Uryū Shigeko

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Uryū Shigeko, born Masuda Shige on April 18, 1862, in Edo, Japan, was a pioneer in education and music. She became one of the first two Japanese women to attend a college and one of Japan’s first piano teachers.

Early life
- She was one of four daughters of Masuda Takayoshi. Her father and brother supported the Tokugawa shogunate and fought in the Battle of Ueno.
- To protect her after the war, her brother asked a doctor friend, Nagai Gen’ei, to take her with him. She was adopted by Nagai Gen’ei (or his son Kyūtarō) and was known as Nagai Shige.
- She learned reading and writing at a temple school, then, in November 1871 at age 9, she was one of five Japanese girls sent to the United States as part of the Iwakura Mission. She stayed with John Stevens Cabot Abbott and later finished high school in New Haven, Connecticut.

Education in the United States
- On September 19, 1878, she entered the School of Art at Vassar College under the name Shige Nagai.
- She and Ōyama Sutematsu were the first two Japanese women to enroll in an American college.
- Shige studied music for three years and earned a Certificate in Music from Vassar on June 22, 1881.

Return to Japan and teaching
- She returned to Japan in 1881 and married Uryū Sotokichi in a Christian ceremony on December 1, 1882, becoming Shigeko Uryū.
- Shigeko was one of Japan’s first piano teachers and helped found the Tokyo Music School when it opened in 1882.
- She also taught at the Tokyo Women’s Normal School.

Later life
- Her husband received the title of Baron for his naval service, making Shigeko a Baroness.
- She visited the United States again in 1909, attending Vassar’s commencement and speaking about education for Japanese women.
- Baroness Uryū Shigeko died on November 3, 1928, in Tokyo.