Yukichi Fukuzawa and Umeko Tsuda: With Gratitude for Workplace Vaccinations

2023/03/15

I am Yuko Takahashi, and I have just been introduced. Happy New Year to everyone.

Thank you very much for inviting me to the 188th anniversary celebration of Yukichi Fukuzawa's birth. I am neither a graduate nor a faculty member of Keio University, nor am I a researcher of Yukichi Fukuzawa. I am deeply grateful and honored to have been given such a precious opportunity.

On this commemorative day, there is something I would like to speak about and have recorded, partly as a report to Yukichi Fukuzawa. I would like to begin today's talk with words of gratitude for the workplace vaccinations during the spread of COVID-19.

Do you all remember the new four-character compound word "workplace vaccination" (shokui-ki sesshu)? As you know, the spread of COVID-19 that began in Japan around February 2020 had a major impact on university education. My own second term as president began exactly on April 1, 2020, and together with three vice presidents—including two new ones—and a new secretary-general, the President's Office was forced to respond to situations we had never experienced before.

Entering 2021, Japan's delay in vaccine rollout was pointed out from various quarters, and travel between Japan and the United States and European countries came to an almost complete halt, an unprecedented state of affairs.

Universities were no longer in a position to think about sending or receiving international students. First and foremost, we had to prioritize protecting the health of students and faculty, and concentrate on conducting classes using online platforms so that students could somehow graduate safely in four years. I believe most universities across the country were forced to take similar measures.

From around the spring of 2021, vaccinations began for the elderly, people with underlying medical conditions, and healthcare workers. It was supposed to start with the elderly, but at first, it was difficult even to make a reservation, and it made the news that people couldn't connect to the phone lines or the reservation websites.

Under such circumstances, students at Tsuda University who wished to study abroad at partner universities appealed directly to me as president many times, saying they absolutely wanted to pursue long-term study abroad, which can only be done during this period of their lives as university students. At that time, mainly at U.S. universities, vaccination was mandatory for accepting international students. However, even when notices arrived from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to support vaccinations for students studying abroad, the elderly were prioritized, so students were in a state of not knowing where they could go to get vaccinated.

Just around that time, I believe it was around June 2021, information came in that universities and companies would be able to implement workplace vaccinations. Tsuda University immediately began considering workplace vaccinations, and once we decided to go ahead even if it incurred significant costs, we launched a project team led by the secretary-general. We also began consulting with hospitals where partnerships were possible and considering how to gather healthcare workers.

However, unlike Keio University, our university does not have faculties for medical sciences, pharmacy, or nursing; we are a university with about 3,200 students and about 530 faculty and staff across all departments. There were various disadvantages for such a small-scale university to proceed with workplace vaccinations, and implementation was extremely difficult. Furthermore, it was unclear what would happen regarding the acquisition of vaccines for such a small university. It was during such a pressing time that I heard a suggestion: "Why not try asking Keio University?"

I learned today that President Itoh had actually been in office for less than a month, having assumed the presidency on May 28, 2021, but as president, I very frankly and directly asked President Itoh, "Could you please include Tsuda University students in Keio University's workplace vaccinations?" President Itoh immediately gave his gracious consent.

I learned from Dr. Take-mitsu Kitagawa's "Report on the Completion of University-wide Workplace Vaccinations" (Mita-hyoron, November 2021 issue) that President Itoh had a "strong desire to 'reclaim the campus life of Keio students that was taken away by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to restore the future of students at large, not just Keio students.'" Students scheduled to study abroad at overseas partner universities were vaccinated at Keio University ahead of others, and thanks to this, 12 out of 20 exchange students were able to receive vaccinations at Keio University at an extremely early stage. They were then able to travel in time for the start of the new academic year's classes in the U.S. and Europe.

Furthermore, all students and faculty were made eligible for vaccination at Keio University. Including the 12 students wishing to study abroad who were vaccinated earlier, a total of 2,192 people (12 students wishing to study abroad, 1,892 current students, and 288 faculty and staff) were able to receive vaccinations.

I have heard that the new executive team at Keio University at the time, through Keio Gijuku Shachu cooperation, called upon alumni healthcare workers and former faculty and staff to gather many collaborators, and that the administrative staff provided immense support for these workplace vaccinations. I am deeply impressed and admire how, under extremely difficult circumstances and through such efforts, you realized workplace vaccinations that included students and faculty from outside Keio University from an early stage. The tense situation of that time may one day be forgotten, but by speaking here today, I hope to pass this story on to the future graduates of Keio University.

At that time, the Tsuda University students who were able to study abroad told me after returning, "I'm so glad I was able to study abroad." The students who chose to study abroad during that period were fully aware that there were risks in staying long-term in the U.S. or Europe. Nevertheless, they chose to get vaccinated and travel. While the choice belonged to the students themselves, I personally had a strong desire to provide them with the option to travel and study abroad.

Once again, I would like to express my deep gratitude to President Itoh, the faculty and staff of Keio University, and everyone in the Keio Gijuku Shachu who cooperated.

Now, the past year, 2022, marked 150 years since the publication of the first volume of the classic Gakumon no susume (An Encouragement of Learning), which begins with the famous words, "It is said that heaven does not create one man above or below another man. Any existing distinction between the wise and the stupid, between the rich and the poor, comes down to a matter of education," and is also referred to as "Japan's Declaration of Independence." Similarly, it was also exactly 150 years since the first female students funded by the government—Japanese government-sponsored international students—arrived in the United States from Japan.

To begin with, the fact that Umeko Tsuda, at only six years old, came to study in America was deeply related to the fact that her father, Sen Tsuda, had experienced traveling to America. In 1867, Yukichi Fukuzawa's third overseas trip was his second visit to the United States, and Sen was actually on the same ship. Sen served as an interpreter and was an aide to Tomogoro Ono. Since Yukichi Fukuzawa also accompanied the mission in charge of translation, there was a point of contact between Yukichi Fukuzawa and Sen Tsuda during this mission to the United States.

As you all know well, I have heard that Yukichi Fukuzawa purchased a vast number of books for classes at Keio University during this visit to the U.S. Also, although this was his third overseas trip, Masanao Kano points out in "Yukichi Fukuzawa" that one of his true purposes was to "see modern society once again."

On the other hand, for Sen Tsuda, this was his first experience in America. He spent about half a year in America and returned home deeply influenced. At that time, Sen stated, "I realized that there is no distinction between the four classes of people, and that farmers in particular are wealthy, and that agriculture is an enterprise that should bring happiness to the nation; thus, I shall plan to raise the status of our country's farmers and develop agriculture" (Soji Takasaki, "Biography of Sen Tsuda"). In other words, in Sen's case, it can be said that he returned with a new understanding of agriculture.

Because of this, when the Hokkaido Development Commission recruited female students to study abroad a few years later in 1871, her father, Sen Tsuda, was proactive about his daughter studying in the U.S. Since the eldest daughter, Kotoko, flatly refused, saying she absolutely did not want to go, Sen said to the second daughter, Umeko, "Well then, Umeko, won't you go?" During her time studying in America, Umeko wrote in an essay, "I came to America because I wanted to go to America." On the other hand, Umeko's study in the U.S. was also the strong wish of her father, Sen, who, just like Yukichi Fukuzawa, had struggled to master foreign languages in Japan.

Umeko spent about 11 years in her first period of study in the U.S. until 1882. Then, in 1889, she studied in America again, spending three years at Bryn Mawr College. Furthermore, she traveled to the U.S. and Europe for about a year from 1898 to 1899 before the founding of the school for English studies (later Tsuda University) in 1900, for about another year in 1907 for medical treatment and observation, and for about half a year in 1913 to attend a conference, experiencing five overseas trips in her lifetime.

Yukichi Fukuzawa also traveled abroad in his 20s and early 30s—for about half a year with the 1860 mission to the U.S., about a year with the 1862 mission to Europe, and about half a year with the 1867 mission to the U.S.—and was greatly influenced by these experiences.

The story of Yukichi Fukuzawa being astonished that in America it was not the subordination of women to men but rather the subordination of men to women is famous, but this referred to superficial things like women walking in front of men; American women at the time did not yet have the right to vote. However, it is a fact that they had already vigorously begun the movement seeking suffrage. According to Masanao Kano, because Yukichi Fukuzawa "felt doubt about the order of feudal society and had tried to escape from it, he was able to awaken to modern civilization when he came into contact with it." Since he had been "plotting an escape from the feudal order," he was "given a direction toward civilization here" (Masanao Kano, "Yukichi Fukuzawa").

I believe the most prominent commonality between Yukichi Fukuzawa and Umeko was their attitude of learning positive aspects from Western thought, culture, and civilization and attempting to introduce them to Japan. However, a major difference was that in Umeko's case, she came into contact with American society from an extremely young age. She turned seven on the ship, so she was seven when she arrived. Because she was raised by an American couple, while she maintained a strong identity as a Japanese government-sponsored student, she also experienced being Americanized in her entire being through culture, including values, religion, and customs.

Regarding language, she returned home having almost forgotten her mother tongue, Japanese. When she returned at age 17, Umeko experienced tremendous culture shock. However, Umeko overcame these difficulties one by one and moved forward step by step, thinking about what she herself should do for Japanese society.

Three years after returning, it was finally decided that she would work in what we would now call regular employment as a full-time teacher at the then-government-run Peeresses' School, the predecessor of today's private Gakushuin Women's College and Girls' Junior and Senior High School. However, in her mid-20s, Umeko wished to become a "first-class teacher" and began to long for another period of study abroad. Mary Morris, a philanthropic American woman she had met during her first stay, negotiated with the president of Bryn Mawr College, and Umeko was able to realize her second study trip to America on the condition of a tuition and housing waiver.

At that time, Umeko majored in biology, a STEM field that was by no means encouraged for women in Japan. Of course, she also studied the teaching methods she had written about in her application. In Yukichi Fukuzawa's case, physics (kyūrigaku) was extremely important, but in Umeko's case, it was biology; I think it is an interesting commonality that the same STEM fields served as the axis of their scholarship. Umeko had the opportunity to conduct research on frog eggs under Dr. T.H. Morgan, who was an up-and-coming researcher at the time and would later win the Nobel Prize.

After experiencing two years of fulfilling life as an international student, Umeko requested a one-year extension. The main purpose was to create a scholarship system for studying abroad. This was because she wanted to share the precious opportunity for higher education she had gained with her fellow Japanese women.

She realized that if she could raise 8,000 dollars, the interest could send one student to Bryn Mawr College every four years. Mrs. Morris, who had helped Umeko with her studies, and her mentor, Dean M. Carey Thomas, kindly supported what we would now call fundraising. In one year, they raised the initial target of 8,000 dollars and succeeded in establishing a scholarship system called the Japanese Women's American Scholarship.

Looking at the list of students who received this scholarship, one can see a line of women who later demonstrated remarkable leadership.

The first student was Michi Matsuda. She graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1899 and later became the principal of Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts. The second was Michi Kawai, who graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1904. She founded Keisen Jogakuen and became the first Japanese National General Secretary of the YWCA.

The fourth student, Ai Hoshino, graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1912 and, after returning to Japan, became a teacher at her alma mater, the school for English studies. From 1925, she served as acting president and supported the reconstruction of the school after the Great Kanto Earthquake. In 1929, when Umeko passed away, she assumed the presidency. During the Pacific War, when English became the language of the enemy, the number of applicants to study English studies plummeted, and Tsuda was in a critical financial situation. Ai Hoshino supported the school through this financial crisis and served as the president of Tsuda University when it became a university under the new system after the war, until 1952.

Taki Fujita, who served as president from 1962 to 1973, was the seventh recipient of this scholarship. She graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1925 and was active as the second Director of the Women's and Minors' Bureau of the Ministry of Labor and as a representative of the Japanese government to the United Nations.

Michi Kawai and Ai Hoshino also became members of the Education Reform Committee, which was created during the occupation under the auspices of GHQ. Among the 38 members, these two were the only women. This means that they overcame the era when Japan-U.S. relations deteriorated, and more than half a century after the scholarship was founded, it was possible to nurture women who could negotiate on equal terms with Americans.

The Japanese Women's American Scholarship continued until 1976 and sent out 25 scholarship recipients. Facing unprecedented crises such as the Great Kanto Earthquake and the Pacific War, many female leaders who maintained and developed what was a very small private school compared to Keio University were able to obtain precious opportunities for higher education through the scholarship system resulting from the fundraising Umeko Tsuda conducted for one year starting in 1891.

The reason Umeko was able to leave the government-run Peeresses' School in 1900 and take the step of founding a private school called the school for English studies was actually because she had the successful experience in America of being able to establish this scholarship system. The same members formed the donor base and supported Umeko's project to found the private school. Umeko had begun human resource development through a study abroad system about 10 years before creating the school.

Precisely because the doors of universities were closed to women in Japan, Umeko Tsuda created a global mechanism to gain support from American women and obtain opportunities for university education in America. Umeko wanted to ensure that the precious opportunity she had gained did not end as a single point, but became a long-lasting line.

Yukichi Fukuzawa founded the school that would become the source of Keio University in 1858. Umeko founded the school for English studies in 1900, 42 years later. Both began as private schools, and even now in the 21st century, they are the only two higher education institutions that carve the characters for Juku or Gijuku into their university names.

Let's check some of the keywords of the founding spirit from the official Keio University website. Regarding the word Gijuku, the official website explains that Yukichi Fukuzawa "referred to the English 'public school' and imbued this word with the meaning of a school for new knowledge."

Also, the basic spirit of Keio University, independence and self-respect, is defined as: "One who preserves the independence of mind and body, respects oneself, and does not disgrace the dignity of a human being is called a person of independence and self-respect" (Shūshin Yōryō: Fukuzawa's Moral Code). It is said to mean "protecting the dignity of oneself and others, and doing everything under one's own judgment and responsibility." Furthermore, the educational goal of being a "source of honorable character" is also upheld. This is explained as Yukichi Fukuzawa emphasizing "character" along with "wisdom and virtue" in the process of acquiring knowledge, and "becoming a leader of society equipped with personality."

An important point in Umeko Tsuda's educational philosophy is the teaching that women should also be self-reliant, independent, and "all-round women." For women, for whom the doors to both old-system high schools and universities were not open at the time, Umeko provided advanced specialized education along with liberal arts education. By enabling women to also obtain teaching qualifications for girls' high schools, she allowed them to achieve economic independence, as well as intellectual and spiritual independence, so they could lead lives of dignity.

Now, there were many major turning points in Umeko's life, but at every fork in the road, there was the experience of "crossing the sea," which was extremely rare and significant for that time. For Yukichi Fukuzawa as well, wasn't there the experience of "crossing the sea" at the major turning points of his life?

Actually, Umeko's voice is recorded on a record. I heard from someone at the Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies earlier that Yukichi Fukuzawa's voice was unfortunately not recorded, but since Umeko was younger, a recorded record remains.

Words given to the 18 graduates of the school for English studies in 1913 are recorded on a record. That speech, too, actually compared graduation from school to the launching of a ship. The reason Umeko, who had given many speeches, chose to record this one is probably because this address not only expresses her expectations and hopes for the graduates but also expresses Umeko's own way of life.

In an era when the scope of women's activities permitted in society was extremely limited, she spoke of steering the ship by relying on the "lighthouse lights" of "Truth," "Love," and "Devotion." Then, pointing out that the sphere of women's love and devotion was limited to the domain of the home, she urged the students to contribute to many more people in society. I think this point is very worthy of attention. And, albeit gently, she expresses a sense of expectation for women to play new roles that influence society beyond the sphere of the home.

At that time, the role of women within the home was spoken of as if it were an instinct, but she sounded an alarm about how that tended to fall into something narrow. At this point, Umeko already envisioned a broad scope for wide, deep, and steady social participation and social contribution by women, calling out to and expecting this from the students. I also want to note the point where she suggests the spirit of women facing difficulties and problems as individuals.

Umeko says: "In each of your future lives, I believe you will encounter your own difficulties and problems that you must face alone." These words are imbued with Umeko's own realization of having carved out her own path and brought the dream of opening a private school within reach, even while being overwhelmed by loneliness and conflict after returning from about 11 years of study in the U.S. Furthermore, based on the idea of noblesse oblige, which values the dignity of those who have gained much having to give back to society, and a philosophy that could be called the Christian spirit, Umeko says: "Do not let your life be in vain; become a person of use who can work widely for society." In other words, she was passionately appealing to the graduating students to participate in and contribute to society.

In the voice of the address preserved as sound, Umeko's ideal was told: "Women should also be independent individuals who play responsible roles as citizens," even though it was an era when women did not have the right to vote. She asserted that each person should take responsibility for steering the ship as it moves through the world and find a useful course. I believe this way of thinking is an educational philosophy and founding spirit that resonates with Yukichi Fukuzawa's "independence and self-respect" and "source of honorable character."

Turning back, how is modern Japan? Even in the 21st century, it must be said that Japan is lagging behind in the world, especially from the perspective of the gender gap. Even comparing within Asia alone, the current situation is that Japan is a follower, not a leader. Why is it so difficult for Japanese women to participate in the decision-making layers of Japan's political and economic activities, and in higher education institutions such as universities, and why is their proportion so remarkably low?

In private universities, what is the proportion of women among presidents, vice presidents, deans, graduate school deans, directors of Research Centers and Institutes, center directors, secretaries-general, department heads, and section chiefs? Furthermore, in corporate organizations, what is the proportion among chairpersons, directors, trustees, and auditors? If Yukichi Fukuzawa or Umeko Tsuda were alive today, what would they say about this situation, which is by no means favorable? And what measures or reforms would they appeal for as being necessary?

For the realization of gender equality and a fair society, I believe the advice that Yukichi Fukuzawa and Umeko would likely give in common is to "cross the sea." I think they would say that in order to break through this state of stagnation in Japan, one should cross the sea at a young age and experience the wide world. Wasn't the experience of "crossing the sea" the common intellectual foundation for these two as pioneers?

Both Yukichi Fukuzawa and Umeko broke through the bedrock of Japan by absorbing and acquiring different languages, cultures, thoughts, and civilizations in different worlds, and they worked hard and contributed as pioneers in their respective fields. That is why, if they saw Japan today, Yukichi Fukuzawa would surely call out to the younger generation to first "cross the sea" toward the wide world while they are young. I believe he would advise them that while "crossing the sea" may involve difficulties and risks, new horizons and landscapes will surely be visible, so they should go and experience it.

In that sense, regarding the workplace vaccinations I introduced at the beginning, I conclude my talk by once again expressing my deep and heartfelt gratitude for the goodwill of everyone in the Keio Gijuku Shachu, who provided vaccinations extremely early to the students of Tsuda University who were longing to "cross the sea" despite the difficult circumstances, and who led the way for their overseas travel. Thank you for your kind attention.

(This article is based on a commemorative lecture given at the 188th anniversary celebration of Yukichi Fukuzawa's birth, held at the West School Building Hall on the Mita Campus on January 10, 2023.)