(1844 – November 14, 1909) was a Japanese

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

of the early

Meiji era The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization b ...

. Born in

Aizu is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The princip ...

, she was the sister of the ''

karō were top-ranking samurai officials and advisors in service to the ''daimyōs'' of feudal Japan. Overview In the Edo period, the policy of ''sankin-kōtai'' (alternate attendance) required each ''daimyō'' to place a ''karō'' in Edo and anoth ...

'',

Yamakawa Hiroshi Baron was a Bakumatsu period Aizu ''samurai'' who subsequently became a general in the early Meiji period Imperial Japanese Army, and a noted politician and educator. He was also one of the first persons (together with his brother Yamakawa Kenjir ...

; her other siblings included physicist

Yamakawa Kenjirō was a Japanese samurai, politician, physicist, academic administrator, and author of several histories of the Boshin War. He served as president of Tokyo Imperial University, Kyushu Imperial University, and Kyoto Imperial University. He also s ...

and Meiji-era social figure

Ōyama Sutematsu Princess , born , was a prominent figure in the Meiji era, and the first Japanese woman to receive a college degree. She was born into a traditional samurai household which supported the Tokugawa shogunate during the Boshin War. As a child, she ...

. Futaba took part in the defense of

Tsuruga Castle , also known as Tsuruga Castle (鶴ヶ城 ''Tsuru-ga-jō'') is a concrete replica of a traditional Japanese castle in northern Japan, at the center of the city of Aizuwakamatsu, in Fukushima Prefecture. Background Aizu Wakamatsu Castle is locate ...

in the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

(1868-9). She was also briefly married to

Kajiwara Heima was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period who was a retainer of the Aizu domain. Life Kajiwara served as a ''karō'' (house elder) in the Aizu administration, and supervised political affairs during the Boshin War, also attending to matters ...

, another Aizu ''

''. In the

, Futaba worked at the

the forerunner of

Ochanomizu University 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. Hi ...

, during the tenure of fellow Aizu native

Takamine Hideo was an administrator and educator in Meiji period Japan. Early life Takamine was born to a ''samurai'' family in Aizuwakamatsu domain (present day Fukushima Prefecture) in 1854. After completing his studies in the feudal domain's school, ''Ni ...

as principal. For her work in education, she was awarded with junior 5th court rank (従五位, ju go i).

References

山川二葉 , 近代日本人の肖像

National Diet Library The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to ...

, Japan *Yamakawa Kenjiro (1931). ''Aizu Boshin senshi''. 1844 births 1909 deaths Japanese educators Japanese women in warfare People from Aizu Women in 19th-century warfare Academic staff of Ochanomizu University Japanese women educators 19th-century Japanese women {{japan-mil-bio-stub