, born Clara Louise Zitelmann, was a German-born educator, a pioneer in the

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

movement in Japan.

Early life

Clara Louise Zitelmann was born and educated in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, the daughter of Carl Friedrich Zitelmann and Emma Pauline Ulrike Zitelmann.

Career

In 1876, Matsuno became the first head teacher at the first kindergarten in Japan, with Froebel-inspired methods emphasizing outdoor play, puzzles, songs and games. The school's principal, Shinzo Seki, translated for her, as she did not speak Japanese upon arrival in Japan. She was also a teacher-training instructor at the Tokyo College of Education for Women from 1876 to 1881. She also taught English and German, and gave piano lessons for the

Imperial Household Agency The (IHA) is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial Family, and also the keeping of the Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century AD, up until the Second World War, it ...

Personal life and legacy

Clara Louise Zitelmann married (松野礀) in

Ueno is a district in Tokyo's Taitō Ward, best known as the home of Ueno Park. Ueno is also home to some of Tokyo's finest cultural sites, including the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, and the National Museum of Na ...

in 1876; the couple met in Berlin, where Matsuno was studying

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

. They were the first German-Japanese couple married in Japan; she became a Japanese citizen by marriage. They had a daughter, Frieda Fumi, who died in 1901, at age 24. Matsuno's husband died in 1908; for a time she lived with her sister and sister-in-law in Japan. She died in Germany in 1931, aged 77 years; some sources give her death date as 1941. The novel ''Ein Adoptivkind: Die Geschichte eines Japaners'' (1916) by is based in part on Clara Matsuno's life. In 1976, the Japanese post office released a postage stamp honoring Clara Matsuno on the centennial of her founding the kindergarten program at the Tokyo College of Education for Women. There is a monument honoring Matsuno in the

Aoyama Cemetery is a cemetery in Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, managed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The cemetery is also famous for its cherry blossoms, and at the season of hanami, which many people would visit. History The cemetery was origin ...

in Tokyo.

References

External links

A painting illustrating a kindergarten class playing a game
(Pigeon's Nest) led by Clara Matsuno, from the Ochanomizu University Digital Archives. {{DEFAULTSORT:Matsuno, Clara 1853 births 1931 deaths Emigrants from the German Empire Immigrants to Japan German educators Japanese educators 19th-century German educators 19th-century Japanese women educators 19th-century Japanese educators