Born in 1868, in Kyoto, Japan. Her family were cloth merchants. Toshiko's mother was Kishida Taka. She married political activist, Nakajima Nobayuki, in 1884. Because she excelled in her studies of the Japanese and Chinese classics, Toshiko became the first commoner to serve as lady-in-waiting to an empress. She served, Empress Haruko, consort of Emperor Meiji. But Toshiko suddenly left court in 1882, to embark on a national lecture tour; sponsored by the Jiyuto (Liberal Party). On this tour, she drew crowds of mostly women, quickly gaining national attention. In her lectures, she spoke of women and their roles in Japanese society. She criticized the marriage system, in which women had no right to divorce; the concubine system, in which men could have multiple wives and the lack of educational opportunities for girls. Toshiko also condemned the traditional Confucian values commonly expressed in the "three obediences", in which women were under the control of their fathers, husbands or sons, their whole lives. Toshiko encouraged women to get an education, as a foundation for the furthering of equal rights for men and women.
The Peace Preservation Law of 1887, which banned women from participating in political activity, is believed to have targeted Toshiko specifically. Unfortunately, her suffragette career came to an end after the law was passed. However, Toshiko continued writing for Jogaku zasshi, the first women's magazine in Japan, based out of Tokyo. And is said to have made a fortune investing in real estate.
Kishida Toshiko died in 1901.
"I hope in the future there will be some recognition of the fact that the first requirement for marriage is education," she wrote. "Daughters must be taught basic economics and the skills that would permit them to manage on their own. Even a woman who expects to be protected during her husband's lifetime must be able to manage on her own, armed with the necessary skills, if he should die."
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Female Rebels & Activists
Non-Fiction"We need women who are so strong they can be gentle, so educated they can be humble, so fierce they can be compassionate, so passionate they can be rational and so disciplined they can be free" ...
