Alice Eleanor Hoar

2017/10/10

Photo: Hoar (center) and Fukuzawa's niece, Sumi (right)

Alice Eleanor Hoar (1845–1922) is said to have been the only female missionary in the Tokyo churches of the SPG (Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts) for a long period. Born in the UK, she came to Japan in 1875 (Meiji 8) and was allowed to live on the second floor of Yukichi Fukuzawa's home in Mita. With Fukuzawa's support and understanding, Hoar opened a Juku for girls on this second floor, providing Christian education to over ten girls, including five who lived in with her.

Fukuzawa is generally thought of as an atheist, based on his childhood actions described in "The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi," such as looking at the Inari deity or replacing the stones inside. Furthermore, in the early Meiji period, he was sometimes regarded as an opponent of Christianity. This is because, in the early Meiji era, Fukuzawa believed that the spread of Christianity would jeopardize Japan's independence and, wary of the religion, wrote texts attacking missionaries. However, research by Takako Shirai, a visiting researcher at the Keio University Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies, has revealed that Fukuzawa actually had relationships with at least 19 missionaries from various Christian denominations and maintained close interactions, particularly with Anglican missionaries, until his final years. Hoar was one of these 19 missionaries associated with Fukuzawa.

Since 1990, Takako Shirai has investigated the overseas mission documents of the Anglican missionary organization SPG at the University of Oxford's library in the UK, discovering numerous report letters sent by missionaries who had contact with Yukichi Fukuzawa. The results of this painstaking research are compiled in "Fukuzawa Yukichi and the Missionaries" (Miraisya), and the descriptions regarding Hoar in this article are primarily based on this book.

As no documents detailing Hoar's background remain, her upbringing and educational history are unknown, but she was born in England and was the first missionary sent to Japan by the Ladies' Association, a female missionary organization.

In Japan at that time, distinctions based on gender were seen in various situations from childhood, which differed greatly from the West. Therefore, in an era where it is thought to have been difficult for male missionaries to directly preach Christianity to women, Hoar's significance must have been considerably large.

Records show that Hoar not only opened a Juku for girls and Bible classes for adult women in Tokyo, but also took in and raised children from the Ogasawara Islands, provided soup for poor women, and read the Bible with women living in rural villages, interacting with many Japanese women to spread Christianity. Additionally, it was Hoar who established the St. Hilda’s Home for the Aged, said to be the oldest nursing home in Japan. The first site of her 21 years of activity in Japan, until she returned to the UK due to illness in Meiji 30, was the Fukuzawa residence in Mita.

When Hoar arrived in Japan in November of Meiji 8, she searched for a house where she could open what was essentially a boarding school to teach Christianity while living with Japanese girls, but she found it difficult and was at a loss. Learning of this, Alexander C. Shaw (1846–1902), an Anglican SPG missionary, spoke with Fukuzawa, and through Shaw's introduction, the second floor of Fukuzawa's home was provided to her.

Hoar reported to the UK: "Of course he (Fukuzawa) understands well that the purpose of my work is to teach Christianity to the girls. He is not a Christian himself, but it is certain that he is favorable toward Christianity."

Regarding this matter, the people of the Ladies' Association were initially unconvinced, fearing that restrictions might arise regarding Christian education. Ultimately, the issue was resolved by the following report written by the aunt of SPG missionary Foss, who stayed on the second floor of the Fukuzawa house with Hoar for a while to observe.

"Miss Hoar has a great influence on the hearts of the girls who are her students. She is in a very advantageous position with the protection and support of Mr. Fukuzawa. Mr. Fukuzawa does not interfere with her at all. I strongly advised her to continue her work at Mr. Fukuzawa's place as long as possible."

Let us briefly introduce Alexander C. Shaw here. He is famous as the founder of St. Andrew's Church in Iikura and as the person responsible for the birth of the summer resort Karuizawa. He was a close friend of Fukuzawa for 27 years, from their meeting in Meiji 7 until Fukuzawa's death. When they met in 1874 (Meiji 7) while Shaw was staying at Daimatsu-ji Temple in Mita, Fukuzawa built a new Western-style building next to his home for Shaw. Records also remain that a bridge was built between the houses so the two families could go back and forth. Shaw lived there for about three years and served as a tutor teaching English books to Fukuzawa's children, Ichitaro, Sutejiro, and Sato, a relationship that developed into one involving the whole family.

Fukuzawa, having been consulted by Shaw, provided various forms of assistance to Hoar, such as gathering girls to be students and lending furniture. He also filed a report with the Tokyo Prefectural Government to hire Hoar as an English teacher so that she could live outside the foreign settlement.

Hoar was the first Western woman Fukuzawa interacted with in his most immediate environment. What kind of household did Hoar see at the Fukuzawa home?

Hoar's letters record that there were two rooms on the second floor of the Fukuzawa house; she used the larger room as a classroom and the smaller room as her bedroom. In this classroom, Hoar taught the girls English, sewing, knitting, and hymns.

She also wrote in her letters about the time she spent with Fukuzawa's daughters and niece.

"This morning, I had a pleasant walk to his country house with the students and Mr. Fukuzawa's little daughter. We sat under a tree and had lunch, and afterward, we sang several hymns. I think everyone had a very enjoyable time. The girls are all very well-behaved."

Fukuzawa's work "Fukuzawa Yukichi Shijo no Den" (An Account of Yukichi Fukuzawa's Children) records the growth of his children, but Hoar's name is not mentioned in it. Since it is recorded that they were learning English books from Shaw, perhaps they did not specifically learn from Hoar. Incidentally, the section on the eldest daughter, Sato, mentions that a piano was bought around the same time and she was practicing little by little with Mrs. Shaw. In such a context, even if Hoar did not teach Fukuzawa's children directly, the scene of them having private interactions and happily singing hymns—Western songs—under a tree is quite interesting.

Furthermore, in another letter, Hoar enclosed a photograph. The photo shows two of the first students Hoar taught. One of them was Fukuzawa's niece, Sumi, and Hoar wrote: "The person on my left is, unfortunately, married. She is Mr. Fukuzawa's niece. I once wished that she could live with me."

On the other hand, in contrast to the records left by Hoar, the only records regarding Hoar left by Fukuzawa himself or those around him can be found in Mikiaki Ishikawa's "Biography of Fukuzawa Yukichi" as follows:

"Through Shaw's introduction, a female missionary named Miss Hoar (referred to as Hall) once stayed on the second floor of the Master's house for a while and served as a tutor. She was an extremely devout religious person... When Hoar was at the Master's house, whenever she prayed every morning, she would frequently use the word 'devils,' saying, 'Please forgive the sins of the devils living below.' When asked who the devils were, she said it was me and the Fukuzawa family. The Master once said he was quite surprised by this, but was nevertheless impressed by her devotion."

The period Hoar actually lived in Fukuzawa's house was about a year and a half. In May of Meiji 10, Shaw moved to a newly built house in an area near Mita. Hoar was also able to build a small house that doubled as a classroom on the grounds of Shaw's new residence with support from the SPG, and she moved there in August. However, Fukuzawa's children went to Shaw's house three times a week, and Sato was even placed in Shaw's care for a period, so interactions with Hoar likely continued.

In his later years, in "Fukuzawa Yukichi Ukiyo-dan," where he discussed women's issues, Fukuzawa compared the West and Japan, noting "merits and demerits, strengths and weaknesses," and once said, "If it becomes clear that Japan falls short of them in this regard, must we not change immediately without a moment's hesitation?" He also occasionally referred to the active and independent nature of Western women.

For Fukuzawa, who earnestly desired the liberation of women from the evils of Confucianism, these eighteen months were a perfect opportunity to observe a Western woman like Hoar, who was dedicated and possessed a sense of mission. It was also "the precursor to women's education conducted within the grounds of Keio University" (Takako Shirai).