Soon after we got back home, my mother went to an elementary school saying that she would get me entered there. However, the school refused to accept me, explaining, “She is not yet of age to enroll in elementary school; please wait until the next school year.” But my mother was insistent, visiting the school many times. In September, after the summer vacation, I was finally allowed to enroll in the village elementary school, at the age of only seven years.

At that time, four years of elementary school education became compulsory and parents were forced to send their children. Generally however, in my village — for families with daughters — only the daughters of priests, teachers, and doctors were admitted. Nationwide, the school attendance rate seems to have been very low.

Even though I was a girl and we were very poor, my mother was persistent. She might have been motivated for me to enter elementary school a year early due to the incident with the hiragana on the signpost, but it might have been more likely because of her desire that I help her in her business.

In recent years, the rate of girls seeking higher education has increased significantly. The high school entrance rate of girls, after their nine-year compulsory education, has tended to overtake that of boys. This year, in fact, it is said that there are a greater number of school districts with over 70% female entrance rate, even at the national level. The fact that the number of female high school graduates entering junior colleges or universities gradually increased was extremely valuable for the development of our democratic society, racial and cultural prosperity, and for raising the standard of living. My mother’s actions seventy-three years ago, opened the road to education for me, got me involved in this intricate web and connected me to academic work for the rest of my life.