Asking Umeko Tsuda, the Girl Who Crossed the Ocean at Age 6: "What It Means for Women to Learn" 🌙 One Thousand and One Nights, Night 147

Narration—The Era When Japan's First Female Overseas Students Were Born

Umeko Tsuda was born in 1864, a time when the Edo Shogunate was coming to an end.
Four years later, in 1868, the Meiji government was established.
The new government pushed forward reforms in every system, including politics, industry, the military, law, and education, in an effort to make Japan a modern nation on par with Western countries.
However, there was a significant gap between Japan and Western nations at the time, not only in science, technology, and industry, but also in education.
Therefore, in 1871, the Meiji government dispatched the Iwakura Mission to the United States and Europe to learn directly from Western systems and culture.
The mission included not only government officials but also students who would carry the future of Japan.
Among them were five female students.
In Japan at that time, women had almost no opportunities to receive higher education.
What was expected of women was to protect the home, support their husbands, and raise children.
In such an era, the plan to send young girls overseas to study for a long period was extremely unusual.
Among the five female students, the youngest was Umeko Tsuda, who was just 6 years old.
Umeko's father, Sen Tsuda, was an enlightened man with an interest in Western agriculture and culture.
Upon learning of the recruitment for female students, her father had Umeko apply.
Of course, 6-year-old Umeko did not decide to study abroad solely on her own volition.
A girl who would normally still be clinging to her parents was sent away from her family to the United States, where she knew neither the language nor the culture.
In the United States, Umeko was placed in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Lanman.
There, she spent about 11 years learning English, music, literature, history, and natural science.
Everything in her life became English, and Umeko gradually forgot Japanese.
When she returned to Japan in 1882 at the age of 17, Umeko looked Japanese on the outside, but her language, lifestyle, and way of thinking were strongly influenced by America.
However, what awaited Umeko in Japan was not a society where she could fully utilize the skills she had acquired through her studies abroad.
Paths were prepared for male students to play active roles in the government, universities, and companies.
However, there were almost no such paths for women.
Umeko taught English at institutions like the Peeresses' School, but she began to harbor strong doubts about women's education in Japan.
If you teach knowledge to women but they have no opportunity to use that knowledge in society, education becomes merely a formality.
Umeko later returned to the United States and studied biology and other subjects at Bryn Mawr College.
Then, in 1900, to realize a full-scale education for women to become independent, she established the Joshi Eigaku Juku (Women's Institute for English Studies).
That has led to the present-day Tsuda University.
Now, let's hear from Umeko Tsuda herself.

Interview—The Girl Who Crossed the Ocean at Age 6

Umeko Tsuda
Nice to meet you. My name is Umeko Tsuda.
I was born in Edo in 1864, and in 1871, at the age of six, I traveled to the United States as one of Japan's first female students sent abroad.
I lived in the United States for about 11 years, and after returning to Japan, I worked as an English teacher.
Later, wanting to ensure that Japanese women could receive a proper education and apply their skills in society, I founded the Joshi Eigaku Juku (Women's Institute for English Studies) in 1900.
What I aimed for was not simply to raise women who could speak English.
It was to raise women who could think for themselves, choose their own paths in life, and exert their influence within society.
Interviewer
You left your parents and went to America at the age of six. Weren't you scared?
Umeko Tsuda
It would be a lie to say I wasn't scared.
However, at six years old, I don't think I fully understood how difficult studying abroad would be.
Perhaps I felt that boarding a ship and going to a foreign country was some kind of grand adventure.
But when the ship left Japan and I could no longer see my family, I felt that I was heading to a place from which I could not easily return.
Interviewer
There were no airplanes or telephones back then. You couldn't easily contact your family, could you?
Umeko Tsuda
Yes.
Nowadays, even if you are overseas, you can talk to your family while seeing their faces.
But back then, there were only letters.
And it took a long time for those letters to arrive.
For a six-year-old girl, being separated from her family was a greater trial than learning a foreign language.
Interviewer
How was your life in America?
Umeko Tsuda
At first, I didn't understand what was being said to me.
The food, clothing, and customs were all different from Japan.
However, children adapt to their environment quickly.
Before long, speaking in English, thinking in English, and living a life of learning at an American school became natural.
Conversely, I ended up forgetting my Japanese.
Interviewer
When you returned to Japan, didn't you feel a sense of relief at being back in your homeland?
Umeko Tsuda
Of course, I was happy to be back in Japan.
But at the same time, I felt great bewilderment when looking at Japan.
Even though it was the country of my birth, I didn't fully understand the language or the customs.
To those around me, I was Japanese, but I felt like a foreigner who had returned to Japanese society.
Interviewer
That is the struggle of what we call a 'returnee student,' isn't it?
Umeko Tsuda
In modern terms, I suppose that's what it is.
However, at that time, there were almost no other returnees I could consult with.
There were no precedents, no reference books, and no internet.
I had no choice but to feel my way through and think about where I belonged.
Interviewer
What surprised you the most when you saw Japan after returning?
Umeko Tsuda
The fact that there were almost no places where women could apply the knowledge and skills they had learned.
I had studied abroad under government orders and spent a long time studying.
So I thought that upon returning, I would be able to use that experience for the sake of Japan.
However, the opportunities given to male students and female students after returning were vastly different.
Men could become government officials or university teachers and get involved in building the nation's systems.
For women, almost no such paths were prepared.
Interviewer
Did the government send women abroad without thinking about their work after they returned?
Umeko Tsuda
Unfortunately, that is how I felt.
In a way, it was like importing the latest machinery from overseas without preparing a place to use it.
Interviewer
That is quite ironic.
Umeko Tsuda
I didn't mean to be ironic.
I simply thought that if you are going to educate women, you must also create a society where they can apply those skills.
Interviewer
What kind of problems did women's education have at that time?
Umeko Tsuda
It wasn't that women's education itself was denied.
However, the purpose was biased toward the idea of becoming a fine wife and mother.
Of course, supporting a household and raising children is important.
But should a woman's life be limited to only that?
Women also have talents, aspirations, and lives they want to choose for themselves.
I believed that education is not about fitting people into a predetermined mold, but about drawing out the potential that each person possesses.
Interviewer
Is that why you decided to build a school for women?
Umeko Tsuda
Yes.
While working as a teacher, I kept thinking about what kind of education women truly needed.
Just memorizing knowledge is not enough.
Just learning English is not enough.
The ability to think for oneself, have one's own opinions, and express them in words is necessary.
Education was needed for women to become independent, both economically and mentally.
Interviewer
You founded the Joshi Eigaku Juku in 1900. Wasn't it difficult to build a school?
Umeko Tsuda
It was difficult.
I didn't have sufficient funds.
Nor was there a grand school building prepared.
The number of initial students was not large either.
But precisely because it was a small group, I was able to teach each person carefully.
Rather than building a large school, I prioritizedraising women who were truly capable.
Interviewer
Why did you put so much effort into English education?
Umeko Tsuda
English was not just a foreign language.
Through English, one can encounter ideas, scholarship, and culture from outside Japan.
One can learn that there are ways of thinking and living in the world that are different from those in Japan.
If you know the outside world, you can also view Japanese society objectively.
However, just being able to speak English does not make one an international person.
What is important iswhat you learn, what you think, and what you give back to society using English.
Interviewer
In modern times, many women go on to university and work in various jobs. What do you think when you look at Japan today?
Umeko Tsuda
Compared to my time, I think there has been great progress.
Women are learning, working, and playing active roles in various fields of society.
However, just because the systems are in place does not mean everything is solved.
Even if there are opportunities to learn, if you think it's impossible for you and don't take on the challenge, you cannot make use of those opportunities.
Also, it is important that those who have received an education do not use that knowledge only for themselves, but apply it for the sake of society.
Interviewer
Finally, please give a word to modern women and young people who are hesitant about learning.
Umeko Tsuda
Learning is not just for passing exams.
By learning, you can understand the situation you are in and realize that there are other ways of living.
And you can gain the power to choose your own life for yourself.
It doesn't matter if you don't see results immediately.
It was 18 years after I returned from America that I founded the Joshi Eigaku Juku.
The school was born after I continued to have questions, continued to learn, and accumulated small actions.
Education is not a task that blooms immediately.
However, if one woman learns, that knowledge and courage will be passed on to the next generation.

What a 6-year-old girl left behind in Japan

Umeko Tsuda did not have a clear dream for her future from a young age, nor did she cross the ocean of her own volition.
She was a girl sent to America at the age of 6 due to her father's decision and the policies of the Meiji government.
However, Umeko did not use the study abroad experience she was given solely for her own success.
She did not overlook the sense of discomfort she felt after returning to Japan, and continued to ask,Why is there no place for Japanese women to utilize the power they have gained through learning?She then left the answer to that question in the form of a school.
What Umeko Tsuda brought back to Japan was not just English or Western knowledge.
It was the philosophy that
women, too, can think for themselves, choose their own lives, and change society.The girl who crossed the ocean at age 6 eventually built a bridge for many women to cross into the future.