In Azabu Toriizaka, Tokyo, in 1884, Toyo Eiwa was opened by Martha J. Cartmell, a missionary sent by the Woman's Missionary Society of the Methodist Church of Canada (currently the United Church of Canada). Overcoming many difficulties, such as a backlash against Europeanism, the rise of nationalism and other pressures during World War II, our school has still been standing true to the purpose of its founders and teaching in the Chrisian spirit. Toyo Eiwa, which started with two students, currently has an enrollment of nearly 3,000 students.

"After the rain, we see a rainbow. Let's believe in the rainbow of blessing." Isabella S. Blackmore encouraged her students and colleagues after the school building frames collapsed twice asa result of storm damage during their construction.

Serving as the principal four times, Miss Blackmore held office for about forty years. She educated the girls based on Puritan religious ideas, and her educational motto was "Freedom lies in strictness." Navigating the crisis in Christian education caused by the 1899 Twelfth Instruction of the Ministry of Education, she organized and developed the school. Toyo Eiwa Collegiate Department was affiliated with Tokyo Woman's Christian College. She became Chair of the Board of the college. Moreover, she took on heavy responsibilities for both the Nagasaka Orphanage and the Kobokan Settlement. She also strived for the expansion and practice of social work.

Wataru Nagano

"Even old traditions become meaningless if they aresimply conceptualized, stereotyped, ideological notions. No meaning or significance can be found in priding ourselves on traditions unless they are living traditions, which have always followed a path of constant active advancement. The important thing is that judgement of value can be given as to whether or not those traditions inherently contain some kind of thoroughly consistent and immovable spirit that forms their backbone."

Wataru Nagano was appointed as a science teacher at Toyo Eiwa in 1933. During the harsh conditions of the wartime period, he acted as the de facto head of the girls' school after the Canadian missionaries returned to Canada. After the end of World War II, he served for 25 years as Chancellor, working for the recovery of the school, expanding its grounds, and carving out the road for the development of Toyo Eiwa into a comprehensive educational institution. He loved lake Nojiri, and worked hard towards the postwar reconstruction of the Nojiri Campsite.

"Education is not merely to transmit knowledge, but also to cultivate sensitivity of the joy in contemplation of creation and the mental exertion this requires, as well as the quest for knowledge. I felt this keenly even at the early age of twenty. What I learned in my school days in Azabu is indelibly imprinted in my mind."

Graduated from the collegiate course of Toyo Eiwa Jogakko in 1913. While in school, Hanako Muraoka was introduced to Nobutsuna Sasaki, a leading poet, by her classmate, Byakuren Yanagiwara. Among his followers, she met Hiroko Katayama, a graduate of Toyo Eiwa, who influenced her enormously in literary and spiritual matters. Hanako Muraoka successively filled various positions both on government boards and in cultural organizations. In addition, she translated the Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery and other children's classics into Japanese.