Sasaki Toyoju (Japanese: 佐々城豊寿; born 6 May 1853 in

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

, Mutsu Province; died 15 June 1901) was a Japanese feminist, temperance worker and anti-prostitution activist.

Early life

Sasaki Toyoju was born Hoshi Toyoshi, the daughter of Hoshi Yūki (星雄記), a senior samurai of the Nambu clan. Her parents sent her to Tokyo, where she attended a private school, to learn English. Historian Elizabeth Dorn Lublin described Sasaki's education as more like that given to boys, than girls, in this period, and it gave her exceptional assertiveness, which came to the fore in later power struggles.

Activism

In 1886 she cooperated with

Yajima Kajiko was the founder of the Women's Reform Society and president of Japan's Woman's Christian Temperance Union. An educator, pacifist, and Christian activist, she vigorously advanced the cause for the education of women in Japan. Her name was usually ...

in founding the association of the Women's Christian Temperance Union in Japan (東京婦人矯風会, Tōkyō fujin kyōfūkai), which advocated the abolition of prostitution and abstinence from alcohol. On 6 December 1886 she was selected as secretary of the group. However, Sasaki believed that prostitution was a more serious issue than alcohol abuse and used her influence to steer the WCTU towards greater focus on the issue, leading to a power struggle with the founder Yajima. She was on the editorial board of the organisation's magazine, ''Fujin kyofu zasshi,'' alongside

Wakamatsu Shizuko was an educator, translator, and novelist best known for translating ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' written by Frances Hodgson Burnett. She is also known for introducing literature with Christianity for children's novels. Early life Born to Kats ...

, Asai Saku and Honda Teiko. Sasaki also translated the American WCTU work ''Women’s Freedom of Speech'' to Japanese, with prefaces by Tokutomi Soho,

Iwamoto Yoshiharu was a Japanese educator and early advocate of women's education during the Meiji era. Biography Iwamoto was born in Izushi, Izushi Domain (in present-day Hyōgo Prefecture), the second son of . At age six, he was adopted into his maternal line ...

and Sasaki herself. She also led the organisation's Women's White Ribbon Club.

Family

Sasaki was the aunt of the restauranteur and artist's patron

Kokkō Sōma was an entrepreneur, philanthropist, patron of artists and patron of Pan-Asianism, Pan-Asian politics during the pre-war Empire of Japan. She was the wife of Aizō Sōma, the founder of Nakamura-ya, a noted bakery in Tokyo. Biography Sōma was b ...

(1876–1955). She also had a daughter, Nobuko (佐々城信子; 1878-1949), who was the inspiration for the heroine in the novel Aru Onna by Arishima Takeo.

References

{{Authority control 1901 deaths 1858 births 19th-century Japanese women writers Japanese translators Japanese temperance activists Japanese feminists Woman's Christian Temperance Union people