Yukiko Maki (1902 – October 18, 1989), born Yukiko Domoto, was a Japanese educator. In 1976 she was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Fourth Class, for her work in international exchange.

Early life

Yukiko Domoto was from

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, the daughter of Takanoshin Domoto and Matsue (Uno) Domoto. Her uncles ran the Domoto Brothers Nursery in Oakland. She spent some of her childhood in Japan, attended a preparatory school in New Jersey, and graduated from Wellesley College in 1924. While a student, she participated in dance shows in Massachusetts and with the Japanese

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

in Oakland; she designed costumes and directed some productions.

Career

Maki, widowed in 1941, taught English at

Tsuda College is a private women's university based at Kodaira, Tokyo. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious higher educational institutions for women in Japan, contributing to the advancement of women in society for more than a century. History The u ...

from the 1940s until her retirement in 1972. In the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, she used her language skills to start the Japan-America Women's Club, for English-speaking Japanese women to meet with the wives of American occupation officials. She co-founded the American College Women’s Association of Japan, which created scholarships for Japanese women to study in the United States. She was a program officer for the

Fulbright Commission The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

. She accompanied Japanese women on exchange programs to the United States, as vice-president of the Japan International Living Experience Association. In 1979, she became the first Japanese woman to receive the Wellesley Alumnae Achievement Award. In 1976 she was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Fourth Class, for her work in international exchange. In 1989, she spoke on "Education for Women in Japan" to a Wellesley College tour group in Japan.

Personal life

Yuki Domoto married diplomat Kaoru Maki in 1927 and lived in Washington, D.C. while he was based there; he died from tuberculosis in 1941. They had a son, Takashi. She married again, to Goichi Takeuchi, before 1958. She died in 1989, aged 87 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maki, Yukiko 1902 births 1989 deaths People from Oakland, California Wellesley College alumni Japanese educators