was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

educator and a pioneer in education for women in

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Tsuda Umeko" in . Originally named Tsuda Ume, with ''ume'' referring to the Japanese plum, she went by the name Ume Tsuda while studying in the United States before changing her name to Umeko in 1902.

Early life

Tsuda Ume was born in the

Ushigome is the name of a neighborhood in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and a former ward (牛込区 ''Ushigome-ku'') in the now-defunct Tokyo City. In 1947, when the 35 wards of Tokyo were reorganized into 23, it was merged with Yotsuya ward of Tokyo City and Yodoba ...

neighborhood of Edo (present Minami, Shinjuku) as the second daughter of

Tsuda Sen was a politician, educator and writer in Meiji period Japan. He was one of the founders of Aoyama Gakuin university, and the father of noted author Tsuda Umeko. Biography Tsuda was born as the fourth son of a low ranking ''samurai'' of Sakura ...

and his wife Hatsuko, a progressive agriculturist and strong proponent of the westernization and Christianization of Japan. In 1871, Tsuda Sen was involved in the

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...

colonization project under

Kuroda Kiyotaka Count , also known as , was a Japanese politician of the Meiji era. He was Prime Minister of Japan from 1888 to 1889. He was also vice chairman of the Hokkaido Development Commission ( Kaitaku-shi). Biography As a Satsuma ''samurai'' Ku ...

, and raised the topic of western education for women as well as for men. Under Kuroda's sponsorship, Tsuda Ume was volunteered by her father as one of five women members of the

Iwakura mission The Iwakura Mission or Iwakura Embassy (, ''Iwakura Shisetsudan'') was a Japanese diplomatic voyage to the United States and Europe conducted between 1871 and 1873 by leading statesmen and scholars of the Meiji period. It was not the only such m ...

. At the age of six, she was also the youngest member of the expedition. She arrived in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

in November 1871 and remained in the United States as a student until she was 18 years old. Tsuda lived in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

from December 1871 with Charles Lanman (the secretary of Japanese legation), and his wife Adeline. As they had no children, they welcomed her like their own child. Under the name of Ume Tsuda, she attended the middle-class Georgetown Collegiate School, where she learned

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. Upon graduating, she received awards in composition, writing, arithmetic, and deportment. After graduating, she entered the Archer Institute, which catered to the daughters of politicians and bureaucrats. She excelled in language, math, science, and music, especially the piano. In addition to English, she also studied

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and French. About one year after arriving in the United States, Tsuda asked to be baptized as a Christian. Although the Lanmans were Episcopalians, they decided she should attend the

nonsectarian Nonsectarian institutions are secular institutions or other organizations not affiliated with or restricted to a particular religious group. Academic sphere Examples of US universities that identify themselves as being nonsectarian include Adelp ...

Old Swedes Church.

Coming back to Japan

By the time Tsuda returned to Japan in 1882, she had almost forgotten

, her native language, which caused temporary difficulties. She also experienced cultural problems adjusting to the inferior position of women in Japanese society. Even her father, Tsuda Sen, who was radically westernized in many ways, was still traditionally patriarchal and authoritarian with regards to women. Tsuda was hired by

Itō Hirobumi was a Japanese politician and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of Japan. He was also a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior statesmen that dictated Japanese policy during the Meiji era. A London-educated samu ...

to be a tutor for his children. In 1885, she then began to work in a girls' school for the daughters of the ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ...

'' peerage, known as Peeresses' School, but she was not satisfied by the restriction of educational opportunities to within the peerage and nobility, and she was not satisfied with the school policy that education was intended to polish girls as ladies and train them to be obedient wives and good mothers. She was assisted from 1888 by a friend from her days in America, Alice Bacon, from 1888. She decided to return to the United States.

Second stay in the United States

Tsuda returned to the United States and attended

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

from 1889 to 1892, where she majored in biology and education. She also studied at St Hilda's College, Oxford. During her second stay in the United States, Tsuda decided that other Japanese women should have the opportunity to study overseas as well. She made numerous public speeches about Japanese women's education and raised $8,000 in funds to establish a scholarship for Japanese women.

Establishment of Tsuda College

After returning to Japan, Tsuda Ume once again taught at Peeresses' School, as well as at Tokyo Women's Normal School, her salary was 800 yen and her post was the highest available to women of her era. She published several dissertations and made speeches about improving the status of women. The 1899 Girl's Higher Education Law, required each prefecture to establish at least one public middle school for girls. However, these schools were not able to provide girls with the same quality of education as that of the boys' schools. In 1900, with the help of her friends Princess

Ōyama Sutematsu Princess , born , was a prominent figure in the Meiji era, and the first Japanese woman to receive a college degree. She was born into a traditional samurai household which supported the Tokugawa shogunate during the Boshin War. As a child, she ...

and Alice Bacon, she founded the located in

Kōjimachi is a district in Chiyoda, Tokyo. History Prior to the arrival of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the area was known as . The area developed as townspeople settled along the Kōshū Kaidō. In 1878, the Kōjimachi area became , a ward of the city of Tokyo. ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

to provide equal opportunity for a

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...

education for all women regardless of parentage. She later changed her name to Tsuda Umeko in 1902. The school faced a chronic funding shortfall, and Tsuda spent much time fundraising in order to support the school. Due to her enthusiastic efforts, the school gained official recognition in 1903.

In 1905, Tsuda became the first president of the Japanese branch of the Tokyo

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

Death

Tsuda's busy life eventually undermined her health, and she suffered a stroke. In January 1919, she retired to her summer cottage in Kamakura, where she died after a long illness in 1929 at age 64. Her grave is on the grounds of

Tsuda College is a private women's university based at Kodaira, Tokyo. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious higher educational institutions for women in Japan, contributing to the advancement of women in society for more than a century. History The u ...

Kodaira, Tokyo is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 195,207 in 93,654 households, and a population density of 9500 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Geography Kodaira ...

Legacy

The ''Joshi Eigaku Juku'' changed its name to ''Tsuda Eigaku Juku'' in 1933 and, after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, became

. It remains one of the most prestigious women's institutes of higher education in Japan. Although Tsuda strongly desired social reform for women, she did not advocate a feminist social movement, and she opposed the women's suffrage movement. Her activities were based on her philosophy that education should focus on developing individual intelligence and personality. Tsuda Umeko will be featured on new Japanese banknotes to be issued in 2024.

References

Sources

* Jansen, Marius B. (2000). ''The Making of Modern Japan.'' Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
OCLC 44090600
* * Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...

.
OCLC 58053128
* Rose, Barbara. ''Tsuda Umeko and Women's Education in Japan''. Yale University Press 1992,

External links

Tsuda University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsuda, Umeko 19th-century Japanese educators Alumni of St Hilda's College, Oxford Bryn Mawr College alumni 1864 births 1929 deaths People from Tokyo Japanese Protestants Ochanomizu University faculty People of Meiji-period Japan Members of the Iwakura Mission Tsuda University University and college founders Women founders Japanese women educators 19th-century Japanese women