Tano Jōdai (July 3, 1886 – April 8, 1982) was a professor of

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

peace activist A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world p ...

, and the sixth president of the

Japan Women's University is the oldest and largest of private Japanese women's universities. The university was established on 20 April 1901 by education reformist . The university has around 6000 students and 200 faculty. It has two campuses, named after the neighbo ...

Career

Jōdai was born on July 3, 1886. Her father was the head of Harue village in

Shimane Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a ge ...

, Japan. After graduating from the Shimane Prefectural Matsue Kita High School, she returned to her village and taught at the local school for a while, but then continued her studies at the

. She graduated with a degree in

. Jōdai wanted to continue her studies at the

Tokyo Imperial University The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public university, public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several Edo peri ...

, but they did not accept female students at that time. Instead, a professor there named

Nitobe Inazo Nitobe is the surname of a Japanese Samurai family and refers to: * Nitobe Inazō ** '' Nitobe Bunka College'', named after Inazō ** ''Nitobe Memorial Garden'', named after Inazō * Nitobe Jūjirō * Nitobe Koretami * Nitobe Tsutō See also: ...

got her a place at the

Wells College Wells College was a private liberal arts college in Aurora, New York, a village in the Finger Lakes region of the state. From its founding in 1868 until it became coeducational in 2005, Wells was a women's college. The college maintained acad ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, after she wrote to him about her desire to study abroad.上代タノの米英留学 : 大正期における女子高等教育と海外留学の意義
島田法子、日本女子大学紀要. 文学部 56, 86-71, 2007-03-20 When Jōdai returned to Japan in 1917, she became a professor at the

, and was the first person to teach courses on

American literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the British colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also ...

and

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

in Japan. Nitobe's influence led her to found the Japanese Women's Peace Association. This later became the Japanese chapter of the

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make kno ...

. At Nitobe's recommendation, in 1924 Jōdai studied at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

and

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

, then stayed at his home in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

until 1927. After World War II, Jōdai resumed teaching at the Japan Women's University. In 1955 she was one of the founding members of the Committee of Seven to Appeal for World Peace. From 1956 until March 1965, Jōdai served as the president of the Japan Women's University. During her tenure as president she made all of the library's collection open stacks and started a

friends of the library ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lis ...

group. She was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a world constitution. As a result, for the first time in human history, a

World Constituent Assembly The World Constitutional Convention (WCC), also known as the World Constituent Assembly (WCA) or the First World Constituent Assembly, took place in Interlaken, Switzerland and Wolfach, Germany, 1968. The convention aimed to foster global coopera ...

convened to draft and adopt the Constitution for the Federation of Earth. Jōdai died on April 8, 1982.

Selected bibliography

* *

Edited

* *

References

External links

Committee of Seven to Appeal for World Peace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jōdai, Tano 1982 deaths 1886 births People from Shimane Prefecture Japanese activists Pages with unreviewed translations Presidents of universities and colleges in Japan Japan Women's University alumni Academic staff of Japan Women's University World Constitutional Convention call signatories Activists from Shimane Prefecture

Career

See also

Selected bibliography

Edited

Further reading

References

External links