Tadako Urata (宇良田唯子) (3 May 1873 – 18 June 1936) was a Japanese physician, trained in

ophthalmology Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

in Germany. She and her husband ran a clinic in

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

, China, from 1912 to 1932.

Early life and education

Urata was born in Ushibuka (now part of

Amakusa , which means "Heaven's Grass," is a series of islands off the west coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. Geography The largest island of the Amakusa group is Shimoshima, which is 26.5 miles long and 13.5 mil ...

city), the daughter of writer and businessman Urata Genshō. She trained as a pharmacist in

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

, then earned a medical license in Tokyo in 1899; she studied infectious diseases at Kitasato Shibasaburo's Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases. In 1903, she left Japan for Germany, to pursue further studies in ophthalmology, one of the first group of Japanese women to seek advanced degrees abroad. Urata earned a doctorate at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

in 1905, with a dissertation on the prevention of neonatal gonococcal conjunctivitis. Her dissertation research was published as "Experimentelle Untersuchungen über den Wert des sogenannten Credéschen Tropfens" in '' Ophthalmologica''. "Urata was not only the first female Japanese," noted Helmut Sies in 2016, "but also the first female ever who obtained the title of medical doctor at Marburg University." The milestone was reported internationally, in both professional journals and daily newspapers.

Career

Urata returned to Japan in 1906 and opened a practice in ophthalmology in Tokyo. Later, with her husband, she ran a clinic in Tianjin, China, from 1912 to 1932. She was an officer of the Japanese Women's Medical Association, and held the honorary title Professor of Medicine from the Japanese government.

Personal life and legacy

Urata was briefly married as a young woman, but left the marriage to continue her education. She married a fellow doctor, Nakamura Tsunesaburō, in 1911. She was a widow when she died in 1936, in Tokyo. In 1992 she was named a "Person of Cultural Merit" for Kumamoto Prefecture. There is a monument to Urata in her hometown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urata, Tadako 1873 births 1936 deaths Japanese women physicians University of Marburg alumni People from Kumamoto Japanese ophthalmologists