Hani, Motoko (1873–1957)

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Hani, Motoko (1873–1957)

Japanese journalist. Name variations: Matsuoka Moto (birth name). Pronunciation: HA-nee Moe-toe-koe. Born Matsuoka Moto, Sept 8, 1873, in Hachinobe, Aomori Prefecture, Japan; died 1957; granddau. of Matsuoka Tadataka (former samurai); dau. of a lawyer was adopted into her mother's family, taking the name Matsuoka; attended Daiichi Kōtō Jogakkō (Tokyo First Higher Girls' School) and Meiji Jogakkō (Meiji Girls' School); married, 1896 (div.1897); m. Hani Yoshikazu, 1880 (died 1955); children: daughters Setsuko (1903–1987) and Keiko (b. 1908).

Japan's 1st female news-paper reporter, was a member of the premiere graduating class of the Tokyo First Higher Girls' School (1891); working at the Hōchi, became1st female newspaper reporter in Japan (1897); edited and published Fujin no tomo (Woman's Friend), Japan's longest-surviving women's publication (1906–57); co-founded a private, co-educational school, Jiyū Gakuen (1921); had a profoundly spiritual, rather than a political, perspective.

See also Women in World History.