The Path to Becoming a Biologist and the Dream of Founding a University / Epilogue to 'Ume Tsuda'
Yasushi Furukawa's 'Ume Tsuda' has been well-received since its publication. This book portrays Ume Tsuda, known as a pioneer of women's education in Japan, from the new perspectives of 'science' and 'gender.' Below is a portion of the book's epilogue.
In the autumn of 2014, at the 'Ume Tsuda 150th Anniversary Symposium' held in conjunction with Tsuda University's Homecoming Day, I gave a lecture titled 'Ume and Biology.' At that time, I was asked, 'If Ms. Tsuda had remained in America after her studies at Bryn Mawr, what would have become of her?' This is a fascinating question that stirs the imagination. To pursue a career as a researcher, the possibilities would have been far greater had she remained in America rather than returning home. America had powerful mentors and infrastructure. As I mentioned in Chapter 3, I imagine that Ume, whose talents were highly regarded at Bryn Mawr College, would have first transferred from special student status to an undergraduate student, earned a bachelor's degree, and graduated. Then, she would have obtained a scholarship to enter a doctoral program in graduate school, furthered her research in embryology under Morgan, and earned a doctorate. She might have become Morgan's assistant and eventually secured a post at some university. Alice Boring, who was a student during Ume's time abroad, became a professor at Mount Holyoke College, and Ida Hyde, who worked as a laboratory assistant with Ume, also became a professor at the University of Kansas. Morgan was invited to Columbia University in 1904 and conducted research on mutations using fruit flies, which led to the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; if he had taken his student Ume with him, she would likely have collaborated on that work. In any case, if Ume had severed her ties with Japan and remained in America to pursue a path as a biologist, despite the difficulties and hardships, she would likely have achieved success in her own right and might have played the role of a female scientist role model for Japanese women across the sea.
After answering in that way, I concluded to the alumni in the lecture hall: 'If I may add one thing, if Ume had remained in America as she was, there would have been no Joshi Eigaku Juku (Women's Institute for English Studies). That means there would have been no Tsuda University. This would mean that all of you would have lived completely different lives. The reason we are holding this symposium here today with all of you alumni and having this conversation is because Ume chose the path of returning home after much hesitation at that time.'
If one were to evaluate Ume solely from the perspective of her contribution to the development of biology in Japan or her influence on female scientists, the evaluation would likely be low. Although this book is a biography of Ume Tsuda written from the perspective of the history of science, the purpose was not to evaluate her from such a viewpoint. This book focuses on a different aspect. It focuses on how a woman who lived through the Meiji era encountered natural science in America, what meaning that had for her subsequent life, what conflicts and discord she experienced, and what kind of creativity it led to. In the latter half of the 19th century, she spent her formative girlhood in America and was greatly shocked by the state of the gender order in Japanese society after returning home. I have written, based on my own perspective of the history of science and gender, about what kind of science education she received at the women's college of Bryn Mawr during her second stay abroad, how her experience of conducting natural science research—which was forbidden to women in Japan, especially at the Peeresses' School—influenced her life as an English teacher after returning home, how it was utilized in the education of Japanese women within the social conditions of the time, and how Ume's legacy was inherited and what fruit it bore. By scrutinizing Ume's career, I have also shed light on the question of what a female scientist is.
The question also arises as to why a person with as strong a will and as much initiative as Ume did not strive to open the path to science for Japanese women. As seen in Chapter 3, Ume herself did not actively try to promote the fact that she had majored in biology at Bryn Mawr in public during her lifetime. It seems that Ume's past as a biology researcher only became somewhat known to the public after the publication of Toshikazu Yoshikawa's 'Ume Tsuda' (1930) following her death. Ultimately, it is better to say that rather than abandoning natural science, Ume chose the path of English education for Japanese women because she felt it was more suitable for her. As Anna Hartshorne, who cooperated in the school's business, recalled, they had envisioned science education when establishing the school, but realized that it was impossible to establish science as a subject due to financial difficulties. Thus, Ume founded the Women's Institute for English Studies and dedicated the latter half of her life to English education and school management. Ume emphasized that English was not the ultimate goal. By teaching English to Japanese women and opening their eyes to the Western world, ideas, learning, and science through English—which also led to awakening them to the magnitude of gender inequality and the many barriers in the patriarchal Japanese society—did Ume not choose the path of an English teacher with such a conviction? These thoughts were matured and internalized from the experience Ume gained by studying natural science as a Japanese woman in that era at Bryn Mawr. In that sense, one cannot ignore the connection to science that was at the origin of her life as an educator.
Ume had a dream of eventually making the Women's Institute for English Studies a 'true university.' Perhaps she thought she would save science education for that time. Ume's dream was realized half a century later through the dedicated efforts of her successor, Ai Hoshino. Hoshino, who taught English and English literature at the institute, had a background of having re-experienced Ume's science education at Bryn Mawr. When English was considered an enemy language during the war and the institute, which had English education as its pillar, faced a crisis of survival, Hoshino overcame the difficult situation by quickly adding departments of mathematics and physics/chemistry, which led to the birth of the new Tsuda University immediately after the war. What Hoshino achieved was not limited to Tsuda alone, but also played a leading role in the establishment of a 'true' women's university that could not be realized in pre-war Japan. The evaluation of Ume Tsuda should not be completed in Ume's generation alone, but should include the legacy she left behind, the tradition she created, and the influence it had on the world of later generations.
