Ogino Ginko - Ogino Ginko

The first licensed female doctor in modern Japan. She was also involved in the women's movement and worked to improve the status of women. She was born in Saitama Prefecture. During her first marriage, she was infected with gonorrhea by her husband and visited Juntendo Hospital in Tokyo. She felt uncomfortable being examined by a member of the opposite sex and decided to become a doctor, but there was no precedent and she walked a difficult path. With the support of Ishiguro Tadanori, Nagayo Sensai and others, she passed the second stage of the medical license examination in 1885 (Meiji 18) and became the first woman to be registered as a doctor in Japan. After opening a practice in Tokyo, she moved to Hokkaido (1894) with her second husband Shikata Yukiyoshi (1863/1864-1905) and opened a practice in Setana, Setana District (now Setana Town, Kudo District).

After her husband's death, she moved back to Tokyo in 1908 (Meiji 41) and engaged in medical practice. During this time, she held positions such as head of the social customs department of the Japan Women's Christian Temperance Union, executive director of the Greater Japan Women's Hygiene Association, and teacher and school doctor at Meiji Girls' School, and also organized a women's association in Setana. There are monuments commemorating her in Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture, where she was born, and in Setana Town.

[Yoji Nagatoya]

"Ogino Ginko, compiled by the Committee for the Construction of a Monument to Ms. Ogino Ginko (1967, Setana Town)" ▽ "Watanabe Junichi, Hana Umami (Flower Burial) (1970, Kawade Shobo Shinsha/Shueisha Bunko)" ▽ "Narahara Shunsaku, Ogino Ginko - The True Story of Japan's First Female Doctor (1984, Kokusho Kankokai)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

近代日本最初の公認女性医師。女性運動にも携わって女性の地位向上に努めた。埼玉県生まれ。最初の結婚で夫から淋病(りんびょう)を移され、東京の順天堂医院に受診した。その際、異性に診察されることに抵抗を感じ、医師になる決心をしたが、先例がなく、苦難の道を歩んだ。石黒忠悳(いしぐろただのり)、長与専斎(ながよせんさい)らの理解により、1885年（明治18）医術開業試験の後期試験に合格、日本における女性の第一号医籍登録者となった。東京で開業ののち、2番目の夫の志方之善(しかたゆきよし)（1863／1864―1905）とともに北海道に渡り（1894）、瀬棚(せたな)郡瀬棚（現、久遠(くどお)郡せたな町）で開業した。

　のち夫の死去により、1908年（明治41）にふたたび東京に移り、医業に従事した。この間、日本キリスト教婦人矯風会(きょうふうかい)風俗部長をはじめ、大日本婦人衛生会幹事、明治女学校教師兼校医などを歴任し、瀬棚でも婦人会を組織した。生地の埼玉県熊谷(くまがや)市およびせたな町に顕彰碑がある。

［長門谷洋治］

『荻野吟子女史顕彰碑建設期成会編『荻野吟子』（1967・瀬棚町）』▽『渡辺淳一著『花埋み』（1970・河出書房新社／集英社文庫）』▽『奈良原春作著『荻野吟子――実録　日本の女医第一号』（1984・国書刊行会）』

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