Misao Gamo

Misao Gamo (1858–1942), known as Baroness Hayashi after 1895, then as Viscountess Hayashi after 1902, and as Countess Hayashi after 1907, was a public figure both in Japan and England as the wife of Hayashi Tadasu, the first Japanese ambassador in London.

Viscountess Hayashi, later Countess Hayashi, photographed in 1902.
Baroness Hayashi, from a 1901 publication.

Early life

Misao Gamo was born in Tokyo,[1] the fourth daughter of Shigetami Gamo. She was adopted by Teiun Yamanouchi.[2]

Diplomat's wife

In 1875, at age 17, Misao Gamo married diplomat Hayashi Tadasu (1850–1913).[3] They had a son and a daughter,[1] and helped to raise their granddaughter, Sono Fukuzawa.[4] The couple lived in England while he was serving as Japan's resident minister to Great Britain, and later as Japan's first ambassador to the Court of St. James. From their home in Grosvenor Gardens in London, Baroness Hayashi hosted regular dinner and tea gatherings of the few other Japanese women living in the city, and enjoyed doing needlework.[5][6]

Misao Gamo, Countess Hayashi, fascinated the British press in her own right. Newspapers and magazines reported on her dress and her hospitality. "It is incongruous to think of this slim, erect, young-looking woman as a grandmother, but her grandchild lives at the legation in London with her," reported one magazine in 1901, adding that "Madame la Baronne dresses in very French style."[7] Her recommendation that women learn jujutsu was widely reported.[8] Her photograph was featured on a cigarette card during this time.[2]

While in England, Hayashi launched the Japanese battleship Mikasa at its completion, from Barrow-in-Furness.[9][10] She helped organize a relief fund for the widows and orphans of Japanese soldiers and sailors who died in the Russo-Japanese War.[11] She and Tama Kurokawa wrote a joint letter of thanks to Anita Newcomb McGee for her efforts to organize American nurses to aid the Japanese Red Cross during that war.[12]

Later life

Misao Gamo, the Countess Hayashi, was widowed when Hayashi Tadasu died in 1913. She died in 1942, aged 84 years.[2]

References
  1. Alexander Black, "Society in Japan" The Lady's Realm (January 1901): 299-308.
  2. "Viscountess Misao Hayashi (née Gamo)", National Portrait Gallery.
  3. John William Leonard, William Frederick Mohr, Frank R. Holmes, Herman Warren Knox, Winfield Scott Downs, eds., Who's who in New York City and State, Issue 2 (L. R. Hamersly 1905): 1013.
  4. "The Japanese Minister to the Court of St. James" The Sphere (September 15, 1900): 331.
  5. "Viscount Hayashi at the Japanese Legation in London" Lady's Realm (March 1904): 655-661.
  6. Robert Machray, "London's Legations from the Far East" The Royal Magazine (1901): 144.
  7. Joanna E. Wood, "At the Court of St. James" Current Literature (August 1901): 229.
  8. "Up-to-date Japanese Countess" Saint Paul Globe (February 27, 1904): 7. via Newspapers.com
  9. "A Great Battleship" Sketch (November 14, 1900): 133.
  10. "Mikasa" Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers (November 1900): 1114.
  11. "On Watch" The Syren & Shipping Illustrated (November 13, 1907): 151.
  12. "Nurses for Japan" The Trained Nurse and Hospital Review (January 1904): 40.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.