[Two woman medical doctors of the Meiji era who came from the "Preservative District of Johnai Suwakohji Important Traditional Buildings Group", Kanegasaki Town, Iwate Prefecture]. 2010

Masakazu Fukushima
Chiba Municipal Sakuragien.

There is a historical group of samurai buildings called the "Preservative District of Johnai Suwakohji Important Traditional Buildings Group" in Kanegasaki Town, Iwate Prefecture. Two woman medical doctors (Misaho Aizawa and Mie Shiga, came from this district at the end of the Meiji Era (1910-1911). Misaho Aizawa was born in a minister's family in 1885 and studied at the Women's School of Dohshisha. After graduation she studied abroad at the Women's Medical College of Philadelphia and graduated from the college in 1910. Immediately after graduation she came back to Japan and got a medical license in Japan. She married a minister and was employed by the Red Cross Clinic in Fukuoka Prefecture. Mie Shiga was born in a samurai-family in 1880 and worked her way through various medical schools in Tokyo. After three failures to pass the national medical examination she received a medical license in 1911. In 1913 she opened her clinic of internal medicine & pediatrics in Utsunomiya. She made an effort to diagnose correctly and won patients' confidence. These two women had neither communication nor common points due to the differences of their family environment and their age. However, they were brought up by fathers who were enthusiastic for education and they made an effort to become woman doctors. Although women's social situation and the female compulsory education rate were low, and women's medical education was poor in the Meiji Era, Misaho Aizawa was able to enter the medical route under the influence of Christianity, and Mie Shiga through the assistance of her family and her samurai spirit.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007564 Japan A country in eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula. The capital is Tokyo. Bonin Islands
D010822 Physicians, Women Women licensed to practice medicine. Women Physicians,Physician, Woman,Physicians, Woman,Woman Physician,Woman Physicians
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012924 Social Conditions The state of society as it exists or in flux. While it usually refers to society as a whole in a specified geographical or political region, it is applicable also to restricted strata of a society. Living Conditions,Condition, Living,Condition, Social,Conditions, Living,Conditions, Social,Living Condition,Social Condition
D049672 History, 19th Century Time period from 1801 through 1900 of the common era. 19th Century History,19th Cent. History (Medicine),19th Cent. History of Medicine,19th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 19th Century,History of Medicine, 19th Cent.,History, Nineteenth Century,Medical History, 19th Cent.,Medicine, 19th Cent.,19th Cent. Histories (Medicine),19th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 19th (Medicine),Cent. History, 19th (Medicine),Century Histories, 19th,Century Histories, Nineteenth,Century History, 19th,Century History, Nineteenth,Histories, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 19th Century,Histories, Nineteenth Century,History, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Nineteenth Century Histories,Nineteenth Century History
D049673 History, 20th Century Time period from 1901 through 2000 of the common era. 20th Century History,20th Cent. History (Medicine),20th Cent. History of Medicine,20th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 20th Century,History of Medicine, 20th Cent.,History, Twentieth Century,Medical History, 20th Cent.,Medicine, 20th Cent.,20th Cent. Histories (Medicine),20th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 20th (Medicine),Cent. History, 20th (Medicine),Century Histories, 20th,Century Histories, Twentieth,Century History, 20th,Century History, Twentieth,Histories, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 20th Century,Histories, Twentieth Century,History, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Twentieth Century Histories,Twentieth Century History

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