Kyoto, one of the oldest cities in Japan, pioneered education for people with disabilities, according to the following editorial:

Kyoto is the earliest in Japan in terms of education for the disabled. It was as long as 70 years ago, namely in 1878, that we saw the establishment of Kyoto Moa-in (Kyoto School for the Vision and Speech Impaired).
— Morning edition of Kyoto Shimbun (October 10, 1948)

Two years after the Kyoto Moa-in was founded, Tuscumbia, Alabama — far beyond the Pacific Ocean from Kyoto — saw the birth of Helen Keller on June 27, 1880. She would become one of the world’s most renowned disability rights advocates and would visit the ancient capital of Japan three times.

At the age of 19 months old, she suffered from a severe fever and lost her sight and hearing. She later learned to speak, though her speech was not easily understood without interpretation. In 1887, when Keller was six, Anne Sullivan became her tutor and began teaching her manual sign language; Sullivan would be her lifelong companion. The teacher spelled each of various words to Keller’s palm to expand her vocabulary. Sullivan’s long-standing dedication and Keller’s own indomitable spirit helped Keller learn, grow and eventually graduate from Radcliffe College (now a part of Harvard University) with honors in 1904. After the commencement, she began to work as an author and a lecturer, advocating for people with disabilities and promoting women’s rights and world peace.

In 1934, Keller was visited at her house in Forest Hill, New York, by educator Takeo Iwahashi,¹ who was blind. He asked her to come to Japan. Keller’s first trip to Japan came in 1937, after Sullivan’s death in 1936; Sullivan had encouraged her to go. Keller sailed for Japan aboard the Asama Maru, accompanied by her personal secretary Polly Thomson, who became her companion and interpreter after Sullivan’s death.

First Kyoto Visit in 1937

On April 15, 1937, Keller arrived in Yokohama. In the same month, her lecture tour in Japan got off to a good start with her discourses delivered in Tokyo and cities including Kamakura, Nagoya and Osaka. On May 7, she spent a night at the Biwako Hotel (now the Biwako Otsukan hotel) in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture.

Keller arrived in Kyoto on May 8. She joined a garden party at Kaiu-so² near Nanzen-ji, a major Buddhist temple. She was welcomed by at least 100 people. Among them, there were famed figures such as the then governor and mayor of Kyoto, and Junkyo Oishi,³ who was also a painter who had lost both arms. Oishi gave her Japanese artworks to honor Keller’s visit. Having strolled around the garden, Keller was guided to the main building in which there were a variety of traditional artworks.

After the party, Keller went to a hall near Chion-in⁴ temple for a lecture. With the venue full, her first talk in Kyoto took place together with double interpretation⁵ by Polly Thomson and Takeo Iwahashi.

Having completed the lecture, she sojourned at the residence of Shirley Hall Nichols,⁶ who was the Episcopal missionary bishop of Kyoto, at what is presently The Bishop Williams’ Theological Seminary, near Heian Jogakuin University.

On May 9, Keller went to the Eiko-kan hall of what is now the Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts. Some 2,000 people gathered at the venue to listen to her lecture on the victory of love and education. Next, she was taken to what is now Horikawa High School, where an audience of more than 1,000 listened to her lecture entitled “In Memory of My Teacher Anne Sullivan”, in which Keller advocated for women’s rights and equal access to education for people with disabilities.

On May 10, Keller spoke at the Eiko-kan hall and then at the auditorium of what is now Oki High School. Then, she went to Kyoto Prefectural School for the Blind and Kyoto Prefectural School for the Deaf. During her visit, over 400 students welcomed Keller, giving her their various handicrafts. Subsequently, she left Kyoto for Nara by train.

Keller’s itinerary later extended to Korea and Manchuria. It was scheduled to cover China as well; however, conflict near the Marco Polo Bridge outside Beijing triggered war between Japan and China in July, forcing Keller to cut short her campaign. She returned to the U.S. from Kobe on August 10.⁷

Despite the military clashes, Keller’s first tour in Japan prompted the establishment of two social welfare groups in Kyoto in the same year. It also promoted the enactment of the Social Work Law (Shakai Jigyo Ho) in 1938, a predecessor of the Law on Social Welfare Activity (Shakai Fukushi Jigyo Ho) in 1951, and increased awareness in Japan of issues around welfare for people with disabilities.

The Second Kyoto Visit: 1948

Public discourse in Japan around issues of disability was stymied by World War II and the Sino-Japanese war. Keller made her second trip in 1948 at the invitation of Takeo Iwahashi, arriving at Iwakuni Airfield in Yamaguchi Prefecture on August 29. She visited Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe and Nara.

Back in Kyoto once more, reaching the city on October 10 by train, Keller was presented with flowers by Satoko Otani, the wife of the abbot of Higashi Honganji temple, alongside Otani’s daughter and the wife of the Kobe mayor. Some 200 students of Wakamatsu Elementary School sang in her honor, accompanied by the Kamigyo Junior High School brass band. Keller said that she was happy to be in a city of history, art and learning, describing Kyoto as her spiritual home.

Overnighting at Miyako Hotel, she made a speech at the Eiko-kan hall⁸ The venue overflowed and some had to listen from outdoors to Keller’s speech. In the question-and-answer session, Iwahashi asked Keller about her one wish. She replied:

“It would not be to cure me of disabilities such as blindness. My dearest wish is that the world be at peace and that there be true understanding among humanity.”⁹
— Morning edition of Kyoto Shimbun (October 12, 1948)

In addition, she recalled her previous visit, saying that she would not forget either her memories in Kyoto 11 years earlier or Japanese phrases she learned that time. She thanked Douglas MacArthur, the U.S. general heading the Allied occupation of Japan who endorsed her visit as a goodwill ambassador and then rounded off her lecture by encouraging women in Japan to continue to work for social advancement.

On October 12, she met potter Kanjiro Kawai.¹⁰ She also visited the Kyoto Prefectural School for the Blind, where she met Hisako Nakamura,¹¹ a lecturer who had lost her arms and legs to frostbite in infancy.

The following day, Keller left Kyoto for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where she was offered an explanation about the devastating damage the cities had suffered in World War II. She urged world peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Keller’s second tour in Japan spurred the Kyoto Nichinichi Shimbun to run an editorial that was critical of Japan’s religious community for their apathy toward people with disabilities.¹² The trip is also credited with lending momentum to advocacy for people with disabilities. In the same year, the Kyoto Prefecture Association for the Visually Impaired was founded with Tokujiro Torii, a teacher at Kyoto Prefectural School for the Blind, who was elected its inaugural president. Keller’s endeavor also encouraged the Japanese government to legislate the Law for the Welfare of Physically Disabled Persons (Shintai Shogaisha Fukushi Ho) in 1949.

The Final Trip to Kyoto

Keller’s third and final visit to Japan took place in 1955, one year after the death of Takeo Iwahashi, her dearest friend in Japan. She landed at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on May 28.

On June 3, after offering flowers at the altar of the late Iwahashi in Osaka, Keller was driven to the historical garden stroll of Shosei-en (Kikoku-tei) at Higashi Honganji temple in Kyoto. She took part in a reception at the Rinchi-tei teahouse in the garden, then returned to overnight at the Miyako Hotel.

The next day, she attended a national rally for blind people at the Kyoto Prefectural School for the Blind. At its welcoming party, she spoke to some 600 attendees, concluding:¹³

“It is music to me to hear a splendid progress which you blind people have made during the past 18 years. My heart will go with you during the Asian Conference next October.¹⁴ Arigato!”

Shortly after, at the Eiko-kan hall before an audience of approximately 2,000, she remarked:

“God has given the blind and the deaf the ability to guide someone. The representative people are Hanawa Hokiichi¹⁵ in Japan, Homer and Milton in the West.”
— Asahi Shimbun (Kyoto edition) (June 5, 1955)

Afterwards, Keller visited the studio of ceramist Kiyomizu Rokubei VI,¹⁶ returning to the Miyako Hotel for a reception held by Kyoto Prefecture and the city. On the morning of June 5, she bid farewell to Kyoto and returned to Tokyo. Two days later, Keller departed from Haneda Airport after receiving the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd class, in honor of her contribution to the welfare of people with visual, hearing, and speech disabilities.

On the eve of returning to the U.S., the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that Keller “praised Japan today for having done more in behalf of the blind than any other country in the Far East.”¹⁷

One year later, Keller recollected Kyoto:¹⁸

On June 4 a great rally of the representatives of the blind took place in Kyoto. My happiness in greeting them had a peculiar quality, they were so alive and full of faith in the new day that was dawning for them. We dined with the Prefectural Governor and Mayor and representatives of local social welfare organizations. It was truly a beautiful affair, and Polly and I yearned to stay longer in this city of scholars and artists, but a close schedule put such enchantment out of the question.
— The New Outlook for the Blind (Volume 50 Number 8, October 1956)

Keller’s Achievements Praised

On June 1, 1968, Keller died at the age of 87. Shortly after her death, the Japanese government awarded her the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1st class, an imperial decoration that recognizes distinguished public service.

Keller’s travels to Japan and her advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities have been honored by many, among them Tokujiro Torii, who was president of social welfare service corporation Kyoto Lighthouse, which he established in 1961. Torii wrote:

In my opinion, her final visit to Kyoto in 1955 was the most memorable. She had no difficulty in fascinating attendance at her lectures because she was such a hard worker that whenever she went somewhere, she grasped, before making a speech, what the actual situation and the welfare system were like for the visually impaired in the place. I find the U.S. wonderful in terms of grooming her to be a respected figure. It is a pity that we have lost such a person. Her passing can be regarded as a loss to the world.
— Morning edition of Kyoto Shimbun (June 3, 1968)

Unnamed columnists contributed to the Chugai Nippo, a specialist newspaper capturing religion and culture, reflecting on their meeting with Keller at the Shosei-en garden in 1955:

Keller entered the garden with interpreter Thomson as a guide, and tightly embraced Satoko Otani, the wife of Higashi Honganji’s abbot, a couple times. She was better built than we thought, had cheerful looks and appeared very lively for her age. She enjoyed walking around the Ingetsu-chi pond and tossing fu (wheat gluten) to carp in the pond from the edge of the Rinchi-tei teahouse. Keller herself became a huge light for the disabled. We have learned from Keller and Sullivan something most precious — how dedication, or love, works a miracle.
— Chugai Nippo (June 4, 1968)

In 2001, a recording of Keller’s talk in Kyoto on her third Japan tour became available on CD through Kyoto Lighthouse. And on April 21, 2021, the Kyoto Shimbun reported that the Kyoto Prefectural School for the Blind had found four volumes of the reel-to-reel tape that recorded her talk in 1955 at five places in Japan, including the Eiko-kan hall. Although the tape remains unavailable to the public, the newspaper reported that Keller said it was satisfying to overcome hardships and expressed hopes for world peace and friendship. On that same day and the day after, the Kyoto Shimbun ran two articles on Keller’s interactions with students at the Kyoto Prefectural School for the Blind and Kyoto Prefectural School for the Deaf in 1955.

Next year (2027) marks the 90th anniversary of Keller’s first visit to Kyoto, which she described as a “city of scholars and artists.” As advocacy for people with disabilities continues, there is hope for further discoveries about Keller’s achievements in Japan.

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Yuki Yamauchi originally planned to write about Hisako Nakamura, a writer, performer and lecturer whom Helen Keller met three times. On learning that there was no detailed article of Keller’s visits to Kyoto, he changed focus to look at her trips. He hopes this article shines a light on the links between the world-famous educator and Kyoto.

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Notes:

1. Takeo Iwahashi (1898-1954). He lost his sight when he was at Waseda University. Having graduated from Kwansei Gakuin University, he became a teacher at the university in 1928 and set up the Japanese Association of Blind Esperantists in the same year along with Tokujiro Torii (1894-1970). Iwahashi founded in 1935 the Osaka Lighthouse (now the Nippon Lighthouse), a social welfare group to publish Braille books and support people with visual impairments. ↩︎
2. Kaiu-so was formerly owned by Katsutaro Inabata (1862-1949), the founder of Inabata & Co., Ltd., and called Waraku-an. The garden villa, currently owned by Oracle Corporation co-founder Larry Ellison, is closed to the public. ↩︎
3. Junkyo Oishi (1888-1968). She worked in Osaka as a geisha under the stage name Tsumakichi. She had her arms cut off in 1905 by her foster father, who killed five other geisha. While making a career of calligraphy and painting, she became a Buddhist nun in 1933. She relocated to Kaju-ji in Yamashina in 1936, before building Bukko-in near the temple in 1951. ↩︎
4. The hall, named Kacho Kaikan, stood near Chion-in from 1928 to 1988. ↩︎
5. Keller’s lectures in Japan proceeded with the help of Thomson and Iwahashi. While Thomson stood side by side between Keller and Iwahashi, Keller communicated her views by finger-spelling into Thomson’s palm. After that, Thomson spoke to the audience and then Iwahashi translated her English into Japanese. Following the death of Iwahashi, Japanese translation was carried out in Kyoto by English literary scholar Bunsho Jugaku (1900-1992) when Keller paid her third visit to the city. ↩︎
6. Shirley Hall Nichols (1884-1964). He became a missionary of The Episcopal Church in Japan in 1911. He was elected Missionary Bishop of Kyoto in 1925 and consecrated the following year. In 1941, he left Japan due to the worsening international situation. He was the Missionary Bishop of Salina, Kansas, from 1943 to 1955.
   ↩︎
7. The Chugai Nippo reported on August 4, 1937, that Keller, who was resting at Takarazuka Hotel in Hyogo Prefecture, considered visiting Higashi Honganji on August 9. The plan came up when she met Kocho Otani (1903-1993), the then abbot of the temple, and his wife Satoko (1906-1989), during a sail on the Seto Inland Sea. However, the plan was scrapped because Keller fell ill, according to the same newspaper on August 11. ↩︎
8. The photo of Keller inside Eiko-kan and its caption are available in these links: https://helenkellerarchive.afb.org/?a=d&d=A-HK07-03-B081-328.1.23; https://helenkellerarchive.afb.org/?a=d&d=A-HK07-03-B081-328.1.22 ↩︎
9. My English translations come from Japanese newspapers without English equivalents, so please note that they might not be the same as what Helen Keller actually said. ↩︎
10. The photo of Keller at the house of Kawai and its caption are available in these links: https://helenkellerarchive.afb.org/?a=d&d=A-HK07-03-B081-328.1.25; https://helenkellerarchive.afb.org/?a=d&d=A-HK07-03-B081-328.1.24 ↩︎
11. Hisako Nakamura (1897-1968). She met Keller in Tokyo in 1937 for the first time. They met in 1948 and 1955 at Kyoto Prefectural School for the Blind. Every time they met, Nakamura gave Keller a Japanese doll she had made. ↩︎
12. Page 1. October 12, 1948. Kyoto Nichinichi Shimbun (Evening Edition) ↩︎
13. The quote is a part of her words that I transcribed from the first track of the CD “Koe no Ayumi Library” (2001). The CD is not for sale but available at the Kyoto Prefectural Library. With regards to Keller’s own speech, details are shown via this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLqyKeMQfmY ↩︎
14. Keller was probably referring to the inaugural Asian Conference on Visual Handicap, which was held in Tokyo in October 1955 and proposed by the Japan Federation of the Blind. ↩︎
15. Hanawa Hokiichi (1746-1821). A scholar of kokugaku (national learning). He lost his sight when he was 7 years old. ↩︎
16. Kiyomizu Rokubei VI (1901-1980). The photo of Keller at his house is available in the link: https://helenkellerarchive.afb.org/?a=d&d=A-HK07-03-B094-329.1.30 ↩︎
17. https://helenkellerarchive.afb.org/?a=d&d=A-HK04-B252-F03-007 ↩︎
18. https://helenkellerarchive.afb.org/?a=d&d=A-HK01-03-B060-F02-004.1.35 ↩︎

References:

(Newspapers are morning editions except where specifically noted.)

Asahi Shimbun (Kyoto Edition)

• Serial No. 2. May 7, 1937
• Serial No. 2. May 8, 1937
• Serial No. 2. May 9, 1937
• Serial No. 2. May 10, 1937
• Serial No. 2. May 11, 1937
• Serial No. 2. October 12, 1948
• Serial No. 1. June 5, 1955

Asahi Shimbun

• Page 15. June 3, 1968

Chugai Nippo

• Page 4. May 11, 1937
• Page 4. August 4, 1937
• Page 3. August 11, 1937
• Page 1. June 4, 1968

Kyoto Hinode Shimbun

• Page 2. May 9, 1937 (Evening Edition)
• Page 3. May 10, 1937
• Page 3. May 11, 1937
• Page 2. May 11, 1937 (Evening Edition)

Kyoto Nichinichi Shimbun

• Page 7. May 9, 1937
• Page 3. May 10, 1937
• Page 1. October 11, 1948 (Evening Edition)
• Page 1. October 12, 1948 (Evening Edition)

Kyoto Shimbun

• Page 1. October 10, 1948
• Page 2. October 11, 1948
• Page 2. October 12, 1948
• Page 7. June 4, 1955
• Page 7. June 5, 1955
• Page 15. June 3, 1968
• Page 1. April 21, 2021
• Page 22. April 21, 2021
• Page 22. April 22, 2021

Nippon Lighthouse 40-nen Shi (40-Year History of Nippon Lighthouse) (Nippon Light House, 1962)

Kyoto Seisan-ichi Kyokai no Hyakunen (100 Years of The Trinity Kyoto Anglican Church in Japan) (Kyoto Seisan-ichi Kyokai, 2000)

Kirisutokyo Jinmei Jiten (Biographical Dictionary of Christianity) (Publishing Bureau of the United Church of Christ in Japan, 1986)

Kyoto-fu Hyakunen no Nenpyo 4 (100 Years of Kyoto Prefecture, No.4) (Kyoto Prefectural Library and Archives, 1971)

Kokoro no Teashi (The Hands and Feet of the Heart) (Shunjusha, 1973)

Koe no Ayumi Library (Kyoto Lighthouse, 2001)

Torii Tokujiro no Shogai (The Life of Tokujiro Torii) (Kyoto Lighthouse, 2019)

Helen Keller Archive: https://helenkellerarchive.afb.org/

Photograph:

Image from Memories of Japan, Mainichi Newspapers, May 28, 1955. Accessed through the American Foundation for the Blind’s Helen Keller Archive.