Private Academies of Chinese Learning in Meiji Japan: The Decline ...

88 CASE STUDIESMasako wrote several essays on women’s education andparticipated in women’s organizations: the Japan Women’sEducational Society and the Women’s Patriotic Association(Aikoku Fujinkai). She was also a member of the Japanese Societyfor the Expansion of the Way (Nippon kōdōkai), founded byNishimura Shigeki. Most of Masako’s essays on women’seducation appeared after the closure of Suishō gakusha andbefore she opened Miwada Girls’ School. At that time severalworks on women’s education were published, but most of themwere written by men. Masako’s writings were informed by bothher book learning and her personal experience as a woman, awife, a mother and a teacher of boys and girls. 47In 1902 Masako founded a new school, Miwada Girls’ School,which became Miwada Girls’ High School the following year.She was supported by Yamashita Tomigorō (1870–1965), whohad been her student in Matsuyama and whom she had adoptedin 1893, three years after the death of her son. In 1894 Yamashitachanged his name to Miwada Motomichi. He had intended topursue a career in law and studied at Igirisu Hōgakkō, thepredecessor of Chūō University, but changed his career andgraduated from Tokyo Imperial University in 1901. AfterMasako’s death he took over the school. 48By the time Masako founded her own school, girls’ educationhad grown in importance. 49 School attendance, which laggedbehind that of boys, at last rose to over 50 per cent and in 1902reached 87 per cent. The number of girls’ schools rose from 15nationwide in 1895 to 80 in 1902. Most of them were public schools,but in 1901 Tsuda Ume and Naruse Jinzō had established privatehigh schools for girls. With the increasing provision of girls camemore controls and restrictions for private schools. However,many of them did not attempt to gain official recognition,because for girls gaining formal qualifications was still not seenas a priority. Masako, however, aimed for governmentrecognition from the start. She established it as a girls’ school, butorganized it to conform with the revised Girls’ High SchoolOrdinance of 1899 and applied for high school status in 1903.Masako did not expect public support for her school, butfinanced it out of her own savings, the proceeds from the sale ofher house and gifts from parents of girls she had taught.Nevertheless, Masako had at least ideological support fromleading members of society. Guests at the opening ceremonyincluded the governor of Tokyo as well as Ōkuma Shigenobu,