The process of Japan’s first modern educational program for women began along with the waves of Japan’s modernization, starting from the mid-19th century. Yet, the sphere of reform remained primarily a male agenda and women were not expected to participate in the process. The goal of education for women is best exemplified in the dictum, ‘Ryosai Kenbo’ (Good Wife, Wise Mother). This clearly illustrates how much this reform was based on a traditional viewpoint commonly shared among men in those days.

Umeko Tsuda, one of the first Japanese women to establish a college for women at the time, stood her own ground and challenged the “ideal” which the then Japanese state both openly and covertly imposed.

This time, the Japan Foundation, New Delhi will invite a young researcher of Japan’s women’s education to deliver a talk on the above-mentioned topic. She will also allude to Tsuda’s Indian contemporary Pandita Ramabai, who was addressing a similar concern at around the same time in colonial India. We hope this will not only provide a chance to learn about the history of women’s education in Japan, but also raise the lively discussion on women’s education in India today.

Speaker      :  Dr. Asmita S. Hulyalkar

PhD (Cornell University, USA, 2007)

Chaired by   : Dr. Rashmi Bhatnagar

Visiting Scholar, University of Pittsburgh, USA