Umeko Tsuda
Accomplishments
Umeko Tsuda had left many accomplishments in various fields through her life.
Umeko was influential to a variety of demographic; first, she received an attention as an Asian female student at educational institutions in the US, especially when she gave speeches about the deplorable situation of education for women in Japan. Moreover, teaching progressive and liberal contents to females in Japan significantly contributed to the reformation of traditional concept that existed in Japan, that is to say, a patriarchal norm. Erection of Tsuda University was the most prominent achievement that Umeko established, since it produced numbers of alumnae who became famous and successful in diverse fields (Ai KUME as a first female lawyer in Japan, Mayumi MORIYAMA as a Female Chief Cabinet Secretary, Ryoko AKAMATSU as a Former Education Minister, etc).8
She is also recently known as a female figure to be featured on new Japanese banknotes since 2024, as the public raises their voice for gender equality both in societal and political dimensions these days.9 However, it is worth considering that Umeko did not support feminist movements at that time, because she believed that women need to nurture themselves first before they ask for their rights since women will stay disregarded by men if they do not have intelligence, confidence and power in themselves. 10
8 Yu, A. C. (n.d.). Tsuda Umeko - Japanese wiki corpus. Tsuda Umeko - Japanese Wiki Corpus. Retrieved from: https://www.japanese-wiki-corpus.org/person/Umeko%20TSUDA.html
9 New Japanese banknotes to feature international-minded thinkers from the Meiji Era. nippon.com. (2020, May 30). Retrieved from: https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00440/new-japanese-banknotes-to-feature-international-minded-thinkers-from-the-meiji-era.html
10 Linda L. Johnson. (2013). Meiji Women's Educators as Public Intellectuals: Shimoda Utako and Tsuda Umeko. University of Hawai’I Press., p.g. 67-92