岩倉使節團に見る女子留學生と近代化

Abstract

In December 1871, the Iwakura mission set sail from Yokohama for the United States and Europe to study both the forms and the sources of Western power. The delegation, led by Prince Iwakura Tomomi, included almost half of Japan’s political leaders, also on board the America there were a lot of students going to study abroad. Hoping to “catch up” with the West as rapidly and efficiently as possible, the Meiji government was beginning an extensive scheme of sending students to the industrialized nations of the West to gain the knowledge and skills most needed for Japan’s modernization. Among these students were five girls ranging in age from six to fourteen. The government regarded “true women” as “caretakers of children who would be loyal and obedient to the state.” The essay on the first journey of the Iwakura mission was written in 1897 by Tsuda Umeko who was one of the women sent to the United States. The purpose of this paper is trying to find out the answers of the following two questions based on the episodes of Tsuda Umeko’s essay. One of the issues is to clarify the reason why the Meiji government sent the young Japanese women to the United States. The other issue is to examine what the Meiji government was aiming in the process of Japan’s modernization.