Distinguished Women of Past and Present

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Sachiko Hashimoto

(1909- )

Born in 1909 in Shanghai, China of Japanese parents, Sachiko was sent back to Tokyo to receive an education when she was seven. Her grandmother undertook the responsibility of Sachiko's education and instilled in her the principles of industry, kindness, honesty and generosity among others. Behavior was of utter importance to her.

Following graduation from Japan's Women's University with a degree in English literature, tri-lingual Sachiko married and returned with her husband to Shanghai.

After the surrender of Japan, Sachiko found her language skills in much demand. For a while she worked for the occupation forces, later working for a university.

She was the first volunteer in the formation of the Japanese Red Cross. Asked to lecture on volunteerism, she worked unstintingly in word and deed. Her efforts earned her the first Jean Henri Dunant Red Cross Award to any Japanese. She took special pains to help children and youth of the country, starting programs to help both their minds and their bodies to recover from the effects of war and to help them find direction. She was a guiding light in international education through cross-cultural student exchanges and through her ceaseless efforts for the Red Cross.

Contributed by Florence Prusmack, author of Khan: a romantic historical novel based on the early life of Ghenghis Khan, in 1998.