Mary Patterson Elkinton Nitobe (August 14, 1857 - September 22, 1938) was an American-Quaker, the wife of the Japanese economist

Nitobe Inazō was a Japanese agronomist, diplomat, political scientist, politician, and writer. He studied at Sapporo Agricultural College under the influence of its first president William S. Clark and later went to the United States to study agricultural ...

Life

Mary Patterson Elkinton was born in 1857 to a prominent

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

family in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. She met

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, and against the wishes of both their families, married him in 1891. Their only child died in infancy, but they adopted Nitobe's nephew, Yoshio, and a female relative Kotoko.An Inventory of the Inazo Nitobe Papers, 1890-2005

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

.Sharlie Ushioda
Marriage in Meiji/Taisho Japan: Inazo and Mary Elkinton Nitobe

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...

, 2015. Living in Japan, which she considered her home, she contributed to

educational reform Education reform is the goal of changing public education. The meaning and educational methods have changed through debates over what content or experiences result in an educated individual or an educated society. Historically, the motivations for ...

, worked to improve US-Japan relations, advocated

internationalism Internationalism may refer to: * Cosmopolitanism, the view that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality as opposed to communitarianism, patriotism and nationalism * International Style, a major architectura ...

and helped to establish several schools. She helped her husband in the writing of his 1899 book, '' Bushidô, The Soul of Japan''. When her husband served in the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

she was active in international circles. After they returned to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

in the late 1920s, she found

Japanese militarism was the ideology in the Empire of Japan which advocated the belief that militarism should dominate the political and social life of the nation, and the belief that the strength of the military is equal to the strength of a nation. It was most ...

in conflict with her Quakerism. After her husband's death she edited his reminiscences, and continued to live in Japan. She died on 22 September 1938.MRS. INAZO NITOBE; Widow of Japanese Statesman Was Native of Philadelphia
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 23 September 1938. Accessed 14 March 2020. Papers of both Mary and Inzo Nitobe are held at

Works

* (ed. with introduction and comments) ''Reminiscences of childhood in the early days of modern Japan'' by

, 1934

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nitobe, Mary Patterson Elikington 1857 births 1938 deaths 19th-century Quakers American emigrants to Japan American Quakers Japanese people of American descent People from Philadelphia Burials at Tama Cemetery