Michi Kawai Christian Fellowship papers

Michi Kawai was born July 29th, 1877, the daughter of a Shinto priest and the grand-daughter of the village master of Makkido. As a child, her family moved to the northernmost island of Japan, Hokkaido. There, her family became acquainted with a Christian relative and later converted to Christianity. Kawai attended a mission school in Sapporo as a child, later teaching in Otaru. She then studied in Tokyo with Umeko Tsuda, founder of Tsuda College and first Japanese alum of Bryn Mawr, who suggested she study in the United States. Kawai became a recipient of the Philadelphia Japanese Scholarship, graduating magna cum laude from Bryn Mawr College in 1904.



After graduation, Kawai returned to Japan, where she taught English and History at Umeko Tsuda’s college. She went on to help found the Japanese branch of the YWCA. In 1910, she became their General Secretary. Women’s education was a defining passion of her life; in 1925, she began her own school, Keisen Jogaku-En. The school’s name translates literally as “Fountain of Blessing Girls’ Learning Garden,” referring to the idea that the school, like a natural fountain, was a gift from God.



From its early years, Keisen had a horticultural program, complete with a practice garden. In 1943, Kawai asked the Education Minister for permission to open a horticultural college. Although expansion of education was not popular at this time, in 1945, examiners came to visit Keisen and were impressed. They objected to statement of purpose for the new college, which was to be run “according to the faith of Christianity.” However, after some changes to the wording, the very first Agro-Horticultural College for girls was opened in Japan. Kawai’s tenacity for coaxing life and sustenance from a farm limited in resources led the American General in the Allied Army of Occupation to describe her as “one of the greatest women of the world at this present time.”



Kawai lived during a time of shifting relationships between Japan and the United States, but through, she remained a strong advocate of Christian education for women and an avid supporter of international relationships. More information about her life can be found in her two autobiographical books, My Lantern and Sliding Doors. She also wrote Japanese Women Speak, a message from Christian Japanese women to Christian American women. She passed away on February 11, 1953.

The Michi Kawai Christian Fellowship was an association established in teh early 1950s by Esther Sinn Neuendorffer, a former classmate and friend of Michi Kawai, to raise funds for the Keisen School.

Biographical information: Folder 2, Michi Kawai collection