Why was Umeko Tsuda chosen to be on the banknote?

Why is she on Japanese money from 2024?

A woman has been chosen for a Japanese banknote only once. Higuchi Ichiyo is on the current 5,000 yen bill.

The 2,000-yen bill issued in 2000 had a picture of Murasaki Shikibu on its back. She wrote "The Tale of Genji." It was not a portrait.

The Ministry of Finance says a banknote's image must meet three rules.

The three conditions are as follows:

The picture must be accurate. They must have dignity and be well-known to the public.

Higuchi Ichiyo was chosen for the 5,000-yen bill. "She represents a new, higher status for women in Japan. It shows progress toward gender equality."

Japan's paper money history shows that its significant banknotes changed every 20 years. They changed significantly.

The 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen, and 1,000 yen bills used today were first issued in 2004. The people and designs on them changed 20 years earlier, in 1984.

All new bills from 2024 have different portraits, from the 1,000-yen bill to the 10,000-yen bill.

Why do they change the design of banknotes? New bills are issued regularly to prevent fake money.

The new banknotes to be issued in 2024 will feature a significant push for "universal design. The denominations will be more significant to help people tell the bills apart.

The three types of bills are different colors. The new 10,000-yen note is brown. The new 5,000-yen note is purple. The new 1,000-yen note is blue.

What kind of person was Umeko Tsuda, printed on Japan's 5,000-yen bill starting in 2024?

Japan was closed to the West for about 200 years, from 1641 to 1853. In other words, only the Netherlands could trade with Japan.

Under pressure from the West, Japan opened its doors. But, it signed unequal treaties with the West. Japan adopted Western culture to avoid becoming a colony.

In 1871, Japan sent the Iwakura Mission to 12 Western nations, including the U.S. and Europe.

The group, led by Tomomi Iwakura, had 107 members. It included government leaders and students abroad. The mission aimed to foster friendship and goodwill. It also sought to end unequal treaties. It also sought to inspect the advanced countries of Europe and the U.S.

Umeko's father, Sen Tsuda, was an interpreter in the Edo period. He worked for a foreign magistrate. He had studied English and Dutch.

Upon hearing a female student would join the Iwakura mission, he applied for Umeko, who was only 6. There were five female students then.

Umeko was the youngest and knew only a few English words. Other female students were Uryu and Okawa. Okawa helped found Japan's first nursing school. Uryu studied piano. Uryu helped educate Japan on Western music. She later made history.

Umeko at the age of 7, https://miraisozo.mizuhobank.co.jp/money/80335, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Umeko_Tsuda_as_a_little_girl_1871.jpg, 

Before they left, the five female students met the Empress. They were the first women of a warrior clan to be granted an audience with her.

In November of the 4th year of Meiji (lunar calendar), they went to the U.S. to join the Iwakura delegation. They traveled with other government-sponsored students.

She left Yokohama on December 23, 1871. She arrived in San Francisco on January 15, 1872. On January 31, they took a chartered five-car train from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. via the Transcontinental Railroad.

But, the schedule was delayed due to the heaviest snowfall in 40 years. The five female students needed help buying Western clothes after arriving in the U.S., but they got some in Chicago after talking to Tomomi Iwakura.

The first Japanese study-abroad female students to the US sponsored by the Meiji Government. See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_female_study-abroad_students.jpg

Seventy days after leaving Japan, she was placed in the care of Mr. and Mrs. Lanman. They lived in Georgetown, a Washington suburb, via Chicago. Lanman, a noted painter, author, and traveler, was then serving as Secretary of the Japanese Legation.

She and Mrs. Lanman corresponded for her whole life. They had a deep bond.

She went to Mrs. Lanman's home to clean and care for her in her old age.

In an English picture diary, "A Little Girl's Stories," Umeko wrote, nine months after arriving in the U.S.: "My father first intended to send my older sister to study abroad. But she refused."" Later, when my father told me about the program, I said I wanted to go to the U.S.

The Lanmans were a cultured, well-off family. They treated Umeko as their daughter. Umeko was to stay with the Lanmans for one year. As the deadline approached, a letter from them arrived. It said, "If Umeko's study abroad program ends, we will care for her, covering her childcare and education."

In the spring of 1873, Umeko told Mr. and Mrs. Lanman she wanted to be baptized as a Christian. Umeko's baptism was on July 13 at Old Sweets Church in Bridgeport, near Philadelphia. Umeko's strong character led to her adult baptism. Perinchief had planned to baptize her as an infant.

The study abroad was to last 10 years. But, she applied for a one-year extension. She studied abroad for 11 years in the U.S., where she got her primary and secondary education by age 18.

She took French, Latin, math, physics, and astronomy. She was proficient at the piano.

The government offered female students $1,000 a year to study abroad. It also covered travel, tuition, and living costs. The money was enough for a family to live well in Japan. It was far too much for one girl. Umeko Tsuda knew the government expected a lot from her. So, she wanted to help develop her home country.

Eleven years later, in November 1882, she was on her way back to Japan.

Umeko, who grew up in the U.S., faced culture shock upon returning to Japan.

Umeko Tsuda wanted to help Japan. She aimed to use her study abroad in the U.S. to do it. However, she was disappointed after she got back to Japan.

The treatment of women in the U.S. was better than in Japan. In the U.S., it was common to see men on trains standing and giving their seats to women. In Japan, on the other hand, this was almost unheard of.

Also, unlike in the U.S., arranged marriages were common in Japan. So, the couple married too soon. They did not know each other well enough. Umeko Tsuda felt strongly about marriage. In it, the man chooses the woman, who is subject to him.

There are few work options for women in Japan. It's a big culture shock.

Then, why is the status of women in Japan thus low? Umeko Tsuda believed it was due to the low value placed on girls' higher education.

To raise the status of Japanese women, we must first equalize their education. They must receive the same education as men. Umeko Tsuda was made a professor at the Nobility Girls' School to achieve this.

Umeko taught at the nobility Girls' School for over three years. It is said she was not used to the school's upper-class temperament.

In 1889, Umeko Tsuda wanted to teach others. So, she decided to return to the U.S. to study Western thought.

The principal of the noble girl's school was worried about her finances. But, he decided to continue her salary for the two years she was studying abroad.

After her money issues were fixed, Umeko Tsuda studied abroad again. She got a quality education in a small group.

In her third year abroad, in 1891-1892, Umeko studied "frog development." She got remarkable results."

1891 President Rose reported to the Board of Trustees at Bryn Mawr College. He said, "Miss Tsuda's work on the localization of the frog egg's axis must be especially mentioned for its excellence."

It specifically notes that. Umeko's advisor, Dr. Thomas Hunt Morgan, then summarized her work. He co-authored a paper, "The Orientation of the Frog's Egg," with her.

It was published in 1894 in the British journal Q.J.M.S., vol. 35. Umeko was the first Japanese woman to have an article in a Western journal.

A Bryn Mawr professor asked Umeko Tsuda to continue her research at the end of her study period. She declined the offer. She believed her true calling was to educate Japanese women. So, she returned to Japan.

In 1892, Umeko Tsuda returned to Japan. She then taught at a noble school for girls and a women's higher regular school.

Not only that, she also took care of female students in her home and educated them.

She was inspired by the U.F.W.C. convention in Denver, a visit with Helen Keller, and a meeting with Nightingale. She was now set on promoting higher education for Japanese women.

Umeko Tsuda loved women's education. She wanted to start a "private school." It would differ from the government-run schools.

She tried to boost women's education. But, she wanted to respect their individuality and not be bound by fixed rules.

In 1900, at 35, Umeko Tsuda resigned as a professor at the Nobility Girls' School. She wanted to start a private school.

With the help of many, she finally opened a private school in Tokyo, "Joshi Eigaku Juku." Okawa and Uryu came to the U.S. as kids to study, and Mrs. Morris, who had helped her on her second trip abroad, assisted her.

Around 1901, Umeko and her collaborators at the time of the founding of the Girls' English School. From left to right: Umeko, Alice Bacon, Uryu Shigeko, and Oyama Sutematsu.See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sutematsu,_Alice,_Ukeko,_Shigeko.jpg, 
Late 1910s:Tsuda.ac.jp - https://pg.tsuda.ac.jp/visiting/tsudaumeko1.html

At the opening ceremony, Umeko Tsuda stressed the need for teachers' enthusiasm and students' curiosity for proper education. She also said small classes are best for teaching to each student's needs. Also, students must be well-rounded as people and women. These words captured the spirit of the Women's Institute of English Studies. They were passed down to the students.

Alice Bacon, Ooyama's host sister in the U.S., also came to Japan before the opening ceremony. She worked with Umeko on entrance exams and class placement.

On August 16, 1929, she passed away from illness at her villa in Kamakura. Her last words were "Storm last night," written in her diary on the same day at 64.
Many alumni and friends visited her after she retired in 1919. They did so while she was ill in bed. This shows that her students trusted her.

The "Japan Women's Scholarship for the United States" program helped 25 women study in the U.S. until 1976, when Umeko Tsuda died in 1929. The scholarship funded women to study abroad. Among them were Ai Hoshino and Yuko Takahashi, the president of Tsuda College. Also, Taki Fujita, a top educator, was the first woman U.N. rep to Japan.

After the 1948 war, the Women's Eigaku Juku was renamed "Tsuda College." It produced the first female professor, researchers, and politicians at the University of Tokyo. The college still educates women who help society today.

Umeko Tsuda was a person who dedicated her life to the education of Japanese women.

Those with old Japanese yen can rest assured that they can use it after 2024. However, if it becomes too old, it may not be able to be used in vending machines.