Samurai Sisters: Yamakawa Sutematsu and Tsuda Ume Part 2

Sistory Untold

This is Part 2 of the “Samurai Sisters” episodes. Today, we will finish telling the story of Sutematsu and Ume, two girls and who studied abroad in America in the 19th century, then returned to Japan and transformed their education system. Sutematsu played a huge role in bringing philanthropy to Japan while also being a major supporter of all of Ume’s work. Ume traveled to America and England multiple times throughout her life to research women’s education and ended up founding one of the first women’s colleges in Japan, which still exists today. Ume and Sutematsu’s personal and professional lives constantly overlapped. They were close friends whose unique experience kept them close from childhood until the end of their lives. We hope you enjoy this sistory! A huge shout out to For the Love of History Podcast for giving amazing insights into this story. Some other incredible sources for this episode are the books “Daughters of Samurai” by Janice P. Nimura and “The White Plum” by Yoshiko Furuki. For all of our sources, check out our blog on sistoryuntold.com. For more information, follow us on Instagram @sistoryuntold!