History / Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin

History of Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin

　Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin (Toyo Eiwa Girls’ School) was founded in 1884 and quickly gained popularity as an international school where young women could learn Western culture while Japan was developing as a modern nation. The school has faced challenging periods including anti-Western sentiment during Japan’s imperialist era and the rise of nationalism during World War II. Throughout these times, Toyo Eiwa remained committed to Christian faith and girls’ education, steadily growing from its humble beginning with just two students to a vibrant community of approximately 2,500 students today.

Founder and Notable Figures

Martha Julia Cartmell

(1845–1945)

Founder of Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin

　Born in Thorold, Ontario, Canada, Cartmell served as a teacher and principal at a public school for girls in Hamilton. In 1882, she was sent to Japan as the first overseas missionary of the Woman’s Missionary Society (WMS) of the Methodist Church of Canada. In 1884, she founded Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin in Tokyo and became its first principal. In 1892, she returned to Japan for four years to continue her educational and missionary work in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture. After returning to Canada, she played a key role in the WMS, supporting domestic missions and the dispatch of female missionaries.

Martha J. Cartmell

Isabella Slade Blackmore

(1863–1942)

3rd, 7th, 10th, and 14th Principal

　Born in Onslow, Nova Scotia, Canada, Blackmore graduated from a teachers’ training college in Nova Scotia. She came to Japan in 1889 and joined Toyo Eiwa, eventually serving four terms as principal until 1925. Despite government interference, she upheld Christian education and later established Toyo Eiwa Kindergarten in 1914. She also contributed to the founding of Tokyo Woman’s Christian College (later University), Japan’s first Christian higher education institution for women, and served as its president. Blackmore was actively involved in social welfare initiatives.

Isabella S. Blackmore

Frances Gertrude Hamilton

(1888–1975)

15th and 17th Principal

　Hamilton was born in Prince Edward Island, Canada, and graduated from Mount Allison University. She arrived in Japan in 1917 and joined Toyo Eiwa. In 1923, she earned a Master’s degree in Religious Education from Columbia University Graduate School in New York. She became principal in 1925 and established the school motto, shaping the enduring style of Toyo Eiwa. During World War II, she served Japanese-Canadian youth at the internment camp in Lemon Creek, British Columbia. After the war, she returned to Japan, contributing to the reconstruction of Toyo Eiwa and the development of early childhood education.

Frances G. Hamilton

Hanako Muraoka

(1893–1968)

Alumna —
Translator and Children’s Author

　Muraoka entered Toyo Eiwa as a scholarship student in 1903, attending the boarding school for ten years and studying British and American literature alongside Canadian missionaries. She became a distinguished editor for Christian publishers and later a translator, introducing many Western children’s books to Japan. Her translation of L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables has captivated generations of Japanese readers. Muraoka was also active in the Kyofukai (Japan Women’s Christian Temperance Union) movement and suffrage efforts, empowering children and women through her work.

Hanako Muraoka