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Okamoto Iwao
| Birth Place | Tokyo |
|---|---|
| Birth | March 14 1867 |
| Death | June 16 1941 |
Overview
The founder of Seien Girls’ High School
Biography
On March 14, 1867, He was born as the second son of a hatamaoto, an upper title in Tokugawa house, in Koishigawa, Edo.
In 1869, his father followed Yoshinobu Tokugawa to Shizuoka. The life in a farm in Mikatahara didn’t go very well, and his mother left. He took care of his three half-sisters while his father worked as a paper maker in Hamamatsu.
He was academically successful and became an assistant teacher in 1882. This made him to wish to work in the education field. He studied hard to make it come true and obtained a teacher’s license in 1889.
As his wife’s family, Okamoto, adopted him, he changed his name from Ganjirō to Iwaō.
He felt that the education for women is not sufficient in Japan when he worked at a girl’s school in Hamamatsu, Hamamatsu Joshi Jinjō Kotō Shōgakkō. He thought women have to be well educated to be wives and mothers who can manage their family-finance firmly and educate children.
Kinko, his wife, enrolled in a girls’ school in Tokyo, Watanabe Saihō Jogakkō. Both of them worked hard to earn the license to teach in Junior High Schools.
In 1906, they applied to the Education Ministry for authorization to establish a girl’s school, Hamamatsu Joshi Kōtō Gigeigakkō. Kinko became the school's principal.
He changed the school’s name to Shiritsu Hamamatsu Jikka Kōtō Jogakkō and became the principal in 1911. The number of students rose every year.
The couple adopted a son, Tomirō, since they had no children.
In 1934, the school changed its name to Shiritsu Seien Kōtō Jogakkō (Seien Girl’s High School) and moved from Hirata-cho to Kaba-mura. Okamoto opened a new girl’s school, Hamamatsu Shukutoku Jogakkō, in Hirata-cho. In 1932, while the number of students started declining, Tomirō became the school’s principal. Even after his retirement, Iwao supported the new principal and was called “Rōkōchō” (literally, old principal).
Concerning the need of domestic education, he built a dormitory. His lecture on the spirit of Japanese women earned a prodigious reputation. The governor of Shizuoka Prefecture awarded him for his social services 1932; Hamamatsu City awarded him for his educational services in 1933; the education board of Shizuoka Prefecture awarded him for his educational services in 1934.
The statue of him was built with the contribution from his students in 1937.
He died at age of 76 on June 16, 1941. Hōrinji Temple, located in Naruko-cho, enshrines him.
Personality
He was always willing to learn and had a good handwriting.
He thought one should live a day as it is the New Year’s Day. People try to behave well and won’t get mad about small things on the day, he said.
His hobby was hunting. When he caught exotic birds or animals, he would stuff them
He also composed Chinese and Japanese poems under pseudonym of Sodō.
He wrote poems to students’ fathers and brothers who went to war.
Reference
"Enshū Ijinden Daiikkan"(Stories of Great Figures of Enshū vol.1)