Tsuda University was founded as one of the first institutions of higher education for women in Japan in 1900 by Umeko Tsuda, a pioneering woman educator.  Ever since Umeko Tsuda paved the way, thousands of Tsuda University graduates have been making a difference, bringing both small, immediate changes in local environments and large transformations with international impact. In today’s world, change is a fashionable word, and people may sometimes feel overwhelmed by the changes taking place around them. Nevertheless, Tsuda University graduates are constant in their efforts to make a difference and create a better society because of the strong sense of duty and responsibility that they have inherited. It is an inheritance that makes them drivers of change. It is because of who we are that Tsuda University has been empowering women “to make a difference."

In 1871, Umeko Tsuda, then six years old, was one of five young women selected by the Hokkaido Colonization Board for their overseas study program. After living for 11 years in a suburb of Washington, D.C., she returned to Japan in 1882 at the age of 17. Upon her return, she experienced a severe case of culture shock. She was particularly alarmed at Japanese society’s prejudice against women and quickly decided that something must be done to improve the social status of women. She became determined to provide Japanese women with the opportunity to obtain higher education.