About Anna C. Hartshorne

Anna C. Hartshorne, who appears in this work, was an American educator and writer who dedicated her life to the development of higher education for women in Japan, particularly at Tsuda University. She was a close friend of Inazo Nitobe and not only provided much useful advice during the writing of this book, but was also the person who designed the cover of the first edition.
Her main background and profile are as follows.

Basic Information and Background

• Quaker Family Lineage: She was born the daughter of Henry Hartshorne, a prominent Quaker (a branch of Protestant Christianity) physician in Philadelphia, USA.

• Meeting Umeko Tsuda: She met Umeko Tsuda, who was studying abroad, at Bryn Mawr College in the United States in 1885, and they became lifelong friends.

• Arrival in Japan and Educational Activities: She came to Japan with her father in the 1890s and served as an English teacher at Friends Girls School (now Friends School).

Contribution to 'Bushido'

• Writing Support: When Inazo Nitobe was writing 'Bushido' while recuperating in Pennsylvania, USA, she provided many valuable suggestions for the manuscript.

• Cover Design: Also possessing artistic talent, she created a Japanese-style design for the first edition cover featuring a 'rising morning sun and cherry blossoms'.

Founding and Reconstruction of Tsuda University (Joshi Eigaku Juku)

• Founding of the School: In 1900, when Umeko Tsuda founded the 'Joshi Eigaku Juku (later Tsuda University)', she fully supported the fundraising and establishment of the school in the United States.

• Unpaid Service: For about 40 years from the school's founding until 1940, she continued to teach English there without pay (as a volunteer). []

• Reconstruction after the Great Kanto Earthquake: When the school buildings were completely destroyed in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, she traveled to the United States alone, toured the country to collect large amounts of reconstruction donations, and made a decisive contribution to the rebuilding of the campus.

After returning home temporarily in 1940, the Pacific War broke out, making it impossible for her to return to Japan, but she remained one of the greatest benefactors of women's education in Japan, continuing to think of her Japanese students until she passed away at the age of 97 in 1957.

Related Article: Bushido, Preface #21