Two periods of study in America
Born in Edo, Tsuda traveled to the United States in 1871 as the youngest of five girls selected for overseas study. She was six when the party accompanying the Iwakura mission departed. Raised in the Lanman household, she received American schooling before returning to Japan in 1882.
She subsequently taught at the Peeresses' School and studied again in America from 1889 to 1892. This second stay at Bryn Mawr followed her experience as a teacher. She also helped organize scholarship support for Japanese women who would study abroad after her.
Biology and an educational choice
At Bryn Mawr she enrolled as a special student and concentrated increasingly on biology. Her observations of normal frog development and the position of the blastopore were combined with Thomas Hunt Morgan's experiments in a joint paper published in 1894.
She returned to education in Japan. Yasushi Furukawa's 2010 study examines that decision against restricted professional opportunities for women in science. Letters to Morgan and Mitsukuri Kakichi show that she continued observing frog eggs and requesting advice after her return.
The practice of Joshi Eigaku Juku
In 1900 Tsuda opened Joshi Eigaku Juku in Tokyo with ten students. Supporters included Ōyama Sutematsu, Uryū Shigeko and Alice Bacon, who helped with entrance examinations and class placement. Tsuda's opening address stressed committed teachers, active students and instruction attentive to individuals.
The first graduation took place in 1903. In 1905 the school received authorization concerning examination-free certification of English teachers. After the 1923 earthquake destroyed its buildings, Anna Hartshorne helped raise reconstruction funds in America. Tsuda died in 1929; conversion into a university followed in 1948.