, born Clara Louise Zitelmann, was a German-born educator, a pioneer in the

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

movement in Japan.

Early life

Clara Louise Zitelmann was born and educated in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, the daughter of Carl Friedrich Zitelmann and Emma Pauline Ulrike Zitelmann.

Career

In 1876, Matsuno became the first head teacher at the first kindergarten in Japan, with Froebel-inspired methods emphasizing outdoor play,

puzzles A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to find the solution of the puzzle. There are different ...

, songs and games. The school's principal, Shinzo Seki, translated for her, as she did not speak Japanese upon arrival in Japan. She was also a teacher-training instructor at the Tokyo College of Education for Women from 1876 to 1881. She also taught English and German, and gave piano lessons for the

Imperial Household Agency The (IHA) is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family, and the keeping of the Privy Seal of Japan, Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century ...

Personal life and legacy

Clara Louise Zitelmann married (松野礀) in

Ueno is a district in Taitō, Tokyo. The area extending from Ueno to Asakusa is part of the historical Shitamachi (literally "low city") district of Tokyo, which is often associated with working-class traditions and culture as well as their dist ...

in 1876; the couple met in Berlin, where Matsuno was studying

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

. They were the first German-Japanese couple married in Japan; she became a Japanese citizen by marriage. They had a daughter, Frieda Fumi, who died in 1901, at age 24. Matsuno's husband died in 1908; for a time she lived with her sister and sister-in-law in Japan. She died in Germany in 1931, aged 77 years. The novel ''Ein Adoptivkind: Die Geschichte eines Japaners'' (1916) by is based in part on Clara Matsuno's life. In 1976, the Japanese post office released a postage stamp honoring Clara Matsuno on the centennial of her founding the kindergarten program at the Tokyo College of Education for Women. There is a monument honoring Matsuno, with the same image as on the stamp, in the

Aoyama Cemetery is a cemetery in Aoyama, Tokyo, Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, managed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The cemetery is known for its cherry blossoms and is popular during the season of . History The cemetery was origin ...

in Tokyo.

References

External links

A painting illustrating a kindergarten class playing a game
(Pigeon's Nest) led by Clara Matsuno, from the Ochanomizu University Digital Archives. {{DEFAULTSORT:Matsuno, Clara 1853 births 1931 deaths Emigrants from the German Empire German emigrants to Japan 19th-century German educators 19th-century Japanese women educators 19th-century Japanese educators 19th-century German women educators 20th-century German educators