Ogino Ginko's Vision: "The Past and Future of Women Doctors in Japan" (1893)

Abstract

In 1885, at the age of thirty-five, Ogino Ginko (1851-1913) won her battle with the Meiji bureaucracy to become the first Japanese woman to obtain a license to practice Western medicine. As a medical pioneer, she became a role model for other female doctors who followed quickly in her footsteps. I Her achievements were also admired by a wider community of educated women. In October 1893, at the height of her career, she was interviewed by the journal Jogaku Zasshi (Women's education magazine) about her life and determination to become a doctor. Following this, she published an essay, over three consecutive volumes of the same journal, entitled "The Past and Future of Women Doctors in Japan," in which she espoused the need for more women doctors. 2 The present article introduces her ideas and situates them first within the historical context of medical reform in Meiji Japan, and second within the comparative context of women's medical education in European countries and the United States-examples of the "civilized" nations to which Ogino compared Japan.