced back to the ancient Japanese custom of erecting Evergreen, evergreen trees and decorating them with flowers as yorishiro () to invite the go ...
'',
Omotesenke tea ceremony, and other Japanese arts and cultural practices.
Tachikawa was commended by
Eisaku Sato in 1967, then awarded the
Order of the Sacred Treasure
The is a Japanese Order (distinction), order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six c ...
in 1968.
She retired in 1972. Tachikawa died on February 14, 1990.
Further reading
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tachikawa, Sae
1889 births
1990 deaths
People from Fukuoka Prefecture
Japanese Buddhists