| Clara Matsuno | |
|---|---|
| Born | Clara Louise Zitelmann 2 August 1853 Berlin |
| Died | 1931 Berlin, Germany |
| Other names | 松野 クララ, Matsuno Kurara, Klara Matsuno |
| Occupation(s) | Teacher, musician |
Clara Matsuno (松野 クララ, Matsuno Kurara, 2 August 1853 – 1931), born Clara Louise Zitelmann, was a German-born educator, a pioneer in the kindergarten movement in Japan.
Early life
Clara Louise Zitelmann was born and educated in Berlin, the daughter of Carl Friedrich Zitelmann and Emma Pauline Ulrike Zitelmann.
Career
In 1876, Matsuno became the first head teacher at the first kindergarten in Japan, with Froebel-inspired methods emphasizing outdoor play, puzzles, songs and games. The school's principal, Shinzo Seki, translated for her, as she did not speak Japanese upon arrival in Japan. She was also a teacher-training instructor at the Tokyo College of Education for Women from 1876 to 1881. She also taught English and German, and gave piano lessons for the Imperial Household Agency.
Personal life and legacy
Clara Louise Zitelmann married Hazama Matsuno [ja] (松 野 礀) in Ueno in 1876; the couple met in Berlin, where Matsuno was studying forestry. They were the first German-Japanese couple married in Japan; she became a Japanese citizen by marriage. They had a daughter, Frieda Fumi, who died in 1901, at age 24. Matsuno's husband died in 1908; for a time she lived with her sister and sister-in-law in Japan. She died in Germany in 1931, aged 77 years.
The novel Ein Adoptivkind: Die Geschichte eines Japaners (1916) by Katharina Zitelmann [de] is based in part on Clara Matsuno's life. In 1976, the Japanese post office released a postage stamp honoring Clara Matsuno on the centennial of her founding the kindergarten program at the Tokyo College of Education for Women. There is a monument honoring Matsuno, with the same image as on the stamp, in the Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo.
References
- ^ Kawano, Kirsty (2016-12-14). "The woman who brought the joys of kindergarten to Japan". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
- Anderson, Ronald Shand (1975). Education in Japan: a century of modern development. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of Education. p. 39.
- Wollons, Roberta (1993). "The Black Forest in a Bamboo Garden: Missionary Kindergartens in Japan, 1868-1912". History of Education Quarterly. 33 (1): 1–35. doi:10.2307/368518. JSTOR 368518.
- Soga, Yoshie (2008). "Study on the Creation Process of "Singing Dance" Writing process of Hoiku-shoka (Childcare songs) found in the Gagaku-roku (The Official Documents of Japanese Imperial Court Music)". Taiikugaku Kenkyu (Japan Journal of Physical Education, Health and Sport Sciences). 53 (2): 297–313. doi:10.5432/jjpehss.a530222. ISSN 1881-7718.
- Tsujimoto, Masashi; Yamasaki, Yoko (2017-03-16). The History of Education in Japan (1600 – 2000). Taylor & Francis. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-317-29575-4.
- Howe, Sondra Wieland (January 1995). "The Role of Women in the Introduction of Western Music in Japan". Bulletin of Historical Research in Music Education. 16 (2): 81–98. doi:10.1177/153660069501600201. S2CID 157827079.
- Zitelmann, Catharina (1916). Ein Adoptivkind. Die Geschichte eines Japaners (in German). Engelhorn.
External links
- A painting illustrating a kindergarten class playing a game (Pigeon's Nest) led by Clara Matsuno, from the Ochanomizu University Digital Archives.
