Tei Ninomiya
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Tei Ninomiya | |
|---|---|
 Tei Ninomiya, from the 1910 yearbook of Smith College. | |
| Born | 1887 Matsuyama, Shikoku |
| Died | Unknown |
| Occupation | Educator |
| Known for | first Asian student at Smith College |
| Spouse | Unjiro Fujita |
Tei Ninomiya (born 1887 – unknown date of death) was a Japanese educator and wife of bureaucrat Unjiro Fujita. She was the first Asian graduate of Smith College. A residence hall on campus, Ninomiya House, is now named for her. Another Japanese student Akuri (Aguri) Inokichi attended Smith in the 1890s as a graduate student and studied physical education.
Ninomiya was born in Matsuyama, the daughter of Kunijiro Ninomiya, a Japanese Congregational minister and schoolmaster.[1][2] She sailed from Yokohama to Seattle in 1903 with a group of other Japanese women students, and graduated from Smith College in 1910. She is recognized as the school's first Asian student.[3] While she was at Smith, she spoke about Japanese women's lives, often dressed in a kimono,[4] to women's groups and church audiences in New England.[5][6][7] She wrote an essay, "The Condition of Japanese Women" (1907), for the Smith College Monthly.[8]