This study explores the promotion of modern womanhood in Meiji Japan (1868-1912) by examining the views of three education reformers: Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901), Iwamoto Yoshiharu (1863-1943), and Tsuda Umeko (1864-1929). Scholars tend to emphasize the role of the state in defining and disseminating gender ideals during the Meiji period. Yet, non-state actors, such as Fukuzawa, Iwamoto, and Tsuda, profoundly influenced the promotion of gender ideals in Meiji Japan. Their perspectives on women were deeply enmeshed in their identities and backgrounds, which shaped their different approaches to the education of women.; Using non-state centered and feminist approaches to the history of women's education in the Meiji period, this study offers fresh interpretation of the promotion of women's education by three individuals who were often viewed as "non-feminists" by historians in recent decades. Against the backdrop of the construction of the "modern" state, an examination of the ideas and practices of Fukuzawa, Iwamoto, and Tsuda shows the significant role they played in advancing the cause of women in Japan. This study also demonstrates that women were not merely objects of state policy and men's debates. Women, such as Tsuda, had a profound influence in the dissemination of appropriate education for Japanese women.
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