Kiyo Makino (born 21 June 1875) was a Japanese educator. From 1902 to 1905, she was the first international woman student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Early life and education
Makino trained for a teaching career at a normal school in Tokyo.[1] She traveled to Seattle in 1899, studied English in Northfield, Massachusetts for a year,[2] and was a special student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1902[3] to 1905, studying biology and microscopy.[4][5] She is acknowledged as the first international woman student at MIT.[6]
Makino was studying in Boston at the same time as physical educator Inokuchi Akuri, and the women were often mentioned together in news reports.[3][7] She appeared in the cast of a Japanese drama, Danjuro no tanjobi, in Boston in 1904.[8] Also in 1904, she sold her kimono to make a donation to the Japanese war effort.[9] In 1905 she returned to Japan with Mitsu Okada, a Japanese special student at Wellesley College.[10]
Makino, Inokuchi, and Okada were all involved with the Japanese Club of Boston, and raised money for the organization's clubhouse in 1902.[11]
Career
Makino taught school in Japan in the 1890s,[2] and was a secretary and translator at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts while she was a student at MIT.[12][13]
After her return to Japan, Makino taught at St. Margaret's School in Tokyo,[14] St. Hilda's School, and at other girls' schools and women's colleges.[15] She published a textbook on women's health and hygiene in 1908.[15] She was active in Japan's temperance movement.[15]
