Utako Shimoda

Women's educator. Born on August 8, 1857, to the Hirao family, samurai of Iwamura Domain, Mino Province. Her childhood name was Seki. In 1872 (Meiji 5), she became a lady-in-waiting at the Imperial Court and was given the name Utako by the Empress, but in 1879 she resigned from the position and married Shimoda Takeo (?-1884), a samurai of the former Marugame Domain. In 1881, at the urging of Ito Hirobumi and others, she opened the Toyo Girls' School, with the aim of educating upper-class children based on the principle of a good wife and wise mother. After the death of her husband, she became the superintendent and professor of the Peerage Girls' School when it opened in 1885. In 1906 (Meiji 39), when the school became the Gakushuin Women's Department, she was appointed head of the department, but resigned the following year in 1907. In 1899, she founded Jissen Girls' School (now Jissen Women's University) and became its principal, and was also active in the women's movement as president of the Imperial Women's Association (1898) and the Patriotic Women's Association (1920). She is the author of many books, including "Women's Guidelines" (1905), "Women's Training" (1906), "Japanese Women" (1913), and "Koun Sosho" (1918).

[Komata Noriaki]

"The Biography of Shimoda Utako Sensei" by Toyosaku Nishio (1943, Biography of the Late Principal Shimoda, compiled by the Biography Editorial Office/1989, Ozorasha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

女子教育者。嘉永(かえい)7年8月8日美濃(みの)国岩村藩士の平尾家に生まれる。幼名鉐(せき)。1872年（明治5）宮中女官となり皇后より歌子の名を賜ったが、1879年辞官して旧丸亀藩士下田猛雄（？―1884）と結婚。1881年伊藤博文(ひろぶみ)らの勧めで良妻賢母主義による上流子女教育を目的とした桃夭女塾(とうようじょじゅく)を開いた。夫と死別後、1885年華族女学校開設と同時にその学監兼教授となる。1906年（明治39）同校が学習院女子部となったとき部長に就任したが翌1907年辞職。なお1899年に実践女学校（現、実践女子大学）を創立、校長となったほか、帝国婦人協会会長（1898）、愛国婦人会会長（1920）として女性運動にも活躍。著書に『女子の心得』（1905）、『女子の修養』（1906）、『日本の女性』（1913）、『香雲叢書(そうしょ)』（1918）など多数がある。

［小股憲明］

『西尾豊作著『下田歌子先生伝』（1943・故下田校長先生伝記編纂所／1989・大空社）』

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