First Female University Students Day

What Is First Female University Students Day?

"First Female University Students Day" (女子大生の日, Joshi Daisei no Hi) commemorates the day in 1913 when Tohoku Imperial University (now Tohoku University) admitted three women, creating Japan's first female university students. It was long observed on August 16, but that turned out to be the day a newspaper reported that the admissions "would be announced in the official gazette on the 16th" -- the gazette notice actually appeared on August 21. In 2020, at Tohoku University's request, the Japan Anniversary Association registered August 21 as First Female University Students Day.

How Japan's First Female University Students Came to Be

In the Meiji era, universities were for men who had graduated from the old-system high schools, and women had no path to enroll as regular students.

• Tohoku's "open door" policy: Tohoku Imperial University, founded in 1911, adopted an "open door" policy that widened eligibility beyond high-school graduates. It was not originally meant for women, but it opened the way for women holding secondary-school teaching licenses to take the entrance exam.
• Four took the exam, three were admitted: In 1913, four women sat the entrance exam, and three -- Chika Kuroda and Ume Tange in chemistry, and Raku Makita in mathematics -- were admitted.
• Results in August: Imperial universities at the time started their academic year in September, as in Europe and the US, so admissions were announced in August.

What Became of the Three Pioneers

Chika Kuroda became a chemist known for her research on natural pigments such as those of gromwell root and safflower, and in 1929 she became the second Japanese woman to earn a doctorate in science, after Kono Yasui. She later became professor emerita at Ochanomizu University. The three women's admission was a major step toward opening university education to women.

Fun Facts

• A start in the sciences: All three of Japan's first female university students studied science -- chemistry and mathematics.
• Who encouraged them: Pharmacologist Nagayoshi Nagai, a professor at Tokyo Imperial University who also taught at women's schools, is said to have encouraged talented women to apply to Tohoku.
• "Women's University Day" is April 20: It marks the opening of Japan Women's College (now Japan Women's University) on April 20, 1901. At the time, however, the school was officially classified as a "specialized school" rather than a university.
• Correcting the date: After researchers pointed out the error in the August 16 date, Tohoku University itself took the step of correcting the anniversary.

Ways to Mark the Day

• Read about the lives of Chika Kuroda and Japan's other first female university students
• Pick up a new book in a field that interests you
• Look into how something we take for granted today used to be in the past
• Use this day to think about how access to education has expanded

A Door to Learning Opened More Than a Century Ago

Women going to university is commonplace today, but just over a hundred years ago it was an unprecedented challenge. The step taken by three pioneers -- and a university's willingness to correct its own mistaken date -- also remind us of the importance of checking the facts. Use this day as a chance to think again about what learning means.