was a Japanese educator and writer. She was the first dean of

Tokyo Woman's Christian University , often abbreviated to TWCU or , is an independent Protestantism, Protestant university in Tokyo, Japan. Founding TWCU was established by Nitobe Inazō (1862–1933), an author, diplomat and educator, who was appointed as the first president in ...

and its second president.

Biography

Yasui was born in 1870 in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. Her father was a weapons instructor to Doi Toshimoto, a ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

'' of

Koga Domain file:Koga castle kannonjikuruwa dorui.jpg, alt=, Site of Koga Castle, administrative headquarters of Koga Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It is located in Shimōsa Province, Honshū. The d ...

. She was largely raised by her devout Buddhist grandparents in

Hongō, Tokyo is a district of Tokyo located in Bunkyō, due north of the Tokyo Imperial Palace and west of Ueno. History Hongō was a ward of the former city of Tokyo until 1947, when it merged with another ward, Koishikawa, to form the modern Bunkyō. T ...

, and attended

Tokyo Women's Normal School is a women's university in the Ōtsuka neighborhood of Bunkyō-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Ochanomizu University is one of the top national universities in Japan. Ochanomizu is the name of a Tokyo neighborhood where the university was founded. Histor ...

, graduating in 1890. Upon graduating, she taught at the Women's Normal School for several years before moving to a teaching position at Iwate Prefectural Normal School. In 1897, Yasui received a scholarship from the Japanese Ministry of Education to attend

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

to study the history of education and psychology under

Elizabeth Phillips Hughes Elizabeth Phillips Hughes MBE (12 July 1851 – 19 December 1925) was a Welsh scholar, teacher, and promoter of women's education, first principal of the Cambridge Training College for Women. Early life Hughes was born in Carmarthen, Carma ...

at Hughes Hall. She returned to Japan in 1900 and soon converted to Christianity. From 1904 to 1907, she lived abroad in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

, Thailand, where she served as the acting principal of the Rajini Girls School. She traveled to Britain again in 1907 to study at the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

until 1909. She then returned to Tokyo, where she taught at the

Gakushūin The or Peers School (Gakushūin School Corporation), initially known as Gakushūjo, is a Japanese educational institution in Tokyo, originally established to educate the children of Japan's nobility. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2002)"Gakushū-i ...

(Peeresses' School) and

Tsuda Umeko was a Japanese educator and a pioneer in education for women in Meiji period Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Tsuda Umeko" in . Originally named Tsuda Ume, with ''ume'' referring to the Japanese plum, she went by the name Ume Tsuda ...

's English School from 1909 to 1910. She taught again at Tokyo Women's Normal School from 1910 to 1918. During this time, she wrote over 100 publications, some for Christian periodicals, and started a monthly periodical called ''Shinjokai'' (''New Women's World'') with Miya Ebina on women's issues. When

was founded in 1918, Yasui was appointed as the first dean. Five years later, she succeeded

Nitobe Inazō was a Japanese people, Japanese author, educator, agricultural economist, diplomat, politician, and Protestantism, Protestant Christians, Christian during the late Meiji (era), Meiji era. Early life Nitobe was born in Morioka, Iwate, Morioka, ...

to become the university's second president. She was president for 17 years until her retirement in 1940. She came out of retirement briefly in 1942 to become principal of the

Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin is a private girls academy founded on November 6, 1884, in Azabu, Minato, Tokyo by Martha J. Cartmell, a Methodist missionary from Canada.SeHistory of Tōyō Eiwa Jogakuin, page 1. Accessed June 15, 2006] Toyo Eiwa Women's University, establishe ...

, a girls' school founded by Canadian missionaries.

Legacy

Yasui was the first Japanese female college president. The feminist activist

Yamakawa Kikue was a Japanese essayist, activist, and socialist feminist who contributed to the development of feminism in modern Japan. Born into a highly-educated family of the former samurai class, Yamakawa graduated from the private women's college Josh ...

, who was taught by Yasui at Tokyo Women's Normal School, cited Yasui as an influence and praised her for her contributions to the women's movement in Japan.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yasui, Tetsu 1870 births 1945 deaths 20th-century Japanese educators Heads of schools in Japan Tokyo Woman's Christian University faculty Ochanomizu University alumni Ochanomizu University faculty Alumni of Hughes Hall, Cambridge 20th-century Japanese women writers Japanese women educators Converts to Christianity from Buddhism Japanese Christians 20th-century women educators 19th-century Japanese women Heads of schools in Thailand