Alice Eleanor Hoar

Image: Hoar (center) and Fukuzawa's niece, Sumi (right)

Alice Eleanor Hoar (1845–1922) is said to have been the only female missionary in the SPG (Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts) affiliated churches in Tokyo for a long period. Born in the United Kingdom, she came to Japan in 1875 (Meiji 8) and was allowed to live on the second floor of Yukichi Fukuzawa's home in Mita. With Fukuzawa's support and understanding, Hoar opened a Juku for girls on this second floor, where she provided Christian education to over ten girls, including five who lived in with her.

Fukuzawa is generally thought of as an atheist, based on his childhood actions described in "The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi," such as looking at the sacred objects of Inari shrines or replacing the stones inside them. Furthermore, in the early Meiji period, he was sometimes regarded as an anti-Christian advocate. This is because, in the early Meiji era, Fukuzawa believed that the spread of Christianity would jeopardize Japan's independence and, wary of the religion, wrote texts attacking missionaries. However, research by Takako Shirai, a visiting researcher at the Keio University Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies, has revealed that Fukuzawa actually had relationships with at least 19 missionaries from various Christian denominations and maintained close interactions, particularly with Anglican missionaries, until his final years. Hoar was one of these 19 missionaries associated with Fukuzawa.

Since 1990, Takako Shirai has investigated the overseas mission documents of the SPG at the University of Oxford's library in the UK, discovering numerous report letters sent by missionaries who had contact with Yukichi Fukuzawa. The results of her painstaking research are compiled in "Fukuzawa Yukichi and the Missionaries" (Miraisya), and the descriptions regarding Hoar in this article are primarily based on this book.

As no documents detailing Hoar's background remain, her upbringing and educational history are unknown, but she was born in England and was the first missionary sent to Japan by the Ladies' Association, a female missionary organization.

In Japan at that time, distinctions based on gender were seen in various situations from childhood, which differed greatly from the West. Therefore, in an era where it was likely difficult for male missionaries to preach Christianity directly to women, Hoar's significance must have been considerable.

Records show that Hoar not only opened a Juku for girls and Bible classes for adult women in Tokyo, but also took in and raised children from the Ogasawara Islands, provided soup for poor women, and read the Bible with women living in rural villages, interacting with many Japanese women to spread Christianity. Additionally, it was Hoar who established St. Hilda's Home for the Aged, said to be the oldest nursing home in Japan. The first site of her 21 years of activity in Japan, until she returned to the UK due to illness in 1897 (Meiji 30), was the Fukuzawa residence in Mita.

When Hoar arrived in Japan in November 1875, she searched for a house where she could open what might be called a boarding school to spread Christianity while living with Japanese girls, but she found it difficult and was at a loss. Learning of this, Alexander C. Shaw (1846–1902), an Anglican SPG missionary, spoke with Fukuzawa, and through Shaw's introduction, the second floor of Fukuzawa's home was provided to her.

Hoar reported to the UK: "Of course he (Fukuzawa) understands well that the purpose of my work is to teach Christianity to the girls. He himself is not a Christian, but it is certain that he is favorable toward Christianity."

Regarding this, the people of the Ladies' Association were initially unconvinced, fearing that restrictions might arise in Christian education. Ultimately, the matter was resolved by the following report written by the aunt of SPG missionary Foss, who stayed on the second floor of the Fukuzawa house with Hoar for a while to observe.

"Miss Hoar has a great influence on the hearts of the girls who are her students. She is under very favorable conditions with the protection and support of Mr. Fukuzawa. Mr. Fukuzawa does not interfere with her at all. I strongly advised her to continue her work at Mr. Fukuzawa's for as long as possible."

Let us briefly introduce Alexander C. Shaw here. He is famous as the founder of St. Andrew's Church in Iikura and as a key figure in the birth of the summer resort Karuizawa, but he was also a close friend of Fukuzawa for 27 years, from their meeting in 1874 until Fukuzawa's death. When they met in 1874 while Shaw was staying at Daimatsu-ji Temple in Mita, Fukuzawa built a new Western-style building next to his own home for Shaw. Records also remain that a bridge was built between the two houses so that the families could go back and forth. Shaw lived there for about three years and served as a tutor teaching English books to Fukuzawa's children, Ichitaro, Sutejiro, and Sato, a relationship that developed into one involving the whole family.

Fukuzawa, having been consulted by Shaw, provided various forms of assistance to Hoar, such as gathering girls to be students and lending furniture. He also filed a report with the Tokyo Prefectural Government to hire Hoar as an English teacher so that she could live outside the foreign settlement.

Hoar was the first Western woman Fukuzawa interacted with in his most immediate environment. What, then, was the Fukuzawa household like as seen by Hoar?

Hoar's letters record that the second floor of the Fukuzawa house had two rooms, with the larger room used as a classroom and the smaller room as her bedroom. In this classroom, Hoar taught the girls English, sewing, knitting, and hymns.

She also recorded the time spent with Fukuzawa's daughters and nieces in her letters.

"This morning I had a pleasant walk to his country house with the students and Mr. Fukuzawa's little daughter. We sat under a tree and had lunch, and afterwards we sang some hymns. I think everyone had a very pleasant time. The girls are all very well-behaved."

Fukuzawa's work "Fukuzawa Yukichi Shijo no Den" (An Account of Yukichi Fukuzawa's Children) records the growth of his children, but Hoar's name is not mentioned in it. Since it is recorded that they were learning English books from Shaw, perhaps they did not specifically learn from Hoar. Incidentally, the section on the eldest daughter, Sato, mentions that around the same time, a piano was purchased and she was practicing little by little with Mrs. Shaw. In such a context, even if Hoar did not teach Fukuzawa's children directly, the scene of them having private interactions and happily singing hymns—Western songs—under a tree is quite interesting.

Furthermore, in another letter, Hoar enclosed a photograph. The photo shows two of the first students Hoar taught. One of them was Fukuzawa's niece, Sumi, and the letter states: "The person on my left is, unfortunately, married. She is Mr. Fukuzawa's niece. I once wished that she could live with me." Sumi was the younger sister of Hikojiro Nakamigawa and had married Eiji Asabuki the previous year.

On the other hand, in contrast to the records left by Hoar, the records concerning Hoar left by Fukuzawa himself or those around him can only be seen in "Fukuzawa Yukichi Den" (Biography of Yukichi Fukuzawa) by Motoaki Ishikawa as follows:

"Through Shaw's introduction, a female missionary named Miss Hall (referring to Hoar) once stayed on the second floor of the Master's house for a while and served as a tutor. She was a very earnest religious person... When Hall was at the Master's house, during her morning prayers, she would frequently use the word 'devils,' saying, 'Please forgive the sins of the devils below.' When asked who the devils were, she said it was the Master himself and the Fukuzawa family. The Master said he was quite surprised by this, but was impressed by her earnestness."

The period Hoar actually lived in Fukuzawa's house was about a year and a half. In May 1877, Shaw moved to a newly built house in an area near Mita. Hoar was also able to build a small house that doubled as a classroom on the grounds of Shaw's new residence with support from the SPG, and she moved there in August. However, Fukuzawa's children visited Shaw's house three times a week, and Sato was even placed in the care of the Shaw household for a time, so interactions with Hoar likely continued.

In his later years, in "Fukuzawa Yukichi Ukiyo-dan," where he discussed women's issues, Fukuzawa compared the West and Japan, noting "merits and demerits, strengths and weaknesses," and said, "If it becomes clear that Japan falls short of them in this regard, must we not change immediately without a moment's hesitation?" He also occasionally mentioned the active and independent nature of Western women.

For Fukuzawa, who earnestly desired the liberation of women from the evils of Confucianism, this year and a half was a perfect opportunity to observe a Western woman like Hoar, who was earnest and possessed a sense of mission. It was also "a pioneer of women's education conducted within the grounds of Keio University" (Takako Shirai).