Born: 1 December 1879, Japan
Died: 6 September 1957
Country most active: Japan
Also known as: Asaba Waka, 山田 わか
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
Yamada Waka (山田 わか) was a prominent Japanese feminist who advocated social reform during Japan’s late Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa eras.
Yamada Waka, originally Asaba Waka, was born in Kurihama Village, Miura County (now Yokosuka), Kanagawa Prefecture. In 1897, at age 18, she left her hometown seeking work in Yokohama but was abducted and trafficked to Seattle, where she became known as “Arabian Oyae” and forced into prostitution. In 1900, a Japanese journalist helped her escape to San Francisco, where she faced another exploitative situation before finding refuge at Cameron House, a Presbyterian mission. She embraced Christianity, learned English, and, in 1904, married Kakichi Yamada, a sociologist. They returned to Japan in 1906.
Settling in Tokyo’s Yotsuya Ward, Waka engaged in women’s rights activism, advocating for the protection and elevation of women’s roles as wives and mothers. She played a prominent role in the Japanese women’s movement, contributing to ‘Asahi Shimbun’ and translating Olive Schreiner’s work. In 1934, she founded the Women’s League, later renamed the Maternity Protection League, and was invited to meet Eleanor Roosevelt during a U.S. lecture tour. In 1938, she established Japan’s first shelter for abused women and children.
Post-World War II, Waka addressed the issue of state-supported prostitution for American servicemen in Japan by founding a school in Tokyo in 1947 to help sex workers acquire essential skills for a better life.