'i * ^ '^9 ";> c; A v <^ > Of- <<^ ci- . . %,^ ^^%. ■v v .Q^.. .\> '^^.<^- e.. .>' o 0^ ^0 , i- ..^' .^^^ .#' : -t^ " ■> N ^- \^ A^^ ^'^• V v^^ % ^^^ -^^^ 'J^ \ \ x^^ -'"'^ %/ .-^^ .0^^ O : %^ x' 9v-> '' ■-> M ' o:-^ ^-^ .V -N --aS> ,V Oo ^. v^^ a I ^ -0- \ Oo^ ; ^<^% '- >i .^' x\^ "'"'t .0^^' . rc? /- ,-^ ^x^ 7 .6^ ,0>..c'^^" /,■ 'i--' a\ \ L THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN IN JAPAN By MARGARET E. BURTON Notable Women of Modern China Illustrated, ismo, cloth. Net $1.25 The author's earlier work on the general subject of Women's Education in China, indi- cates her ability to treat with peculiar interest and discernment the characters making up this volume of striking biographies. If these women are types to be followed by a great company of like aspirations the future of a nation is assured. l!he Education of Women in China Illustrated. i2mo. cloth. Net $1.25 "Thrilling is a strong word, but not too strong to be used in connection with The Edu- cation of Women in China. To many it will prove a revealing book and doubtless to all, even those well-informed upon the present condition of women. Miss Burton's book will interest all the reading public."— Christian Advocate. Several Graduates of Christian Schools Have Become Kindergartners The Education of Women in Japan BY ^■^ MARGARET EX BURTON l\ Author of "Education of Women in China," " Notable Women of JVIodern China," etc. ILLUSTRATED New York Chicago Toronto Fleming H. Revell Company I/ONPON AND Edinburgh I "2- e.<>^ Copyright, 1914, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY New York: 158 Fifth Avenue Chicago: 125 N. Wabash Ave. Toronto: 25 PJchmond St., W. London: 21 Paternoster Square Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street M 131914 ©C1.A37G361 To my friend AMY ACOCK and all who seek to bring abundant life to the women of Japan. PREFACE The eyes of the Western world are to-day turned toward the countries of the Far East as never before. The startHngly rapid changes which have occurred within the last few years have brought thoughtful people everywhere to a realization of the fact that the great awakened nations of the Orient will play a by no means unimportant part in determining the trend of events in the twentieth century, and even in the years which lie beyond it. Few things are of such vital interest in our time as the forces which are moulding the life of these nations and determining the char- acter of the influence which they will exert. Japan, which was the first of the nations of the Far East to come out of seclusion and has already won her place among the world powers, has frequently been called the leader of the Orient. It is but natural that what Japan is and does should strongly affect the new life and thought of her more recently awakened neighbours. It is with peculiar in- terest, therefore, that those who have at heart the highest welfare of the Orient and the 7 8 Preface world are watching the development of Japan. Will the loss of religious faith and consequent diminution of moral virility which threaten her prevail, and Japan become a blind leader; or will the forces of truth and righteousness conquer and her influence be for uplift and progress ? This question is still to be answered. Of the many factors which will enter into the determination of the answer, one of the most important is the character of the education received by the girls who are to be the mothers and teachers of the nation. Few people in the Western world have realized the strength of woman's influence in Japan; but those who know the life of the nation most intimately tell us that even in olden days the women, who in theory were powerless, in reality greatly influenced the currents of life of their people. Their influence in the home and upon the lives of their children has probably been even greater than that of Western women, for the men have taken no active part in the control of domestic affairs. The influence exerted by the women of Japan, without education, has been so real and great as to make it evi- dent that the educated Japanese woman, who in these new days is facing opportunities of power unknown to her mother, will play a Preface 9 very important part in determining the future character of this still plastic country. All that has tO' do therefore with the life of the woman student of Japan is of vital interest to those who are watching the development of the Sun- rise Kingdom. A brief visit to Japan and a subsequent study of the history and present conditions of woman's life and education in that country have brought the conviction that the present time is one of grave danger and of challenging opportunity. This book is an attempt to share the results of this study with others who are interested in the welfare of the Island Em- pire of the East and the continent which it so strongly influences. M. E. B. Chicago, III. CONTENTS I. The Education of Women in Old Japan .... 15 11. The Beginnings of Modern Education for Women . 33 III. Popularity and Reaction . 51 IV. The Christian Schools for Girls To-day . . . -73 V. Government Education for Women 105 VI. Some Private Schools . • i37 VII. Woman's Life in Modern Japan 166 VIII. The Outlook .... 209 Bibliography .... 253 Appendix 254 Index 257 Illustrations Several Graduates of Christian Schools Have Become Kindergartners . Frontispiece ^ OPPOSITE Sewing and Playing the Koto . Study Hour in the Dormitory A Class in Foreign Housekeeping . A Sewing Class in a Christian School Japanese Girls from American Colleges at the Silver Bay Student Conference of the Young Women's Christian Association A Class in Etiquette .... In the Zoology Laboratory . Summer Dormitory of the Woman's Uni versity at Karuizawa Fencing at Miss Tsuda's School Some Private School Students . Factory Girls of Matsuyama The Young Women's Christian Associa tion of Sendai A Summer Conference of the Young Women's Christian Association of Japan Experiments in Chemistry .... In a Dormitory of the Young Women's Christian Association .... PAGE 24 1, 42 60 y 86 98 114 126 X 144^ 156- 164 v^ 168 1/ 184 v^ 206 ^ 238 ^^^ 244 / THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN IN OLD JAPAN cc npi: HE position of woman in Japan," says Baron Suyematsu, " has always been different, to a significant extent, from that of the same sex in other Asiatic countries." This difference is nowhere more noteworthy than in the attitude of ancient Japan toward the education of women. Whereas in other Oriental lands woman's edu- cation began, broadly speaking, only after the entrance of Western influences, the history of olden times in Japan shows that women played a part in their country's life which would have been impossible had they received no intellectual training. Between the sixth and twelfth centuries B. c. the intellectual life of Japan received a great impetus from contact with the culture of China, and it was at this time, says a recent account of the development of education in Japan, that " female education took its rise almost spontaneously." Among the most fa- 15 i6 Education of Women in Japan mous Japanese authors are women who wrote at this time. As the scholars of Europe during the Middle Ages wrote only in Latin, so at this period in Japan's history the men de- voted their energies to the composition of books modelled on those of China, and left to the women the task of producing true Japa- nese literature. " Men," says Dr. Griffis, '' had expressed political and social custom in law codes. They had striven to tell the story of human action and set it in the form of the literature of knowledge and erudition. The interpreters who came with lighter touch and deeper intuition, and who in the vernacular idiom gave true expression of the spirit of the age, were of the other sex. The males were learned, but stilted or ponderous. Woman's wit changed the situation and gave to the little world of Yamato its belles-lettres. Diaries, novels, pictures of life and manners in vigorous prose flowed from the pen of the women who created the literary language of Japan." The most noted of these women authors is probably Murasaki-shikibu, who lived in the tenth century a. d. She has been called by one of her countrymen the Chaucer of Japan. Dr. Griffis has only praise for her book, " Gengi Monogatari." " Rich in local colour, Education of Women in Old Japan 17 brilliant in description, photographically true to the ruling ideas and customs of the age in a very refined and corrupt Court, this romance is without peer, and its diction is the standard of pure Japanese in the mediaeval age." Another well known writer of this period was Sei-shonagon, also a court lady, the author of ** Makura Zoshi," which has been de- scribed as ** perhaps the most perfect model of the classic literature of Yamato." " Such bril- liant stars of literature as Murasaki-shikibu, Izumi-shikibu, and Sei-shonagon," said a Japa- nese writer recently, " are an everlasting glory in our history." The first written history of Japan is ascribed to a woman. It has often- and truly been said that the part that women took in the foundation of the ancient literature of Japan has no parallel in the history of European nations. Nor were the ability and vigour of women shown only by the writers of this era. " These literary triumphs are not the final, the last, or the greatest of woman's achievements in Japan," Dr. Grififis writes. *' The historic page is rich in tableaux of her heroism, sacri- fice, wit, and wisdom." Many forms of social service were promoted by the women of old Japan. The first orphan asylum known to Japanese history was founded about 760 a. d. 1 8 Education of Women in Japan by a woman, Wake Hiromushi. The Em- press Komyo (701-760) was not only " deeply versed in literature," but also " took special pains in works of charity." The Seyakuin, a hospital for the poor, and the Hiden-in, a home for the friendless, were both founded by her. " These two institutions were looked upon as of great importance as the years went on. At last they became the source of a pure system of charity." The Princess Masako was also a woman whom " the nation admired and respected " for her generous gifts to charity and religion. There is more than a suggestion of modern philanthropic methods in her way of helping the poor, by giving them little farms to culti- vate. Women were the chief promoters of reli- gion at this time. Remembering the seclusion of women in Japan only a very few years ago, it is almost impossible to realize that the com- mittee sent to India to investigate the Bud- dhist religion consisted of three women, Jenshinni, Jenzoni, and Keizenni. Buddhism and Confucianism owe their spread in Japan largely to the efforts of Japanese women. The Princess Masako gave her palace for a monas- tery and established a hospital for priests and nuns. The Gakwanin, a school for the teach- Education of Women in Old Japan 19 ing of the sacred books of China, was founded by the Empress Tachibana, wife of the Em- peror Saga; and in the reigns of the ruling empresses of this period the first of the fa- mous temples of Nikko and the colossal image of Buddha at Nara were erected. Confucian- ism and Buddhism could never have estab- lished themselves so firmly in Japan without the aid of the women. Eight of Japan's ten ruling empresses reigned between 593 and 769 a. d. Dr. Grif- fis tells us that all of them " seem to have been fully equal to the average male occupant of the throne, while several of them were de- cidedly superior." " Altogether," he says, " this group of early empresses is noted for vigour and every name in it shines out clearly." Many of these women rulers were actively in- terested in arts, literature, architecture, and religion. Under their direction agriculture was encouraged, silver and copper money coined, the Kojiki (Records) and Nohungi (Chronicles) written, and the first tiled palace built. There seem to have been practically no limits to the activities of the women of these olden times. " In administration, as reigning Empresses, as Regents, as Dowager empresses, as court ladies in political intrigues, as re- 20 Education of Women in Japan ligious devotees, even on the battlefield, women have played a conspicuous part in the ancient life as it comes down to us in history, litera- ture, and tradition." Such being their attain- ments, a prominent educator of modern Japan points out that "we can fairly believe that they were as well educated as men were, al- though there were not existing any institutions of instruction for women." The earnest efforts of the women to es- tablish Confucianism and Buddhism in their country were ill repaid: in increasing the in- fluences of these religions they were in fact diminishing the power of Japanese women. Mr. Porter tells us that " all writers on Japa- nese education attribute the relatively low position of women in that country for so long a period to the influence of Buddhist and Con- fucian teaching." The fact that both Confucius and Buddha assigned a low position to woman had a far- reaching effect upon the status of woman in Japan. During the feudal ages her life be- came gradually narrower, until, under the shogunate, her power had reached its lowest ebb. The result of Chinese influence upon her position is reflected in " The Great Learning for Women," a treatise prepared by Kaibara, a sage of the period of the Shoguns. Education of Women in Old Japan 21 Confucius said, " Women are as different from men as earth is from heaven." " The Great Learning " reads : " We are told that it was the custom of the ancients, on the birth of a female child, to let it lie on the floor for the space of three days. Even in this may be seen the likening of the man to Heaven, and of the v^oman to earth; and the custom should teach a woman how necessary it is for her in everything to yield to her husband." In another place "The Great Learning" con- tains these reflections on the nature of woman. " The five worst maladies that afliict the fe- male mind are undoubtedly indocihty, dis- content, slander, jealousy, and silHness. These five maladies infest seven or eight out of every ten women, and it is from this that arises the inferiority of women to men. . . . Woman's nature is passive (literally shade). This passiveness, being of the nature of the night, is dark. . . . Such is the stupidity of her character that it is incumbent on her in every particular to distrust herself and to obey her husband." Confucius held that " it is a law of nature that woman should be kept under control of man, and not allowed any will of her own." ** The Great Learning " teaches : " A woman . . . must serve him with all worship and 22 Education of Women in Japan reverence, not despising or thinking lightly of him. The great life-long duty of a woman is obedience. ... A woman should look on her husband as if he were Heaven itself, and never weary of thinking how she may yield to her husband, and thus escape celestial casti- gation." The women rulers of the classical age had by their influence, gifts, and personal devotion done much for the promotion of religion in their country. But ** The Great Learning " taught that woman should not " enter into an irreverent familiarity with the gods, neither should she be constantly occupied in praying. If only she satisfactorily performs her duties as a human being, she may let prayer alone without ceasing to enjoy the divine protec- tion." In view of such estimates of the character and ability of women it was inevitable that lit- tle emphasis should be laid on woman's edu- cation at this time, and that such education as was given should be confined within narrow limits. Confucius declared, " The aim of fe- male education is perfect submission, not culti- vation and development of the mind," and Kaibara echoed, " The only qualities that befit a woman are gentle obedience, chastity, mercy, and quietness." Education of Women in Old Japan 23 The very term commonly used for educa- tion at this time, Shitei no Kyoiku, " the edu- cation of the son and younger brother," indi- cated that women were not expected to have any part in intellectual pursuits. A recent historian has summed up the attitude of the period in these words : " Although the policy of the shogunate burdened poor woman with many cumbersome rules and trying restric- tions, yet it did little in elevating her char- acter and condition or improving her intellect. It established no schools for her, neither did it provide any means for her development. The general public was also apathetic as re- gards woman's education. The best which an ordinary girl could do was to have a few books taught at home, or to go to the terakoya (sewing school). ... A woman was gen- erally excluded from studying Chinese lit- erature, and seldom had the liberty of com- posing Chinese poems, because such studies were supposed to injure her materially by de- priving her of the time which might be em- ployed more usefully for her practical moral culture." The spirit of the times augmented the in- fluence of Chinese ideals in discouraging the education of wonien. It was a militant age, an age of warrior knights (daimyos), each 24 Education of Women in Japan with his loyal band of equally warlike retain- ers (samurai). Scholarship was not highly prized for either men or women. The ideal for men was chivalry (Bushido) ; the ideal for women essentially domestic. " Domesticity guided their education," says Dr. Nitobe. " It may be said that the accomplishments of the women of Old Japan, be they martial or pa- cific in character, were mainly intended for the home, and however far they might roam they never lost sight of the hearth as the centre." The daughters of the knights received in- struction in reading, writing, poetry, Japanese literature, and, in some cases, Chinese. Train- ing was also given in etiquette, music, flower arrangement, the serving of the ceremonial tea, and incense burning. Many were also taught to ride horseback, fence, and handle the long sword or nagi-nata. There were no schools, so this instruction was given by pri- vate teachers who came to the homes. The daughters of the samurai were given much the same education, but as many samurai families could not afford to employ private tutors, their little girls usually went to a teacher's home. The priests and physicians seem to have done the major part of such teaching in the intervals of other duties; some- o by: Education of Women in Old Japan 25 times a woman who had spent most of her life in service to some noble family would, on leaving her position, take a few girls for in- struction. The subjects studied by the little daughters of daimyos and samurai may seem to have had very little relation to each other; and at first sight it may be difficult to see any con- nection between the ability to ride a horse and use a sword and the domestic ideal of woman's education. But because it was a warhke time the domestic duties of women included some things which would not have been required of them in times of peace. " While fathers and husbands were absent in field or camp, the government of the household was left en- tirely in the hands of mothers and wives. The education of the young, even their defence, was entrusted to them. The warlike exer- cises of women, . . . were primarily to en- able them intelligently to direct and follow the education of their children." Miss Bacon gives an incident of her life in Japan which illustrates the fact that military service was often a very real part of the life of a Japanese woman. " Upon one occasion I was visiting a Japa- nese lady, who knew the interest that I took in seeing and procuring the old-fashioned em- 26 Education of Women in Japan broidered kimonos, which are now entirely out of style in Japan, and which can only be obtained at second-hand clothing stores or private sales. My friend said that she had just been shown an assortment of old gar- ments which were offered at private sale by the heirs of a lady, recently deceased, who had once been a maid of honour in a daimyo's house. The clothes were still in the house, and were brought in, in a great basket, for my inspection. ... As we turned over the beautiful fabrics, a black broadcloth garment at the bottom of the basket aroused my curiosity, and I pulled it out and held it up for closer inspection. A curious garment it was, bound with white, and with a great white crest applique on the middle of the back. Curious white stripes gave the coat a military look, and it seemed appropriate rather to the wardrobe of some two-sworded warrior than to that of a gentlewoman of the old type. To the question, ' How did such a coat come to be in such a place?' the older lady of the company — one to whom the old days were still the natural order and the new customs an exotic growth — explained that the garment rightfully belonged in the wardrobe of any lady-in-waiting in a daimyo's house, for it was made to wear in case of fire or attack when the Education of Women in Old Japan 27 men were away and the women were expected to guard the premises. Further search among the relics of the past brought to light the rest of the costume; silk hakama or full kilted trousers; a stiff, manlike black silk cap bound with a white band; and a spear cover of broad- cloth, with a great white crest upon it, like the one on the broadcloth coat. These made up the uniform which must be donned in time of need by the ladies of the palace or the castle for the defense of their lord's property. They had been folded away for twenty years among the embroidered robes, to come to light at last for the purpose of showing to a foreigner a phase of the old life that was so much a mat- ter of course to the older Japanese that it never occurred to them even to mention it to a stranger." The children of poorer people, merchants, farmers, artisans, etc., received much less edu- cation than those of the nobility and their re- tainers. The little girls in the cities often learned the elements of reading and writing, and sometimes spent much time on music and dancing, not infrequently becoming teachers of these subjects. In the country, however, life left little time for study of any kind, and even the most elementary education was un- usual. 28 Education of Women in Japan As a result of the training they received, physical courage, unquestioning loyalty, and an almost unbelievable power of self-renuncia- tion characterized the w^omen of the warrior classes. They received few opportunities for mental development, and their activities were limited within very narrow social boundaries, but the force of character of not a few made them very real factors, not only in their homes but in the nation. '' Outwardly without the slightest power or influence," says Miss Tsuda, " we know women to have been the secret agents in political intrigues, even official mes- sengers of the feudal lords in cases where woman's wit, mingled with woman's reserve, served better than man's boldness and bravery." The victory of the great battle of Sekigahara is said to have been largely due to the quick action of the wife of one of the generals, who discovered the enemy's plan of attack, and succeeded in communicating it to her husband. At a later time a woman, Matsuo Tase, was one of the most active of the revolutionists who planned the overthrow of the shogunate and the restoration of the Emperor to power. Not content with giving her two sons to the revolutionary army, she herself performed a most difficult and dangerous service as a go- between in the correspondence among the revo- Education of Women in Old Japan 29 lutlonary leaders. The part taken by samurai women in the defence of Wakamutsa Castle is well known to students of Japan's modern history, and it is said that the Marchioness Oyama, though but a little child at the time, can tell many a thrilling story of events in which she was no mere spectator. It would not be just to expect intellectual prowess in the women of an age like this. Yet there were some who proved themselves capable of notable achievements even along this line. Ono-no-tsu, who served in the household of the great general Nobunaga, and later in that of his successor Hideyoshi (sixteenth century), was a woman of much ability in both art and literature. She was a successful portrait painter, and has the honour of being the origi- nator of the form of song known as " Joruri," a story told in poetical language and set to music. The wife of Kaibara Ekken (seventeenth century), the author of " The Great Learning for Women,'* was an exceedingly able woman, and is said to have been of much assistance to her husband in his literary work. Some have even maintained that she herself was the author of '' The Great Learning." Another woman who lived at about the same time, 30 Education of Women in Japan Otakasaka Isa, the wife of the most noted student of Chinese literature in that period, was the author of a treatise for women on education, etiquette, and similar subjects. The daughter of Bakin, Japan's most famous novelist, had no small share in her father's achievements. The latter part of his great book, " The Hakkenden," was dictated to her after he became blind, and the whole work was made complete by her. One of the well known historians of this period was a woman, Araki Rai. She was also noted for her poetry. Another writer of poetry was Inouye Tsu, who is said to have written remarkable poems while still a mere child. A diary which she kept on a journey to Yedo is perhaps the first book of travels written by a Japanese woman. It contains several interesting poems descriptive of the things she saw. Kago no Chiya was the origi- nator of a new style of short poem, and the author of many verses so familiar as to have become almost proverbial. Many of the lit- erary productions of the women of this period have been worthy to endure, and not a few are " vigorous in style, clear in thought, and indicate a wide acquaintance with litera- ture." S^udy for study's sake was not wholly un- Education of Women in Old Japan 31 known even among the women of an age of chivalry. Matsuo Tase, of whom mention has already been made, when over fifty years old, an age at which most Japanese are inclined to consider active pursuits a thing of the past, became a student of Hirata Atsutane, one of the most famous scholars of the time. Her love of literature was so great that she was wiUing to part with a portion of her marriage dowry in order to possess a complete set of the works of Murasaki Shikibu, which were then very rare and expensive. Takashimo Bunho was another scholar of the nineteenth century. Miss Tsuda says, " She not only was highly learned, but was accomplished in all the feminine arts of her day. Six hundred women came to her as her pupils and disciples, and the powerful and learned court ladies from the palace of the Shogun begged instruction from her. The influence she had in her day was phenomenal." Such women were however exceptional, and it is noteworthy, as Miss Tsuda points out, that the few who achieved distinction were, in most cases, wives or daughters of Hterary men, who owed their environment far greater opportunities for study than the cus- toms and teachings of the time ordinarily per- mitted women. For the average woman of 32 Education of Women in Japan feudal Japan educational privileges were few and limited, and, on the whole, at no time in the history of the Sunrise Kingdom has woman's life been so circumscribed as under the rule of the Shogun. II THE BEGINNINGS OF MODERN EDU- CATION FOR WOMEN THE world has seldom seen so remark- able a transformation as that caused by Commodore Perry's insistent knock upon the closed door of Japan. A mediaeval nation, isolated, feudalistic, and unprogressive, suddenly threw open its doors to international intercourse, established a constitutional mon- archy, and set itself to achieve universal edu- cation and equality before the law for all citizens. The young Emperor Mutsuhito, (since his death called Meiji), who was re- stored from a nominal emperorship to a throne of actual power, proved to be a thoroughly progressive and broad-minded man, under whose guidance the new Japan soon began to be a reality. The spirit of "The Era of Enlighten- ment " was wholly favourable to the education of women. The first schools for girls were established by the missionaries with the sym- pathy, and often the cooperation, of the influ- 33 34 Education of Women in Japan ential Japanese. It was at the earnest request of an old Japanese physician, who wished his Httle grand-daughter to receive a modern edu- cation, that Mrs. Hepburn of the Dutch Re- formed Mission started in 1867 what was the nucleus of the first school for girls in Japan. A little group of five Japanese girls met with her, in her dining-room, until other duties made it necessary for her to give them into the care of Miss Kidder. Under Miss Kid- der's direction the little class grew to twenty- two members, and through the kindness of the Japanese governor of Yokohama Miss Kidder was able to secure quarters in the offi- cial section of the city. " The governor assisted me in many ways," she wrote later, " so that the school was no expense to the mission. Among other things, he presented me with a closed jinrikisha, remarking that the distance was too great for walking, and he would do himself the pleasure of giving me a conveyance." As this class grew, it became evident to Miss Kidder that the most valuable results could not be obtained in a day school, and in 1874, with the aid of the governor of Yokohama and the American consul, she ob- tained the piece of land on which was built the girls' boarding school, now known as Ferris Seminary. Beginnings of Modern Education 35 The example set by Mrs. Hepburn and Miss Kidder was soon followed by many others. Within the twelve years following the or- ganization of Mrs. Hepburn's little class, girls' schools had been established by the Woman's Union, Presbyterian, Congregational, Baptist, Methodist, and Episcopalian missionary so- cieties. Yokohama, Tokyo, Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto, and Nagasaki each had one or more schools for girls under missionary aus- pices. The pioneers in Christian educational work for women in Japan did not wholly escape the prejudice and suspicion which in other Orien- tal countries had made the task of building up girls' schools so discouraging. A few years after the opening of Ferris Seminary the father of one of the girls from the interior presented himself at the school and asked if he might see the building. " His conduct seemed somewhat peculiar, for he wanted to be shown every nook and corner. Finally he addressed the [Japanese] matron in the most confidential manner, say- ing that he had been told by a Buddhist priest that foreigners at the school where his daughter was had been sent out from their country to obtain a very precious drug, which could only be obtained from the bodies of 36 Education of Women in Japan Japanese girls; that it was very costly, and that was why they could put up such fine schools and take pupils at such low rates. * Tell me truly,' said he, * for you too are a Japanese; you must know of this, if it is true. Do these foreigners attach a machine to the bodies of the pupils while they sleep ? ' '* Stories such as this are, however, conspicu- ous by their rarity. The rapid growth of the great majority of the girls' schools of Japan proved that the cause of woman's education was regarded with genuine interest and ap- proval by many Japanese. The Kyoritsu Jo Gakko, established by the Woman's Union Missionary Society in 1871, outgrew its original home within three years, and it was necessary to erect a second building in 1874. The Congregational school in Kobe num- bered seventeen pupils within three weeks after the arrival of the missionaries who had it in charge. When, a year later, the erection of a building was commenced, many felt that the provision for thirty boarding pupils was much too large, and none doubted that it would be ample for years to come. But within three years after this building was opened, one of the teachers wrote, " Our school is as full as it can be, and several applicants must wait Beginnings of Modem Education 37 till the new building is complete which is now going up." The growth of the Methodist school in Tokyo, which began work in a corner of an old temple, soon justified the purchase of a piece of ground on which a more suitable school home was built in 1877. A letter writ- ten less than a year after the new building was entered, reads : " We now have twenty-one girls in the school, and our dining-room has become too small. We are about to turn the room which was designed for our parlour into a sleeping-room for some of the girls, until such time as the society shall enable us to build larger." The Roman Catholic Christianity which was brought to Japan during the sixteenth century left behind it, because of its political character, an intense hatred of all things Christian, which was peculiarly strong in the part of the coun- try which had been most affected by the po- litical activities of the Jesuits. Nagasaki, which had been for several years the seat of Catholic power, was regarded as one of the most difficult fields for Christian work because of the deep prejudice against Christianity which had never died out. When, therefore, two young women of the Methodist Mission were sent there to establish a school for girls, 38 Education of Women in Japan those " whose experience and observation gave weight to their opinions, were not tardy in ex- pressing their conviction that many years would pass before any Japanese in Nagasaki would consent to place a daughter in a Chris- tian school." The school opened with one girl, whose family lived outside of Nagasaki; but within less than four years, in spite of the publication of pamphlets and poems attacking the school and its teachers, there were over seventy pupils, thirty of whom were residents of Nagasaki, and it was reported that only lack of accommodation kept the number from being twice as great. Examples of the encouragingly rapid growth of the pioneer schools might be multiplied. It is interesting, too, to notice that in the ex- ceptional cases where growth was slow, the lack of success seemed to be largely due to the location of the school in a community composed mainly of poor people. Mrs. Blan- chet wrote from St. Margaret's School, Tokyo, in 1879: "Our girls' school opened a year ago, and there have been so many ob- stacles and annoyances of one kind or another to contend with in our efforts to increase the size of it, that we began to feel quite doubtful as to whether or not we could build it up at all in this neighbourhood, which is so un- Beginnings of Modern Education 39 favourable to it, owing largely to our living among a poor class of people who are indif- ferent to the education of their children." The earliest pupils in the missionary schools for girls in China were homeless little waifs, or children from homes so poor that the par- ents were willing to let them go to the foreign schools because food and clothing were there supplied- No other girls could be secured. In the pioneer schools of Japan provision was made for orphans and children of the very poor, but, from the very first, daughters from families of wealth and influence were among the pupils. Mrs. Hepburn's class was started because of the desire of a physician to have his grand-daughter receive a foreign education, and the wife of the governor of Yokohama was a member of the school which grew out of that class. The young wife and little daughter of a man of high rank, who had been a daimyo in feudal Japan, were among the first pupils of the Congregational missionaries in Kobe; and in Osaka, one of the highest officials enrolled his daughter in the school of the same mission in its earliest days. Many schools were able from the beginning to meet at least a part of their expenses from school fees. A report of Ferris Seminary reads : " Boarders pay $3.00 and day scholars 40 Education of Women in Japan $i.oo per month. The pupils furnish their clothing, bedding, books, and stationery; while rooms, fuel, lights, food, tuition, washing, and care of health are given them." " Pupils pay in whole or in part," reads an account of the Tokyo Presbyterian school in 1876. When the Kobe Congregational school was opened Miss Talcott wrote, " We have planned for twenty-five or thirty girls, and hope to be able to take them at three dollars a month." Of the forty-five girls in the Doshisha girls* school in Kyoto, in 1882, twenty-seven paid the entire amount of board and tuition and seven paid a part of their expenses. Very few schools were without some financial support from their pupils. Generous gifts to the schools were evidence of the interest and confidence of the people. Nearly $800 was given by Japanese for the first building of the school at Kobe, and the second building was more than half paid for by Japanese money. The Congregational missionaries at Osaka were strongly urged by the Japanese to es- tablish a girls' school in that city. A success- ful teacher in one of the government schools voluntarily offered to resign his position and give his services to such a school, and the members of the Congregational churches of Beginnings of Modern Education 41 the city promised to assume all financial re- sponsibility for it, with the exception of the salaries of the missionaries. " We do not propose to call upon our friends for money," reads the first letter sent to America regarding the plan for this school. True to this promise money for buildings and running expenses was furnished wholly by the Japanese. Another Christian girls' school almost en- tirely supported by Japanese was the Sakurai- jo-gakko of Tokyo. In 1876, Mrs. Sakurai, an able Japanese woman, gathered a little group of girls into her home for study. For two years she and her husband, who aided her with both time and money, carried the work alone; but by 1878 the growth of the school was such that Mrs. Sakurai asked the Presbyterian Mission to cooperate with her. From this time on the school was partly sup- ported by the mission; but Mr. and Mrs. Sakurai continued their interest and help, and Mrs. Sakurai remained the principal until re- moval to Osaka made it necessary for her to give up the work. The course of study in the Christian schools was necessarily simple at first. The little class of day pupils which developed into the Kobe Congregational school began with a two-hour session. " We open with singing and prayer 42 Education of Women in Japan in Japanese," Miss Talcott wrote; "then give an hour or more to English reading and con- versation, closing with Old Testament stories in Japanese and another hymn." " The Peep of Day " was used as a Reader. The curricula of the boarding schools could be much broader. Ferris Seminary reported in 1875, " The branches taught are the com- mon school branches in English, with as much of Chinese and Japanese as is indispensable to educated women." In the same year the girls of the Tokyo Presbyterian school were studying '' natural philosophy, history, physi- ology, moral science, grammar, arithmetic, geography, English conversation, and composi- tion, etc." The work of the pioneer schools was in- evitably done under serious disadvantages. " When the work was commenced in 1871," reads a report of the Kyoritsu Jo Gakko of Yokohama, " no ' Readers ' or other school books had been translated into the Japanese language." Moreover, many of the women in charge of the schools had had no opportunity to learn Japanese before beginning school work, and were therefore greatly hampered. Nothing could be much more unsatisfactory than teaching done through an interpreter, but some of the teachers were forced to use this X Beginnings of Modern Education 43 method in the early days. Mrs. Carrothers wrote in 1875, " ^^ teach by means of trans- lators, the foreign teacher giving the pronun- ciation only, and the Japanese giving the translation and explanation." Word came from this school four years later, " This work could be enlarged greatly if . . . these ladies could give more time to studying the language, and thus largely increase their usefulness." As the schools developed, however, the work was graded and much more satisfactory re- sults were possible. In 1882 the Congrega- tional school at Osaka reported the graduation of four girls, who had completed a four years' course, and at the same time the school of the same mission in Kyoto announced the graduation of eight girls who had also finished a four years' course. Girls from these schools who wished to continue their studies went to the Kobe school, which at this time had a preparatory course of three years, and five years of " seminary studies." This school graduated a class of twelve girls in 1882, all of them professing Christians. An article on the Kobe school in the Hiogo Nezvs of December, 1882, makes the following state- ment regarding the course of study followed at this time. " Teaching is carried on both in 44 Education of Women in Japan Japanese and English, and it will be noticed . . . what great proficiency some of the pupils have attained in the alien language. The school course extends over five years, and in addition to the usual elementary branches, em- braces Chinese, Japanese, and general history, the history of civilization, algebra, geometry, natural and mental philosophy, and composi- tion." " The field of woman's education was opened up and tilled by missionaries," Pro- fessor Fujisawa of the Imperial University stated in a recent address. But the example of missionary educators, and the knowledge of the importance attached to woman's educa- tion in other countries, soon stimulated the progressive government of the new Japan to make provision for the education of the women of the nation. General Kuroda, head of the Colonial Department, was greatly im- pressed, during two brief visits to America, with the influence exerted by the women of the United States. His conviction that their strength and ability were the results of their education, led him to write a letter to his government emphasizing the importance of education in connection with the colonization of the wilder parts of Japan. To send igno- rant men into these new colonies would be a Beginnings of Modern Education 45 great mistake, he said, and therefore the edu- cation of women was of primary importance since the training of children under ten years was entirely entrusted to them. He main- tained that to educate women was to elevate the whole nation. He reminded the govern- ment that young men had been sent abroad for study with very satisfactory results, and ex- pressed his strong belief that the time had now come to send a delegation of young women to America for education. The government adopted this suggestion, and in 1871 five young girls, ranging in age from eight to fif- teen, were authorized to go tO' the United States, there to be educated at the expense of their government. Before they left they were summoned to the capital and, in accordance with an old custom, each was given a piece of beautiful crimson crepe, in token of the Em- peror's good will. The Emperor indicated his sympathy with efforts to promote woman's education by his declaration, " Females hitherto have had no position socially, because it was considered that they were without understanding; but if edu- cated and intelligent they should have due respect." Marquis Ito, a member of the World's Embassy, in whose party these first Japanese women students travelled to America, 46 Education of Women in Japan speaking in San Francisco upon their arrival, expressed the sentiments of the leading men of Japan in the words : " By educating our women we hope to insure greater intelligence in future generations. With this end in view our maidens have already commenced to come to you for their education." Upon their arrival in America these little girls were entrusted to the care of the Japa- nese minister in Washington, Mr. Mori, to whom was given the responsibility of decid- ing where and how they should receive their education. Mr. Mori was primarily eager that his wards might become acquainted with the home life of the United States, that their minds might be " fully stored with all the kinds of information which will make them true ladies." He was successful in finding de- sirable homes for them, and the results of their life in America were all that could be desired. The two oldest girls did not remain long enough to go through college, but of the other three, two graduated from Vassar, one of them being president of her class in her senior year, and the other attended Bryn Mawr. One is now the Marchioness Oyama, one the wife of Admiral Uriu, and the third. Miss Ume Tsuda, is the founder and principal of the English Institute for Girls in Tokyo. Beginnings of Modern Education 47 In September, 1871, the Department of Edu- cation was first established, and in September of the following year the Educational Code was issued. That the education of women was included in the plans of the Department is shown in the Preamble, which stated : '' It is intended that henceforth universally (without any distinction of class or sex) in a village there shall be no home without learning, and in a house no individual without learning. . . . (As for higher learning, that depends upon the capacity of individuals, but it shall be re- garded as a neglect of duty on the part of fathers or elder brothers, should they fail to send young children to elementary schools without distinction of sex.) '' At the close of 1873, 28 per cent, of the children of school age were attending the 12,588 elementary schools which had been es- tablished. One-third of the pupils were girls. In 1872 the first school for girls under the auspices of the government was established in Tokyo. This was known as the Tokyo Female School, and offered a six years' course to girls who wished to pursue their studies beyond the elementary school. '' Fourteen to seventeen hours a week in reading, mathe- matics, penmanship, composition, dictation, English, industrial arts, music, and gymnastics 48 Education of Women in Japan were given." A preparatory course of two years was also offered. During the same year a girls* school was established by the local government of the Fu of Kyoto, and within the next five years similar schools were established in the Ken of Kagashima, Yamanashi, Tokushima, Gifu, and Tochigo. The first normal school for women was opened on November 30th, 1875. The Empress, the Minister of the Interior, the Vice Minister of Education, and other dignitaries manifested their interest and approval by being present at the opening exercises. The Empress made an address on this occasion, in which she ex- pressed the hope that she might " eventually see the beautiful fruit of female education appear in profusion throughout the whole of the land." In 1877 the Tokyo Female School was incorporated in this normal school. The year 1877 marks the beginning of a temporary decline in the interest felt in woman's education, and indeed in education in general. The Educational Code of 1872 had instituted such radical changes that a reaction was not surprising. Moreover, the depleted condition of the treasury at this time led to retrenchment along many lines, and especially in the educational department. An Beginnings of Modern Education 49 American newspaper published in Tokyo spoke in strong terms of the effect of this re- actionary step. " Many of the most promis- ing schools have been dispersed, and no ar- rangements for their revival, under either native or foreign guidance, have been pos- sible. The element from which some of the finest results were anticipated — that of the cul- ture of young women — has faded almost out of sight. It is probably within the limit to say that the efficiency of the department is less than half what it was a year ago. And this is not precisely on account of the mere fact of money withdrawn, but because of the loss of prestige, and the abrupt derangement of plans, the successful execution of which re- quired a steady and persistent evolution and a sustained encouragement at all times from the highest sources of authority." In 1879 ^ decree was issued, doing away with compulsory education. It was soon evi- dent, however, that this was unwise and in 1880 education was again made compulsory, and the time was lengthened from sixteen months to three years. Within the next few years several girls' schools were established, and in 1883 there were seven public high schools for girls with a registration of 350. On the whole, modern education for women 50 Education of Women in Japan in Japan, whether under missionary or gov- ernment auspices, had a beginning which gave good ground for assurance of its complete ulti- mate success, whatever problems and vicissi- tudes later years might bring. Ill POPULARITY AND REACTION ENCOURAGING as was the interest manifested in woman's education in the early days of the new Japan, the en- thusiasm of " the eighties " was a surprise even to the most optimistic. In every part of Japan Christian girls' schools grew with al- most disconcerting rapidity. Graham Semi- nary, Tokyo, reported in 1888 that sixty girls were refused admission in a single term, and Miss Watson, of the Tokyo Methodist school, wrote in the same year, " We cannot take an- other girl, though they come every day. When we say we have no room they ask, * When will you have? Please put our names down and send us word when we can come.' " The fourteen pupils who were enrolled in the Osaka Presbyterian school at its beginning in January, 1887, had increased to nearly seventy by the end of April, and inquiries re- garding the work of the school were so nu- merous as to make it necessary to hang a sign on the outside of the building stating that 51 52 Education of Women in Japan visitors could be received on only two days a week. Several families moved into the neigh- bourhood of the school from distant parts of the city, in order that their daughters might be enrolled among its students. The Congre- gational school of the same city, which had an enrolment of sixty-five in 1885, reported 236 in 1887 and 368 in 1888. Everywhere the story was the same. " The school closed a year ago this last spring with eighty scholars," Miss Wainwright wrote from Kyoto, " and through the summer we had a new school building built; but the first day of the fall term it was too small, as 140 came." Kobe College was reported full to overflowing in 1883, and the addition built in 1884 proved so inadequate that it was necessary to rent a nearby house in 1885. Two years later Miss Searle wrote that they were cramped and crowded in every way, and were forced steadily to refuse ad- mission to " girls who were ready to pay every cent of board and tuition." Again a new building was erected, and again the addi- tional space was soon shown to be so inade- quate that the Japanese friends of the school raised money to purchase another piece of land and erect a new dormitory. Examples might be multiplied to show how, in spite of enlarged equipment, the schools Popularity and Reaction 53 were wholly unable to keep pace with the de- mands made upon them. Even in the part of Japan where prejudice against Christianity had been strongest the missionaries were overwhelmed with applications for admission to existing schools, and requests that new ones be established. The Methodist school in Naga- saki was full to overflowing, and at the ur- gent request of the people of neighbouring cities several new schools were established. The people of Fukuoka, a city of about 60,000 inhabitants, promised Miss Gheer that if she would open a school for girls there she might have perfect freedom to teach Christianity, and they guaranteed her seventy pupils at once. In 1887 it was reported that this school was in successful operation, and was " com- posed of the girls and women of the samurai, the most intelligent class in Japan." Miss Watson wrote from Tokyo in 1886: " There is a call for a girls' school in Sendai, the third largest city in the empire, . . . also at Nagoya, the fourth largest city. In these two places no scholarships would be required; only a foreign lady to organize and superin- tend the school. The people who live there are among the wealthier or samurai class." A later letter tells of a similar urgent plea from Yonezawa, whose people offered to fur- 54 Education of Women in Japan nish a building, and meet all the running ex- penses of the school, if only a foreign teacher would come. An account of the establishment of the Con- gregational girls' school at Niigata gives striking evidence of the eagerness for educa- tion of Japanese girls themselves, and shows the attitude of the leading men toward woman's education. "A year and a half ago, several of the most liberal minded gentlemen of this city resolved to make the attempt to start a girls' school in Niigata. In this province female education has been, hitherto, not only neglected, but even, in some instances, dis- couraged by most violent measures, — an in- stance of which is a series of tragedies which occurred in a neighbouring city. Soon after the subject of a girls' school began to be agi- tated in that city, itself really an educational centre from which progressive movements might be expected to start, four young ladies banded themselves together in the firm resolve to obtain an education or die in the attempt, each one binding herself by a solemn vow that in event of her failing to obtain her relatives' consent, after a prolonged and earnest effort, she would commit suicide. After vainly for several months presenting their requests for education, two of the petitioners fulfilled their Popularity and Reaction 55 vows. The third was driven, by severe per- secutions, into temporary insanity. The fourth is now in this city, enjoying an education which had been procured at such terrible cost. Such was the feeling toward female education when our school had begun to exist only in the hearts and thoughts of a few men who had the gift of looking into the future. " The first attempt to start a school failed ; funds could not be raised; parents were not prepared to send their daughters to school, and especially to a school whose principal and several of whose founders were Christians. But the movement whose beginning seemed so inauspicious slowly grew in favour, and in May, 1887, the school was actually started under the patronage of the governor, vice- governors, chief justices, and other most in- fluential men of the province, who assumed the financial support of the school, giving largely themselves, and raising much money by travelling through the province and soliciting gifts. ... A new school building has already become an imperative necessity, and a dormi- tory was quite essential. The necessary funds, about 3000 yen, were pledged by the Japanese, of which 2500 yen have already been paid in." The willingness of the Japanese to meet the expenses of schools for girls, was one of the 56 Education of Women in Japan most encouraging evidences of the favour with which woman's education was regarded. " We would emphasize this fact," Dr. De Forest wrote in an urgent appeal for more missionaries, " that you are not now asked to build and furnish schoolhouses, supply native teachers, pay annual deficiencies, etc., but sim- ply to furnish and support lady teachers to work with sympathetic Japanese in giving the girls of Japan a Christian education. The ripe opportunity consists in this, — that not only Christian churches, but non-Christian philanthropists are looking to Christianity as the only force they know of that will lift woman out of her ignorance and degradation and enable her to exert such an influence in the home as the women of Christian lands do." Free scholarships became almost wholly un- necessary. " They are only admitting such new ones as can pay their way," a visitor to the Nagasaki Methodist school reported in 1884. Miss Hampton wrote from Hakodate in 1888, " Since last September we have ad- mitted no girls to be supported by the school. Then we received one who had been promised a place a year before." Board and tuition in the Osaka Presbyterian school was sixty dol- lars a year, but an account of the school re- ported that this rate, " though higher than in Popularity and Reaction 57 similar schools in the city, instead of repelling pupils, had drawn them from the highest classes in society." The personnel of the schools was also cause for encouragement. From the Nagasaki Methodist school Miss Everding wrote of the pupils in the day school department, '' The pleasing feature about these day scholars is that they are the daughters of Nagasaki mer- chants, who, a few years ago, would not think of sending a daughter to any school, much less a Christian one. We have had several such applications from the city of Nagasaki, and from surrounding places." Requests for new schools came largely from the influential samurai class. Many official families were represented in the schools. " Among our num- ber are the wives and daughters of several officials, and the daughter of a Buddhist priest," reads the first annual report of the Congregational school in Niigata. Miss Colby of the Congregational school of Osaka wrote : " The city is divided into four parts, for easier government, and the mayor of our fourth part sends his two daughters, the governor of the Osaka Fu sends an adopted daughter, and about every office and condition of life under that is represented in the school. We have never sought the higher classes, but they have 58 Education of Women in Japan sent their daughters, after careful official in- spection." The nine-year-old daughter of the governor of Morioka was a member of the Hakodate Methodist school, and among those enrolled in the Tokyo Presbyterian school were " children from some of the best families in the city, . . . such as those of Arimori Mori, of the Imperial Cabinet, in charge of the Department of Education." Prominent men manifested their approval of the Christian schools for girls in numer- ous ways. Miss Benton wrote of a judge of Yokohama who, when asked whether a vacant house belonging to him could be rented for a school, not only gave a lease for the building but offered, if the school prospered, to build a house particularly for it. Professor Toyama, a professor in the Imperial University, pub- lished articles in the Japan Weekly Mail, strongly emphasizing the fundamental impor- tance of woman's education, and expressing the belief that Christian missionaries were the best possible teachers for Japanese girls. " What is wanted," he wrote, " is that female education should be undertaken by European and American ladies. Nothing short of such contact and association can accomplish a radi- cal reform in the character of Japanese women. But it is evident that Japan cannot afford to Popularity and Reaction 59 send her girls abroad to be educated, or to employ a sufficient number of foreign ladies in her schools. Her best hope lies in Chris- tian missionaries." One of the very interest- ing indications of the interest felt in Chris- tian schools was a visit paid to the Mary L. Colby School by a special messenger of the Emperor, sent because of the impression made upon His Majesty by the appearance of the students of this school whom he had seen on the streets. Closely akin to the interest in Occidental education for girls was the desire that mar- ried women, whose home duties prevented them from becoming regular pupils in a school, might nevertheless have an opportunity to learn the language and accomplishments of American and English women. Largely through the instrumentality of Professor Toyama, a " Ladies' Institute " was established in Osaka in 1887. The work was financially supported by prominent men of the city, and more than a hundred women, the wives and daughters of officials, professional men, bank- ers, and merchants, were soon studying Eng- lish, foreign sewing, and fancy work under the guidance of English and American mis- sionaries. A class of sixty women, the majority of 6o Education of Women in Japan whom were the wives of officials, met with Miss Davis of Kobe each afternoon to study English. Practically all of these women also devoted an hour each afternoon to Bible study under Miss Davis' direction. Miss Milliken conducted a similar class of forty women in Tokyo. "As you know," Miss Milliken wrote, " young Japan is all alive on the sub- ject of the ' education of women,' just now, and many of the progressive young men in the capital are eager to send their wives to school. These young wives and mothers from Bancho families are a class of people we have long been anxious to reach. They come from nine to twelve, and study the Bible and Eng- lish. I never saw more enthusiastic pupils, nor did livelier teaching." A letter written shortly after this told of a society of about twenty women, mainly wives and daughters of offi- cials, who had organized for the purpose of " learning foreign housekeeping and man- ners." The adoption of European costume by the Empress, and her proclamation to the women of Japan recommending them to follow her example, caused an amusing demand for in- struction in all things pertaining to foreign feminine apparel. Their Majesties' visit to Osaka created much excitement among the b/) ZL U Popularity and Reaction 6i upper class women, who were all eager to wel- come the Empress in the style of dress which she had recommended, and for a time the mis- sionaries were almost overwhelmed with calls from those in search of knowledge regarding foreign clothes. *' We show them all our things," said Mrs. Gulick, '' from our best bon- net to our least article of underwear, give them patterns, and show them how to put the garments together, ... try on and fit and alter and baste, and teach them how to sew the seams, how to use the sewing machine, make button holes, etc." The wearing of for- eign clothes proved almost as difficult as the making of them. " The women had to be taught from the very foundation of every- thing, even to walk in their new shoes." Miss Daughaday wrote of being requested to visit a government school the day before the Im- perial party was expected, that she might dress all the women teachers in their new cos- tumes, and thus ensure the correctness of every detail. In view of the intense interest in all things Occidental at this time, it was but natural that the enthusiasm for woman's education should have been most strongly felt by the Christian schools which were in charge of Western women. Government and public schools for 62 Education of Women in Japan girls were indeed prosperous during this period, but they do not seem to have experi- enced any such sudden and conspicuous in- crease of popularity as that which almost exhausted the resources of all mission schools. It is perhaps not surprising that this period of extreme popularity was succeeded by a time of reaction. A spirit of conservatism began to manifest itself during the latter part of the decade, and the education of women was one of the first points of attack. A marked decrease of attendance in the mis- sion schools gave convincing evidence of a change of attitude. No longer did the teach- ers write of overcrowded conditions, and the necessity of turning away eager applicants. Instead, reports contained such items as these : " The number in attendance at this school has not been so great as last year. . . . This de- crease in numbers has been noted in all the mission schools in Tokyo." " Like the other schools, the one in Kyoto has been smaller in numbers during the year." " The reaction against woman's education still continues," etc. A stationary record was the best that could be hoped for. " Summer vacation is over," wrote Miss Milliken of the Presby- terian mission in Tokyo, " and school has Popularity and Reaction 63 opened with just about the same number of pupils we had last year. This is as much as we could expect." Many of those who permitted their daugh- ters to attend the schools were not willing to have them spend any considerable length of time in acquiring an education. An article in Life and Light for Women in 1893 reads : *' Many of our most promising pupils, within a year or two of graduation, have been taken from school to spend six months or more in learning housekeeping, as a preparation for a very early marriage. The parents were abundantly able to support them at school." From the Tsukiji Methodist school of Tokyo, Miss Spencer wrote: ''The class of 1891 numbered seventeen ... of whom five were paying pupils, and twelve on scholarships. . . . Only one of the paying scholars continued her studies at Aoyama. This will show the re- cent reaction in sentiment regarding woman's education." The annual report of the Con- gregational school in Kyoto for 1892 showed the strength of the protest against advanced education in that part of the country. '' The growing sentiment among our patrons that the course of study was too long for the girls who do not intend to become teachers led to the adoption of a new course in the spring of 64 Education of Women in Japan 1892, which yields to this demand by cutting down the old preparatory and regular courses each one year." The friendliness of those in authority, which had been so cordial during the eighties, was much less marked in the following decade. " We have not been called upon this year by so large a number of government officials as usual," Miss Daughaday wrote from Osaka. " This is due, no doubt, to a reaction in the sentiment of the people against foreigners and foreign customs. The conservative element is more outspoken than it has been for many years." The lack of cordiality of the govern- ment was illustrated at an educational exhibit in Nagasaki. Miss Russell sent samples of the work done by students in the Methodist school, but although her exhibit was given space, the government did not award it a prize, since it did not recognize mission schools. Rival efforts of Japanese educators seemed in some cases to proceed from a spirit of opposi- tion. A letter from Miss Gunnison of Kyoto reads, " One of the leaders in educational cir- cles has set himself to destroy our school if possible, and with this end in view he has started another school for girls quite near us; and among his pupils are girls who would come to us had he not prejudiced them against Popularity and Reaction 65 Christianity when they were in the school of which he is principal." Even the Japanese workers in the schools were not wholly free from a spirit of antag- onism. From Fukuoka Miss Leeds wrote, " The feeling existing in school last June, when we closed, was not the most pleasant, and during vacation we felt sure that no im- provement in that direction had been made." " It is rather hard for a foreigner to get near to Japanese girls these later years," wrote Miss Parmalee of Maebashi. " Connected with some schools are those who do not want the foreigner to have too much or close in- fluence over Japanese girls, supposing that Japanese know best how to deal with Japa- nese." Purely Japanese schools did not, however, escape the effects of the reaction. A report issued by the Department of Education calls attention to the decline in woman's education during this period, explaining it as " owing partly to well-grounded censure, and partly from mere doubt arising from sentiment in regard to the results of such education." In 1893 the Minister of Education admitted that woman's education was " exposed to the con- tinual vicissitudes of the times," and was " not yet as firmly established as that of the males. 66 Education of Women in Japan Thus," reads his report, " there is as yet no equality between the sexes." Two years later statistics give the number of government and public schools for girls as only fourteen. The education of women was a favourite topic of discussion in the newspapers at this time, and many were the scathing criticisms of the students in the girls' schools. One Japanese journal expressed its opinion of the educated woman by a cartoon representing her as " a stalwart, overdressed frump ; with ill-fitting frock, a profusion of ornaments, and a vulgar self-asserting demeanour; altogether a most unpleasing ensemble." Another paper, the Yomhiri Shimbiru, published a series of articles maintaining that the system of edu- cation followed in government and private schools was responsible for vanity, extrava- gance, frivolity, and lack of refinement in the young women of the time. The Jiji Shimpo devoted a leading article to a lament over the decay of good manners in women students. " The usages of female life and deportment have one after another been dispensed with," it maintained, " and the modern girl in her attempt to imitate foreign manners has almost transformed herself into a man." The schools in Tokyo were censured with especial severity, and accused of permitting their students to do Popularity and Reaction 67 things hitherto unknown among the women of Japan, such as living alone in lodging houses, walking unattended in the streets af- ter dark, visiting tea houses without chap- eronage, etc. These articles and others like them were much exaggerated and drew forth answering letters of protest from the less conservative; but it is probable that they fairly represent the attitude of many people. Certain it is that the highly-coloured stories in many of the ar- ticles led parents in the country districts to make haste to remove their daughters from the city schools. It is to be noted that the government and private Japanese schools were by no means exempt from this criticism. As a matter of fact, many of the things which were most severely condemned had never been true of Christian schools. If young Japanese women students lived alone in lodging houses, walked in the streets after dark, and attended tea houses, they were not members of Christian schools. Girls whose homes were outside the city were not admitted to these schools unless they could be cared for in the school dormi- tories, and the most careful supervision was given them both in and out of school hours. Nor had the missionary schools had any desire 68 Education of Women in Japan to have their students adopt Western fashions. Such efforts as were made in this direction were in the purely Japanese schools. " The Tokyo Female Normal School led the way in inaugurating the change in the matter of hair- dressing by obliging its students to dress their hair after the foreign style. The Nobles' School for girls drew up certain rules as to foreign clothing. The Tokyo Higher Girls' School changed the subject matter of its les- sons in housekeeping, basing them on the Western style, with the single exception of sewing ; while in Kyoto women in general were indirectly forbidden to shave their eyebrows or blacken their teeth." It was to be expected, however, that the Christian schools should suffer most from this anti-foreign reaction. As, a few years before, their popularity had exceeded that of the purely Japanese schools, because they were conducted by foreigners ; so now, for the same reason, they received the greater condemna- tion. It must be admitted also that while many of the criticisms to which the mission schools were subjected were undeserved, others were such as to be worthy of thoughtful considera- tion. The complaint that their course of study Popularity and Reaction 69 resulted in the too great Westernization of their pupils was probably not entirely un- founded. It must not be forgotten, however, that instruction in all things Occidental had been insistently demanded by the Japanese dur- ing the eighties. There was perhaps also some justice in the accusation that the graduates of these schools did not know how to accom- plish the ordinary domestic duties of a Japa- nese home. " The girls are away from home so long that complaints have come up that they are becoming so foreignized that they do not know how to take up the duties of a Japanese matron," Dr. Root wrote from the Kobe Congregational school. " It has vir- tually been decided, and with reason, we think, that Japanese cooking, Japanese flower ar- rangement, and Japanese etiquette must be taught as extras in the school." The annual report of the Kyoto school, in 1891, showed a recognition of a similar need. It read: " Perhaps if our schools included in their curriculum some things which pertain more closely to Japanese home life, . . . such as etiquette, bouquet making, cooking, and the like ... it might make some difference." The addition of purely Japanese subjects to the curricula of many Christian, schools at this time indicates that the missionaries were not 70 Education of Women in Japan indifferent to the charge that they were edu- cating their students '' out of their sphere." The testimony of a girl whose education had been received in one of these schools is, however, worthy of note in this connection. Miss Hido Yagashira, a graduate of the Kobe Congregational school, referring to such criti- cisms, made the following statement in an ad- dress given while studying in America. " I can assure you I did not have any better ac- commodation at school than I had always been accustomed to at home. On the con- trary there were many things I was obliged to do there which I never did at home, be- cause we always had maids to look after us. I was not an exceptional case. I did not come from a so-called wealthy family at all. It seems to me it takes far more than any mission school can afford in the line of luxury to spoil a girl and unfit her for domestic duties." After all, the utmost wisdom on the part of those in educational work for women, both foreign and Japanese, could hardly have pre- vented some measure of reaction from the early popularity of the new education. It was not to be expected that the older people, especially those in the country districts, should keep pace with the young people in the city schools. Doubtless few parents of any coun- Popularity and Reaction 71 try would have found it possible to keep up with the young person who wrote an essay on the subject '' Whom shall we obey? " in which she announced : " We cannot obey our parents, as they are ignorant. We cannot obey our teachers, as they may be mistaken; so we must think of everything deeply and follow our own opinion." But even in the many cases where reverence for parent and teacher was by no means lacking, where there was the most earnest desire to hold fast that which was good, friction was inevitable. Mr. Naruse, well known in educational circles in Japan, has stated the situation clearly: " Girls who had received a modern educa- tion necessarily became broader in their ideas and more independent in their spirit. Their parents, however, who had been brought up in the old ways could not always appreciate and sympathize with the new ideas of their daughters, and a collision of ideas was often seen, so strong as to seriously endanger the peace of the home. Although there were shortcomings on the part of the girls which led to unnecessary home troubles, yet conflict between the old ideas and the new in such a period of transition as our country had under- gone could not possibly be avoided. The un- enlightened public, however, was unable to 72 Education of Women in Japan understand this situation, and saw in it only the evils of modern education. They thought that education would make women creatures of self-importance, full of affectation and conceit and of one-sided development. It was also thought that education would destroy the beautiful ideals of Japanese womanhood. Thus, the feeling against the education of girls rose to a high point." Such a situation is not without parallel. The objections urged against woman's educa- tion at this time remind one strongly of those formerly heard in America and England. Nor was this period of reaction so disastrous as it at first appeared. It has been justly ob- served that " criticism prunes the educational tree, but does not cut it down." IV THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS FOR GIRLS TO-DAY THE years immediately following the close of Japan's war with China were marked by a renewal of interest in the education of women. Marquis Saionji, Minister of Education at that time, was a firm believer in the necessity of woman's educa- tion, and under his direction the government began to lay greater emphasis than at any previous time upon the establishment of schools for girls. Christian schools for girls, too, which had almost become accustomed to being criticised or ignored, now found them- selves the objects of friendly interest on the part of many of Japan's most influential men. Many letters from missionary teachers written during the closing years of the last century and the opening years of the new tell of visits from those high in educational and official circles. Accounts of commencement exercises and other special occasions contain such statements as this: "All of the three 73 74 Education of Women in Japan highest officers in this province, — the gov- ernor and the two vice-governors, — honoured us with their presence; also the principal of the Normal School, which is very near us, the principal of the Commercial College, the prin- cipals of several government schools from which we draw our students; a military offi- cer in uniform; and many other people of dis- tinction and influence, besides the Chinese con- sul and his interpreter." On many of these occasions the highest officials of both city and province have been among the speakers. Many little things are constantly indicating a cordial attitude on the part of the Japanese. Gifts of time and money are not only often given, but are not infrequently offered with- out solicitation. The Nagoya Methodist school for some time received the help of the daughter of the commander of the garrison, a graduate of the Peeresses' School, who of- fered to teach without salary. The father of a pupil in Kobe College evidenced his interest in the Christian schools a few years ago by presenting his daughter's Alma Mater with $2,500 to be used as a scholarship fund, a gift all the more significant because wholly unsolicited. The attitude of the city officials toward this school was made clear about five years ago, when the need of additional land Christian Schools for Girls To-day 75 raised the question of moving the school to some other city. When the authorities heard this they not only strongly expressed the hope that the school would not be taken elsewhere, but gave evidence of their sincerity by making it possible for the college to secure additional land on such favourable terms as to make removal unnecessary. A like appreciation of the work of the Methodist school in Hirosaki was shown by the people of that city, who furnished both a school building and a home for the missionary teachers. Instances of cordiality and cooperation might be multiplied. But it must be admitted that in spite of the fact that friendly interest has taken the place of the antagonism which was manifested for a time, Christian schools have not yet regained their place of leadership in Japan, but have, on the contrary, fallen be- hind the government schools. Christian schools were the pioneers in high school edu- cation for Japanese girls, and for years did almost all the work of that grade. Twenty- five years ago there were less than ten govern- ment and public high schools for girls in Japan, while about twenty of the Christian girls' schools were already at work. While it was not to be expected that Christian schools should keep pace with the public schools in 76 Education of Women in Japan numbers, it is greatly to be regretted that they were unable to reach as high a standard of equipment and efficiency as that set by the government. " Mainly through inadequacy of financial support," reads a recent report, " Christian schools, in their teaching forces, in methods, and in equipment, are not abreast of the national schools of corresponding grade. Hence they do not now attract a due proportion of the young men and young women to whom we may look for Christian leadership." If Christian schools have been unable to give their pupils an education equal to that provided by public schools, it cannot be a mat- ter of surprise that many of the students in mission schools, even some of those from Christian homes, are there because they have been unable to secure admission to the crowded government institutions. The public high schools for girls have been by no means able to admit all who apply, but in spite of the in- adequate provision made by them the growth of mission schools has been slow, the enrol- ment in 1912 being only 21 per cent, greater than in 1902. In 1907 a regulation was issued by the De- partment of Education, to take effect in 1909, which has had a very direct bearing upon the Christian Schools for Girls To-day 77 mission schools. This regulation limited the privilege of attendance in the government higher and professional schools for women to graduates of government high schools, or institutions recognized by the Department of Education " as equal or superior to " these high schools. It furthermore stated that only graduates of such schools might apply for ex- amination for a teacher's license, without which none of the best positions in the public schools can be secured. A very serious prob- lem has thus been presented to the Christian schools. Unless they either become regular public high schools, which means forfeiting the right to teach the Bible in the curriculum, or else secure from the Department of Educa- tion recognition of their equality to the public schools, their graduates will be debarred from the government higher schools, and from the examinations for teachers' licenses. Lack of government recognition has thus become a great disadvantage. If a mission school does not have such recognition many parents who would otherwise have been very glad to send their daughters there feel it neces- sary to enroll them in some school which does have it, since only thus can the coveted teach- er's license be secured. " Because of this lack of recognition," a missionary worker wrote 78 Education of Women in Japan just after the new regulation had gone into effect, "many of our Christian friends are reluctantly refusing to send their daughters to us; they are driven to send them to secular schools that have this recognition." A school that is unrecognized by the Department of Education cannot but lose many of the girls of greatest strength and ability, who, had they received their education in the pure moral and religious atmosphere of a Christian school, would almost certainly have become centres of powerful influence for God and for good in their nation. Moreover, the graduates of schools without government recognition are barred from teach- ing positions where the influence of strong Christian women is greatly needed. To go into the government schools, where the lack of strong moral influence is recognized by the Japanese themselves, and there live a Chris- tian life whose beauty and power the students cannot but covet, is an opportunity to which the girls in a mission school not recognized by the government cannot look forward. The three alternatives which are open to the mission schools for girls, in view of this regulation, have been clearly stated by Dr. Motoda, quoted in " The Christian Movement in Japan " for 1908. Christian Schools for Girls To-day 79 " There are three ways in which Mission Schools for girls can survive the present crisis. First, they may become regular Koto Jo Gakko (public high schools for girls) with all gov- ernment privileges. This plan excludes the Bible from the school curriculum, but leaves a wide margin in which to give religious edu- cation, and we must remember that the best results cannot be obtained by forcing religion upon students. Second, they may take con- certed action to equip themselves according to the requirements for Koto Jo Gakko, and then to secure privileges, just as many Mission Chugakko (middle schools for boys) have secured government privileges. Third, if neither of the above plans be feasible, Mission Schools would better discontinue the work of general education and confine their attention to the courses of study for which they are specially qualified, such as, special courses in English, Western Household Economy, For- eign Music, etc." The objections to the third course suggested. are obvious. The usefulness of the Christian schools would be limited almost indefinitely, if they confined their work to teaching foreign languages and accomplishments. Moreover, a school which has not government recognition must expect to be rated low in the estimation 8o Education of Women in Japan of the Japanese. As in Germany, so in Japan, the stamp of government approval has an in- fluence greater than v^e sometimes realize. " In Japan, the government outweighs every other influence, a fact no one can ignore," an American teacher wrote recently. Missionary educators are now almost all agreed regarding the need of this recogni- tion. A recent article reads, " Replies to questions sent out to various mission schools reveal the fact that all, with the exception of a very few in the open ports, feel the necessity of government recognition and in some cases it seems imperative." Two Protestant schools, St. Margaret's under the Episcopal Mission in Tokyo, and an independent Christian girls' school at Okayama; and nine Roman Catholic schools have followed the first course sug- gested by Dr. Motoda and have become regu- lar public girls' high schools, omitting the teaching of the Bible from their curricula. The second of Dr. Motoda's suggestions is, however, the one which has been most gen- erally approved by the Protestant Christian forces. Aoyama Jo Gakuin was the first to act in accordance with this plan. All the government requirements as to curriculum, teaching force, and buildings have been met, but freedom to teach Christianity has been re- Christian Schools for Girls To-day 8i tained. The school cannot thus be ranked as a government school, but in view of the fact that it differs from the public schools only in this one particular, the government grants to its graduates every privilege given to the grad- uates of schools directly under its control. All the benefits of government recognition are thus secured, but the school sacrifices none of its liberty to teach the students of Christianity. This plan, both in theory and in action, has seemed the ideal solution of the problem, and several schools have already followed Aoyama's example, and others are planning to do so as soon as the government requirements can be met. Notwithstanding the fact that many mis- sion schools have been forced to contend with inadequate financial support and other dis- advantages, a very valuable work has been accomplished by them. Dr. Schneder closes an account of the educational work for women being done under missionary auspices with the words, " One rises from a study of these Christian schools for young women with a heightened appreciation of their incalculable value to the cause of Christianity and civiliza- tion in Japan." In two important respects the work of the mission schools has been much stronger than 82 Education of Women in Japan that of the public institutions. Dr. Nitobe, one of Japan's most eminent educators, when asked what moral standards and ideals would meet the needs of the new era in Japan, and by what measure they could be propagated, replied that the Christian ideals would be the standard for the future, and that the most immediate and effective means of spreading them, aside from direct personal influence, was through the study of English literature. " It is his opinion," Miss Tsuda writes, " that new Japan will receive her greatest impetus to the new ethical ideals which will replace the old ones through the desire, which is universal, to learn English. . . . Not as a language alone," Miss Tsuda adds, " though that is use- ful enough, but as a source of formative in- fluences for the character of men and women of coming Japan is the teaching of English imperative." It is self-evident that this subject can be better taught by the American or English teachers in a mission school than by the Japa- nese instructors in a government school. The following letter indicates how thorough a knowledge of this subject is acquired by the graduates of the mission schools. " The long awaited day had arrived, — a cold, dull February day in Tokyo. It was not yet Christian Schools for Girls To-day 83 seven when the four young women who were going from the Aoyama Jo Gakuin to the government examination, having breakfasted, came to say good-bye. ... It was the second of the severe tests given by the Mombusho (Im- perial Board of Education) examiners to can- didates for the license to teach English. At the preliminary examinations the preceding July, out of seven hundred only ninety had been successful. These young women were of that number. . . . " With a prayer I sent them out, and with a prayer awaited their return. Miss Shibuya, who was ill, was the first to arrive. She came about three o'clock, tired, but hopeful. Later the others came, and we eagerly discussed some of the puzzling questions. We were in sus- pense for two days while the papers were being examined. Then all four went again for a final test — an oral one in the presence of five learned professors and examiners. '' Again we waited, and on February 25th the official Gazette published the result of the examinations for the year. Out of the forty women from all over Japan who had gone to the preliminary only eight were finally success- ful. Of the eight four were these graduates of Aoyama Jo Gakuin." The supreme strength of the mission schools 84 Education of Women in Japan lies in their repeatedly proven ability to de- velop strength of character as well as of in- tellect. One father, himself a teacher, not a Christian, entered his daughter in the Metho- dist school in Hirosaki rather than in the government girls' high school because, as he said, " I believe her heart as well as her mind will receive training here." " I do not understand," said one mother, whose only daughter had entered a mission school a few months before, so accustomed to having servants do every slightest thing for her that she was as helpless as a little child. '' I do not know what you have done to O Sen San, but she is now so different from what she was before she came to you. She is strong in body, cheerful in temper, helpful at home, and a comfort to us all." " That this school has some influence in transforming character, as the Japanese think," reads the annual report of another school, " was evidenced a few days ago, when a step-mother brought her incorrigible step- daughter here, urging us to take her as a boarder, hoping she would become a better girl. Her own inability to change the girl's nature was manifested by the mute despairing look on her face. Another case shows the reputation the school has for this kind of Christian Schools for Girls To-day 85 work. A student was expelled from a gov- ernment school for bad conduct. She imme- diately said she would come to Kwassui, and perhaps she would become a good woman." Miss Daughaday tells an interesting story of a little girl in Baikwa school of Osaka. *' She was a very naughty little girl," she says, *' the youngest child in a large family of brothers. ... So wilful and disobedient was she that a family conclave of relatives far and near was convened in order to decide what was to be done with her. After several days spent in fruitless talk, a young man who had spent a year in the Doshisha, in Kyoto, sug- gested the experiment of sending her to a Christian school. The answer was shouts of derision. * What, educate a girl, and in a Christian school! This proves how contact with foreigners has spoiled you ! ' Later, as she went from bad to worse, in desperation they sent her to Osaka. Months of trial fol- lowed for the missionary and Christian Japa- nese teachers; but gradually she began to be attentive, became neat in dress, and polite in manner. She improved steadily and at the end of a year asked for baptism. " It was two years before she returned to her home. Again a family conclave was called, this time to note the wonderful im- 86 Education of Women in Japan provement. They said, ' Your manners are different, your voice is different, even the ex- pression of your face has changed. What has done this ? ' She repHed, ' I have become a Christian/ Their answer was, * If this is what Christianity does for people, we must hear more about it.' At the earnest entreaty of her father and brothers a missionary was in- duced to change his plans for a series of mountain towns, and visit coast towns instead, and to make frequent trips there afterward. In a few years the work developed into a church, and a Christian girls' school with this young woman, after her graduation, as prin- cipal." A strong testimony was paid to the Metho- dist school in Fukuoka a few years ago, when the educational authorities of the city advised girls to attend it, because of the " high stand- ard of both education and morals." " It is universally known," the principal of this school wrote, " that the Bible and the Christian religion are taught, and that our own stand- ard of morality is based upon them. We al- ways mention the fact that we are a Christian school to all who enter, and we tell the par- ents and friends bringing girls to the school for entrance that most of the girls become Christians in time." o L) U < Christian Schools for Girls To-day 87 The fact that a school definitely teaches Christianity does not seem, however, to deter non-Christian parents from sending their daughters to it. " It is even grov^ing to be a common thing," a Christian educator wrote, a few years ago, " for non-Christian parents to say that they have brought their daughters to such a school (Christian), because it makes religious instruction a specialty." The number of girls from non-Christian homes who enter mission schools has always been large in Japan. The principal of the Sendai Baptist school told me that of an en- tering class of eighteen or twenty, perhaps two or three were already Christians, a few others might be from Christian homes, but over half knew nothing whatever of Chris- tianity. " Very few of the pupils enter the school from Christian families, or with any previous knowledge of Christian truth," reads a letter from a teacher in Kobe College. Tak- ing the country as a whole it is estimated that from three-fourths to nine-tenths of the girls in Christian schools in Japan come from non- Christian homes. In view of this fact, the proportion of those who become Christians while in school is most noteworthy. Sitting at dinner in a school in Yokohama, the great majority of whose stu- 88 Education of Women in Japan dents come from non-Christian families, I asked the teacher next to me, " How many girls have graduated without becoming Chris- tians?" "Two," she answered. "They made a vow before enrolling in the school, pledging themselves not to become Christians while here. The day after they graduated they came back, saying, * Now we have kept our vow. We did not become Christians while in the school, but now we wish to join the church.' " " Eighty per cent, of the pupils who enter our Methodist mission schools come out Christians," a teacher in Aoyama writes. A recent report from Kobe College reads, " Dur- ing the first quarter of a century of Kobe College there were i6o graduates. Nine- tenths of all these graduates were Christians." " Only one has graduated who ^vas not a Christian," reads a letter from the Kyoto Con- gregational school. " The three upper classes at present are all Christians, but none in the Freshman class just entered are." Of the seventy-six graduates of the Sendai Baptist school every one is a Christian. It is interesting to notice that when the country as a whole is considered, the propor- tion of graduates who are Christians is esti- mated at from three-fourths to nine-tenths, Christian Schools for Girls To-day 89 which is just the same proportion as that given for those who enter from non-Christian homes. It must be remembered that not all who enter graduate, and that not many who leave after only a short stay in the schools be- come professed Christians. But it is doubtful whether any girls who have really shared in the life of a Christian school go out entirely uninfluenced by the lives and teachings of the Christian women whom they have learned to know and admire. That the girls in the mission schools accept Christianity not merely as something to be believed, but to be lived, they have shown on many occasions. The girls of Kobe College voluntarily limited their breakfasts to rice and pickles for three weeks, during a time of need in the city, in order that they might have some- thing to give toward relieving the sufferings of the poor. The students in the Presbyterian school at Kanazawa showed a similar spirit at their Christmas celebration. Instead of re- ceiving gifts, they used the money which would have been thus expended to buy coal, rice, warm clothes, etc., for needy people in the neighbourhood. Their own Christmas fes- tivities were limited to a programme, which was just about to be concluded with a treat of their favourite cakes and oranges, when 90 Education of Women in Japan one of the girls suggested that any who pre- ferred to give away their cakes might put them back on the tray. '' The hearts of the teachers were touched indeed," writes one of them, " when they learned that every girl had given both cake and fruit." A like expression of the Christian spirit of good will was given a short time ago by stu- dents in the Methodist and other schools in Tokyo, who gave up their entire Christmas celebrations in order that they might send gifts of money to their sister school, the Joshi Gakuin, whose buildings had recently been burned. The spirit of individual students is indi- cated by the story Miss Brown tells of one of the girls of Kobe College. " A member of the senior class, daughter of a wealthy banker, offered to teach one of the lower classes this year; but when the sum of money we usually paid was handed to her she refused to take it, saying she had undertaken the work partly to help the school, and partly for her own experience and she did not wish to be paid for it. After some persuasion, however, she took it, and used it for some months to help the mother of one of our needy students. . . . At the opening of this term the help was no longer needed, and our loyal senior girl came Christian Schools for Girls To-day 91 to me and said she wished to give what she earned this term to help pay the school debt; not that such a trifle would amount to much, but * to show my heart.' " One of the most convincing evidences that the Christianity of the schoolgirls of Japan is vital to them is their earnest desire to share the good tidings with others, not simply in the future, after their graduation, but also while they are still in school. Many a younger girl in a mission school has been led to become a Christian by a girl in the upper classes. But the Christian students are not content to limit their service to their schools and every Sunday finds scores of them teaching in Sunday schools. Numbers of them teach classes in Sunday schools under the direction of churches or chapels, but many of their own initiative organize and carry on Sunday schools in neighbourhoods at a distance from any church, securing the use of some house and there gathering together every Sunday groups of children who have never before heard of Christianity. A survey of the Sunday school work of about forty girls' schools shows that their teachers and students are at work in 303 Sunday schools and that 173 of them are con- ducted entirely by the members of these girls' schools. The number of children being taught 92 Education of Women in Japan by them is conservatively estimated as 15,000, while a more liberal estimate is 18,000. It is impossible to estimate the service being rendered to Japan to-day by the women whose intellects and characters were developed in mission schools. They are a mighty host. One school alone, the Kwassui Jo Gakko of Nagasaki, reached twelve hundred girls in the first thirty years of its history. But the strength of their influence cannot be measured by numbers. From one end of the empire to the other, and even beyond the borders of Japan, they are centres of steady, quiet power. "Everywhere and always they are in demand. " You can scarcely imagine how many letters one has to write to other workers here in Japan about helpers, interpreters, entering pupils, etc.," reads a letter from Miss Davis of the Joshi Gakuin. " Our school is a source of supply for teachers all over the country, so we keep a sort of intelligence office." Miss Milliken wrote more recently, " Schools which prepare girls for teaching and for other forms of Christian work have applications coming in months before commencement, and in larger numbers than they are able to supply." A letter from Miss Denton of the Kyoto Congregational school, written after a visit to Tokyo, indicates the kind of positions which Christian Schools for Girls To-day 93 graduates of Christian schools are filling. " There are about twenty former students of the Doshisha girls' school in Tokyo. All are women above the average, of whom we may well be proud. It may be of interest to know what they are doing. Four, as wives of pas- tors, are doing as much work, perhaps, as their husbands, and another is a real help to her husband in his work as translator of Christian literature. Four are the wives of bankers, three of teachers, and one of a high official. Of the unmarried girls two are in direct Christian work, two in literary work, one studying medicine, another English, one is working in a prominent Christian school, one in the Peeresses' School, and one in a large kindergarten." The great majority of the graduates of Christian schools have taught for a greater or less number of years after leaving school. There has been a constant demand for their services in Christian schools. An account of the early days of the Congregational school at Fukuoka reads, " Mrs. Ebina, a graduate of the Kyoto Girls' School, is the principal." Miss Brown, writing of the graduating class of 1 89 1 at Kobe, reported, '' Already one of these girls has been called to the post of prin- cipal teacher in a school of more than sixty 94 Education of Women in Japan girls in Tottori, another to be an assistant teacher in the Okayama Girls' School, another to be interpreter and assistant teacher in the Doshisha Training School for Nurses." All of the nine girls who graduated from the Joshi Gakuin in 1906, " with the exception of one who was not strong, went out from the school to teach in other Christian schools." Not a few girls have returned as teachers to their Alma Maters, where they have won warmest commendation from their missionary associates. Sometimes the girls from mission schools have gone out to establish similar schools. " Some time ago," reads an annual report of the Kwassui Jo Gakko, " a girl came to Naga- saki from a province one hundred and twenty miles away, who wanted to graduate in the school, and then go back and establish a school for girls in her own province. She brought two other girls with her, who are to assist her in her work. She had not heard of Christian- ity, but wanted an education, and as she could not get admission into the higher grade gov- ernment schools, she set out to get an educa- tion in her own way. Her father is a high class Japanese, but poor, and though he sym- pathizes with her ambition cannot help her much materially. The girls have become Christian Schools for Girls To-day 95 Christians since they came into the school, and it will be a Christian school that will be es- tablished in that distant province." A large number of mission school graduates have done splendid service in government schools. Some twenty years ago an annual report of the Caroline Wright Memorial School at Hakodate read : " One of the class became a teacher in the Public School, and has given great satisfaction. The principal has been so much pleased that he has asked for another next year. After teaching six months her salary was raised, and she was given a certificate entitling her to a position in the schools of Hakodate for three years." A later account of the school of the same mission at Hirosaki states, " Its graduates, numbering forty-four Christian young women, are in de- mand as teachers in the public schools." " Even its undergraduates can get positions in government schools at a good salary," reads a recent report of the Kwassui Jo Gakko. " The Inspector of Education, who visits the high schools for girls, says he has found nine of the graduates of Kwassui in government schools, all doing excellent work." Several graduates of Christian schools have been sought as governesses in influential families. One of the girls from St. Margaret's 96 Education of Women in Japan went to San Francisco, as governess in the family of the secretary of Count Mutsu, Con- sul to San Francisco; and one of the class of 191 1 at the Joshi Gakuin became the gov- erness of the children of the Japanese Am- bassador to Peking. Kindergartners are in great demand in Japan at the present time, and a number of the girls from Christian schools have gone into this line of work. There are five excellent kindergarten training schools under missionary auspices, in which girls may fit themselves to answer the calls for kindergarten work which are com- ing from all parts of Japan, and from Korea, Manchuria, and China as well. The native gentleness and patience of the Japanese women, and their love for children, make them especially well adapted to this work. " A really good kindergartner is rare," an Ameri- can teacher wrote from Japan, " but when found, what a treasure! Such an one I have. She is a Japanese girl trained by Miss Milli- ken in Tokyo." Evidently Miss Cody of Nagasaki has also found a treasure. When illness rendered it necessary for her to leave her work for four months, " Miss Takimori, the Japanese kinder- garten teacher, carried on her work for two months, teaching Miss Cody's classes, which Christian Schools for Girls To-day 97 required much preparation — overseeing two widely separated kindergartens taught by stu- dents, teaching the training class, doing some work in the music department, and frequently acting as interpreter." A few graduates of mission schools have become physicians. Prominent among these are Drs. Sono Mayeda and Tomo Inouye of Tokyo, of whom further mention will be made later. Some have given themselves to nursing. Miss lyo Araki, '' the wonderful and efficient nurse " at the head of the training school for nurses connected with St. Luke's Hospital, Tokyo, is a graduate of St. Margaret's School. Another graduate of a Tokyo school. Miss Sato of the Joshi Gakuin, has been reflecting honour upon her Alma Mater by her splendid service as a nurse in both Japan and Korea. She was for some time superintendent of nurses in the Red Cross Hospital of Tokyo, but when Dr. Avison of Korea asked for two Japanese nurses to assist him in his work in the Royal Hospital, Miss Sato and one of her associate nurses volunteered to go. One who saw her in her work there says, *' I met her . . . and had the evidence of my eyes as she escorted us over the hospital, as to the respect in which she is held, from the youngest nurse to the highest official. I had known some- 98 Education of Women in Japan thing of her high reputation, and her youth and simpHcity were a surprise." Quite a number of young women are carry- ing the influence of the mission schools of Japan beyond the borders of the country. " Our graduates number about one hundred and fifty," the Osaka Congregational school reported in 1906, " and are scattered all over the Empire, some being in Korea, and one in China, and two now in America studying." Mrs. De Forest tells of a recent visit to Korea, during which she met several women who had been students in Japan : " Soon after our ar- rival at Seoul, . . . two ladies, a mother and grandmother, who were baptized by Mr. De Forest in Osaka nearly thirty years ago, called on us. This mother and her daughter are both graduates of the Baikwa school in Osaka. Another woman, now beyond the age when women keep on in public life, was in the Doshisha girls' school for half a dozen years. She is principal of a school started by Lady Om, in which both Corean and Japanese are teachers, and all of them, except two elderly Coreans, are Christians." A graduate of Kobe College, Miss Watanabe, had the honour of being the first missionary sent to Korea by the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Japanese Congregational Church. 0-) -1— 1 .2 ^. rt o ■^ ^ C/; S C/5 .^ 1 1 r^ '>r; rt '^ cn r-< ■_J i Vh (^ -^J rt U CAl 'Ti CIJ (— !■ ■OVD C1> ci; f— t ^ u u > (— ' ^ c/; ^u f— t O n^ P^' < 3 a; 'SI Christian Schools for Girls To-day 99 Even as far away as Honolulu there are graduates of Japanese schools. A graduate of Kobe College, and afterward a teacher there, went to America for a kindergarten training course, and *' for several years has been at the head of the Japanese kinder- garten in Honolulu, where her influence is strongly felt for good in the Japanese church." The editor of Woman's Work for Woman tells of meeting a graduate of the Joshi Gakuin in Honolulu, '' one of a group of nine, who had all been educated in mission schools of Japan. She told me gratefully," she writes, " how the school still follows her with incentives to reading, and reminders not to neglect her Bible and prayer." Almost all the girls who have been out of school for ten years are in homes of their own. The following note from a missionary teacher indicates what one husband thought of the results of education in a mission school as exemplified in his wife. " One of our pupils married a rising man in official life, — a man faithful and efficient, as is proved by the many embassies he has been sent on. A letter from him now in my possession says, ' My little daughter, now six years of age, shall, as soon as old enough, enter the school her mother was educated in.' " loo Education of Women in Japan Devoted to their homes and giving them- selves whole-heartedly to their husbands and children, many of these educated wives and mothers find time for outside interests. " Be- sides being a devoted Christian wife and mother, and most charming entertainer," Miss Colby writes of a graduate of the Osaka Baikwa school, '' Mrs. Otsuka is one of the trustees of the Baikwa girls' school. She graces whatever place she may be in, and is a beautiful pattern for young girls to follow — a lovely Christian lady, who can manage affairs without losing her charming ways." One Japanese mother, after writing her missionary teacher about the activities of her lively family of eight, adds, '' I do what I can in the church, in woman's meetings, mothers' meetings, and charity work." After a recent visit to the capital. Miss Searle wrote of one of the graduates of Kobe College, the wife of the president of a college in Tokyo, who " is teaching in two schools, and yet finds time to help in the execu- tive work of the Woman's Christian Temper- ance Union, besides being an important mem- ber of our Board of Managers." Most of the large schools now have alumnae associations which are very valuable in keep- ing the graduates in touch with each other and Christian Schools for Girls To-day loi with their Alma Maters. The former students of the Doshisha girls' school at Kyoto have organized not only in Kyoto, but in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kobe as well, holding monthly meetings in each of these cities, and a yearly reunion in Kyoto in June. Several alumnae associations have expressed their appreciation of the work of their schools in very tangible form. *' The alumnae are organizing and working for the help of the college," Mrs. Moses Smith writes of the graduates of Kobe College. " For the last three years the grad- uating class has given a twenty-five yen war bond toward the endowment of the college. Considering the income of these girls, this is a surprisingly large sum." " Among many happy outcomes of our an- niversary celebration," reads a letter from Miss Smith, a teacher in the Sapporo Presbyterian school, " is the pledge of our alumnae to give the school a new gymnasium, for which they already have six hundred yen in hand, and promises for nearly all the remainder." The twenty-fifth anniversary of the school of the same mission at Osaka, was also marked by a generous gift from the alumnae, a cottage built at a cost of about $1200, to be used for classes in etiquette, flower arrangement, and cooking, and also for committee meetings of 102 Education of Women in Japan the alumnae association, and to entertain out- of-town alumnae. These gracious, cultivated women, who are taking so useful a part in the life of modern Japan, have proved the value of the work of the Christian schools for girls, and in the face of their quiet efficiency criticism has almost entirely ceased. " It is only fair to say," a missionary wrote in 1904, " that the mission girls' school graduate is now comparatively free from much of the criticism to which she was at one time subjected, and as maiden or wife is covering herself with credit. Almost every church in the country is obliged to ac- knowledge itself to a greater or less extent debtor to the mission school graduate. Her influence, too, is felt in no mean degree in many government schools for girls." " It is interesting to note," Miss Milliken wrote at about the same time, " that both Japa- nese and foreign visitors now sometimes speak of the mission school girls as gentler and at the same time more responsive, than those in some of the large schools where a trace of the soldierly is occasionally visible in the well- drilled ranks." Those who know these girls best have only praise for their unselfishness and ability. One worker described a graduate of the Joshi Christian Schools for Girls To-day 103 Gakuin as '' the best Japanese teacher she knew," and says of her : '' She seems like a foreign girl trained in a Christian home; not in the sense of being denationalized, but in her understanding of the common moralities. She is far in advance of many Japanese ministers, elders, and middle-aged women in our churches whose ideas were formed before entering Christian schools, to whom old Orientalisms still cling." " I had great respect for our girls at the Doshisha when I was among them," Miss Den- ton wrote. '' But after I was away from the school, and found the graduates of the school everywhere, in all the cities and in many vil- lages of Japan, teachers in all good things; only then did I begin to realize how good a thing it was that in 1876 you Congregational women of the West sent your message to Neesima, ' Educate the women of Japan too.' " Miss Milliken; speaking of the demand for the services of the graduates of Christian schools, adds : " What counts for still more to the teachers is the willingness of the girls to respond. The Christian graduates need no urging, but as a rule cheerfully accept any in- vitation to do Christian work, feeling it a privilege to share with others what they them- selves most highly value. Distance and sever- I04 Education of Women in Japan ity of climate, they make light of, and of monetary considerations lighter still. A teacher who has helped many girls decide upon positions can recall only one instance in which salary was made a reason for accepting one place rather than another, and then it was not because the girl cared for herself, but because she had others dependent on her." What a teacher in Kobe College has written of the alumnae of that school, might doubtless be said of the graduates of the Christian schools for girls as a whole. " The alumnae, who are loyal and staunch supporters of their Alma Mater, are justifying in thousands of ways the efforts which have made the school possible. In the homes which they are making, in the schools in which they are teaching, and in the various positions of influence which they are filling, they stand for the higher and nobler things of life. A prominent non-Chris- tian educator said to the writer that it was the difference between the graduates of this and similar schools, and other women, that re- vealed to the government the need of educat- ing its girls." V GOVERNMENT EDUCATION FOR WOMEN TO a clear understanding of the educa- tional work provided for girls by the government of Japan, it is necessary to have some comprehension of what the Japa- nese consider to be the purpose of women's education. Baron Kikuchi makes a clear state- ment of this. " Our ideal of womanhood is * good wife and wise mother.' We consider home to be the woman's sphere. * Man works outside and woman helps at home,' is our maxim. We are not without examples of great women who per- formed with ability what is usually regarded as man's work, but they are comparatively few, and they are not those who are most re- spected, while examples of good wives and wise mothers who encouraged, comforted, and helped their husbands and sons are innumer- able. . . . With the change in the social con- dition of the people and the introduction of complex Occidental civilization, our idea of woman's sphere is widening ; the spirit, I trust, 105 io6 Education of Women in Japan remains the same, but the form must change. Our ideal of woman's vocation is the same, and the essentials of a good wife and mother cannot change, but the outward manifestation will change. At times like the present in Japan, when on many points old and new ideas are clashing, where we still have mothers im- bued with the thoughts and sentiments of the old feudal days, and daughters often with ad- vanced modern ideas derived from the West, there is a very great danger for society. The young, impatient of what they consider unrea- sonable restraints imposed upon them by the old, are apt to break away from all control, and work harm not only to themselves but to society. The only means to prevent such un- happy catastrophes consists in giving such an education to the rising generation of women as will enable them to advance in line with men under the new condition of things, and, at the same time, to appreciate all that is val- uable and worthy to be preserved, in the old ideals. Such has been the object kept in view in framing the present system of female edu- cation — in a word, to fit girls to be good wives and wise mothers, proper helpmates and com- panions of the men of Meiji, and noble moth- ers to bring up future generations of Japa- nese." Government Education for Women 107 With such an ideal, Japan now makes pro- vision for the education of girls in four grades of schools: the kindergarten, the elementary school, the girls' high school, and the normal school. The only girls' schools directly un- der the supervision and control of the Central Department of Education are the Girls' Higher Normal Schools at Tokyo and Nara, with the lower schools attached to them. Other schools are supported by the local government of the village, city, or prefecture, as the case may be. But as they conform to government regula- tions and receive government recognition, they are, to all intents and purposes, as truly gov- ernment schools as though they were directly under the control of the Department of Edu- cation, although the term public rather than government is usually applied to them. Statistics for the year 191 1 show that there were then in Japan, besides the practice kinder- garten in connection with the Girls' Higher Normal School of Tokyo, 216 kindergartens recognized by the government, with an en- rolment of 11,690 boys and 10,452 girls. There were also a large number of private kindergartens. But Baron Kikuchi holds that the kindergarten " does not form a part of the national educational system." There is still, he says, considerable difference of opin- io8 Education of Women in Japan ion among Japanese educators as to the kin- dergarten's value, some holding that it has a harmful effect upon the child's development, while others maintain that there can be no disadvantageous result if the kindergarten is rightly conducted. All agree, however, " that there should be no systematic teaching, not even of letters of the alphabet, in the kinder- gartens, that children should simply be made to play with gifts and take part in games, to sing songs, etc." The education which is received from books begins then with the elementary school, the purpose of which, as stated in the Imperial Ordinance on Elementary Education of 1900, is " to give children such rudiments of moral education and of civic knowledge and skill as are necessary for life, while due attention is paid to their bodily development." Elemen- tary schools are divided into two main classes : those known as the ordinary elementary schools, and the higher elementary schools. The course of the ordinary elementary school is four years in length, while the higher elementary course varies in length from two to four years. In the year 191 1 there were 14,199 ordinary elementary schools in Japan, 634 higher ele- mentary schools, and 10,840 schools which combined the two courses, making a total of Government Education for Women 109 25^673 elementary schools. The statistics for this year do not state what proportion of the children attending these schools were girls. Reports for 1907, however, show that of the 5,514,735 children in elementary schools at that time, 44 per cent, were girls. A com- parison of this percentage with the 23 per cent, of girls in elementary schools in 1873, and the 32 per cent, in 1893, shows that there has been a growing recognition of the importance of the education of girls. If, however, the number of girls in the higher elementary schools alone is compared with that of the boys, the percentage will be seen to be very much lower, only 31 per cent, of the 1,328,605 pupils in the higher schools in 1907 being girls. Baron Kikuchi thinks that this is partly due to the fact that many people have not yet come to see that the ordi- nary elementary school course is as insufHcient for girls as for boys. Moreover, at about the time that girls are ready to enter the higher elementary schools they become very useful at home and are kept out of school to help with the housework. Their brothers of the same age cannot render any valuable service at home, and are therefore permitted to continue their intellectual pursuits. The course of study in the ordinary ele- no Education of Women in Japan mentary school includes morals, reading and writing, arithmetic, Japanese history, geog- raphy, elementary science, drawing, singing, gymnastics, and handwork. The regulations relating to elementary education state " that having regard to the different characteristics of the sexes and to the difference in their future life, instruction must be given proper to each." In obedience to this principle the little girls learn to cut out, make, and mend the ordinary garments of the Japanese people, while their brothers are being instructed in manual training. Except for this division, however, boys and girls study the same sub- jects, although in the teaching of morals, a subject to which much attention is given, the emphasis is somewhat differently placed for boys and girls. The regulations referred to above direct that " in the teaching of girls, special stress must be laid on the virtues of chastity and modesty." Baron Kikuchi gives an abstract of the lesson on '^ The Duties of a Man and of a Woman," as taught in this course of morals. " Children, your fathers are engaged in some pursuit and some are engaged besides in the affairs of the shi, cho, or son (i. e., in the affairs of the community) ; your mothers are engaged in tending your grandfathers and Government Education for Women iii grandmothers, in bringing up children, in look- ing after the food and clothing of the house- hold. So the duties of father and mother are different. When he is grown up, the man must become the head of a house and pursue his calling, the woman becomes a wife and takes charge of the house; so husband and wife must help each other and make a home; the occupations of the two are not the same. Moral precepts must, of course, be observed by both, but men should be specially active, women specially gentle, both must observe good manners. It is essential that both man and woman should cultivate knowledge, each such as will enable him or her to fulfil the duties of his or her proper sphere. Man is stronger than woman, but that is no reason why he should look down upon woman ; it is a great mistake to suppose that woman is in- ferior to man ; they are both lords of creation, and there is no reason to despise woman; but their duties are different, and each must not forget his or her proper sphere." The higher elementary schools having a two years' course give further instruction in the subjects already begun in the lower grades; those with a three years' course add agricul- ture and commerce in the third year; while those with a course of four years give agri- 112 Education of Women in Japan culture and commerce during the last two years, and the English language through- out. All children between the ages of six and fourteen are required to attend school for six years, unless exempted by the mayor for valid reasons such as physical or mental incapacity or extreme poverty. The period of compul- sory education was raised from four to six years in 1908. Until after the Chinese-Japanese war the government of Japan gave very little attention to the education of girls beyond the elementary school. It is true that there were before this time a few public high schools for girls, but the number was very small, and until 1899 there were no government regulations bearing on either the course of study or standards of these schools. In 1899, however, the govern- ment officially recognized the importance of these schools by an Imperial Ordinance con- trolling their establishment, organization, ad- ministration, etc. The government regula- tions are very similar to those for the middle schools for boys. But it is interesting to notice that the Imperial Ordinance requires that, except in a few specified subjects, the grades in the girls' high schools be determined on the basis of daily recitations, rather than Government Education for Women 113 by examination. The reason given for this rule is that girls are very emotional, and the strain of examinations is injurious to them. The purpose of the girls' high schools, as stated by the Imperial Ordinance, is " to give higher general education necessary for women," or, as Baron Kikuchi interprets this statement, to give " general education and culture necessary for those who are to be of middle or higher social standing." The course extends over four years and a fifth year may be added if desired. A gen- eral supplementary course of not more than two years, or a special supplementary course of not more than three years, may also be pro- vided for those who wish to continue their education beyond the regular course. A spe- cial handwork course of from two to four years may also be offered for those who pre- fer training along this line. The curriculum of the girls' high school attached to the Girls' Higher Normal School in Tokyo, shows the subjects taught in the girls' high schools, and the relative amount of time assigned each. This curriculum may be somewhat changed to meet the needs of different schools. With the sanction of the Minister of Education cer- 114 Education of Women in Japan tain subjects may be omitted and others added, and the hours assigned to the various subjects may be somewhat differently distributed. The number of teaching hours must not, however, exceed thirty; Sundays and national holidays are school holidays, and there are spring, sum- mer, and winter vacations. SUBJECTS HOURS 5 PER WEEK 1st 2d 3d 4th 5th year year year year year Morals ,. 2 2 2 2 2 Japanese . . . .1 6 6 6 5 3 EngHsh . ., . . 3 3 3 3 3 History & Geog. . ., 3 3 3 2 2 Mathematics 2 2 2 2 2 Science : Botany Physics Chemistry y .. . 2 2 2 2 Biology 1 Hygiene J Drawing . . . ., I I I I Domestic Economy — 2 4 Sewing — 4 4 4 4 Music 4 2 2 2 2 Gymnastics 4 3 3 3 2 Education — 2 Total .... ...26 28 28 28 27 u Government Education for Women 115 The government girls' high schools of Japan bear clear testimony to the truth of Baron Kikuchi's statement that while the Japanese idea of woman's sphere is broadening, the ideal of her vocation remains the same. The stu- dent in the girls' high school studies foreign languages, history and geography, mathe- matics, and science, — subjects unknown to the girl of the pre-Meiji era; but she gives no less attention than did the girls of feudal Japan to the study of etiquette and the duties of wife and mother. During the first two years of the course one hour a week is given to de- portment and manners. This is considered an essential part of the training in " morals." The government requires instruction to be given in such subjects as: — " Things to be borne in mind in relation to, and practical lessons in, sitting and standing, advancing and retiring, interviews, offering and accepting of things. '' Things to be borne in mind in relation to sleeping and eating, dress, visits, reception, communication (correspondence, etc.), pres- ents, entertainments, public meetings, occasions of joy or sorrow, congratulations and con- dolence, mourning, etc." The spirit of the new Japan is evident in ii6 Education of Women in Japan the instruction that the teaching of etiquette shall "be adapted to the modern condi- tions of living, dressing, and eating, to * stand- ing manners' (European style of living) as well as to ' manners on mats ' (Japanese style)." Sewing is taught for four hours a week throughout the entire course, and the high school graduate of Japan is as skilful in using the sewing machine as any American girl. In the third and fourth years two hours a week are given to the study of domestic economy. In the third year the student is taught how to select material for clothing, and how to make and wash garments. She learns the constitu- ents of food, the proper combination of foods for a meal, practical cooking, and how to avoid infection from impure drinking water. She also studies, during the third year, the proper choice of a site for a home, the best architecture to secure light, warmth, and ven- tilation, and how to furnish and care for a house. During the fourth year a study is made of the care of the old and of children, of nursing and the care of infectious diseases, of the supervision of servants, household book- keeping, etc. The study of education, also, is introduced Government Education for Women 117 into the course of the girls' high school; not to prepare the girls to teach school, but to give them " general ideas on education, so as to fit them the better for the functions of mother- hood." These studies are popular, says an Ameri- can teacher in Japan, " in proportion as they are presented in a modern light, and on a scien- tific basis." Three hours a week are given to gymnasium work, consisting of *' free gymnastics, dumb- bell, wooden ring, and bean bag exercises; games including marching practice, square dances, gymnastic sports, races, etc." An ar- ticle in the " Japan Year Book " bears witness to the fact that in these upper schools most ex- cellent work is done. *' Great attention is paid to dancing steps and exercises tending to ease and grace of movement. Probably less atten- tion is given than in Western gymnasiums to pure body building exercises. Fancy steps and figure movements, games and drills of a fan- tastic and original order have been introduced in large numbers, and tend to make the annual field and gymnastic day of some of these schools a most beautiful and instructive spectacle." The writer states that physical culture in the ii8 Education of Women in Japan girls* schools "has reached a finer and purer development than among young men," and al- though this article calls attention to the fact that pure body building exercises are probably less emphasized than in Western gymnasiums, the results of the physical training have been most satisfactory. Baron Kikuchi says, " With girls in high schools, the increase in height and weight is remarkable. The majority of girls are taller than their mothers." The increasing demand for higher schools for girls is indicated by the growing number of such schools. In 1898 there were twenty- five public girls' high schools; in 1902, seventy- two; in 1907, ninety-seven; in 191 1, 145. The growing popularity of woman's education is even more strikingly indicated, however, by the following table, which shows a steady in- crease both in the number of applicants for en- trance into girls' high schools, and in the num- ber admitted. The statistics for the first half of the decade show a marked decrease in the percentage of applicants who could be admitted, and although there has been some recovery since 1906 the latest report of the Minister of Education shows that the percentage of those admitted in 1910-11 was still below that of six years before. Government Education for Women 119 APPLICATIONS FOR ENTRANCE INTO GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL Number of Number Percentage Year Applicants Admitted Admitted 1901-02 7.91 1 6,242 78.90 1902-03 11,021 7,363 66.80 1903-04 14,046 9,180 65-36 1904-05 15.470 10,222 66.08 1905-06 19,790 11,407 54.22 1906-07 23,327 12,865 55-57 1907-08 26,108 14,327 54.87 1908-09 28,495 16,184 56.79 1910-ir 30,207 18,673 61.48 That the Ministry of Education recognized the need of more adequate provision for the education of girls is indicated in the Annual Report for 1905-06. " Marked development is shown in female education. There has been a considerable increase in applicants for ad- mission to the high schools for girls, and one or more public high schools for girls are established in each prefecture through- out the Empire. . . . Even the private high schools for girls established in vari- ous localities are overcrowded with pupils. The number of pupils attending is 31,574, being less than one-third the number in the I20 Education of Women in Japan boys' middle schools. In the general education of a higher standard, a regrettable difference in the number of male and female students is to be noticed ; special attention must be paid in future to the education of women." It is interesting to notice what the graduates of the girls' high schools are doing during the year following their graduation. The follow- ing table gives the facts for those who grad- uated in 1909: Pupils taking special work in same schools ........ . . .,. . . .,. ... .,. ..... 709 Pupils entering the Girls' Higher Nor- mal Schools . .,. ... ... . . ... .,. .,. .,. .,. . 23 Pupils entering other schools. .1. ...... . 507 School teachers ..,.., 780 Those devoted to practical pursuits or domestic affairs ...... ,...., 2,738 Those who married . ., ,. . 275 Those who died 30 No exact information concerning..,.. 371 5.433 The Japanese government early established normal schools for the training of teachers. As early as 1874 there were fifty-three public normal schools in which there were 5072 stu- dents, seventy-four of whom were women. In 1882 there were eighty normal schools, in Government Education for Women 121 which 805 of the 6569 pupils were women. In 191 1 there were the same number of schools, but with 22,350 students, of whom 6334 were women. Thirty-five schools were for men only, twenty-seven for women only, and eighteen for both men and women. Of the 1497 teachers in these schools, 192 were women. The students in these schools receive the training necessary for teachers in the elemen- tary schools. Two distinct courses are offered. The first course extends over four years, with one year's preparatory course. Students who have had the work of the ordinary elementary school and two years in a higher elementary school may enter the preparatory course; those who have had three years of higher elementary education may omit the year of preparatory work. The young women who take this course study morals, pedagogy, the Japanese language and Chinese literature, history, geography, mathematics, natural science, physics and chemistry, household matters, sewing, writing, drawing, manual work, music, and gymnastics, and English if they wish it. The second course is for those who have completed the work of a girls' high school or a boys' middle school. It extends over one year for graduates of a high school with a five-year course, over two years for those who 122 Education of Women in Japan have had but four years of high school work. The subjects studied by the women are the same as those mentioned above, except that household matters and writing are omitted. History and geography are given only in the two-year course. An elementary school, in which practice teaching is done by the students, must be at- tached to each normal school. Almost every normal school in which there are women stu- dents has also a kindergarten in connection with it. All students in normal schools are required to live in the dormitories provided by the school. These dormitories are presided over by superintendents who are chosen with great care because of their close contact with the students. At least one of the superintendents of each dormitory must be a member of the school faculty. Workrooms for day, bed- rooms for night, dining-room, bathrooms, recreation-rooms, reading-room, and hospital- room are provided, and an effort is made to give a pleasant social atmosphere by encour- aging the students to decorate their rooms and entertain their friends. Not only are the students in these normal schools given their education and dormitory accommodation without charge, but money Government Education for Women 123 is also given them to meet the cost of food and clothing and incidental expenses. In return for this they must serve as teachers in ele- mentary schools after their graduation. The inadequacy of the eighty normal schools to meet the demand of those who desire such training is indicated by the fact that in 1911 only thirty per cent, of those who applied for admission could be received. "With all gov- ernment schools it is the same," Baron Kikuchi says, " and even among private schools good ones are obliged to refuse a large per- centage of applicants for admission. With local rates already very heavy, and State tax no less heavy, how to meet this demand is one of the most difficult and pressing problems we have to deal with." In view of the very large number of teach- ers required by the many elementary schools of Japan, and the limited number of students who can receive the benefit of normal school training, it follows that many of the elemen- tary teachers must be insufficiently prepared for their work. Provision is made for the training of women teachers for the girls' high schools and normal schools in the Girls' Higher Normal Schools of Tokyo and Nara. The Nara school is much younger than that at Tokyo, having been es- 124 Education of Women in Japan tablished in 1908, but as it has been modelled on the Tokyo school, a description of the older institution will probably apply fairly well to the new one also. Young unmarried women, not less than seventeen years old and not more than twenty- one, who are of sound constitution and good moral character, and who are graduates of a girls' high school or normal school, are eligible for entrance into the Girls' Higher Normal Schools. Candidates are recommended, often by the prefects of the districts in which they live, and after a competitive examination those who make the best showing are admitted. As only a small fraction of those who apply can be accommodated, failure to receive admission is no indication of poor scholarship. In 1909 a little less than twenty-five per cent, of those who applied for entrance to these two schools could be received. There were in that year 450 students in the two institutions. The regular course extends over four years. Certain special courses are offered from time to time in response to urgent demands for teachers in the high schools and normal schools, and there is also an elective course. These special courses vary in length from one to four years. The regular course is divided into three departments: Literature, Science, Government Education for Women 125 and Art; among which the students are about evenly divided. Those taking the literary- course study ethics, education, the Japanese language, Chinese literature, history, geog- raphy, music, and gymnastics. The studies in the scientific department are ethics, education, the English language, mathematics, physics, chemistry, natural science, music, and gym- nastics. There is laboratory work in connec- tion with all the sciences. The students in the art department study ethics, education, the English language, physics, chemistry, house- hold matters, sewing and handwork, drawing and designing, music, and gymnastics. There is also a post-graduate course in which stu- dents in any of these departments may con- tinue one or more subjects of the course. A girls' high school, an elementary school, and a kindergarten are connected with the Tokyo Higher Normal School, in all of which practice teaching is done. A term of teaching is required of all grad- uates of the Higher Normal School. Those whose expenses have been entirely met by the government must teach for five years, during the first two in accordance with whatever di- rections they may receive from the Minister of Education. Those whose expenses have been met in part are required to teach for a 126 Education of Women in Japan term of two or three years. Those who have received no help from the government must teach for two years. In 191 1, nineteen of the ninety-one graduates of the previous year were teachers in normal schools, sixty in girls' high schools, six in other schools, five in kindergartens as conductors, and one had not decided what line of teaching to follow. Not a few of the graduates of this school who have shown unusual ability have been sent abroad by the government to specialize in the subjects particularly interesting to them. Miss Kin Kato Takeda studied English in the Salem Normal School of Massachusetts and at Wellesley College. Miss Mitsu Okada and Miss Matsu Okonogi also studied English at Wellesley. Miss Aguri Inoguchi took a course in the School of Physical Culture in Boston. Miss Simi Miyagawa and Miss Tetsu Yasui both studied in England; Miss Miyagawa taking work in domestic science and hygiene at Bedford College of the University of Lon- don, and at the London Polytechnic; Miss Yasui studying the history of education and domestic science at Cambridge Training Col- lege. Each of these young women is required to teach six years for the government upon her return. The Siamese government asked the aid of Japan in establishing a Peeresses' 5-1 o u O 'Of) o N Government Education for Women 127 School and Miss Yasui was sent to give her six years of required service to that v^ork. On her return to Japan she became a teacher in the Peeresses' School in Tokyo. Many of these young v^omen have returned to teach in their Alma Mater, the Girls' Higher Normal School of Tokyo. The Higher Normal Schools offer the most advanced educational opportunities provided for women by the government of Japan. The government has established no woman's college and has made no provision for women in its Universities. Three special schools, the Tokyo Musical Academy, the Tokyo School for the Blind, and the Tokyo School for the Dumb, complete the list of government institutions which make provision for women. Of the 509 students in the Academy of Music in 191 1, 354 were women. The statistics for the School for the Blind and the School for the Dumb for 191 1 do not distinguish between men and women students, but figures for previous years would seem to indicate that the proportion is about even. All who are interested in the education of Japanese women cannot fail to look upon the schools established by the Government with appreciation and admiration. Everything in 12^ Education of Women in Japan connection with them gives evidence of care- ful thought. An American teacher says of the girls' high schools, " Not only has the number increased, but the efficiency of the schools is constantly increasing, the equipment is ad- mirable, and the standard for teachers is con- stantly rising." The Japanese nation has not been able to spend large sums of money upon school build- ings, but although wood is the material com- monly used, and there is little or no attempt at ornamentation, the buildings are solid and there is adequate exercise ground. The site of a school is chosen with great care, and must be satisfactory from the point of view of morals, pedagogy, and hygiene. All applica- tions for permission to establish schools must be accompanied by maps of the neighbourhood and an analysis of the drinking water. The government curriculum has been criti- cised by some on the ground that it requires too much of the girls. It is no doubt true that there has been a tendency to err in this direction. After observing the public schools, Miss Bacon wrote : " By the new system, at its present stage, too much is expected of the Japanese boy or girl. The work required would be a burden to the quickest mind. The whole of the old education in Japanese and Government Education for Women 129 Chinese literature and composition — an educa- tion requiring the best years of a boy's Hfe — is given, and grafted upon this our common school and high school studies of mathematics, geography, history, and natural science. In addition to these, at all higher schools, one foreign language is required, and often two, English ranking first in the popular estimation. Many a headache do the poor hard-working students have over the puzzling English lan- guage in which they have to begin at the wrong end of the book and read across the page from left to right, instead of from top to bottom, and from right to left, as is natural to them.'' This comment was, however, made some twenty years ago, and recent statistics regard- ing the health of women students seem to be encouraging evidence that the girls in schools to-day are not being seriously overworked. And while twenty-eight or thirty recitation hours a week may seem to make a very heavy schedule, it must be remembered that several of these hours are spent in etiquette, domestic science, and sewing classes, and there is not, therefore, continuous severe brain work. The criticism that the curriculum does not make sufficient provision for such studies as will train the reasoning powers is perhaps 130 Education of Women in Japan more serious. The tendency in Oriental edu- cation has always been to cultivate the memory rather than to develop the power of independ- ent thought, and the education of modern Japan seems to be erring in the same direction. It is true that mathematics and science are in- cluded in the curriculum, but the work is very elementary, and except in the Girls' Higher Normal School there seems to be no labora- tory work in any of the girls' schools. Miss MacDonald points out that the Japa- nese language, in its very nature, develops the memory; that the literature studied in the school cultivates the imagination; and that ample provision is made for training in the practical duties of life. " But," she writes, *' imagination let loose, memory highly de- veloped, the details of practical life taught, without a thorough training which develops the consciousness of cause and effect, display in the average type of mind turned out de- cided and vital weaknesses. ... I think I may say, without fear of successful contra- diction, that the essay written by the Japanese girl, while it may display a good deal of gen- eral reading, an appreciation of the beauties of nature which a corresponding Western girl does not possess and an imagination which is admirable, displays at the same time a lack Government Education for Women 131 of logic and association of ideas which make the result well-nigh ludicrous. The fault does not lie in any inability to think logically, but in a lack of cultivation in the line of the rea- soning powers. If more logical thinking were encouraged by the study of what we call the exact sciences and some system of logic, the result could not but be beneficial to real edu- cation." The government has endeavoured to assure good teaching by requiring the teachers in its schools to have certificates. These certifi- cates are granted only to those who are grad- uates of government higher schools, or who have satisfactorily passed the government ex- amination for a teacher's license. Formerly any one might take this examination, but in April, 1907, a regulation was passed limiting the privilege of applying for examination to those who are graduates of schools officially recognized by the Department of Education. The government is thus assured of the candi- date's knowledge of the subjects in which he is examined, and is also satisfied that he has had a good general education in a reliable school. In spite of the high standards set for teach- ers, however, the number of teaching positions has so far exceeded the number of qualified teachers that it has been necessary to employ 132 Education of Women in Japan many who are insufficiently prepared. A careful student of educational work in Japan writes, " The problem of inadequately trained teachers for elementary schools is a serious one, which perhaps accounts for the fact that keen observers of educational problems lament the lack of moral stamina in so many of those who stand as instructors of the young." The thoughtful Japanese consider the de- velopment of a strong moral character one of the supremely important functions of educa- tion. An American teacher tells of attending a conference on education in Osaka, at which the mayor, the head of the Court of Appeal, a former vice-minister of education, the presi- dent of the National Bank, the president of a steamship company, the president of a rail- road company, and other influential men were present. ** The general trend of the talk was to- ward the value of character, of spiritual train- ing, no matter what else came," she writes. To guide the young people of Japan wisely during this time of transition, when old sanc- tions have disappeared and the new have not yet become firmly fixed, is a task which calls for infinite understanding and patience. If the bewildered boys and girls in the schools to-day are to become strong, sane men and women, worthy to be leaders, the teachers to Government Education for Women 133 whose care they are entrusted should be pecu- liarly wise and sympathetic. But too many of the teachers in government schools are as much in need of guidance as their students, and command little respect or confidence. " One of the most interesting comments on the education of girls was made to the effect that the girls in the average school suffered, and suffered heavily, because of the lack of friendship and counsel from those higher than themselves," Miss MacDonald writes. " The girls in the high school, for instance, are worrying their brains over all sorts of problems, some purely intellectual, some moral and ethical, and they think and think to no conclusion. They need stimulus and inspiration and practical help from those older than themselves to whom they can go, and from whom they can get practical advice. But there is very little sympathy in the aver- age school between pupil and teacher, and too often the teacher is not the person who can give good advice. An instance was cited of a visit made to a certain high school a year or two ago. In the Ethics class pupils were ask- ing the teacher questions. Questions relating to every phase of life, it would seem, were propounded within the space of one hour to a poor little teacher of twenty-two or -three 134 Education of Women in Japan years of age. ' How can I develop common sense?' * How can I resist fierce tempta- tions ? ' ' How can I subdue vanity, for in- stance wanting to buy pretty hair ribbons ? ' * Is it right to kill your father if he has dis- graced the family ? ' The question about the ribbon was just as serious to the one who asked it as the one about the father, and I suppose those poor little brains had worked for hours, and were in desperate need of hav- ing some one give a definite practical answer." Thus, although great attention is given to the study of morals there is no satisfactory result in character. Western science and history have made it impossible for the students of modern Japan to pattern their lives upon the religious faith of their fathers. Buddhism and Shintoism have lost their hold upon them, and many are in religious confusion. Some years ago the principal of a higher elementary school in the province of Okita made an effort to find out something of the religious beliefs of his pupils. One hundred and seventy-eight boys and girls, averaging fourteen years of age, were asked to answer three questions. " To the first question * Has a man a soul ? ' twenty-eight answered ' Yes ' ; twenty-five said * Yes ' with the qualification that they did not Government Education for Women 135 believe it to be immortal; and sixty-two de- nied that man has a soul. To the second question * What is God?', ninety-seven said * Our imperial ancestors, and other bene- factors '; three said, 'There is no God'; and one little Roman Catholic girl said, ' God is the Creator of the Universe.' To the third question * What becomes of man after death? ' twenty-five stated the belief that man's soul survives death; eighty-one held that death ends all; and twelve could not answer These fig- ures speak eloquently of the religious need of the boys and girls of Japan. More than two- thirds of the children examined had no con- ception of a future life; more than half de- nied that man has a soul; and only one had any idea of the true God." This lack of a vital steadying religious faith is fundamentally responsible for the absence of moral strength in the government schools. The Japanese themselves recognize this. An official of Matsuyama, who studied the schools of that city with some care, recently stated in the local newspaper that the Christian school for girls was the only one which could be recommended for training in character. The principal of the Yokohama Girls' High School has felt so keenly the religious need of his stu- dents that he not long ago made public an- 136 Education of Women in Japan nouncement of Christian services which were being held in the city, and urged the girls to attend them. It is not, perhaps, the function of the gov- ernment schools of Japan to furnish religious instruction. The variety of religious beliefs represented by the families of the pupils makes the problem of Japan not altogether different from that of the United States. But unless by some means the students in the government schools are brought to a knowledge of a re- ligion which it is possible for them to accept intellectually and which has in it the power to give them strength in place of weakness, peace in place of confusion, no moral growth can be expected. Carefully planned and thoroughly organized as is the governmental system of education in Japan, and excellent as is the work being done in many respects, it is not in itself sufficient to meet the educational needs of the young peo- ple of the Empire. That there is in Christian countries a large place for education under Christian auspices in addition to that offered in public institutions has long been recognized. Surely there is far greater need for this in a non-Christian land where the sources of re- ligious influence are so few compared with those of America and Europe. VI SOME PRIVATE SCHOOLS ONE of the oldest schools for girls in Japan is the well-known Peeresses' School. In 1 87 1 the late Emperor Meiji asked ten of his most influential nobles to confer with him regarding the establishment of a school in which the children of the nobility might receive fitting education. As a result of this conference about one hundred and fifty nobles formed, in 1874, "The Associa- tion of Nobles," which was practically a school but was not called so until 1876. In that year His Majesty gave a tract of land on which a school building was erected, and one hundred and thirty students, including a few girls, were soon enrolled. The following year the school received the name " The Peers' School." In 1885 the girls' department, which then consisted of one hundred and forty-three students, was made an entirely separate in- stitution known as the Peeresses' School, hav- ing its own grounds and buildings, and, under the patronage of Her Majesty the Empress, 137 138 Education of Women in Japan conducting its work in entire independence. In 1906, however, the school was again made a department of the Peers' School, although the work still continues to be conducted on a separate campus. The Peeresses' School is by no means lim- ited to the children of the nobility. As early as 1877 an ordinance was passed extending the privilege of attendance to the children of the " shizoku " or military class, and the '' hei- men " or commoners. It is interesting to note that school fees are required of these children, but not of the daughters of the nobles. The fact that the fees are lower than in the ordi- nary high school is also noteworthy. The proportion of girls from the different classes is shown in the following record of attendance in the year 1907, which is doubtless fairly typical of other years. Girls from the Imperial Families. . 5 Nobility . . . ., 302 Military Class 279 Commoners ....... 133 (( it it tl it iC tl ti it Total ........ ,..,....., 719 The Peeresses' School is not in any way con- nected with the Department of Education, but Some Private Schools 139 is under the direct supervision of the Imperial Household Department. Its work is divided into four departments: the kindergarten, the primary school with a six years' course, a five-year high school course, and a higher de- partment which offers three years' work. The high school course follows the general plan laid down by the government, but not so rigidly as do the public schools; and, as would nat- urally be expected, the Peeresses' School lays more emphasis on various accomplishments than do the ordinary high schools. In addi- tion to the regular high school course, French, English, sewing, embroidery, painting, both Japanese and foreign, and vocal and instru- mental music, both Japanese and foreign, are taught. The principal of the school is a man and there are a number of men on the faculty, although there are also several women, one or two American or English women usually as- sisting in the English department. The patron- age of the Empress (now Empress Dowager) has been by no means a formal thing, but has expressed itself in frequent personal visits. It is said that she has attended almost every Com- mencement since the school opened, and she has not infrequently spent several hours in going from class to class, inspecting the work done and noting the progress of the pupils. 140 Education of Women in Japan It is not surprising that the Peeresses' School should have the reputation of being " the most conservative school in all Japan," but many things have served to show that the spirit of progress is by no means lacking. One of the first Japanese women employed to teach in the school was Miss Ume Tsuda, one of the only three Japanese women who had, at that time, had any opportunity for study abroad. Many times since then, by their choice of teachers, both foreign and Japanese, the Directors of the Peeresses' School have given evidence of their desire to secure for the stu- dents the 'services of those who have received the most thorough and modern preparation for teaching. The students, too, a few years ago, showed themselves to be true children of the new generation in Japan by giving a public entertainment, consisting of tableaux depicting scenes in Japanese history in which women had figured. They devoted the proceeds of this entertainment to the work of the Imperial Woman's Association, which is seeking to further the education of women in Japan. One of the largest and youngest private schools for girls in Japan is the Woman's University. Its founder and president, Mr. Jinzo Naruse, was the moving spirit in the establishment of the Baikwa Congregational Some Private Schools 141 school for girls in Osaka, in 1878, and later started a similar school in Niigata. During the early nineties Mr. Naruse spent some time in America, studying at Andover, and giving much attention to the education of women. He is said to have visited practically all the v^omen's colleges in the North. Upon his return to Japan in 1894 he pub- lished a book on v^oman's education, in which he gave expression to his conviction of the need for an institution of higher education for women. The book attracted widespread at- tention, and Mr. Naruse was surprised and delighted to find that there were many who heartily approved of his plan for the estab- lishment of a girls' school which should give opportunity for more advanced work than that offered by the public high schools. In 1896 a meeting of those interested in this project was held in Tokyo, and an executive com- mittee, of which Count Okuma was chairman, was appointed to make and carry out plans for raising the funds needed to start such a school. Such men as Marquis Ito, Marquis Saionji, Barons Utsumi, Kitabatake, and Shibusawa lent their sympathy and support to the movement, and 100,000 yen was soon con- tributed. Her Majesty the Empress ex- pressed her approval by a personal gift of 142 Education of Women in Japan 2000 yen. Interest in the new school was manifested on all sides. One of the con- tractors contributed 500 yen, and another pre- sented the school with its front gate; news- papers published advertisements of the insti- tution free of charge and teachers were will- ing to give their services for very small sal- aries. The formal opening on the twentieth of April, 1 90 1, was largely attended, and five hundred students were enrolled during the first year. The name University was probably given to this institution because there is no other word in Japanese which can be applied to a school that is higher in grade than a girls' high school. Even the name college would be too ambitious a term to describe correctly the work done in this school, but it does represent a step in ad- vance in the matter of higher education for girls, and has been very popular. It is recog- nized by the government as a " Semmon Gakko " or special school, and offers courses along four main lines : household science, Japa- nese literature, English literature, and science. A normal course planned especially to train teachers of domestic science has recently been added. Mr. Naruse hopes to be able to add courses in music, art, and medicine in the near future. Some Private Schools 143 There are attached to the school, as to the government Higher Normal Schools for Girls, a kindergarten, a primary school, and a high school, in addition to the " Semmon Gakko " proper. Five hundred students were enrolled in the various branches of the school during its first year, eight hundred in the second, and one thousand in the third. The present en- rolment is about eleven hundred. The Woman's University has probably given more attention to the question of housing its students than any other non-Christian school in Japan. Twenty-seven dormitories accom- modating about thirty girls each provide for practically all the students who cannot live at home. The dormitories have been kept small in order that the life in them might correspond, as nearly as possible, to life in a home. " We should conduct our schools in such a way," Mr. Naruse writes, " that the school life may never disqualify our girls for the home life when they finish their studies and return to their homes." A teacher, or some other re- sponsible woman, is at the head of each dormi- tory, and each month two girls are appointed to have oversight of the housework. One servant is employed to do part of the work but "the cooking, washing, setting tables, deco- rating the rooms, the economical management. 144 Education of Women in Japan and everything that concerns the house is un- der the control of the residents." Two dormitories for the use of the girls during the summer have been established, one on the campus and one in Karuizawa, a sum- mer resort in the mountains. Groups of girls occupy these summer dormitories for periods of three weeks, holding meetings, and '' ex- changing views and ideas on almost every subject under the sun." The third-year girls are given precedence in the use of these dormi- tories, and usually write their graduation essays there. The alumnae association of this school is an unusually strong and active organization. It has an endowment of 17,000 yen, given chiefly by the Mitsui family, and the interest from this makes possible the employment of several women who give their full time to the development of the various branches of work carried on under the alumnae's auspices. One building on the campus is devoted entirely to the activities of the association and in it are carried on a bank, in which between 800 and 1000 yen are exchanged daily; a little shop, which averages an exchange of 20,000 yen a year; the offices of the alumnae magazine, etc. In addition to the work done in this building, the alumnae have a dairy, gardens, a chicken a X Some Private Schools 145 yard, and a cake-making establishment, in which students who need financial help can earn money. The alumnae magazine is published weekly and consists of three departments deal- ing with household, educational, and social af- fairs. The alumnae are expected to investi- gate problems pertaining to these various de- partments of life, send in reports, and hold meetings for the discussion of related subjects. General meetings of the entire association are held twice a term, and in addition branch meetings are held in the different districts of Tokyo, and in other parts of Japan. A study of the occupations of the alumnae shows that many have entered teaching posi- tions in Japan, and a few have gone to schools in China. Others, in smaller numbers, are private governesses; reporters; clerks in de- partment stores, and business and railway offices; some are doing library work; a few are engaged in some form of social service; and a small number are continuing their studies in colleges of other countries. The school is very proud of the fact that the ma- jority of its graduates marry, but investigation shows that many continue in some form of educational or business pursuit after marriage. The ideals of the Woman's University can best be stated in Mr. Naruse's own words: 146 Education of Women in Japan " Women must be educated not only as women, but also as members of Society and citizens. The education of our girls hitherto has been very defective on this point. It has made women a little better qualified for their household duties than before, but not qualified for rendering service to Society. It has been entirely overlooked that a woman has duties to Society as much as to her family. In the education of the future we must look upon a woman in her broader relations, and endeavour to strengthen in her the consciousness that she is a member of Society so that she may con- tribute something both directly and indirectly to Society at large. " Still further women must be educated not only as members of Society, but also as souls. They must not be looked upon as things, or instruments for practical uses, but as sacred human beings with faculties of mind and body that are capable of infinite development. We must educate women first as souls, then as members of Society, and then as women, or our education will never be perfect." Although Mr. Naruse lays so much em- phasis upon the development of women " as souls," religious instruction is not a part of the curriculum of the University. Again Mr. Naruse's attitude can best be given by Some Private Schools 147 himself. " Educators must have a spirit of tolerance to all religions, and allow students perfect freedom in adhering to any religion they choose; and at the same time they ought to inculcate high moral principles of life, aiming to the spiritual edification of the students with- out interfering with their individual faiths. Such teaching will tend to strengthen the con- viction of students in the essential and ever- lasting truths, and let alone the non-essential and valueless elements of their respective religions." One cannot doubt Mr. Naruse's sincerity in the conviction that '' so far and no farther can education go in religious instruction," but when it is remembered that a majority of his students profess no religion whatever, one cannot but earnestly covet for them an oppor- tunity to know of the vital and positive religion of Him who came to bring abundance of life. It is always well to hold up high ideals, but the young people of Japan are restless and un- satisfied not from lack of moral standards but from lack of power to attain them. I well remember a graduate of the Woman's Uni- versity full of high purposes and ambitions, who soon after her graduation had gone into a large factory and become one of the workers there in order that she might thus learn how 148 Education of Women in Japan best to serve those who were condemned to spend their lives in such work. She had no lack of the desire to be useful, but she knew nothing of the peace and power of service ren- dered in fellowship with the Great Companion, and after a week of association with those who were living in the joy of such fellowship, her hunger expressed itself in the cry, " I want something! I don't know what it is, but I ivant it ! " While it is still young, the future of the Woman's University seems fairly well assured. Mr. Naruse has secured the interest of those who are able to assist the school financially, and the large enrolment each year indicates that there are many who desire the kind of work offered. One of the most interesting and successful schools for girls in Japan is the Joshi Eigaku Juku, better known in America as Miss Tsuda's English Institute. The youngest of the five girls sent to America for education by the Japanese government in 1872 was Ume Tsuda, then only seven years old. For ten years this little girl lived in Washington, in the home of Mr. Charles Lanman, going to school and learn- ing to understand the life of the West in a way possible only to those who grow up in it. Some Private Schools 149 When she was seventeen she returned to Japan to find herself a stranger in her native coun- try. She had forgotten the customs of her country, the elaborate etiquette of her people was a mystery to her, even the language was to her a strange tongue. A young girl of less strong character might well have been over- come by the difficulties of the situation. But Miss Tsuda set herself resolutely to master her difficult native tongue; to become thor- oughly acquainted with the ways of her peo- ple ; to be, in short, " as good a Japanese as she had become an American." Soon after her return she was appointed in- terpreter and teacher to the wife of an offi- cial who held a high position in the Japanese court. This experience was of great value, both because of the training it gave and be- cause of the opportunity it afforded her to win the confidence and friendship of many of the most influential people in Japan. Her mother's illness called her home at the end of six months and when she was again free she was asked to become a teacher in the Peeresses' School, which was at that time just beginning its work as a separate institution. Miss Tsuda's success in thoroughly renationalizing herself is most convincingly attested by her long term of service in this school, which is i^o Education of Women in Japan . directly under the patronage of the Empress, and is probably the most conservative school in the country. After teaching in the Peeresses' School for several years Miss Tsuda felt the need of further study, and having obtained a leave of absence in 1889 she returned to America and spent three years in Bryn Mawr College. She did not work for a degree, but specialized in English literature, history, and science. She showed such natural aptitude for scientific study that during her last year in Bryn Mawr she assisted the professor of biology in origi- nal research. In 1892 Miss Tsuda resumed her work in the Peeresses' School, and five years later she was also appointed a lecturer in the Tokyo Girls' Higher Normal School, the most ad- vanced government school for girls in Japan. In 1898, mainly through the influence of Marquis Ito, Count Okuma, and Professor Toyama, Japan sent two women as delegates to the biennial convention of the Federation of Women's Clubs held in Denver. Miss Tsuda was one of these delegates and, reads a newspaper report, ^' delivered one of the best five minute speeches of the biennial, best in composition, delivery, grace, and voice." " Miss Tsuda cannot be too heartily congratu- Some Private Schools 151 lated," commented the Japan Weekly Mail in reporting the impression she had made, " upon the courage, tact, and abihty she has dis- played." At the earnest invitation of the wife of the Archbishop of Canterbury and other prominent women from England, Miss Tsuda went from America to Great Britain, and spent six months there, in Oxford and elsewhere, studying educational methods. The position which she had come to occupy in her country is indicated by the fact that on her return from this trip she was granted the great hon- our of a private audience with the Empress, which is an extreme mark of Imperial favour. Ever since her first return to Japan from America Miss Tsuda had had one supreme desire: to share with other Japanese women the gifts which she had received in America. For several years she had held the conviction that the best way to do this was through a school for girls which would offer more ad- vanced work than that provided by the govern- ment, and which would give this work in the atmosphere of a Christian home, and under the influence of Christian teaching. In 1900 she felt that the time had come to establish such a school. The reaction against the educa- tion of Japanese women had passed; her friend Miss Bacon, who had promised to help in the 152 Education of Women in Japan inauguration of the school, was ready to come to Japan; and interested friends in America, while not making any definite promise, agreed to try to raise an initial sum of $4000. Miss Tsuda accordingly resigned her position in the Peeresses' and Higher Normal School, giving up thereby not only her official rank and title, but her only assured means of financial sup- port. But she possessed the courage and faith which recognize no obstacles as insurmount- able. A friend in Tokyo wrote at this time: " Miss Tsuda occupies a unique position here. No one doubts her ability, her honesty, or her Christianity. Whatever stand she takes, every one knows exactly where to find her, and she has won her way just by sheer force of honesty and ability to a position of uni- versal respect. The work that she proposes is a great one." Bishop McKim's testimony was equally em- phatic. " Miss Tsuda is an enthusiast on the subject of the education of Japanese women; but she has what is wanting in many enthu- siasts — knowledge founded upon successful ex- perience. Teaching has been her profession for many years, and I know of no woman in Japan whose reputation as an educator stands higher than hers. She is preeminently quali- fied for the work she wishes to do as a Chris- Some Private Schools 153 tian teacher of Japanese girls and young women. I am positive that her work will be a success from the beginning." Few people were as well qualified to judge of Miss Tsuda's fitness for the work she pro- posed as Miss Bacon, who had known her in her girlhood in America, and who had for a time been one of her colleagues in the Peer- esses' School in Tokyo. ^' There are very few persons in Japan who are able to look with equal clearness upon the Eastern and Western civilizations," Miss Bacon says, " and of these few I think I am safe in saying that not more than two or three are women. Among these women Ume Tsuda stands forth as, perhaps, the most prominent and energetic. Her story is well known to most foreigners in Japan, and her life has been lived for some thirty years, more or less, before the public on both sides of the Pacific. As under the concentration of interest that has at all times fallen upon her, she has showed herself at all times worthy of all respect, — womanly, modest, capable, ener- getic, — it is hardly necessary for me to add anything in regard to her personal character. In a life compassed about by perplexities, her quick wit and absolute honesty and sincerity have made her a place that belongs to her alone among all the women of Japan. Her 154 Education of Women in Japan Christianity, without cant or bigotry, is of a kind that never evades an issue or dodges a duty." It was decided that the new school should make a specialty of English, not only because it was felt that the demand for good instruc- tion in this subject would be of great assist- ance in making the school possible from a financial point of view, but also because Miss Tsuda believed that the study of English litera- ture would bring to her students just the ideals and inspiration which she coveted for them. ** The teacher even of elementary English in Japan," Miss Bacon writes, " finds that thoughts which Americans deem almost innate are new, and of deepest interest, to Japanese students. The opening of English literature to the mind is the opening of a window to- ward fresh air and sunshine and magnificent new vistas of thought and feeling. The care- ful study of English literature is in itself a liberal education to the mind trained only in Japanese thought. The idea that Miss Tsuda wished to carry out in her school was to offer to girls who had already completed the Eng- lish work obtainable in the government or other schools a thorough three years' course in the English language and literature, such as would fit them for teaching in secondary Some Private Schools 155 schools; and at the same time to fill in, for girls whose education in English has been con- ducted at the expense of their Japanese, in- struction by thoroughly qualified teachers in their own language and literature. By such a curriculum she hoped to supplement the work both of the government schools and the mis- sionary institutions, and to fit graduates from them to pass the government examinations for English teachers, thus opening a means of employment which has hitherto been almost closed to women. As a rule to-day among women, the good English scholars have an imperfect Japanese education, and the thor- ough Japanese scholars have little or no Eng- lish. Each year in the government examina- tions for teachers' certificates, a number of women apply, but most of them fail for one or the other of these reasons." With such a purpose as this the school be- gan its work in September, 1900, and thirteen years have attested the need and value of just such an institution. The work began very quietly in a small private house, with fifteen pupils and three teachers. Miss Tsuda, Miss Bacon, and Mr. Sakurai, with the Princess Oyama as " Komon," or '' Honorary Ad- viser." The first winter was undeniably a hard one. '' The school literally had need of 1^6 Education of Women in Japan all things," reads a report, " for while its Japanese friends were sympathetic their gifts were of necessity small. Miss Bacon's type- writer often came into play to provide ex- tracts for the literature classes; and hymns so copied did duty at morning prayers, one serv- ing for a week while the next was being pre- pared." But in spite of lack of books, cramped space, scanty furniture, poor light, influenza, and other sickness, at the end of three months the school had doubled its enrolment, and sev- eral applications had already been entered for the following year. A larger house was se- cured in which sixty students could be accom- modated. " At first it seemed as if the house was all that could be needed for years to come," Miss Bacon wrote a few months after the move was made, " but already the school- room, sleeping-room, and dining-room capacity- is seriously strained, and the assembling of the school and its friends for an evening entertain- ment necessitates a removal of partitions, books, and furniture that cannot be lightly undertaken." In the summer of 1902 the school was en- abled to purchase a good piece of property, which had formerly belonged to the American Church Mission, and the work has been car- ried on there since that time. There are at o o (—• GO en Some Private Schools 157 present two school buildings, containing class- rooms, offices, reading-room, assembly hall, gymnasium, etc.; two dormitories; and three small residences for teachers. In 1904 the Department of Education set its stamp of approval upon the work of the school by granting it full government recog- nition as a " Semmon Gakko," or special school. The same department paid what was perhaps an even greater tribute tO' the thor- oughness of the school's work the following year, when it granted the graduates of its normal course the teachers' license to teach English in government secondary and normal schools for girls, without examination. Since 19 1 2 this license has applied to schools for boys also. These are privileges accorded to no other private school for girls in Japan, and to only two government schools, the Girls' Higher Normal Schools of Tokyo and Nara, and these schools offer no advanced course in English. Only those, however, who before coming to Miss Tsuda have graduated from public high schools, or private schools recog- nized by the government as equal in stand- ard to the high schools, can be given these teachers' licenses. The school has for several years been filled to its utmost capacity of one hundred and fifty. 158 Education of Women in Japan There are now one hundred and forty-three graduates, sixty-three of whom are teaching in government schools from one end of the country to the other. By their abihty and character they have given their Alma Mater an enviable national reputation. No graduate of the school need ever fear lest her services should not be required, for Miss Tsuda can- not supply teachers rapidly enough to fill the positions offered. Miss Tsuda does not feel that her work has ended when a girl graduates from the Joshi Eigaku Juku; in fact she herself now gives as much of her energy to the alumnae as to the under-graduates, counselling and encouraging and helping them in many ways. Many of them go out to difficult and distant positions, where the loneliness and actual hardships would be almost too great to bear were it not for the sympathy and inspiration which they receive from their honoured and beloved teacher. More than one-half of the girls who grad- uate from this school and go out into influ- ential teaching positions all over Japan are members of Christian churches, and others would gladly be if their parents would consent. Almost all the students come from non-Chris- tian homes, but what they learn and see of Some Private Schools 159 Christianity during their three years in the school wins most of them to a personal ac- ceptance of the Christian faith. No pressure is brought to bear, but they are given every opportunity to see and judge for themselves. Boarding pupils are expected to attend the morning prayers which are held in the Assem- bly Room at the beginning of each day's work, and many day pupils come of their own ac- cord. The same thing is true of the church service and Sunday school. Ethics is a part of the required work, as in all government schools, and is taught by Dr. Motoda, the principal of the Episcopal College for boys in Tokyo, with the Bible as the basis. The Young Women's Christian Association carries on a strong work in the school, sending a large delegation to the summer conference each year, and conducting voluntary Bible classes, in which more than two-thirds of the students are enrolled. While not denominational, the school is as strongly Christian as any institu- tion in Japan, and its achievements in trans- forming lives are even more noteworthy than its eminent educational success. The school now offers only a literary course, which includes, in addition to the English work, Japanese, Chinese, ethics, psychology, history, etc. Miss Tsuda is eager to add a i6o Education of Women in Japan scientific course at the earliest possible mo- ment, but cannot do so without additional financial support. Both Japanese and American friends have contributed generously to the support of the school. Two American committees with headquarters in Philadelphia and New York seek to enlist the sympathy and support of the friends of Christian education on this side of the Pacific, and a Japanese committee headed by the Princess Oyama has been no less active in Japan. The alumnae association has, from its beginning, assumed a generous share of the school's financial burdens. In 1904 it organ- ized afternoon classes in English for younger girls who were attending other institutions, all the teaching being done by alumnae, and all the proceeds being given to the school. A short time ago the alumnae gave 6000 yen to clear off the mortgage on the school property, and they are now seeking to raise 10,000 yen as the nucleus of an endowment fund. Part of this amount is to be used for the support of a teacher, who is to be one of their number, and is to have charge of the alumnae associa- tion in addition to her teaching. The gifts that have perhaps meant most, however, are the personal contributions of time made by many teachers, both Japanese and foreign. Some Private Schools i6i " Without this help from many of the best teachers in Tokyo," reads a school report, '' the school could hardly have come through its first difficult years, and certainly could not have had its unexpected success." More than half the teaching is now either given outright, or like Miss Tsuda's own, at half rate, or less. In spite of the generosity of many friends, however, the work of the Joshi Eigaku Juku is still seriously restricted by lack of funds. Were it not for this there would be practically no limits to the splendid service which could be rendered by it. Owing to the universal respect in which its founder and head is held, because of the high place accorded it by the government, and as a result of the character and ability shown by its graduates, it occupies a position of more than ordinary influence. Moreover, the fact that there is a constant de- mand for teachers of English, and that no other school for girls offers such advanced work along this line, gives the English Insti- tute an opportunity to reach an unusually large number of those who are to be the teachers of young Japan. It faces a future full of promise. Many other private schools for girls exist in various parts of Japan, but time and space would fail were one to attempt to tell of them all. One of the oldest of them is the Atomi 1 62 Education of Women in Japan Girls* School in Tokyo, established in 1876 by Madame Kwaki Atomi, one of the best known painters and educators in Japan. The work in this school is modelled upon the old ideals for the education of Japanese women, and much emphasis is laid upon such accom- plishments as art, music, etc. Madame Atomi has recently been granted the insignia of the Sacred Crown, and promoted to the Sixth Rank of Merit, in recognition of her years of service to the women of her country. Over one thousand students have graduated from her school. Another Japanese woman well known for her scholarship and interest in educational af- fairs is Madame Miwada, who has been a teacher for forty-eight years. She was for a time the governness of the Prince Iwakura, and later established a private school for girls in Matsuyama. She is now the principal of a girls' school in Tokyo, which bears her name, and was established by her in 1902. Madame Tanahashi can look back upon an even greater number of years given to edu- cational work. Over fifty years ago she opened a private school for girls, and since that time she has taught in many schools, both public and private, in different parts of Japan, including the Girls' Higher Normal School of Some Private Schools 163 Tokyo. She estabHshed a girls' high school in Tokyo in 1903, which is said to be one of the most flourishing in the city. She and Madame Miwada were the first women edu- cators to be decorated by the Emperor with the sixth order of the Sacred Crown, this hon- our being conferred upon them both on March 8th, 1912. A girls' private school at Okayama, con- ducted by Mrs. Kajira, a Christian woman, a graduate of Kobe College and Mt. Holyoke, is of especial interest because the prefectural government, in recognition of the value of the work being done, has granted it a government subsidy. Among the private professional schools in Tokyo is a Woman's Commercial School where girls are prepared for positions as stenog- raphers, bookkeepers, telephone operators, clerks in railroad offices, etc. The work of this school has recently been recognized by the government as equal to that of the public high schools for girls. A medical school for women, established by Dr. Yoshioka, a woman physician, is doing good work. Dr. Yoshioka has a large prac- tice, and conducts a private hospital, using what she earns from these sources to conduct a medical school at Ushigome, Tokyo, in which 164 Education of Women in Japan there were last year three hundred women. Her equipment is meagre, twenty students, for example, having the use of one microscope among them, but the teaching has been of suffi- ciently high a grade to win for the school government recognition as a Semmon Gakko. " This school cannot of course be compared with the medical education which is being given men," says a recent article, " but Uni- versity professors lecture at the school, and women are going out in increasing numbers to practise medicine as assistants, or what would correspond to high class nurses, and those who have passed government examina- tions, as regular practitioners." The record made by graduates of this school who have entered for the government exami- nations reflects great credit on the thorough- ness of their preparation. The Japan Times records the fact that in 1908 Miss Yuku Tomi- hara, a graduate of the school, was " the only lady among three persons who succeeded in the examination, out of 1400 competitors." A recent issue of the Japan Weekly Mail also calls attention to the fact that " among those who have successfully passed the examinations by the Educational Department as medical practitioners are four women, all of whom are graduates from the Tokyo Woman's Medical Some Private Schools 165 School at Ushigome." The sister of one of these young women, also a graduate of Dr. Yoshioka's school, is now a licensed physician in the Government General Hospital of Korea. In view of the government recognition granted the school last year, the graduates will receive regular medical degrees, without examination, in three years. One hundred 'and seventy women have now graduated from this school. The private schools for girls vary so greatly, both in character and standard, that no general statements can be made regarding them. It is interesting to notice, however, how many of those which are best known have been established and are carried on by Japa- nese women. Some of these have already ren- dered very real service to the girls of Japan, and many of them will undoubtedly be among the most influential forces in moulding the womanhood of the future. VII WOMAN'S LIFE IN MODERN JAPAN THE horizon of the women of old Japan was limited, and the pursuits in which they were permitted to en- gage were very few. The management of their households and the care of their children were practically the only occupations open to the women of the middle and upper classes. The women of the poorer people led a little less restricted life, for poverty often forced them to add some form of industrial work to their home duties. Probably in no other country has woman taken a larger part in agriculture than in Japan. Any one who has visited the country in the spring or summer will remem- ber the picture of little Japanese women, young and old, working in the rice fields, preparing the muddy soil for the seed, or, with blue skirts fastened up, wading in the water which covers the first green shoots, separating them and re- setting the young plants. The picking and drying of tea was one of the occupations in which the women of old Japan shared, and the i66 Woman's Life in Modern Japan 167 cultivation of the silkworm was almost en- tirely entrusted to them. Few other activities were, however, deemed suitable for them. The woman of modern Japan lives in a dif- ferent world. Whereas her grandmother, and even her mother, never dreamed of any life outside of the home, she may choose from many possible vocations. Japanese women are to- day taking an active part in industry, in vari- ous professions, and in numerous forms of social and religious service. The statement has been made that almost two-thirds of the industrial products of Japan are the result of women's work. Women are operatives in factories manufacturing silk, cot- ton, paper, mats, boxes, bamboo articles, and many other products. Commercial and indus- trial institutions have grown with great rapid- ity in Japan, and according to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce for 1910, there are now 814,419 factory work- ers in Japan, of whom 336,545 are men, 477,- 874 women. 41,914 of these are under four- teen years old, 7309 of them boys, 34,605 girls. The factory girls work long hours, and as most of them are required to live in dormi- tories attached to the factories they practically spend their lives inside factory walls. Many i68 Education of Women in Japan of them live under most undesirable conditions where physical and moral health are well- nigh impossible. Some factories, notably the Kanegafuchi Spinning Company of Osaka, conduct excellent welfare work for their em- ployees, but the condition of factory girls as a whole can be improved only by the passage and rigid enforcement of the right kind of factory laws. There are as yet no factory laws in operation. Three laws were passed through the Diet recently, but with the under- standing that they should not come into force until at least ten years later. These laws are, in brief: 1. Work by children under twelve years of age is forbidden. 2. The working day of children under fif- teen and of women must not exceed twelve hours. 3. Work by children under fifteen and by women is forbidden between the hours of ten p. M. and four a. m. The solution of this problem lies, as the Commission of the Young Women's Christian Association appointed to investigate the condi- tions of employed women reports, " in the pub- lic conscience, in a larger sense of the worth of human labour, and in the Christianization of all society." c3 o 3 o -4— » Woman's Life in Modern Japan 169 The introduction of the telephone has given employment to several thousand v^omen. 2300 girls are employed by the telephone offices of Tokyo alone. The majority of these girls are very young, from seventeen to twenty years old, and most of them become married after a few years of work. A few, however, remain long enough to be appointed to re- sponsible positions, in which they receive about the same salaries as do high school teachers. The hours of work in the telephone exchange are not long, and three holidays a month are given. It is said that the heads of departments encourage the girls to save their money, as much as 40,000 yen being now on deposit on their accounts. In connection with the Department of Com- munications 12,543 women are employed as clerks, stenographers, bookkeepers, etc., in the railway and post offices. They are considered very efficient in keeping accounts, and ap- parently have always given great satisfaction. Over twenty years ago the Japan Weekly Mail commented upon the favourable impression made by the pioneers. " The practice of em- ploying female labour in Government offices was, we believe, inaugurated by the Finance Department. Everybody who has visited the Printing Bureau of that Department remem- 170 Education of Women in Japan bers the long rows of dapper, clean-looking girls, with their simple uniform, . . . and still retains a vivid recollection of the extraordi- nary nimbleness and precision of their fingers." About two hundred of the women employed in government offices hold positions of official rank, which entitle them to be called govern- ment officials, rather than employees. Much honour is attached to these positions and gov- ernment pensions are granted to those who hold them for fifteen years or more. The number of fairly well educated girls who are finding employment in business offices is increasing. Not a few English and Ameri- can firms employ girls from mission schools. These girls do stenographic work in English, and receive comparatively good salaries. Sev- eral Christian girls are in such positions as these. A few Japanese women are controlling large business interests. One of the most prominent of these is Mrs. Asa Hirooka of Osaka, the organizer and head of a well-known banking firm at Kajima. " At the age of seventeen," reads an account of her activities, " she mar- ried Mr. Shingora Hirooka, whose family was one of the banking agents of the feudal barons. Political convulsions greatly affected business, and the Hirooka finances were at a low ebb, Woman's Life in Modern Japan 171 when Mrs. Hirooka took sole charge of the business, introduced decided changes, and swept the concern to financial success. She is regarded as a remarkably successful finan- cier, and her ability as an organizer was shown by her conduct of the coal mining projects at Nogi. But little interest was shown in the development of the mines, but in spite of dis- advantages and bitter opposition, she so ably managed the enterprise as to add to the wealth of the firm, and to her reputation as a business woman." Mrs. Hirooka employs several women in her bank, and has entrusted some of the positions of largest responsibility to them. She is a loyal Christian, and was one of the leaders of a recent summer con- ference of the Young Women's Christian As- sociation. She made the opening address, speaking on '' Christianity and the Woman Problem," and remained throughout the con- ference, helping in numerous ways. Nursing is a comparatively new line of work for Japanese women, but one to which many are now giving themselves. The first nurses' training-school was established in Kyoto, in the eighties, in connection with the medical work of the American Board. Miss Linda Richards, who was the first nurse graduated in New England, resigned her position as sup- 172 Education of Women in Japan erintendent of nurses in the Boston City Hos- pital, and went to Japan to take charge of the new training-school. This school attracted much attention and received many visits from officials and others interested in medical science. It undoubtedly served as a model for many of the nurses' training-schools which exist to-day in almost every prefecture of Japan. The Japanese women are peculiarly fitted for the work of nurses in several ways. They have behind them centuries of training in abso- lute obedience and self-control, and their gentleness and patience are proof against the most trying tasks and the longest hours. One who found it necessary to spend several days in St. Luke's Hospital, Tokyo, could not say enough in praise of " the patient, happy little Christian Japanese nurses, flitting about in their short white frocks from morning till night, and through the nights too, always with a cheerful smile, ready to dO' anything, never saying, ' I am tired.' " Gentleness and cheerfulness are no more characteristic of these nurses, however, than the loyalty, courage, and power of almost lim- itless self-sacrifice which were the supreme virtues of feudal Japan, and which have be- come part of the very being of the Japanese Woman's Life in Modem Japan 173 woman. Dr. Berry's testimony to the " re- markable courage and fortitude " of Japanese nurses, comes from an experience of over a quarter of a century of work with them. ** In the early history of the Kyoto schools," he says, " a striking illustration of this (courage) was seen in a medical service arising from earthquake, when within ten minutes ten thousand persons were killed and fifty thou- sand injured. To the centre of this disturb- ance I hurried with a corps of native assist- ants and nurses, where we found a surgical service almost unprecedented in its arduous responsibility. On the third day of that serv- ice, when amputating a leg at the knee joint, and about to pick up the arteries for ligation, the distant roar of an approaching earthquake shock was again heard. The large number of patients in the waiting-room were hurriedly carried to the yard by friends, but all the nurses and medical assistants braced them- selves for the shock, stood bravely by the patient, and steadily performed their respective duties. So, too, in the great epidemics of cholera that have swept over the land, and again in the Russo-Japanese war, these nurses have unflinchingly done their duty with abso- lutely no fear of death." These women have not flinched even in the 174 Education of Women in Japan face of duties which meant almost certain death. " If I should decline to work there, another must, and if she too should fear there will be none to stay," said Mrs. Ume Tamura, superintendent of nurses of the Taikoku Hos- pital in Formosa, and unmurmuringly laid down her life in nursing a case of plague. In spite of the fitness of Japanese women for nursing, this work has not as yet attained the dignity in Japan which it possesses in Europe and America, but is regarded as a trade rather than a profession. Wages are usually low, hours almost unendurably long, and the work full of drudgery. But notwith- standing these things a very large number of young women are entering this work. The Japanese hospitals use Japanese nurses entirely, and most of the foreign hospitals employ a large number of them. The Red Cross Hos- pital has a huge staff, not only in Tokyo but throughout the country. It is estimated that there are 3000 nurses in the city of Tokyo alone. The lives of the nurses working in con- nection with missionary agencies, while very busy, are cared for and safeguarded in every possible way; but they are very few in number compared with the host of young women working in other hospitals and on Woman's Life in Modern Japan 175 private cases. There are so many able physi- cians among the Japanese that there is now comparatively little need for medical mission- ary work in Japan, and there are only a few Christian hospitals or dispensaries. The great majority of nurses work under difficult and sometimes dangerous conditions. " Probably no class of young women needs to know the comforts of the Christian life more than nurses," reads the report of a recent commission of the Young Women's Chris- tian Association in Japan. " They are in the midst of suffering all the time, and the hours are desperately long and strenuous. They re- ceive for the most part low wages, and when they leave training the housing problem when off duty is a very serious one. Nurses' unions are numerous, but are for the most part agencies for the exploitation of the nurses. There is need for some Christian agency to help nurses not only individually as occasion and opportunity arise, but to provide facilities, social and physical, which will create an environment in which spiritual fruits will have a large chance to take root and grow." The number of women physicians in Japan to-day is not large ; a recent article states that there are not more than two hundred and fifty in actual practice in the entire country. This 176 Education of Women in Japan is a large gain over the thirty reported in 1896, however, and the number of women medical students indicates that this profession is mak- ing an increasingly strong appeal to Japanese women. The Report on Education for 1909- 10 shows that in certain government examina- tions for medical practitioners there were two hundred and seventy-nine women applicants, sixty-three of whom passed the examinations. The first woman physician in Japan was Dr. Gin Ogino, the story of whose efforts to obtain a medical education is a record of difficulties and discouragements which might well have destroyed a less firmly fixed purpose than hers. When she finally succeeded in acquiring her training, she was forced to wait a year before being admitted to the examinations for the legal certificate without which she could not practice. Twice her petition for examination was rejected, but the third time she was per- mitted to enter the lists and was one of those who succeeded in satisfying the examiners of their ability to practise medicine. Another pioneer woman medical student was Dr. Yoshioka, the head of the medical school for women referred to in the preceding chapter. In addition to her work in her school, Dr. Yoshioka receives, on an average, eighty patients a day in her office, and conducts her % Woman's Life in Modern Japan 177 own hospital, which accommodates thirty patients. One of the best known women physicians of Tokyo is Dr. Sono Mayeda, who received her earHest education in the Methodist school for girls in that city. After leaving this school she entered a private medical school, and in spite of the fact that she was the only woman student completed her medical course. She married soon after finishing her studies, but her husband lived only a short time, and after his death she began her medical practice. She spent some time in a hospital in Tokyo, and was then appointed by the government to work in a Korean hospital. Her father's illness necessitated her return to Tokyo some years ago, and placed upon her the responsibility of supporting the family. " Now she has fought her way out of her many difficulties," says the Japan Advertiser, " her father has been re- stored to health, she has been able to place her family in good circumstances, and enjoys a good medical practice." Dr. Tomo Inouye, a graduate of the Naga- saki Methodist school for girls, is another of Tokyo's leading women physicians. In 1895 she came to America and entered the Homeo- pathic Medical College in Cleveland, working her own way and graduating with honour 178 Education of Women in Japan three years later. The following year she en- tered the medical department of the University of Michigan, graduating there in 1901. She now has an office in Tokyo, but her principal work is among the girl students of the city, as she is the regular attending physician in several of the large schools. Dr. Inouye has had to meet some criticism from conservative people in Japan who feel that women should not be engaged in public work, " but," says the Japan Evangelist^ " her uniform courtesy, excellent tact, and high Christian character have won for her a warm place in the hearts of many of Tokyo's citizens." An interesting example of the impression made by the life of another Christian woman physician was given some years ago, when Dr. Hishakawa of the Presbyterian Mission was brought to trial, because her report of a case of typhoid fever which she was treating had not been received by the proper government officials. It transpired that the servant who had carried the report had dropped it into the wrong box, and Dr. Hishikawa was enabled to prove to the court's satisfaction that she had done her part in complying with the law. The tribute paid her by the counsel for the defence was perhaps worth the trouble and annoyance caused her by the incident. "Had Woman's Life in Modern Japan 179 I no proofs whatever but the word of this woman," he said, '' it would be sufficient, for she is a Christian and cannot be induced to tell a falsehood. She has received her educa- tion in Christian schools, her medical educa- tion in Christian America, and her word is good. She is a fit example of what I wish many of our women were; she has devoted her life to the good of her sex and of little chil- dren. She is known and trusted by all the people in the northwestern section of our city." In Japan, as in other lands, more women are engaged in teaching than in any other pro- fession. Inasmuch as there were no schools for girls prior to the Restoration, this is a comparatively new occupation for Japanese women, but it is probably the first profession to be entered by them. As early as 1874 there were seventy-four women studying in normal schools in Japan. The rapidly increasing number of women students in these schools, and the subsequent establishment of normal schools for women only, are indications of the fact that the new Japan early deemed teaching a fitting occupation for its women. That Japa- nese women have been eminently successful in this line of work is convincingly attested in numerous ways. The large number of women employed in both public and private schools, i8o Education of Women in Japan the government's policy of sending particu- larly able young women abroad to fit them- selves for some special line of teaching, the Emperor's decoration of prominent v^omen educators, — all these are evidences of the uni- versal respect accorded the woman teacher. Enough has been said in preceding chapters to show the type and quality of work being done by women in government, missionary, and private schools. As teachers of almost every subject, from the kindergarten to the higher normal schools, and from one end of the empire to the other, they are exerting an immeasurable influence on the life of the na- tion, and even upon neighbouring countries, for China, Korea, Siam, and Hawaii have all sought their services. Some idea of the number of women who are desirous of giving themselves to this work may be gained from the fact that in 1906 only twenty per cent, of those who applied for admission to the gov- ernment normal schools could be admitted. Although many of the mission and private schools, as well as the government institutions, are preparing girls to be teachers, there is not yet adequate provision for those who wish to receive thorough training, nor is the supply of well-equipped teachers equal to the demand for them. There are at present 30,000 women Woman's Life in Modern Japan i8i teaching in primary and high schools through- out Japan. Woman's share in literature is not an al- together new thing in Japan. Many of the finest pieces of Japan's ancient literature are the work of women, and it is natural that in the new day which is dawning for the women of Japan, several should be turning to some form of literary work. Among the most prominent women writers of modern Japan are Madame Atomi, head of the Atomi Girls' School, who is well known for her writings in Chinese ; Madame Shimoda, Saisho Atsuka, famous for her poems; Miss Tanabe, Madame Koganei, and Madame Nakajima, writers of fiction; and Mrs. Ozaki Yukio, who has published several descriptions of Japanese life, past and present, in English, some of her work having been published in America. There are now several magazines for women published in Japan, a number of which are edited by women. The Meiji No Joshi, the organ of the Young Women's Christian Association, which has a monthly issue of about seven hundred copies, is edited by Miss Okonogi, a Wellesley girl, assisted by Miss Kohashi, a graduate of the Woman's Uni- versity, who has had special training in maga- 1 82 Education of Women in Japan zine work. The Woman's Herald, pub- lished by the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, is another well-known magazine edited by a woman. Mrs. Kashi Iwamoto, a woman well known for " the exquisite taste she ever displayed in her writings and translations," was for some time the editor of a woman's magazine, and for the two years preceding her death edited the women's and children's department of the Japan Evangelist. Women are now working on some of the leading newspapers of Japan. As long ago as 1886 the first woman was appointed to the editorial staff of one of the best newspapers in Tokyo, and women are now connected with five of the daily papers of that city. Several women are working as reporters, and some of them seem to be very successful. The Japan Mail makes the following comment on a woman reporter's account of an interview with Count Katsu, sometimes known as the Count of Hikawa. " The above report of the Count's conversation is rendered in plain and graceful language. We notice Miss Ikuno's accounts of interviews show a wonderful power of re- producing the exact tone of the conversation. In the present case, for instance, she has re- tained all the characteristic phraseology and accentuation of the distinguished statesman so Woman's Life in Modern Japan 183 successfully that the reader imagines himself listening to the veritable Count of Hikawa." Painting and drawing have always been con- sidered womanly pursuits in Japan, but only recently has it been deemed fitting that women should make art a profession. Many Japanese women are to-day, however, in the forefront of the artists of their country. One of them, Noguchi Shokin, is regarded as the foremost artist of the Chinese school of art. She is especially famous for her landscape painting, and is an Art Commissioner to the Court. Madame Atomi, the well-known edu- cator and writer, is another prominent artist of the Chinese school. Her sister, Atomi Tamae, is among the leading artists of the Classical school. She has the honour of being the first woman artist to be given an order to do painting for the Imperial palaces, and is the first artist who has been allowed to sign her name to work in the palace. Kammuira Sho-en, a woman of Kyoto, whose paintings of women have been awarded many medals in art exhibits, is also of the Classical school. A high tribute was paid a Japanese artist, Shokin Joshi, at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, when a specimen of her work was awarded the first prize in the Woman's Building. 184 Education of Women in Japan Music is the chosen profession of a few Japanese women. Two of the professors of the Tokyo Musical Academy are women, Miss Nobu and Mrs. Ando, both of whom were sent abroad by the government to study music. Miss Shibata is another well-known musician of Tokyo. She is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and is now teaching vocal and piano music in the Aoyama Jo Gakuin. The broadening horizon of Japanese women is perhaps nowhere more clearly shown than in the women's organizations which have come into being within the last four decades. Women have banded themselves together in clubs and societies, large and small, for the achievement of a great variety of pur- poses. There are several organizations with edu- cational aims of one kind or another. The largest of these is probably the Woman's Edu- cational Society, established in 1888 by a little group of thirty women, its purpose being " self- improvement, and the spread of knowledge among women." The membership grew very rapidly, and increased to about four hundred within ten years. The Princess Mori, the Princess San jo, the Marchioness Nabeshima, and other influential women have been very X u o >^ t-^ Woman's Life in Modern Japan 185 active members. Monthly meetings, at which leading educators have given addresses, have been very largely attended; a monthly maga- zine has been issued; and an industrial school for girls has been supported and conducted by the Society. One of the largest women's organizations is the Women's Hygienic Association, which aims to increase the knowledge of Japanese women regarding the laws of health. The Association has a membership of several thou- sand, and holds frequent meetings at which lectures are given and opportunity for discus- sion afforded. The Mothers' Union of Japan, which was first formed about fifteen years ago, is a very active and flourishing organization. At the annual meeting of the Union in 1906, reports were given from twenty-five centres, each rep- resenting from one to seven local circles, each circle representing, on an average, forty women. In some of the larger cities mothers' meetings are held in connection with the schools, good speakers being secured to address them. One mothers' circle in Tokyo made a special study of children's clothing a few years ago, wath a view to introducing costumes w^hich should be at the same time economical, healthful, and becoming. A pattern bureau w^as established. 1 86 Education of Women in Japan and patterns were offered to mothers in any part of Japan for five cents apiece. A very interesting organization of women was that formed for the purpose of preparing an exhibit of Japanese women's work to be sent to the World's Fair held in Chicago in 1892. A paragraph in the Japan Weekly Mail gives some idea of the large responsibility undertaken by these women. " The associa- tion is divided into three sections; first, the section of general business, which attends to all correspondence, translations, advertise- ments, publications, matters of account, collec- tion of necessary articles, packing, carriage, insurance, etc.; secondly, the section of in- vestigation, whose function Is to compile and prepare all documents and Illustrations bearing upon the various employments of women, their education, their literary productions, and the charitable works carried on by their efforts; and thirdly, the section of exhibits which has to do with determining, choosing, and collect- ing articles for exhibition, preparing lists of them and deciding their manner of arrange- ment." A very large amount of work is being ac- complished by philanthropic societies of women. Women are doing much for the sick. " The first work that Interested Japanese women Woman's Life in Modern Japan 187 as a whole in public charity was the care of the sick," says Miss Tsuda. " The founding of hospitals and schools for nurses has es- pecially appealed to Japanese women, without distinction of rank or religion." One of the oldest women's societies is the Tokyo Charity Hospital Association, to which many Japanese women of rank and influence belong. The Tokyo Charity Hospital was es- tablished by this organization in 1887, and has been carried on by it ever since. The Association has a large membership, and is doing a very useful work. The present Em- press Dowager has always been a deeply in- terested member of the Association and one of the most generous contributors to the work of the hospital. The ten women who act as directors of the hospital work are all appointed by her. Poor and orphaned sick children are the especial care of the Ikuji society, an organiza- tion with a membership of over two thousand women. The society investigates the cases of sick children whose friends cannot afford to give them proper medical treatment and places them in hospitals where they can receive the care they need. Japan has a larger percentage of insanity than any other nation, and one organization 1 88 Education of Women in Japan of women devotes its entire energy to caring for these unfortunate people. Baroness San- nomiya, a Christian woman who is prominent in all good works, is one of the most active members of the Ladies' Aid Association for Lunatics. The Voluntary Nurses' Association was established in 1888 by Princess Arisugawa and twenty-eight other women of the nobility, who proposed to learn the principles of nursing, and thus encourage medical knowledge among women and also prepare themselves to be of service in time of war. The Association met twice a month for instruction from good physicians and surgeons, and developed into an organization well able to render efficient serv- ice to the soldiers wounded in the Chinese- Japanese war. At this time the Association became affiliated with the Red Cross Society, and is now known as the Red Cross Ladies' Nursing Association. It has forty-one branches and almost ten thousand members. A very large work was done by the women of this Association during the Russian-Japa- nese war in 1904-05, under the leadership of H. L H. Princess Komatsu, the president, Marchioness Nabeshima, the manager, the Marchioness Oyama, wife of the General-in- Chief of the army, and other able and patriotic Woman's Life in Modern Japan 189 women. Meetings were held every Friday at the Red Cross Headquarters in Tokyo, at which lectures were given by physicians, fol- lowed by lessons in bandaging; and every Wednesday afternoon large companies of women met at the Red Cross Hospital to make bandages. Some of the women went to the front to help nurse the wounded there, others did the work of nurses in the city hospitals to which the soldiers were sent, and others gave much time to visiting in the military hos- pitals, distributing magazines, writing letters for the wounded soldiers, and helping them in any way possible. A more recently organized society, which supplements the work of the Red Cross Nurs- ing Association, is Aikoku Fujinkwai, or the Woman's Patriotic League. This League was organized in 1901 by Madame Okamura for the purpose of raising money to be used for the help of disabled soldiers and the families of those killed in battle. Madame Okamura went from one end of Japan to the other, fir- ing her countrywomen with patriotic fervour and urging them to deny themselves in order to contribute to the needs of those who were sacrificing so much for their country's good. One who heard her speak to an audience of about six hundred men and women says : '' I 190 Education of Women in Japan have attended many lectures in Japan, but I never saw one presided over by a man who could command such order as this woman. . . . She kept her audience spellbound, and no man could have made more of an impression on such a mixed audience. . . . Her zeal, her earnestness, and her home thrusts were so vigorous as to be remembered." " Economize one scarf's cost and give it to the country," was Mrs. Okumura's plea, and Japan's patriotic women have responded in ever increasing numbers. The League has grown with almost incredible rapidity. In the year 1907-08 alone 143,000 new names were added to a membership already over 500,000. The League did valiant service during the war with Russia, sending many comforts to soldiers and sailors, helping to care for the families left behind, and giving aid to those whose fathers and brothers did not come back from the war. The part played by the women of Japan as a whole during the war is an inspiring story. Nothing that women could do was unthought of or neglected; no task was too difficult to be undertaken, no sacrifice too great to be made. Miss Baucus tells of what she saw of the work in Yokohama during a brief visit there. " On our arrival at the station we were welcomed by two or three of the little band of Woman's Life in Modern Japan 191 women who at the beginning of the war set themselves the task of meeting every train of soldiers that passed. Day or night, rain or shine, these women have never failed. Ad- mitted to the platform without question, they have not let a soldier go without the sympathy of their presence and parting banzai." Mrs. MacNair of Tokyo wrote of the sys- tematic way in which the women of that city undertook to care for the families of those away at the war. " The large Educational Society of Tokyo," she writes, " resolved it- self into a * Family Comforting Association.' The city was districted and arrangements were made to visit every house from which a soldier had gone. . . . Where necessary, finan- cial aid is given, but as far as possible the actual circumstances of each household are ascertained and whatever work the govern- ment can supply is provided." The school girls expressed their loyalty in many very practical ways. When it was learned that one of the chief needs of the sol- diers was for woollen stockings, the girls of the Tokyo schools at once pledged themselves to knit 1500 pairs during their New Year vaca- tion. Again, when just as the students were about to leave for their summer vacations, an appeal came for underwear for the soldiers. 192 Education of Women in Japan many girls gladly postponed their home- going and worked steadily through the intense heat of Japan's July until they had made the needed number of sets of underwear. The students of the Peeresses' School omitted re- freshments at the time of their annual athletic exhibition, buying material for bandages with the money thus saved and making over 8000 bandages for use at the front. The students of the Woman's University too gave themselves to bandage-making under the direction of a nurse from the Red Cross Hospital, and addled several hundred rolls to those sent from Tokyo. Comfort bags, containing gloves, handker- chiefs, and all sorts of useful articles, were sent to the soldiers by the hundreds from girls' schools. Much was done also for the comfort and pleasure of the wounded in the military hos- pitals. One school in Tokyo, the Jogakkon, sent 3600 books and magazines to the hospitals. The Peeresses' School gave a graphophone to the Red Cross Hospital, and the girls of the high school connected with the Tokyo Girls' Higher Normal School painted innumerable picture postal cards for the patients at the Naval Hospital at Saseko. These girls also decided to give their annual athletic exhibition at the Military Hospital instead of on their Woman's Life in Modern Japan 193 own grounds. The convalescents at the Red Cross Hospital were also cordially invited and on the appointed day over three thousand patients enjoyed the games, races, songs, and drills of the athletic school girls of modern Japan. It is the custom of the girls to have a feast of various delicacies after the exhibi- tion, but on this occasion the money which would ordinarily have been used in this way was devoted to the purchase of books and games for the members of the audience. A by no means insignificant sum of money was contributed to the war and relief work by the school girls of Tokyo. Different means of raising money were adopted by different schools. The girls in the Higher Normal School saved 150 yen by giving up cake and fruit once or twice a week for a given period. Other schools had banks in which the students put whatever amounts they could save. The industrial schools had sales of their work. A number of schools gave entertainments of different kinds, and the appreciative audiences which attended them gave evidence of the fact that modern Japan does not insist upon keep- ing its women in seclusion. The students of the Tokyo Academy of Music raised 1600 yen by a concert, dividing the sum between the army and navy. The students of Jogakkon 194 Education of Women in Japan earned money by giving a series of tableaux representing scenes of ancient history, and "The Pied Piper of Hamelin " and "The Taming of the Shrew " were presented by the girls of Miss Tsuda's school. In many ways the women of Japan gave evidence again and again during the war not only of their enthusiastic loyalty to their coun- try, but also of their ability to make large plans and carry them through to successful achievement. A large amount of philanthropic work is being carried on under religious auspices. The Fukuden Society, which is based upon the Bud- dhist doctrine of benevolence, was organized by a group of Buddhist women in 1879. ^^ conducts a large orphanage, where children are given an elementary education and indus- trial training. When the children are fifteen years old suitable positions are found for them in which they can be self-supporting. Christian women are playing a very large part in the charitable work in Japan, both by uniting heartily in the work of such non-sec- tarian organizations as the Red Cross Society and through distinctively Christian movements. Miss Tsuda points out that " in the depart- ment of social and moral reform almost the only work done hitherto has been by Chris- Woman's Life in Modern Japan 195 tian women." Almost every church has its woman's society which carries on some form of benevolent work, and such organizations as the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, the King's Daughters Society, and the Young Women's Christian Association unite the Christian women throughout the country in good works. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union has been one of the most active forces for good in Japan for more than a quarter of a century. When Mrs. Mary C. Leavitt visited Japan in the interests of the Woman's Chris- tian Temperance Union in 1886 she found an ardent sympathizer in Mrs. Yajima, principal of the Presbyterian Joshi Gakuin; and a branch of the international organization was estab- lished in Japan during that year, with Mrs. Yajima as president. The movement has grown steadily in strength and numbers and in 1907 reported sixty-nine branches in different parts of Japan, with a membership of approxi- mately 5000. The members pledge themselves to total abstinence and seek " to improve public morality and eradicate social evils, especially wine-drinking and smoking, to work for social purity and to change customs and manners for the better." The Union publishes two tem- perance magazines, one of which has a sub- 196 Education of Women in Japan scription list of 1200, the other of 11,000; conducts a Rescue Home which endeavours to do both preventive and reformative v^ork; carries on a night school for young women; and does a large work among children. " Without doubt the most encouraging of all our work," reads a recent report, " is that being done for the children through the Loyal Temperance Legion." This work is in charge of Miss Azuma Moriya, a young Japanese woman who spends much of her time in travel- ling through the country, enlisting many hun- dreds of the children of Japan in the temper- ance movement. The following paragraph gives some idea of the work she is doing: " Miss Azuma Moriya, national organizer of the Loyal Temperance Legion, spent the first two weeks of March in Kofu, working with the ladies of the Canadian Methodist Mission. During that time she made addresses in seven government primary schools, two sew- ing schools, one silk factory, one young women's meeting, a mothers' meeting held for the mothers of kindergarten children, five women's meetings in villages around Kofu, and also was the chief speaker at a Sunday School Rally to which were gathered one thousand children." No account of the work of the Woman's Woman's Life in Modern Japan 197 Christian Temperance Union of Japan would be complete which did not tell of the woman who organized it, and who has been its moving spirit ever since its birth. Mrs. Yajima has given her life to two great objects, the promo- tion of woman's education and the temperance movement, and during all the years that she has been teaching in the Presbyterian schools for girls she has also been devoting herself to the work of the Woman's Christian Tem- perance Union. She was its first president, and has been almost its only one, for while she has sometimes been obliged to resign on account of illness, she has each time been per- suaded to resume her leadership of the work when her health permitted. This has meant no light burden. " Only those who have been at the heart of the movement here can know how very arduous the Kyofokwai work has been, and what patience it has cost its first advocates to work it up in the face of all man- ner of obstacles to its present state of growth," says a writer in the Japan Evangelist. Mrs. Yajima has now passed her eightieth birthday, but she is still giving herself to the work of the Temperance Union with unabated energy. In 1906 she was invited by the World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union to attend its convention in Boston, and 198 Education of Women in Japan although she had never been outside of Japan before, she did not hesitate to take the long journey to America alone. A recent note in the Japan Evangelist reports that " Mrs. Kaji Yajima spent the New Year holidays travelling in the interests of the W. C. T. U. She vis- ited Wakayama, Osaka, and Kobe, in the first place organizing a new Union and helping to arouse much temperance sentiment, and in Kobe addressing an educational meeting to which all the primary teachers of the city were invited." Her most recent work has been the leader- ship of a joint campaign of the Temperance Union, the Salvation Army, and the Young Men's Christian Association, organized for the purpose of preventing the rebuilding of the Yoshiwara, the quarter of the city given up to houses of prostitution, which was destroyed by fire in the winter of 191 1. Twenty thou- sand handbills were distributed throughout Tokyo advertising a mass meeting to be held in the interests of the campaign. Mrs. Yajima was the chairman of this meeting, presiding throughout and introducing all the speakers. The petition asking that the rebuilding of the Yoshiwara be forbidden was drawn up by Mrs. Yajima, and she herself obtained ten thousand signatures to it, and in person pre- Woman's Life in Modern Japan 199 sented them to the Mayor of Tokyo. Dr. Pettee's tribute is well deserved : '^ Perhaps no untitled Japanese woman has served on more important committees, graced more social functions, or exerted a wider influence in the moral uplift of the nation than modest Mrs. Yajima. She is loved and honoured alike by her own people, and by foreigners, by Chris- tians and other religionists, by those of high state, and also by the lowly poor." Another woman who has done much to strengthen the work of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union is Mrs. Ninomiya, presi- dent of the Yokohama branch. Like Mrs. Yajima, she too has been a leader both in temperance work and Christian education. For twenty-five years she has superintended the educational work of the Methodist mission in Yokohama, and has so won the respect and confidence of the people of that city that when a lot was being leased for a day nursery there some time ago, and the owner, according to custom, asked for security, he was told by the clerk at the registry office, " Oh, if it is for Mrs. Ninomiya no security is needed." Miss Lewis says : *' It is not too much to say that her Christian home, her life, and work have been among the strongest forces for good in Yokohama for twenty-five years. As Presi- 200 Education of Women in Japan dent of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, as one of the managers of the Young Women's Christian Association, of the Charity Hospital, and of the Orphanage, she is known far beyond the Christian circle." It is impossible to close even a brief sum- mary of the philanthropic and social work being done by the women of Japan without ref- erence to the inspiration and example given them through nearly fifty years by their Em- press, the present Empress Dowager. " The fact that so much has been done in charities, and that women of high rank are interested in works of the kind, is due without doubt to the fact that a most gracious and enlightened woman is their leader," says Miss Tsuda. ** This is no other than Her Majesty the Em- press, whose love toward her country and peo- ple shows itself in a thousand ways, and is known all over the land. There is no charity or good work that does not appeal to her heart." The Empress' patronage of various schools and hospitals and her membership in many educational and charitable associations have been by no means merely formal. She has given generously of her money to a large number of institutions and organizations, but she has given of her time and energy with equal Woman's Life in Modern Japan 201 lavishness. Such notes as the following ap- pear again and again in the diary of the year. ''May 2^. — The Empress is present at the general meeting of the Ladies' Patriotic Asso- ciation held at Aoyama. June I. — The i6th general meeting of the Japan Red Cross Society at Hibiya Park. The Empress is present on the occasion. June 5. — The Empress proceeds to the Girls' Higher Normal School. July 8. — The Empress proceeds to the Deaf and Dumb School." " She whose presence was in the past so sacred that the highest in the land dare not approach her except in the most lowly attitude, now stoops beside the bedside of the sick and suffering ones of the poorest of the land," Miss Tsuda writes. " In the sacred interior of the palace she has prepared with her own hands lint and bandages for the wounded soldiers in the late rebellion. In her frequent visits to the Red Cross Hospital she witnesses what many might without shame shrink from, the sight of suffering and sickness; nor does she hesi- tate to pass by the poorest wards of the Char- ity Hospital, where sin and suffering have 202 Education of Women in Japan brought the dregs of society to the only place they could be cared for; and to sick children, she has with her own hands given toys. She personally takes an interest in every part of the institution and inspects all the departments. It would be possible to give many charming stories of her goodness and kindness. Such a gracious example must leave a most lasting impression and do infinite good for the future of Japanese women." The graciousness of the Empress extends even to the enemies of her country. During the war with China she gave artificial limbs to all the soldiers who had lost arms or legs in battle, not only to the Japanese soldiers, but to all Chinese prisoners in Japan as well; and when Viceroy Li was wounded she sent him bandages which she herself had made. During that long hot summer of 1895, when China and Japan were at war, the Empress re- fused to accompany the court to Hiroshima, but remained in Tokyo to prepare lint and bandages for the wounded. It is difficult to draw a sharp dividing line between the religious work being done by Japa- nese women and their social and philanthropic activities, for many women's religious organi- zations are doing, as has been seen, a large amount of benevolent work. Miss Tsuda tells Woman's Life in Modern Japan 203 us that " in imitation of the work of Christian women there have been Buddhist societies for charity, philanthropy, and reform work. Though of only a recent growth," she says, " they have successfully imitated their Chris- tian sisters and do much good." During the Russian war one society of Buddhist women published two tracts for soldiers, one on Bravery, the other on Peace of Heart. Thou- sands of copies of these were sent to Man- churia and distributed among the men. An- other Buddhist organization, the Woman's Association of the Temple Sect, is now pro- posing to establish a Buddhist college for women. There are also purely religious so- cieties of Buddhist women, the purpose of which is to propagate some special doctrine, or to raise money for some temple. Some of these societies are very influential and succeed in raising large sums of money. There are now fourteen schools for the training of Christian women workers, in which there were 199 pupils in 19 12. Most of the women in these schools go out to do the work of " Bible women," some of them acting as pastors' assistants, and helping in almost every line of church work; others going out, often with missionaries, into country districts where there is no organized missionary work, fre- 204 Education of Women in Japan quently telling the Christian story to those who have never heard it before. Many of Japan's most able and influential women are giving much time and thought to the work of the Young Women's Christian Association. The work of this organization was begun in 1905 at the request of the mis- sionary body, and is now one of the strongest forces for all good things in the life of the young womanhood of Japan. While it is a part of the World's Young Women's Christian Association, and is connected in a very vital way with the National Committees of the Young Women's Christian Associations of the United States and Canada by whom its Ameri- can secretaries are supported, yet the Japanese National Committee has full power to form all policies, regulate all work, and control the secretarial force. Both the National Commit- tee and the Board of Directors of the local Tokyo Association have Japanese chairmen and two-thirds of the members of both bodies are Japanese. Most of the committee work is also directed by Japanese chairmen. One of the first pieces of work done by the Young Women's Christian Association of Japan was the establishment of two dormi- tories for the use of girls from outside of Tokyo who were attending schools in the city. Woman's Life in Modern Japan 205 Such dormitories were, and still are, among the most pressing needs of girl students. Two capable Christian Japanese women are the matrons of these dormitories, and in them girls from thirty-seven different schools are finding not only a safe and economical place in which to live, but a real home, where there is some one who is personally interested in each one of them. There are now four city and fourteen stu- dent associations in Japan with a total mem- bership of 15,132. Forty voluntary Bible classes are conducted by the Association, most of them led by Japanese women. A magazine is published monthly. A summer conference is held each year, attended by a large company of young women; two hundred and twenty- eight were present in the summer of 19 12. No one who has once attended one of these conferences can ever doubt either the executive ability, the power of public speaking, or the depth of consecration of the Christian Japanese women who are its leaders. The business manager, the chairman of the committee on arrangements, the presiding officer, and many of the best speakers are Japanese women. These conferences are doing a work of great value, both in deepening the spiritual lives of the Christian girls and inspiring them to high 2o6 Education of Women in Japan service, and in bringing non-Christian girls to a knowledge and acceptance of Christianity. Within the last year a Japanese woman has been called to the national secretaryship of the Association. Miss MacDonald, American national secretary, speaks in the following strong terms of this action: "It is perhaps no exaggeration to say that the most important step that the Young Women's Christian Asso- ciation of Japan has taken since its inception, was the calling of Miss Michi Kawai, Bryn Mawr, 1904, to the national secretaryship. . . . There is no doubt that her coming into the work will mark an altogether new epoch in its advancement." Miss Kawai has given abundant proof of her ability as a Christian leader. When in 1907 the World's Student Christian Federa- tion held its biennial conference in Tokyo, bringing together prominent Christian leaders from almost every country in the world, Miss Kawai was one of the speakers who left the deepest impression on the conference. Two years later she was asked to spend the greater part of a year travelling among the Young Women's Christian Associations of America and Great Britain, promoting interest in the women of the Orient. During this time she attended several summer conferences of the ■f. o > U X Woman's Life in Modern Japan 207 Young Women's Christian Associatioii, teach- ing a mission study class of two hundred young women at one of them, and visited a large number of cities and colleges. Every- where she made friends not only for herself but for the women she represented. To hun- dreds of young women she was a revelation of the possibilities of Japanese womanhood which they can never forget. Miss Kawai was chairman of the missionary section of the con- ference of the World's Young Women's Chris- tian Association held in Berlin in 1910 and gave one of the addresses of the conference. She created as great an impression in Germany as in Great Britain and America. " She was like the freshness of a new revelation from God," a German woman student declared. Upon her return to Japan Miss Kawai was chosen as the chairman of the Woman's Sub- committee of the World's Student Christian Federation. That she should be chosen out of all the Christian women student leaders the world over for a position of such responsi- bility is a strong testimony to her ability and character. Miss Kawai brings to her new position an unusual background of knowledge of Christian work for young women in other countries, but she brings to it also a thorough knowledge of 2o8 Education of Women in Japan the needs and problems of the young women of her own land, especially of the students. As a teacher in Miss Tsuda^s school and also for a time in the Tokyo Girls' Higher Normal School she has had intimate contact with the girls of both a private and a government insti- tution; and at the summer conferences of the Young Women's Christian Association of Japan and as a member of the Board of Di- rectors of the Tokyo Association she has learned to know girls from many other schools also. It is interesting to note that Miss Kawai is supported entirely by the Japanese. Truly the old order changeth. Modern Japan is not only permitting its women to have a part in the industrial and professional, social and spiritual life of the nation, but is making work along these lines possible for them by active cooperation and support. A' VIII THE OUTLOOK LL Asia is the ship, Japan is the rud- der," said Joseph Cook some thirty- years ago. The same thought was more recently expressed by Galen M. Fisher, secretary of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation of Japan, in a cablegram to the Quad- rennial Convention of the Student Volunteer Movement in 1906, " Japan is leading the Orient, but whither?" What country will eventually be the leader of the Orient only the future can show, but certain it is that the Island Empire of the East is now, and prob- ably always will be, one of the most potent forces in Asia. She was the first Oriental country to come out of isolation and take her place among the great nations of the world, and it is but natural that the other countries of the East, struggling with problems which she has in part at least solved, should look to her and be greatly influenced by her ex- ample. The last two words of Mr. Fisher's cable- 209 2IO Education of Women in Japan gram are significant. Whither Japan will lead her newly-awakened neighbours is not yet clear. It is not yet evident whether the forces of materialism or Christianity will control the rudder of the ship of Asia. The answer to that question, however, will be very largely determined by the type of education which the young people of Japan receive. The government has made provision for the education of both girls and boys in primary schools, high schools, and normal schools, and has also established Universities for men. Japan is determined to offer its youth the finest educational opportunities available any- where, and there are few more carefully planned and executed systems of education in any country. From the intellectual stand- point there is very little to criticise, and the constant vigilance of the Department of Edu- cation gives good ground for the belief that any defects which still exist will soon be remedied. Compared with the work of the government schools, the educational opportunities offered the young people of Japan by the Christian forces of the country are inadequate or less effective than they should be. Many Christian schools are doing much excellent work; but as a whole, the work done in the class-rooms and The Outlook 211 laboratories of missionary institutions is less efficient from an intellectual point of view than that given under government auspices. Equally notable and serious is the incom- pleteness of the Christian school system. There is no Christian University in Japan, and no fully equipped and organized school of the rank just below the University, for either men or women. Such a situation as this must be a matter of deepest concern to all who have at heart the highest welfare of Japan, and the conti- nent which she so greatly influences. Can Christianity possibly hope to triumph over agnosticism and materialism under such con- ditions as these? It owes its present strength. President Harada of the Doshisha University tells us, to the fact that so large a number of Japan's most thoroughly educated, and hence most influential, men are Christians. If, how- ever, it remains necessary for the young people of Japan to choose between the best available education and education under Christian auspices, this will not long continue to be true. For the youth of Japan will go to the insti- tutions which offer them the best intellectual advantages. And if they go to the government schools they will receive their education in a non-religious, not infrequently in an anti- 212 Education of Women in Japan religious, atmosphere. A recent religious cen- sus of the Imperial University at Tokyo is appalling. The figures read: 50 Shintoists 60 Christians 300 Buddhists 1500 Atheists 3000 Agnostics It would be unreasonable to expect a large number of strong Christian leaders to come from such an institution. Even those who enter as Christians must be very firm in their faith indeed if they come out stronger instead of weaker by reason of their years in the midst of doubt and disbelief in any religion whatsoever. It is a time of imminent danger in Japan; a time wheh the loss of faith in old beliefs bids fair to rob the nation of that without which no people can maintain strength or purity. This danger can be averted only by the substitution of the perfect truth of Chris- tianity in place of the partial truths of the religions which have lost their hold. And this can be done only by an immediate and adequate strengthening of Christian education. President Harada has well said: — The Outlook 213 " If the falling off of Christian schools is not checked, Christian scholarship will be an inconsiderable factor in the thought and life of the nation in twenty or thirty years. It is cer- tainly a crisis calHng for resolute action and large policies by all the Christian forces. We need the best possible middle schools, where the foundation of high character may be laid; we need Christian high schools where a liberal education may be given ; and we need Christian Universities ... to produce leaders in the branches of knowledge. Then for the first time we shall be able to say that Christianity is firmly planted in Japan. For the consumma- tion of the evangelization of Japan in any true sense such educational institutions are a sine qua non, and for that reason, if for no other, we must continue to look for help to our Christian friends across the seas." If Christianity is to triumph in Japan, thor- oughly strong Christian education must be offered to women as well as to men. The future of Japan will be determined by its women to a far greater extent than most of us have been accustomed to think. We have long recognized and admired the gentleness, self-control, and remarkable self-abnegation of the Japanese women, but we have been less quick to discern the mental power and force- 214 Education of Women in Japan fulness of character of which they are capable. " The women of Japan are powerful to a de- gree you cannot understand," Miss Tsuda told an audience of American and European women recently. " Women have always had a hand in everything in Japan. In theory they are perfectly powerless ; in reality they are moving the currents. Women in Japan are more pow- erful in the home than in the West; for men assume absolutely no kind of control in the home, leaving everything to the wife. The influence which women have exerted without education is marvellous." For good or for ill the women of Japan, to whom new chan- nels of influence and power are opening al- most daily, will play a most important part in determining the future character of the still plastic Sunrise Kingdom. It is not surpris- ing that a thoughtful Japanese recently de- clared, '' The problem of Japan at the present moment is the problem of its women." The kind of influence which the women of Japan will exert upon their country will be in large measure determined by the forces which are brought to bear upon them within the next few years. Japan has been making the transi- tion from medisevalism to a thoroughly mod- ern civilization with amazing rapidity, but it is inevitable that there should still be restless- The Outlook 215 ness and bewilderment on the part of the women who are living in such a different world from that into which their mothers were born. It is a fascinatingly interesting world to them, but a world filled with problems and responsibilities for which they have had no preparation. Miss Tsuda justly observes, " Women who in the past were kept from con- tact with the world are now meeting all its allurements; whereas little power was in their hands, and they were fully protected from temptation, they are now obliged through cir- cumstances to act for themselves. The old- time conservative training and teaching do not touch the new conditions of life." The dangers of such a situation are obvious. Economic conditions are thrusting girls out from their homes into positions fraught with peril to the ignorant, but into which they go gladly because of their desire for freedom. Young girls in quiet country homes are lured by the excitement of life in a big city, but understand nothing of its dangers. The faculties of schools for girls are confronted with problems unknown to the guardians of the young women of a few years ago. Miss Lewis writes, " When leading educators find it necessary to form a body of instructions cautioning young women against associating 2i6 Education of Women in Japan with young men unless properly guarded and chaperoned, we know that the actual position and circumstances of the girls of to-day are absolutely different from those of their moth- ers and grandmothers." A partial knowledge of the life of the Occi- dent has brought restlessness and awakened ambitions, not always of the highest kind. Miss Tsuda writes : " Women have been deeply influenced, like the men, by the flooding in of the material civilization of the West. New luxuries, hitherto undreamed of, rouse their desires. Superficial observation of the life and manners and thought of the West through bits of travel has made a deep impression, and western ways are often copied without full understanding of them. Translations of for- eign books, especially novels, sometimes do harm through lack of knowledge of the con- ditions of society which they represent, while an aggressive type of western woman, and the extravagance of the West, are all having their effect in ways far from beneficial. The mod- ern stage helps in the spread of new ideas, and young Japan turns from the simplicity of the past to welcome eagerly the day of material luxury." It cannot be denied that a few Japanese women are going to extremes which give the The Outlook 217 conservatives some cause for saying that the new civilization is harming woman morally and spiritually, making her '' less refined, less faithful to duty, . . . selfish, luxurious, vain, and fond of display." Miss Tsuda tells us that divorce from the woman's side, although all the burden falls on her, is becoming more frequent. " Very often liberty is sought for in crude and curious ways," she says. Within the last few years women have gone on the stage, a profession which is an especially low one in Japan, and which has hitherto been limited to men. Last year a group of discon- tented women formed a society known as " The Blue Stockings," giving as their aim the encouragement of literary work among women. The magazine which they issue is, however, universally reported to be devoted to the abuse and arraignment of men. '' In February of the present year a meeting was held by this society at which speeches were made which in- dicated the desire that the freedom and license accorded men should also be given to women. It is said that six hundred women attended this meeting. The spirit of unrest, disturb- ance, and rebellion against present social con- ditions was shown so markedly that the gen- eral public stood aghast. The thoughts ex- pounded were revolutionary." It is startling 21 8 Education of Women in Japan to learn that of forty anarchists recently ex- ecuted in Japan one was a woman. While such things as these are extremely regrettable, they are an almost inevitable part of such a period of transition, and ought not to decrease our faith in the fundamental strength and fineness of the Japanese women. Miss Tsuda's contention that these things are probably temporary is entirely just. " It is unreasonable," she says, " to expect Japa- nese women to have gained those qualities of mind derived from education and religion which safeguard modern western women in their free life and intercourse with the world. Impulses are now being set free which were held in check in the past by external forces, while there is yet lacking judgment and knowl- edge of true values, and restraint from within, to guide the awakened mind." Where shall the girl of Japan, who is enter- ing upon her womanhood in the midst of such confusing conditions as these, look for guid- ance? Will the schools which her country is providing for her give her the help she needs ? • Miss Tsuda says: " Modern education is trying to do this, but the methods are imperfect and do not always meet the ends. The teachers themselves often do not comprehend the trend of modern con- The Outlook 219 ditions, they are conservative, and seek simply to restrain as in the past, rather than to ad- just and guide. Superficial education, which is all that the majority get, instead of better- ing, often increases the difficukies. Self-asser- tion and freedom which have come in with the new life have undermined the high ideals of duty to the family and respect to superiors in- culcated so deeply in feudal days. " Theoretically, the ordinary woman not under Christian teachings is now taught, in schools and by masters and parents, ethical standards not greatly changed from past ones. She is more or less all her life to be under the guidance of others, she is not to be given the freedom of thought or action which western women take for granted, her life is to be in the home and for the family; but in reality the life she often has to lead, through new conditions or financial necessity, calls for more recognition of her worth and individuality. The old teachings alone are not sufficient for the future Japanese woman, there must be more acknowledgment of her place and true value. Even to women leading more or less sheltered lives the awakening has come, more recogni- tion is demanded and will be taken, and knowledge is bringing its temptation and dan- gers." 220 Education of Women in Japan Whence, then, is guidance to come? To quote Miss Tsuda again : " The restraints formed under the feudal days, together with many of the teachings of the past, are going rapidly by with the changing times. They will mostly pass away with the older generation, of whom few remain. The old religions have little ethical influence and only a feeble hold at best on modern men and women. Christianity zvill not replace them, hut rather fill a void. Japan is singularly ready for all the ethical ideals of Christianity in all points, with the exception perhaps of those concerning patriotism and filial duty. Chris- tianity especially fills the needs of women at this time of awakening. The glamour of west- ern life and the freedom of the women of the West attract them. They seek it without a knowledge of those deeper things that make freedom a blessing. Buddhism gave to woman humility, but at the price of self-effacement and degradation, not by the teaching of lofty ideals for her. It took away her individuality, even her soul. In the past days, less than fifty years ago, all the most sacred and beautiful places in Japan (the peak of Mount Fuji among them) were shut off from women, who were supposed to bring defilement. Chris- tianity places woman on a level with man, her The Outlook 221 individuality and worth in herself is recog- nized and full scope is given to her powers. At the same time, by teaching self-sacrifice and service founded on the higher, broader ideal of love for others, it replaces the narrow old standard of self-sacrifice for the good of one's family. While not laying such stress on ef- forts for family, clan, or country, it inculcates, with a higher motive and on broader lines, the efiForts to be made for humanity in general. Through its ethical and philanthropic side, Christianity makes the strongest appeal to our women, an appeal which meets a wonderful response in the hearts of sensitive natures, made singularly receptive by the discipline of the past. " Christianity will make new standards of morality for the nation, which will be practical, not like the teachings of former days, often listened to as theories, but passed aside in actual life; not like the cold precepts of reason which in vain try to replace the old restraints which forced women to lead lives good and innocent, but lacking in activity, fire, and life. " The attitude of Christian men to women puts the woman's question on a new basis. The wife in a Christian home is granted all the privileges that belong to women of Chris- tian nations. The same moral standard must 222 Education of Women in Japan be kept by him that is asked of her. This is a tremendous advance, for while there is but one legal wife, customs are lax for the man while severe for the woman. From Christian thought and teachings have gone out the new ideals accepted by many non-Christian men, showing the wide influence of Christian ethics." In the estimation of many, Christian schools for girls are the most effective possible agencies for bringing the knowledge of Christianity to the women of Japan. The girl in a Christian school is in daily contact with those whose lives as well as words show her the beauty and truth of Christianity. She has abundant op- portunity to know what the religion of Jesus Christ really is and what it may mean to her. The large percentage of graduates of mission schools who have become Christians is a strong testimony to the value of Christian education as a means of bringing to the women of Japan that in which they can find the solu- tion of all their problems and the satisfaction of all their needs. Moreover, an especial responsibility rests upon Christian educators at this time of transi- tion. Miss Lewis justly says, " When we reflect that the introduction of the education and ideals of the West, in which our mission The Outlook 223 schools have had no small part, is responsible for this present condition so full of danger, so full of hope, can there be any question as to the duty and privilege of our schools in helping to solve the difficulties of the situa- tion?" The necessity for strengthening Christian educational work for women in Japan, that it may be able to guide the womanhood of Japan in this plastic period, cannot be too strongly emphasized. It is a critical period in the his- tory of Japan; a time of supreme need of guidance on the part of Japan's women. But unless Christian education for women can be in every respect equal to that offered by the government, it cannot furnish this needed guid- ance. So long as Christian schools have in- adequate equipment and teaching forces, so long as they permit themselves to hold lower educational standards than those of the gov- ernment, many of the strongest girls will not come to them. Moreover, if these conditions exist their graduates will be debarred from many avenues of usefulness and influence open to those who have certificates from gov- ernment schools. Christian high schools for girls ought cer- tainly to aim to be recognized by the Depart- ment of Education as the equals of the gov- 224 Education of Women in Japan ernment koto jo gakko. The regulation issued in 1907 and put into effect in 1909, which refuses several important privileges such as entrance to government special schools and examination for the teacher's license to graduates of unrecognized schools, has been referred to. A school which is without gov- ernment recognition must always labour under serious disadvantages, and cannot expect to be regarded as among the best institutions of the land where the stamp of government approval means so much. There seems no ground whatever for objec- tion to application for government recognition on the basis on which Aoyama Jo Gakuin and several other schools have secured it. These schools are not classed as government schools and hence retain perfect freedom to do what- ever Christian teaching they desire; but they are recognized as the equals of government schools and accorded every privilege granted to regular koto jo gakko. The governmental requirements for schools which desire recognition are not at all unrea- sonable in any particular. The curriculum of the public girls' high schools is one carefully thought out and well adapted to the needs of Japanese girls. " In the Koto-jo-gakko cur- riculum there is little one would care to change The Outlook 225 for the foundation of a general education," writes a missionary educator, and adds, " After all it is the personality of the teacher and his ability to teach that really educate. Subject-matter should be as wax in the hands of the teacher from which to mould ideals that will help the Japanese girl to adjust herself to her environment, so that she may be strong to meet temptation, to overcome difficulties that will meet her on every hand, in the freer life that has come to the Japanese woman." Moreover, absolutely rigid conformity to the koto jo gakko curriculum is not usually re- quired. " As far as I can judge," Miss Tsuda says, " the government regulations do allow a certain amount of freedom that would not prevent each school from having its own char- acteristic or special work." The government requirements as to school buildings, relating to the number of windows in the schoolroom, the cubic feet of air per pupil, and similar matters, are right and rea- sonable ; and while not a few schools may have to tear down old buildings and erect new, it will be to their ultimate advantage to do so, wholly apart from the question of recognition. The government also requires that two-thirds of the teaching force in a recognized school be holders of government licenses, and here 226 Education of Women in Japan again those who are striving to render the best possible service to the women of Japan must sympathize with a regulation which aims to raise the standard of the teaching given them. It means sacrifice on the part of Christians at home so to equip the mission schools of Japan that they will be able to obtain govern- ment recognition. But it does not mean that sacrifices must be made in order to make ex- travagant expenditure possible, but rather that we are asked to provide those things without which no school can do thoroughly effective work. Miss Gaines is quite right in saying: " An institution that claims to be worthy of the patronage of the people must give the best that can be had in every line if it is to be a great moral institution. Nothing can take the place of good honest work in every depart- ment. A poor standard in scholarship cannot be overbalanced by a great number of hours spent in moral teaching. ... If mission schools cannot be up to the government stand- ard in every way, then in all honesty let them close their doors and not bring discredit on the mission boards of the great Christian Church." About one-third of the Christian schools for girls have now secured government recog- The Outlook 227 nition, and it is most earnestly to be hoped that it will soon be possible for the others so to strengthen themselves that their work also may be ranked as equal to that given in the public girls' high schools. There was a time, not more than a quarter of a century ago, when our Christian schools for girls in Japan faced much such an oppor- tunity of leadership as those in China are fac- ing to-day. It was in their power not only to do an immensely valuable work in them- selves, but also to exert a deep influence upon the recently opened government education for women. The new government schools for girls in China are to-day looking to the Chris- tian schools of that country to supply them with teachers, with methods, with help of every sort. It is in our power, if we but strengthen our schools at every point so that they may be the best schools in China, not only morally and religiously but educationally, to permeate with Christian influence the entire educational work for women in one of the largest and mightiest of the world's nations. May no lack of reali- zation of the value of educational work, no unwillingness to sacrifice that our schools may have the financial support which is essential for vigorous work, cause us to lose this oppor- tunity in China, as we lost it in Japan. 228 Education of Women in Japan In spite of the fact, however, that our Chris- tian girls' schools in Japan have lost an oppor- tunity which was once before them, a great future is still possible if they are properly supported. They have a real service to render Japan from a purely educational standpoint. The government of Japan is not yet able, and probably will not be for some time to come, to provide enough schools for girls. The supreme end, however, for the achieve- ment of which Christian schools for girls in Japan ought to be strengthened is that which has already been referred to; namely, the de- velopment of strong, efficient Christian women, able to guide the bewildered womanhood of Japan through this time of transition; to mould the now plastic social system into one founded upon Christian principles; and, most of all, to bring the knowledge of the abundantly sat- isfying religion of Jesus Christ to those who so sorely need its strength and comfort and joy. All who have at heart the welfare of Japanese women must sympathize with the Continuation Committee Conference held in Tokyo in April of 19 13 in its resolution to the effect that " The need for better equipment of existing Christian schools should be empha- sized, in order that Christian education may regain and maintain its leading position." The Outlook 229 The following resolution of this Conference ought also to enlist the hearty approval and support of all friends of Japan. " This con- ference heartily commends the proposal to es- tablish by cooperative effort on the part of all the Missions a first-class Christian college for women, and it earnestly recommends the founding of such an institution at an early date, before the pfesent opportune time pass by." Such a college is considered by the mem- bers of the Commission on Education, ap- pointed to report to the Continuation Com- mittee Conference in Japan, *' the most urgent need at this present moment for the young women of Japan." For over two years the question of Chris- tian higher education for women has been given the most earnest thought of many of those engaged in educational work in Japan. In April, 191 1, when Dr. Goucher, Chairman of the American section of the Educational Committee under the Continuation Committee of the Edinburgh World's Missionary Con- ference, was visiting Japan, a meeting of those most interested in this question was held, and as a result of this meeting a committee was appointed to investigate the need for a Chris- tian college for women. After sending out questionnaires and holding several meetings 230 Education of Women in Japan for discussion, this committee, consisting of twenty-five men and women, unanimously agreed that such a college was an imperative necessity. The committee's report is published in The Christian Movement in Japan for 19 13, and has furnished most of the facts given below. The opportunities now offered the young women of Japan for education above the high school grade are very few. Although the Im- perial Rescript on Education issued in 1873 strongly emphasized the great importance of providing education for women " of the same grade as that for men," the only women's schools established by the government which offer work higher than that of the koto jo gakko are the Girls' Higher Normal Schools in Tokyo and Nara. These schools are dis- tinctly professional schools, established for the purpose of preparing women to be teachers in the girls' high schools and normal schools. 450 women were enrolled in these two institu- tions in the year 1909-10. The Woman's University and Dr. Yoshioka's medical school have both been described in a previous chapter. The latter is, of course, dis^ tinctly a professional school, of service only to women who plan to enter the medical profes- sion. The Woman's University prepares The Outlook 231 women to teach, and also purposes to give general culture to those who do not expect to be teachers. About 450 women are enrolled in its college department. The work of this department is by no means equal to that of such institutions as Vassar or Mt. Holyoke College, but it does offer girls some opportunity for three or four years' study after leaving the koto jo gakko. A few women, by special permission, are attending some of the lectures in the Imperial Universities at Tokyo and Kyoto, and Mr. Sawayanagi, president of the newly-established government University at Sendai, has an- nounced that qualified women will be admitted to the science department of this University. It must be remembered that these women can- not well be called students of the Universities; they cannot matriculate nor receive degrees, but are simply quietly admitted to the lecture rooms of the professors who are in sympathy with the higher education of women. The University authorities have taken no formal action opening their doors to women. Christian schools have taken a few steps in the direction of higher education for women. Miss Tsuda's school, which has already been described, offers advanced work in English and English literature to graduates of high schools 232 Education of Women in Japan recognized by the government. The school aims to give general culture, as well as to pre- pare girls to teach, but as yet is offering higher work only in the department of English. The special department of the Doshisha Girls' School in Kyoto, is offering three years' advanced work in three departments: English literature, domestic science, and a department of Japanese literature just opened. The total enrolment in the higher departments last year was forty-eight. This school is a Christian school, connected with the Congregational Mission, but is wholly managed by the Japa- nese Congregational churches. Its higher de- partment, like that of Miss Tsuda's school, has government recognition. Of the mission schools proper nineteen have higher departments, most of them offering work in English, domestic science, or music. The courses give two or three years' work be- yond the high school course. In 191 2 there were 336 students in these nineteen higher depart- ments. By far the largest enrolment was in Kobe College (Congregational) and Aoyama Jo Gakuin (Methodist) of Tokyo. The upper departments of both these schools have re- ceived government recognition as special schools, and in 1912 had a total enrolment of eighty girls. Very few of the higher depart- The Outlook 233 ments of the mission schools have the equip- ment necessary for thorough college work. The reason why this is impossible is easily understood when one remembers that 336 stu- dents are divided among nineteen schools. It will be evident from the facts given above that the Japanese woman's opportunities for higher education, under either Christian or non-Christian influences, are few and frag- mentary. Only along certain special lines is any work whatever available, and nowhere can she receive the equivalent of the work offered women in American colleges. Is there a demand in Japan to-day for more adequate provision for the higher education of women? In the year 1909-10, 861 young women applied for admission to the two Girls' Higher Normal Schools. Only 213 could be admitted. These figures speak elo- quently of the demand for just one type of advanced education. The rapid growth of such schools as the Woman's University and Miss Tsuda's English Institute also indicates the desire of many girls for more education than the high schools offer. The fact that some women are seeking entrance to the lecture rooms of the Imperial Universities gives further proof of a greater thirst for learning than can be satisfied by the work of the koto jo 234 Education of Women in Japan gakko. Not a few Japanese women have gone to other countries in search of college educa- tion. There are now about twenty-five in the colleges of the United States. Greater and more important than the de- mand for college education for Japanese women, however, is the need for it. It is startling to realize that the men and women of Japan are to-day farther apart intellectually than in the feudal era. The women received less education then than now, it is true, but the men also received a limited training; whereas to-day many men go on from the boys' middle school to college and thence to the University, while, because of lack of higher schools, most girls stop at a stage lower than the boys' mid- dle schools. A Christian college for women will render a supremely important service to the cause of Christianity in Japan by making possible Christian homes, where educated wives will have a true share in the life and labours of their husbands. Perhaps nothing would do so much to strengthen Christian educational work for girls as the establishment of a Christian college where Japanese women could be trained for teaching positions of large responsibility. Many graduates of mission schools are now doing excellent work as teachers, but, for the The Outlook 235 most part, in subordinate positions. Up to the present time the mission schools have not given their students sufficiently advanced work to enable them to undertake the heaviest re- sponsibilities. But the future of Christian education for women in Japan cannot be as- sured as long as its success is dependent upon the leadership of foreign teachers. The most successful missionary work is that which ulti- mately makes foreign missionaries unneces- sary. A Christian college would develop trained Japanese women to whom it would be possible for the missionary teachers to turn over more and more of the responsibilities which they are now carrying, which could be borne equally well, some of them better, by Japanese women who had received the bene- fits of college training. The teaching forces of mission schools would thus be made more adequate, overworked foreign teachers would be relieved, able Japanese leaders would be de- veloped, and the whole standard of school work would be raised. The necessity for a Christian college to do just this thing has recently been strongly stated by a group of leading educators in Japan. " If in the future Japanese women are to take a more leading part in educational affairs than they are doing at present, it is imperative that 236 Education of Women in Japan there should be developed a system of higher Christian education than yet exists. The future of Christian secondary education de- pends largely upon the supply of eificient Christian teachers, and these teachers cannot be trained under Christian influence unless some form of higher Christian education is developed in the near future." A Christian college for v^omen v^ould still further strengthen the existing mission schools by tending to bring them much closer together than they are at present. Dr. Booth is inclined to consider " mutual isolation, and the lack of a common carefully considered and well defined ideal or aim," the most serious weaknesses of mission schools. A college for which they would all be preparing their students could not but do much to unify their curricula and bring them together in many ways. A Christian college for women would not only prepare teachers for the Christian schools, but also for public girls' high schools. It has been shown that the two Higher Normal Schools are wholly unable to accommodate the young women who desire to fit themselves for teaching positions in the secondary schools. By no means the least effective service of a Christian college would be the sending of strong Christian women teachers into these The Outlook 237 public high schools. There would be no chance for religious instruction during school hours, it is true, but a young American teacher in a government school for boys testifies that the opportunities for personal Christian work among the students, outside of the class-room, are limited only by the time and strength of the teacher. Moreover the life of a teacher, lived day after day and week after week in the presence of his pupils, affords unlimited scope for that most convincing of witnesses, the silent testimony of a consistent Christian character. It is difficult, too, to overstate the influence exerted by a teacher. Miss Tsuda says, " The teacher's influence is next to that of the parents. The teacher is all-powerful. If you are a teacher, all doors are open to you." Not only the home and the school, but the changing social conditions of Japan demand a Christian college for women. The dangers and opportunities of the ever-broadening life which is so rapidly opening to the women of Japan have already been seen. One of the most vitally important questions in Japan to- day is, as Miss Tsuda has concisely put it, "Shall the development be under wise guid- ance, leading to higher lives, or shall women be undisciplined, impetuous, crude, unreason- 238 Education of Women in Japan ing, and so not only break up the home, but menace the nation ? " College education, under Christian auspices, would undoubtedly give the right kind of guidance. It has been well said : " It is evident that the difficulties and problems of the present day as they affect the lives of the young people of Japan cannot be solved by greater igno- rance and the greater subjection of women, but by a larger, broader, more daring enter- prise. That the process will involve dangers, temptations, tragedies, one can scarcely doubt, but in the end, if the process can be directed by the spirit which only Christianity can bring, there will come to the whole nation a larger, truer, more enduring life. Anything in a nation's life which militates against, or lays restraint upon, the largest development of the life of women, will react in the end against the life of the nation at large." The influence of such a college would by no means be limited to those who came within its walls. Because of the educational oppor- tunities which had been given them, its grad- uates would inevitably be looked up to as lead- ers. The strong, sane, true ideals which a Christian college education had given them would be shared by them with the many whose lives they touched. And the wide knowl- OJ o The Outlook 239 edge and acceptance of Christian ideals by the women who are to be the mothers and teachers of the Japanese of the future, will make it sure that the influence of the new Japan upon the Orient will be upward and onward. It goes without saying that if a Christian college for women is to do what is needed in Japan to-day it must be at least the equal, in every way, of the non-Christian higher schools for women. In buildings, equipment, teach- ing force, and extent and thoroughness of the work offered, it must be among the best in- stitutions of its kind in the country. Govern- ment recognition is of course imperative if the college is to attract the best type of stu- dents, and send its graduates out into the posi- tions of greatest influence. It must, needless to say, be thoroughly Christian in every way if it is to achieve its purpose. If it offers a high grade of work, equal to or better than that which can be found elsewhere, it will at- tract strong young women from non-Christian schools who may there for the first time gain an adequate knowledge of Christianity. The consensus of opinion is that such a col- lege should be interdenominational, supported and conducted by a union of the Protestant Christian forces represented in Japan. It has been suggested as an alternative that one school 240 Education of Women in Japan of each denomination be raised to college grade, and this has already been done by some missions to the extent of adding a higher de- partment to one school. This is perhaps wise as a temporary expedient, but can never fur- nish an ultimately satisfactory solution of the problem. Instead of one large strong institu- tion there would be numerous small ones, all struggling with the question of finances; for the support of a genuine college for women would be an extremely heavy burden to any one denomination in addition to its other work. Such a plan would mean a vast waste of both workers and money. The teachers and build- ings and apparatus which would be necessary for thorough work for a small company of girls in the higher department of a denomina- tional school could with relatively small addi- tional expense be utilized to serve a far larger number. An equally serious objection to the plan of having several small colleges lies in the fact that they would emphasize denominational lines unnecessarily. " If one note sounded more strongly than another at the Edinburgh Conference," reads the report of the committee on the woman's college, " it was to the effect that the educational work on the mission fields should more and more tend to larger coopera- The Outlook 241 tion, not only that the work might be carried on more effectively, but that such cooperation might serve to emphasize the essential unity of Christian work and thought in Japan. . . . Nothing is more necessary in Japan than to make every legitimate attempt within the range of the various types of conscience within the Christian Church to exalt the oneness of our common faith." It is impossible not to feel keen regret as one studies the history of secondary education for girls in Japan and realizes that those who were the pioneers in this splendid work were forced to fall behind, to the loss of much in- fluence and many opportunities. But one turns with new hope from reflections on what might have been to plans for what may yet be. Again Christian education for women has an oppor- tunity to do pioneer work in Japan; for noth- ing comparable to real college education is yet offered women there. Again there is an op- portunity to go in and possess the land, and take the place of leadership in higher educa- tion for women. When we realize how many of those engaged in government education are materialists and agnostics, when we remem- ber the recent religious census of the Univer- sity of Tokyo, can we doubt that if the higher education of women is left to non-Christian 242 Education of Women in Japan educators it will be at incomparable loss to the highest welfare of Japan and of Asia? On the other hand, can there be any room for doubt that Christian college education for women, sending women trained to meet large responsibilities into the homes, the schools, the social life of the new Japan, will be one of the most powerful forces for Christianity and righteousness in the empire? Imperative as is the need for the strength- ening and development of Christian education for women, the need of efforts on behalf of the girls in non-Christian schools is perhaps no less great. Within the last decade there has been a large increase in the number of young girls from sixteen to twenty-five years old, who leave their homes and crowd into the schools of the large cities. It was estimated that in March, 1910, in Tokyo alone, there were 15,000 girls in schools above the elementary grade. Of course many of these girls have homes in Tokyo, and others live in school dormitories, but there are many who come from small towns and villages, unprotected, and wholly ignorant of the dangers and hardships await- ing them. Some of them are quite inade- quately provided with money. It is little won- der that the problem of how to care for these The Outlook 243 young women students is one which has caused much anxiety to the Department of Educa- tion and all who are interested in the welfare of Japanese women. The Young Women's Christian Association early recognized the need for dormitories, or hostels, where girls from outside of Tokyo could find a safe home at reasonable cost. Ac- cordingly in April, 1906, the Association opened a " student hostel," which would ac- commodate about thirty-five girls. Good food and comfortable rooms were given for $3.75 a month. A second dormitory was opened a few months later. Both these houses are in charge of capable Christian Japanese women, and are doing excellent work. There are seven other student hostels in Tokyo under Christian auspices, one conducted by the American Baptists, one by the Uni- versalists, the others by American and English Episcopalians. The Episcopalians also have a dormitory in Nagasaki and the American Board Mission has established one in Miyasaki. These homes not only give girls away from home a safe place in which to live, but also meet their equally great need for friends and companionship. Miss Kawai tells us that overstudy, poverty, and lack of recreation have caused many students to break down. " The 244 Education of Women in Japan pleasant social functions of the Occidental college life are little known here," she says. " The pressing demand upon Japanese society to-day is to furnish students with a bright, simple, healthy, social atmosphere." This the Christian student hostels are doing, not only for the girls who live in them, but for their friends. The head of the dormitory is eager that the girls shall feel that they are in a real home, where they can invite their friends and enjoy all sorts of good times. Christian dormitories are also helping to meet the deepest and most fundamental need of the students in non-Christian schools. The lack of religion among government school stu- dents has already been described. Buddhism and Shintoism have lost practically all hold upon the student class, and the government schools, which are strictly non-religious, have given nothing to take their place. The result is that whenever a religious census is taken in a government school, or a religious ques- tionnaire set before its students, there is found to be an appalling lack of any religious con- viction. "What a great void there is in the life of students in the realm of religion!" Miss Kawai says. The students in the Christian dormitories are given every opportunity to learn of a re- .3 'u o in "C r", u CO a3 (—1 o o O o O Q The Outlook 245 ligion which will fill this void, satisfying the needs of both intellect and spirit. Family prayers are held daily. Bible classes are con- ducted in connection with the dormitory, and the girls are urged to attend church. In some dormitories, mainly those for younger girls, attendance at these various services is com- pulsory; but in others, as for example those conducted by the Young Women's Christian Association, attendance is purely optional. It is noteworthy that the dormitories which do not require attendance at any of the Christian services report that their students without ex- ception attend family prayers, and almost without exception wish to take Bible study. The proportion of those who attend church services varies. Day by day the girls who live in the dormi- tories have the opportunity not only to hear of Christianity, but to see it lived. Doubtless the life of the Christian house-mother often does more to lead the students to become Chris- tians than any other influence. The daily family prayers have made a deep impression on many. Miss Phillips tells us that '' stu- dents, who, after spending a term or two in one of these hostels, have left apparently un- touched by Christianity, have returned after three or four years to ask for further instruc- 246 Education of Women in Japan tion, and almost invariably it has been the memory of the daily family prayer that has clung to them and finally led them to Christ." The value of the Christian hostel for women students in non-Christian schools was recognized by the Continuation Committee Conference held in Tokyo in April, 19 13, and the following resolution was passed at that tim.e. " This Conference emphasizes the su- preme importance of establishing Christian hostels in increasing numbers in large cities, in order that the student life in government schools may be adequately touched in a spirit- ual way." The opportunities to reach students in non- Christian schools through Bible classes are practically unlimited. " I could have a Bible class every hour in the day," one of the secre- taries of the Young Women's Christian Asso- ciation told me recently. Miss Kawai assures us that however seemingly indifferent to re- ligion government school students may be, there is a real spiritual unrest, which mere intellectual dilettanteism is wholly failing to meet. Certainly the eagerness with which these students, both men and women, are ask- ing for Bible teaching indicates that they are not content to lose the religion of their an- cestors and have nothing in its place. " I am The Outlook 247 going to Japan," a young outgoing missionary said recently, '' because I have been there once, and I cannot forget the voice of the govern- ment school student saying, ' Please, may I come into your Bible class.' " " I must tell you of Miss Fukuda," a mis- sionary wrote, '' one of our Christian v^omen in Kyoto, who was sent to Tokyo to study the newest methods of teaching the blind and deaf in the largest institution of the kind in Japan, which is situated there. She and one other woman were the only Christians on the prem- ises. When it became known that Miss Fukuda was a Christian, a few of the female pupils asked her to teach them something about the Bible. She gladly consented to do so, and they came to her room every Sunday afternoon for a Bible class. Gradually others asked to join the class; then some of the male pupils also asked to join, until finally her room would not hold all who wished to come, so she went to the principal and asked permission to use one of the class-rooms. He astonished her by offering to let her use the assembly-room, and by agreeing to her inviting missionaries to lecture to the pupils on Christianity every Sunday afternoon." Within the past year the Bible classes con- ducted by the Tokyo Young Women's Chris- 248 Education of Women in Japan tian Association have grown from twelve to twenty-one, eighteen of these classes being for students only. About one hundred and fifty government school girls are enrolled in them. It would be difficult to find a more satisfying work in which to invest life than in bringing to these hungry, restless-hearted students the knowledge of the God who made them for Himself. Nor would it be easy to find a task more far reaching in its effect upon the future of the nation. What is the outlook in Japan? The words of Count Okuma fairly picture its present con- dition. '* Japan is spiritually hungry and thirsty." Everywhere there is the recognition of the nation's great need of moral strength. At a large provincial teachers' meeting held in Yokohama, where, says Miss Fisher, " one would naturally suppose that the discussions would have been along the line of pedagogical methods to be pursued, ... as a matter of fact, without exception, every address dealt with ideals of character-building, with moral issues." And back of the sense of moral need, lies a recognition of the fact that religion and morality are inseparably united. A striking testimony to the reality of Japan's appreciation of the fact that only re- ligion can furnish a remedy for her moral The Outlook 249 weakness is *' The Three Religions Confer- ence " held in 191 1. With the consent and approval of the Cabinet and several influential older statesmen, the Vice Minister of Home Affairs called together representatives of Chris- tianity, Shintoism, and Buddhism to consider the problem of how Japan's moral life might be elevated. In explaining the reason for such a conference the Vice Minister said : " It is felt necessary to give religion an added power and dignity. At present moral doctrine is in- culcated by education alone, but it is impossible, to inculcate firmly fair and upright ideas in the mind of the nation, unless the people are brought in touch with the fundamental con- ception known as God, Buddha, or Heaven, as taught in religion. It is necessary that edu- cation and religion should go hand in hand to build up the basis of the national ethics; and it is therefore desirable that a scheme should be devised to bring education and re- ligion into closer relations to enable them to promote the national welfare." The name given to the reign of the new Emperor is deeply significant. When the late Emperor Meiji was restored to power it was felt that his task was to secure for his country all that universal education and international intercourse could give, and in recognition of 250 Education of Women in Japan this aim his reign was called " The Era of Enlightenment." Modern Japan recognizes that such enlightenment alone is not enough, and in clear appreciation of a deeper, a more fundamental, need the new Emperor's reign has been named " The Great Holiness Era." Does this great nation, spiritually hungry and thirsty, need our help in its search for holiness ? Japan is nearer than any other non- Christian country to the time when foreign missionaries may feel that their work is ended, and may leave the Christian leadership of the nation wholly to the Japanese Christian forces. But that time is not yet; nor will it be until Christian education is so firmly es- tablished that the Christian community will never lack the influence and power given by thoroughly educated leaders. Unaided, the Japanese cannot possibly maintain the strong Christian educational system which is so im- peratively needed for the welfare of the whole nation. It is impossible financially; for the Christian community is not yet large enough or wealthy enough to establish and maintain the kind of work that must be done. More- over — and this is preeminently true in woman's education — there are not enough Japanese educators of advanced training to make it possible as yet to dispense with the aid of The Outlook 251 foreign faculty members. A Japanese promi- nent in educational work has recently said, " In Christian education at least there is no room for argument as to the need of great re- inforcements of men and money from foreign countries." This statement is one in which practically all Christian Japanese and all missionaries will to-day heartily concur. A few years ago there were a few Japanese Christian leaders who felt that help from outside was no longer needed; but some, if not all, of these very men are now among the most earnest advocates of the opposite position. Such facts as those revealed by the religious census of the Uni- versity of Tokyo have forced all who have Japan's best good at heart to a realization of an imminent peril, the greatness of which can- not well be overstated. Thoughtful Japanese and missionaries are alike wide awake to the fact that the character of future centuries in Japan, " the rudder of the ship of Asia," may be determined within the next few years, and that only by an immediate and vigorous strengthening of Christian education can the leaders of the future be saved from the blight- ing and deadening influences of loss of re- ligious faith, with the accompanying material- istic ideals. There must be a like appreciation 252 Education of Women in Japan of this crucial situation on the part of those who are making Christian work in Japan pos- sible, and an immediate dedication of money and of life to the cause of Christian educa- tion, if the dangers of the present time are to be averted and the opportunities created by hunger and dissatisfaction met. Nowhere is the need greater or the oppor- tunity more challenging than among the women students of Japan. To invest life or money in the work of developing and strength- ening Christian education for women, and pro- moting the Christian work being done for government school students by the Young Women's Christian Association and other Christian agencies, is to ensure the richest of returns. Because of their restlessness and hunger, and because of the vast possibilities bound up in them, the mothers and teachers of the Japan of the future, the women stu- dents offer unbounded opportunities for serv- ice of eternal value. When they are won to a living faith in the religion of Jesus Christ truly the Sunrise Kingdom will enter upon a '' Great Holiness Era," in the light of which all the nations of the East shall be blessed. BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS AND ARTICLES Bacon, Alice M. : Japanese Girls and Women. Gary, Otis : A History of Ghristianity in Japan. Ghamberlin, Basil : Things Japanese. Ghristian Movement in Japan, Issues of 1903 to 1913. Continuation Committee Conferences in Japan, April, 1913, Report of Commissions Preparatory to. Department of Education : A History of Japanese Edu- cation. Tokyo, 1890. Department of Education: Outlines of Modern Educa- tion. Tokyo, 1893. Department of Education : A History of Japanese Edu- cation. Tokyo, 1910. Gordon, M. L. : An American Missionary in Japan. Griffis, W. E. : The Japanese Nation in Evolution. Harada, T. : Article in The International Review of Missions. January, 1912. Japan, Minister of State for Education. Annual Reports for 1907, 1908, 1909, 191 1. Kikuchi, Baron : Japanese Education. Kinnosuke, Adachi : Article in The American Review of Reviews, July, 1912. Lanman, Charles : Japanese in America. Lewis, Robert E. : Educational Conquest of the Far East. Naruse, J. : Chapter xxxi in Japan by the Japanese. Article in The Oriental Review, January, 1913. Nitobe, I. : Bushido. Porter, Robert : The Full Recognition of Japan. Suyematsu, Baron: Chaps, iv, xiii in Japan by the Japanese. Tokyo Missionary Conference of 1900, Report of. Tsuda, Ume : Articles in Japan Weekly Mail, Nov. 19, Nov. 26, and Dec. 3, 1898. Article in The Inter- national Review of Missions, April, 1913. PERIODICALS : COMPLETE FILES Association Monthly. Missionary Review of the Heathen Woman's Friend. World. Helping Hand. Mission Studies. International Review of Spirit of Missions. Missions. Woman's Missionary Japan Evangelist. Friend. Japan Weekly Mail. Woman's Work for Life and Light for Women. Woman. 253 < < tn o o 1X4 m iJ o o o CO boo M S O O OsO o (N C^^ 01 C4 M 00 tx 1-4 Tf 1>.C0 vom3 o M c o o o .=: o CO a b ^1^ a a o o O d o WW O o ^ W5 Cfl Ci« .2 "B o S a o m^wwM$fi.m OS O-'T ••- rt o ?^ csJ 5 c^ o bo .2 2 'a; O U S S o U >r TO v.; :^ •" vw i_/ ;-' TO a u. d U to 3 o C/5 ^ rt - 4J •— (/3 o «^ • §^^< Q^grt «S§S-<^ d o d u d a> 4-> d Ox StJ ^J^ CO g j3 rt 03 .^-i wffiKIU o -^ o ^ oj d O OJ3 _J-i _Vh CO 2 rt .in OS hJ3 to to JS" o o 2 •^ '^ 5 o ^* dO r^ o I- O o N dxi rt O WW O a O o X! C/2 X! o w o CD O CO d d c« d^ d 55 o o X! o C/) ^ o S d.-H :3 C3 ctJ CO "-< O -^ 4-» ■•-» X CO O O o; +j O o 2 :So o ^ h2.SO i •d ?^ o "3 ^ bOo ^» 2 M HH to CO Jl CO 01 HH 10 o a, o o o in J3 . tic/) o . rt OS c3 ^ >^ +-> 5» >» >^R 1^ •;:; 2 2.2 4> -( o O cJ SUM S O '^ '^ TO O ••1 •■-I Oc/^'OX! en n . O OtJ Sb ■*-• -M (1) «^ i) 0) .« C3 ■4-' CO .ii en -G .Se^ o £ C CO' o c^ Ph ID o 'co C ^bp O 0.22 cn Cu c^ Id c u > .9 c o m •w Ph ^^.2>a.2.i^c/)^ .? o fe t; >^a go as 55^ J3^.S' tn ^ ^£| UPh^ _o u *^ 'C 'C XI (U (U > cts rt rt rt O <_ .M .^ .^ O oJ c^ c^ a, c c c bo 01 ^OOOOOcA!c/)c/]cr! c3 O Soooooo 00 J3000000 00 >>^ 03 oJ a 2 £ s O -^ rt o o c« a O o PQ X • »— t Oh <1 W H W < <: o o o CO -l o ctJ a S W 07? o c x; vh c3 «J 1^ a w ■*-. ■ s c:x3 "^ CO ■ o o -a c 'c3 ►a^— — - • — (1) J Tl CO 2 ^ vv. « -- (uX3 _^^.*H p<; p-Tj .— CO -M -U JJ M-l l-H X tx C: x: uM-l +:j Ix ^ <^^ s X! t<0, (1> A ^-. ^1- (O ■♦-» a t^-g **^ . pj X o**^ (U tlx-o 2 C.S Si (U -3 X! ■■-(-> o «o ■ Si p. a, ot— , QJ (U (U XXX -- », s C!i N "^ ,^ INDEX INDEX Aikoku Fujinkwai (see Woman's Patriotic League) American Board, 171 American Church Mission, 156 Ando, Mrs. 184 Aoyama Jo Gakuin, 80, 81, 83, 88, 184, 224, 232 Araki, Rai, 30 Araki, Miss lyo, 97 Arisugawa, Princess, 188 Association of Nobles, 137 Atomi Girls' School, 160, 161, 181 Atomi, Madame Kwaki, 162, 181, 183 Atomi, Tamae, 183 Atsuka, Saisho, 181 Avison, Dr., 97 B Bacon, Miss Alice M., 25, 128, 151, 153, 154, 155, 156 Baikwa Jo Gakko (see Osaka Congregational School) Bakin, daughter of, 30 Baucus, Miss Georgiana, 190 Bedford College of Lon- don University, 126 Benton, Miss, 58 Berry, Dr. John, 171 Bible classes among stu- ents in non-Christian schools, 246-248 Bible Women's Training Schools, 203 Blanchet, Mrs. 38 Blue Stocking Society, 217 Booth, Dr., 236 Boston City Hospital, 172 Boston School of Physical Culture, 126 Brown, Miss Emily, 90, 93 Bryn Mawr College, 46, 206 Buddhism, 134, 244, 249 efforts of Japanese women on behalf of, 18, 19 effect on position of Japanese women, 20- 22, 220 Buddhist college for wom- en, 203 Buddhist religion, commit- tee sent to investigate, 18 Buddhist societies, 203 Buddhist women, 194 Bushido, 24 Cambridge Training Col- lege, 126 Canadian Methodist Mis- sion, 196 Caroline Wright Memorial 259 26o Index School (see Hakodate Methodist School) Carrothers, Mrs., 43 Ceremonial Tea, 24 China, culture of, 15 opportunity of Christian education for women in, 227 sacred books of, 19 Chinese literature, 2^, 24, 30 Chu Gakko, 79 Christian college for wom- en, 229-242 Christian dormitories, 243- 246 (see also Young Women's Christian Association, dormito- ries of) Christian education, inade- quacy of, 210 Christian Movement in Japan, 78, 230 Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College, 177 Cody, Miss, 96 Colby, Miss, 57, 100 Colonial Department, 44 Columbian Exposition, 183, 186 Confucianism, efforts of Japanese women on behalf of, 18, 17 effects on position of Japanese women, 20- 22 Confucius, teachings of, 20-22 Continuation Committee Conferences of Japan, 228, 229, 246 Cook, Joseph, 209 Courses of study, of pi- oneer mission schools for girls, 41, 42 of public elementary schools, 110-112 of public girls' high schools, 113-117 of public normal schools, 121, 122 of Girls' Higher Normal Schools, 124, 125 of Peeresses' School, 139 of Woman's University, 142 of Miss Tsuda's English Institute, 154, I55, I59 D Daimyos, 23, 25 Davis, Miss, 60, 85, 92 Daughaday, Miss, 61, 64, 85 Deaf and Dumb, School for, 201 Denton, Miss, 92, 103 Department of Agriculture and Commerce, Re- port for 1910, 167 Department of Communi- cations, 169 Department of Education, 47, 68, 76, 77, 78, 107, 131, 157, 164, 210, 224 regulations effecting mission schools, 76, 77, 131, 224 Department of Finance, 169 De Forest, Dr., 56, 98 De Forest, Mrs., 98 Doshisha Girls' School, 40, 43, 69, 88, 92, 93, ^, 100, loi, 103, 232 Doshisha Training School for Nurses, 94 Doshisha University, 85, 211 Dutch Reform Mission, 34 Index 261 Ebina, Mrs,, 93 Edinburgh World's Mis- sionary Conference, 229, 240 Educational Code, 47, 48 Educational Conference in Osaka, 132 Educational Society, 191 Emperor Mutsuhito (since his death called Mei- ji), 33, 45, 59, I37, 180 Emperor Saga, 19 Empress (now Empress Dowager), 48, 60, 61, 137, 139, 141, 187 Empress Komyo, 18 Empress Tachibana, 19 Era of Enlightenment, 33, 250 Everding, Miss, 57 Factory laws in Japan, 168 Family Comforting Asso- ciation, 191 Federation of Women's Clubs, Denver Con- vention of, 150 Ferris Seminary, 34, 35, 42 Fisher, Galen M., 209 Fisher, Miss Stella, 248 Flower arrangement, 24, 69, Id Fukuda, Miss, 247 Fukuden Society, 194 Fukuoka, 53, 65 Congregational girls' school of, 93 Methodist girls' school of, 86 Fujisawa, Prof., 44 Gaines, Miss, 226 Gengi Monogatari, 16 Gheer, Miss, 53 Girls' Higher Normal Schools of Tokyo and Nara, 123-127, 130, 151, 220, 233, 236 courses of study, 124, 125 graduates of, 125, 126 Goucher, Dr., 229 Government education for women, 105-136 Government General Hos- pital of Korea, 165 Government recognition in mission schools for girls, 76, 77, 131, 224 Graham Seminary (see Tokyo, Presbyterian school of) Great Holiness Era, 250 Great Learning for Wom- en, 20-22, 29 Griffis, Dr. W. E., 16, 17, 19 Gulick, Mrs., 61 Gunnison, Miss, 64 H Hakkenden, 30 Hakodate, Methodist school of, 56, 58, 95 Hampton, Miss, 56 Harada, President, 211, 212, 213 Heimen, 138 Hepburn, Mrs., 34, 35, 39 Hiden-in, 18 Hideyoshi, General, 29 Higher elementary schools, 108, 109, III, 112 Herata, Atsutane, 31 262 Index Hirooka, Mrs. Asa, 170, 171 Hirosaki, Methodist school of, 75, 84, 95 Hishakawa, Dr., 178 Honolulu, Japanese wom- en in, 99 I Ikuji Society, 187 Ikuno, Miss, 182 Imperial Household De- partment, 139 Imperial Ordinance on Elementary Education, 108 Imperial Ordinance on Public High Schools for Girls, 112, 113 Imperial Rescript on Edu- cation, 230 Imperial University, 44, 58, 212, 233, 241 religious census of, 212 Imperial Woman's Asso- ciation, 140 Inoguchi, Miss Aguri, 126 Inouye, Dr. Tomo, 97, 177, 178 Inouye, Tsu, 30 Insignia of the Sacred Crown, 162, 163 Ito, Marquis, 45, 141, 150 Iwakura, Prince, 162 Iwamoto, Mrs, Kashi, 182 Izumi-shikibu, 17 J Japan Advertiser, 177 Japan Evangelist, 178, 182, 197, 198 Japan Times, 164 Japan Weekly Mail, 58, 151, 164, 169, 182, 186 Japan Year Book, 117 Japanese-Chinese War, 73, 112, 188, 202 Japanese Congregational Churches, 232 Japanese ideal of woman's education, 105, 106 Japanese women, as nurses, 97, 98, 171- 175 as physicians, 97, 175- 179 as teachers, 93-97, 179- 181 changing position of, 214 education of, in ancient times, 15-20 education under the sho- gunate, 23-32 in agriculture, 166, 167 in art, 183 in business, 169-171 in industry, 167, 168 in literature, 16, 17, 29- 31, 181-183 in music, 184 in organized work, 184- 208 in philanthropic work, 17, 18, 186-202 in religion, 18, 19, 20, 202-208 in wartime, 188-194 influence of, 213, 214 their need of Christian- ity, 220-222 rulers, 19 students in the United States, 234 Jenshenni, 18 Jenzoni, 18 Jesuits, 37 Jiji Shimpo, 66 Jo Gakkon, 192, 193 Joshi Gakuin, 90, 92, 94, 96, 97, 99, 102, 103, 195 Index 263 K Kago-no-Chiya, 30 Kaibara Ekken, 20, 22 wife of, 29 Kajima, 170 Kajira, Mrs., 163 Kammuira sho-en, 183 Kanazawa, Presbyterian School of, 89 Kanegafuchi Spinning Company, 168 Karuizawa, 144 Katsu, Count, 182 Kawai, Miss Michi, 206- 208, 243, 244, 246 Keizenn, 18 Kidder, Miss, 34, 35 Kikuchi, Baron, 105, 107, 109, no, 113, 114, 115, 118 Kings* Daughters' Society, 195 Kitabatake, Baron, 141 Kobe, Congregational school of, 36, 39, 40, 41, 42, 69, 70 Kobe College, 52, 74, 87, 88, 89, 90, 98, 99, 100, loi, 104, 163, 232 Kofu, 196 Koganei, Madame, 181 Kohashi, Miss, 181 Kojiki (Records), 19 Komatsu, Princess, 188 Korea, Japanese women in, 97, 98 Koto Jo Gakko, 79, 224, 225 Kuroda, General, 44 Kwassui Jo Gakko {see Nagasaki, Methodist school of) Kyofokwai {see Woman's Christian Temperance Union) Kyoritsu Jo Gakko, 36, 42 Kyoto, Congregational School of {see Doshi- sha Girls' School) Kyoto Nurses' Training School, 171 Ladies' Aid Association for Lunatics, 188 Ladies' Patriotic Associa- tion, 201 Lanman, Mr. Charles, 148 Leavitt, Mrs. Mary C, 195 Leeds, Miss, 65 Lewis, Miss, 199, 222 Li, Viceroy, 202 Life and Light for Wom- en, 63 London Polytechnic, 126 Loyal Temperance Le- gion, 196 M MacDonald, Miss Caro- line, 130, 131, 133, 134, 206 MacNair, Mrs. Theodore, 191 Maebashi, 65 Makura Zoshi, 17 Mary L. Colby School, 59 Masako, Princess, 18 Matsuo Tase, 28, 30 Matsuyama, mission school of, 135 Mayeda, Dr. Sono, 97, 177 McKim, Bishop, 152 Meiji No Joshi, 181 Military Hospital, 192 Milliken, Miss, 60, 62, 92, 96, 102, 103 Minister of Education, 65, 113, 119 report of, 65 264 Index Mission Schools for Girls, alumnae associations of, 100-102 beginnings of, 33-44 character of girls in, 89- 92 character of graduates of, 92-100 cordiality toward, 73-75 course of study of early days, 41-44 development of char- acter in, 84-86 early growth of, 36-38 gifts to, by Japanese, 40, 41, 52, 74, 75 government regulations affecting, 76, 'jy, 131, 224 occupations of gradu- ates, 92-100 personnel, 39, 57 preeminent lines of strength, 81-87 proportion of students who enter from non- Christian homes, 87 proportion of graduates who are Christians, 87-89 self-support in early days, 39, 40 Miss Tsuda's English In- stitute, 148-161, 194, 208, 231, 233 alumnae of, 158-160 American Committees of, 160 Miwada Girls' School, 162 Miwada, Madame, 162, 163 Miyagawa, Miss Simi, 126 Mombasho (Imperial Board of Education), 83 Mori, Mr. Arimori, 46 children of, 58 Mori, Princess, 184 Morioka, daughter of Governor of, 57 Moriya, Miss Azuma, 196 Mothers' Union of Japan, 185 Motoda, Dr. Paul, 79, 80, 159 Mt. Fujiyama, 220 Mt. Holyoke College, 163 Murasaki-shikibu, 16, 17, 31 Mutsu, Count, 96 N Nabeshima, Marchioness, 184, 188 Nagasaki, Methodist girls* school of, 37, 38, 53, 56, 57, 64, 85, 92, 94, 95, 177 Nagoya, 53 Methodist girls* school of, 74 Nakajima, Madame, 181 Nara Girls' Higher Nor- mal School, 107, 123 Nara, image of Buddha in, 19 Naruse, Professor Jinzo, 71, 140, 141, 142, 143, 145, 146, 147, 148 Naval Hospital, 192 Neesima, Joseph Hardy, 103 New England Conserva- tory of Music, 184 Newspapers, criticisms of woman's education in, 66, 67 Niigata, establishment of girls' school in, 54 Niigata, Congregational girls* school of, 57, 141 Index 265 Nikko, temples of, 19 Ninomiya, Mrs., 199, 200 Nitobe, Dr. Inazo, 24, 82 Nobles' School for Girls (see Peeresses' School) Nobu, Miss, 184 Nobunaga, General, 29 Nogi, 171 Noguchi Shokin, 183 Nohungi (Chronicles) Nurses' Unions, 175 O Ogino, Dr. Gin, 176 Okada, Miss Mitsu, 126 Okamura, Madame, 189, 190 Okayama, Christian girls' school of, 80, 94, 163 Okonogi, Miss, 126, 181 Okuma, Count, 141, 150, 248 Om, Lady, 98 Ono-no-tsu, 29 Osaka, Congregational girls' school of, 39, 40, 43, 51, 85, 98, 100, 140, 141 Ladies' Institute of, 59 Presbyterian girls' school of, 51, 57 visit of their Majesties to, 60 Otsuka, Mrs., 100 Otakasaka, Isa, 30 Oyama, Marchioness, 2t), 46, 155, 160, 188 Parmalee, Miss, 65 Peeresses' School, 68, 74, 93, 126, 137, 140, 149, 150, 152 Peeresses' School of Siam, 126 Peers' School, 137 Perry, Commodore, 33 Pettee, Dr., 199 Phillips, Miss, 245 Popularity of woman's ed- ucation in " the eigh- ties," 51-62 Porter, Robert, 20 Presbyterian Mission, 178 Public education in Japan, strength and weak- ness of, 127-136 Public education for girls, beginnings of, 47-50 Public Elementary Schools, 109-112 Public High Schools for Girls, 1 12-120 applications for en- trance to, 118 course of study in, 113- 118 graduates of, 120 growth of, 118, 119 purpose of, 113 regulations regarding, 112 Public Normal Schools, 120-127 course of study, 121, 122 dormitories, 122 R Reaction against woman's education, 62-72 Red Cross Hospital, 97, 174, 189, 192, 193, 201 Red Cross Nursing Asso- ciation, 188, 189 Red Cross Society, 188, 194, 201 Religious questionnaire in an elementary school, 134 266 Index Religious census of Im- perial University of Tokyo, 212 Richards, Miss Linda, 171 Roman Catholic Christian- ity, 37 Roman Catholic schools, 80 Root, Dr. Pauline, 69 Royal Hospital, Korea, 97 Russell, Miss, 64 Russo-Japanese war, 173, 188, 190, 194, 203 Saionji, Marquis, ']2), 141 Salem Normal School, 126 Salvation Army, 198 Sakurai-jo-gakico, 41 Sakurai, Mr., 155 Sakurai, Mrs., 41 Samurai, 24, 25, 57 Sanjo, Princess, 184 Sapporo, Presbyterian school of. Id Sato, Miss, 97 Sawayanagi, President, 231 Schneder, Dr., 81 Searle, Miss, 52, 100 Sei-Shonagon, 17 Sekigahara, battle of, 28 Semmon Gakko, 157, 164 Sendai, 53 Baptist school of, 87, 88 Seoul, Japanese women in, 98 Seyakuin, i8 Shibata, Miss, 184 Shibusawa, Baron, 141 Shibuya, Miss, 83 Shimoda, Madame, 181 Shintoism, 134, 244, 249 Shitei-no-Kyoiku, 23 Shizoku, 138 Shogunate, 2Z, 28 Shokin Joshi, 183 Smith, Mrs. Moses, loi Smith, Miss, loi Spencer, Miss, 63 St. Luke's Hospital, 172 St. Luke's Hospital, train- ing school for nurses of, 97 St. Margaret's school, To- kyo, 38, 80, 95, 97 Student Volunteer Move- ment, Quadrennial Convention of, 209 Sunday school work done by students of mis- sion schools, 91, 92 Suyematsu, Baron, 15 Taikoku Hospital, For- mosa, 174 Takashimo Bunho, 31 Takeda, Miss Kin Kato, 126 Takimori, Miss, 96 Talcott, Miss, 40, 42 Tamura, Mrs. Ume, 173 Tanabe, Miss, 181 Tanahashi, Madame, 162 Terakoya, 23 Three Religions Confer- ence, 249 Tokyo Academy of Music, 193 Tokyo Charity Hospital,i 187, 201 Tokyo Charity Hospital Association, 187 Tokyo Girls' Higher Nor- mal School, 107, 113, Index 267 123-127, 150, 152, 162, 192, 193, 201, 208 Course of study in, 124, 125 Tokyo, Methodist school of, 37, 51, 63, 90, 177 (see also Aoyama Go Gakuin) Tokyo Musical Academy, 184 Tokyo, Presbyterian school of, 40, 42, 51, 58 (see also Joshi Gakuin) Tokyo School for the Blind, 127 Tokyo School for the Dumb, 127 Tokyo Woman's Medical School, 163-165, 230 Tomihara, Miss Yuku, 164. Tottori, girls' school of, 94 Toyama, Professor, 58, 59, 150 Tsuda, Miss Ume, 28, 31, 46, 82, 140, 187, 200, 201, 202, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 225, 231, 237 U University of Michigan, 178 University of Sendai, 231 Uriu, wife of Admiral, 46 Utsumi, Baron, 141 Vassar College, 46 Vice-Minister of Home Affairs, 249 Voluntary Nurses' Asso- ciation, 188 W Wainwright, Miss, 52 Wakamatsu Castle, de- fence of, 29 Waki Hiromushi, 18 Watanabe, Miss, 98 Watson, Miss, 51, 53 Wellesley College, 126, 181 Woman's Association of the Temple Sect, 203 Woman's Christian Tem- perance Union, 100, 182, 195-200 Woman's Commercial School, 163 Woman's Educational So- ciety, 184 Woman's Foreign Mis- sionary Society of the Japanese Congrega- tional Church, 98 Woman's Herald, 182 Woman's Hygienic Asso- ciation, 185 Woman's Patriotic League, 189, 190 Woman's Union Mission, 35, 36 Woman's University, 140- 148, 181, 192, 230, 233 alumnae association of, 144, 145 ideals of, 14S-148 occupations of gradu- ates of, 145 " Woman's Work for Woman," editor of, World's Embassy, 45 World's Student Christian Federation, 206, 207 World's Young Women's Christian Association, 204, 207 268 Index Work for girls in non- Christian schools, 242- 248 Y Yagashira, !Miss Hido, 70 Yajima. ]\Irs. 195, 197, ic^. 109 Yamato. 16, 17 Yasui. Miss Tetsii, 126 Yedo, 30 Yokohama Girls' High School, 135 Yokohama, governor of, 34. 39 judge of. 58 Methodist mission of, 199 Yomiuri Shimbiru, 66 Yonezawa, 53 Yoshioka, Dr., 163, 165, 176. 177. 230 Yoshivara, 198 Young Men's Christian Association. 19S. 209 Young Women's Chris- tian Association, 159, 1 68, 170. 200, 204- 208, 247, 248, 252 Bible classes of, 205 Commission of, 168, 175 dormitories of, 204, 205, 243. 245 summer conferences of, 205. 206 Yukio, JMrs. Ozaki, iSi PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BIOGRAPHY— MISSIONARY JOHN T. PARIS Author of ' 'Men Who Made Good' ' The Alaskan Pathfinder The Story of Sheldon Jackson for Boys. Illus- trated, i2mo, cloth, net $i.oo. The story of Sheldon Jackson will appeal irresistibly to every boy. Action from the time he was, as an infant, rescued from a fire to his years' of strenuous rides through the Rockies and his long years' of service in Alaska, per- meate every page of the book. Mr. Paris, with a sure hand, tells the story of this apostle of the Western Indians in clear- cut, incisive chapters which wiU hold the boy's attention from first to last. G. L WHARTON Life of G. L. Wharton By Mrs. Emma Richardson Wharton. Illustrated, l2mo, gilt top, cloth, net $1.25. A biography of a pioneer missionary of the F. C. M. S., Written by a devoted wife who shared the experiences of her husband in a long service in India and Australia. It is a life of unusual interest and an important addition to the annals of modern missionary efiort. MRS. LAURA DELANY GARST A West Pointer in the Land of the Mikado Illustrated, i2mo, cloth, net $1.25. The story of a great life given unreservedly to the service of God in Japan — a life stor^ representative of the best the West sends the East and typical of that missionary spirit in America which is one of the marvelous things in the growth of the Christ life in man. Tlae Christian world will be proud of and wish to studj^ such a_ record — coming generations will find here inspiration and incentive for yet greater ef- fort and larger sacrifice. HENRY oris DJVIGHT A Muslim Sir Galahad A Present Day Story of Islam In Turkey. Net $1.00. "The author of 'Constantinople and Its Problems,* has written an intensely interesting story of present-day Turkish life. A fascinating picture of the Mohammedan world. Recent events in the Near East make this book of unusual interest, and a better book, throwing sidelights on the Mo- hammedan question, could n&t be ionn^" -"Pacific Presby- terian. HOME AND FORE IGN MISSIONS ROLAND ALLEN, M.A. Essential Missionary Principles i2mo, doth, net $i.oo. An author new to American readers has claimed attention of students of missions through his recent thought-compelling book, Missionary Methods — St. Paul's or Ours? This latter volume dealing with the principles of missions well supple- menting the volume on methods. ROLAND ALLEN, M.A. Library of Historic Theology Missionary Methods : St. Paul's or Ours ? With Introduction by Rt. Rev. Henry Whitehead, D.D., Lord Bishop of Madras. 8vo, cloth, net $1.50. Is this book the true answer to the question as to why Christian Missions do not progress to-day as rapidly as we should like to see them doing? Dr. Allen was formerly a missionary in North China and author of "The Siege of Peking I,egations" and writes from large experience. His arguments for the application of truly Pauline methods of envangelization in foreign mission fields _ are startling. The reader may not agree with all of his criticisms and sugges- tions but the discussion which will be aroused cannot fail to be helpful. It is a vigorous presentation of a profoundly important subject. MISS MINNA G. COWAN The Education of the Women of India Illustrated, i2mo, cloth, net $1.25. The subject is treated historically, philosophically and suggestively. The contributions made by the government, the East Indians themselves and the missionaries, to solving the educational problems of the country are clearly shown. The book is an important and suggestive addition to the literature of education in foreign lands, being a worthy companion volume to Miss Burton's "The Education of Women in China." LIVINGSTON F. JONES A Study of the Thlingets of Alaska i2mo, cloth, illustrated, net $1.50. For twenty-one years the author has labored as a mission- ary representing the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions among the people about which he writes. _ Probably no living man is better qualified to tell about this interesting race. Hon. James Wickersham says: "Contains much that is new and valuable in respect to the social life and ancient cus- toms of the Thlinget Indians. An interesting and valuable contribution to the ethnolo^w of the Pacific Coast." FOREIGN MISSIONS M. WILMA STUBBS How Europe Was Won for Christianity Illustrated. i2mo, cloth, net $1.50. The story of the first seventeen centuries of Qiristianity is here told in the lives of the great missionaries of the church beginning with St. Paul. So far as we are aware mo single volume containing so complete a collection of the lives of these pioneers in missionary work has before been published. Miss Stubbs has done a very real and important service to the cause of missions in making the lives of these great men live for the inspiration of younger generations of to-day. R. FLETCHER MOORSHEAD, M.B., F.R.C.S. The Appeal of Medical Missions i2mo, cloth, net $1.00. Ihe author is Secretary of the Medical Mission Auxiliary of the British Baptist Mission Society and Baptist Zenana Mission. He gives a general survejr of the main consider- ations upon which the Medical Mission enterprise is based, presenting a true conception of the need, value and importance of this great work in the spread of the Gospel. Dr. Moore- head knows his subject well and he gives a wealth of inter- esting facts regarding The Character and Purpose of Medical Missions — The Origin and Authority, Justification, Need, Value — The Practice of Medical Missions, Wbman's Sphere in ITiem, Training for. Home Base, Failure, Appeal, etc. JAMES S. DENNIS, D. D. The Modern Call of Missions : Studies In Some of the Larger Aspects of a Great Enterprise. 8vo, cloth, net $1.50. "This is a magnificent presentation of the call of missions, showing their great and sweeping influence on human life and social progress. It is a logical and searching study of the power of the Gospel as it goes into other lands and there meets the facts and elements that make up the life of the people. Dr. Dennis has had the personal experiences and knowledge which enable him to speak with_ authority. An exceedingly valuable contribution to the missionary literature of the day." — Herald and Presbyter. ARCHIBALD McLEAN Epoch Makers of Modern Missions Illustrated, i2mo, cloth, net $1.00. The author of "Where the Book Speaks," has given in these "College of Missions I^ectures" a series of sketches of modern missionary leaders^ which for clearness, brevity, directness of style and inspirational value, have rarely been surpassed. Each characterization is truly "much in^ little," and the book is a distinct and most acceptable addition to missionary biography. FOREIGN MISSIONS AND YOUNG PEOPLE BELLE M. BRAIN Love Stories of Great Missionaries Illustrated, i2mo, cloth, net 50c. Miss Brain has made a distinct place for herself in mis- sionary literature. She is preeminently a story-teller, know- ing well how to invest her subject with charm and interest. In these love stories of the World's great missionaries she is at her best. It is evident from these romances of Judson and Gilmour and I/ivingstone and Moffat and Caillard and Martyn, which she portrays with such fascination, that love, courtship and marriage are very vital factors in the Mission- ary E^nterprise. JULIA H. JOHNSTON Fifty Missionary Heroes Every Boy and Giri Should Know Illustrated, i2mo, cloth, net $1.00. The author of that popular Mission Study Text Book, IN- DIAN AND SPANISH NIMGHBORS, has supplied a real need in this volume for Junior readers and leaders. _ Miss Johnston gives living portraits of a large number of mission- ary heroes well adapted to interest and inspire young people. EMILY E. ENTWISTLE The Steep Ascent Missionary Talks With Young People. i2mo, cloth, net $1.00. Martha Tarbell says of the book, "It is exceedingly well and interestingly written, adapted to the Junior and lower Intermediate grades for which so few books of this sort are written." BASIL MATHEWS, M.A, The Splendid Quest Stories of Knights on the Pilgrim Way. i2mo, cloth, net $1.00. I'he Prologue, "The Pilgrim's Way," serves as a back- ground for the life stories of famous Knights of the Quest which follow. The stories are suitable for children of from 8 to IS. REV. W. MUNN Three Men on a Chinese Houseboat The Story of a River Voyage Told,' for Young Folks. Illustrated, i2mo, cloth, net $1.00. The story of an actual trip up the Yang-tse river taken by three missionaries on the way to their stations. In breezy, easy-flowing narrative one of the three tells the very inter- esting story of their fifteen hundred mile journey. The book should be a very acceptible addition to missionary stoneg and side-light reading. 41 923 ^^ •^ \ ^^\^ -v " y I vV ^, A^. 'V' C^'^- c> ^> •^^. \ \ ■'^1 "'^ '7' ^J ^' li' 0_ o\' -0 •r- . \ ' « / "<. ^\ o -^ rj- ,0 o /: /- c- '<■> • ^. 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