Inoue Hideko (1875-1963)
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senzenwomenInoue Hideko was born in 1875 to a prosperous family in Hyogo, west of Osaka [not to be confused with the artist of the same name born exactly a hundred years later]. Succeeding, against her father’s opposition, in entering high school in Kyoto, she was roommates with Hirooka Kameko, whose mother Hirooka Asako was a founder of Japan Women’s University; as a friend of the family, she sometimes accompanied Asako on business trips. In 1895 she married Adachi Masaji, who took Hideko’s family name in order to carry on her line (the relatively early marriage, for an educated woman, may have been a family decision based on her brother’s death the year before). Their daughter Shina was born four years later.
In 1901, encouraged by Hirooka Asako, Inoue entered the first graduating class at Japan Women’s University in the home economics department; she also served as dormitory supervisor. Upon graduation, she went to the US to study pedagogy at Columbia University. Returning in 1908 to Japan, she became a professor of home economics at her alma mater. In 1911 she took over leadership of the Japan Women’s Peace Association. She also marshalled her fellow alumnae to raise money for Japan’s first daycare center in 1913.
In 1921 she returned to the US in order to attend an international women’s conference on peace; she was accompanied by her secretary, the half-Japanese scientist Marian Irwin, and traveled the long way home along with her husband (now a businessman and politician), each later writing an account of the trip. In 1931 she became president of Japan Women’s University. As Japan slid into imperialism and warfare, Hideko didn’t struggle against the status quo, continuing to work for women’s education while supporting the Japanese Empire’s colonialist and jingoist policies; she also, along with Yoshioka Yayoi and others, formed the women’s wing of the National Language Association in order to promote the use of traditional feminine language, and held various government posts throughout the war.
Not surprisingly, she was purged by GHQ in the postwar for her wartime collaboration, prohibited from educational work from 1946 through 1950. This did not discourage her from once again visiting the US on a study tour in 1954 and later serving as president of a woman’s college in Kanagawa. She died in 1963, aged eighty-eight. Her daughter Shina followed in her footsteps as a peace activist and a professor (of philosophy) at Japan Women’s University
In 1901, encouraged by Hirooka Asako, Inoue entered the first graduating class at Japan Women’s University in the home economics department; she also served as dormitory supervisor. Upon graduation, she went to the US to study pedagogy at Columbia University. Returning in 1908 to Japan, she became a professor of home economics at her alma mater. In 1911 she took over leadership of the Japan Women’s Peace Association. She also marshalled her fellow alumnae to raise money for Japan’s first daycare center in 1913.
In 1921 she returned to the US in order to attend an international women’s conference on peace; she was accompanied by her secretary, the half-Japanese scientist Marian Irwin, and traveled the long way home along with her husband (now a businessman and politician), each later writing an account of the trip. In 1931 she became president of Japan Women’s University. As Japan slid into imperialism and warfare, Hideko didn’t struggle against the status quo, continuing to work for women’s education while supporting the Japanese Empire’s colonialist and jingoist policies; she also, along with Yoshioka Yayoi and others, formed the women’s wing of the National Language Association in order to promote the use of traditional feminine language, and held various government posts throughout the war.
Not surprisingly, she was purged by GHQ in the postwar for her wartime collaboration, prohibited from educational work from 1946 through 1950. This did not discourage her from once again visiting the US on a study tour in 1954 and later serving as president of a woman’s college in Kanagawa. She died in 1963, aged eighty-eight. Her daughter Shina followed in her footsteps as a peace activist and a professor (of philosophy) at Japan Women’s University
no subject
Date: 2025-03-01 08:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-03-03 01:58 pm (UTC)A good question and one I haven't researched enough to answer properly, but my immediate guess is that it was along the lines of "Japan's benevolent rule will be the best way to achieve peace throughout Asia"?
no subject
Date: 2025-03-03 03:00 pm (UTC)