M.E. Reade : The Pioneering Educator of Nurses in Meiji Japan

摘要

M.E. Reade, an unmarried female missionary of the Presbyterian Church's Woman's Board of Foreign Mission, arrived in Japan in October 1881. After working at 2 mission schools for girls in Tokyo, in October 1884 she began to teach sanitation and nursing to Japanese nurses at Yushi Kyoritsu Tokyo Hospital, a charity hospital established by the Japanese physician Takaki Kanehi-ro. In January 1885, the Tokyo Presbyterian Mission entered into a contract with Takaki which permitted Reade to work at the hospital for 2 years. During this period Reade began to offer a modern nurse training program, the first of its kind in Japan. Financial support from various individuals and philanthropic organizations permitted Takaki to open a formal nursing school in October 1885 and send Japanese nurses to England for education. Even after Reade's departure in 1887, the hospital continued to train nurses, and the students enjoyed the full confidence of the patients. The goal of this article is to examine the roles Reade played in establishing Japan's modern nursing program. In so doing, we hope to stimulate further inquiry into the origin of nursing education in modern Japan.