Iwamoto Yoshiharu

Who was Iwamoto Yoshiharu?

Iwamoto Yoshiharu, also known as Iwamoto Zenji, was an early and prominent advocate of women's education in Meiji Japan.

Born at Izushi in Izushi Domain, now part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Iwamoto as the second son of Inoue Tōbei. At age six he was adopted into his maternal line under Iwamoto Hanji. He began his education with Nakamura Masanao in 1876 at Nakamura's Dojinsha school, where he studied English; in 1880 he advanced to Tsuda Sen's Friends School to study agriculture. In 1882 he took up a place at Kimura Kumaji's school to study Christian theology. He was baptized in 1883.

In 1885, in cooperation with Kondo Kenzō, Iwamoto began a long publishing career with the Women's Education Journal. There, and afterwards, Iwamoto wrote forcefully to advocate changes to Japanese society with respect to women's roles in society. He called for better education for women, the expansion of their civil rights, and for the refoundation of marriage on the basis of love and respect between husband and wife. To be clear, though, he held that women's place was in the home—they would be educated to run efficient, hygienic, and economical homes so as to raise intelligent, moral, and service-minded children.