Azuma Moriya

Azuma Moriya (守屋東, Morira Azuma, 1884 – 1975) was a Japanese temperance activist. She was head of the Loyal Temperance Legion program in Japan, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) outreach to children.

Azuma Moriya
Two Japanese women in an oval portrait frame. The standing woman is younger, wearing a Western-style dress and glasses; her hands are on the shoulders of an older woman, wearing a Japanese-style dress.
Azuma Moriya, standing, with Yajima Kajiko, from a 1923 publication.
Born(1884-07-07)July 7, 1884
Shitaya, Taitō, Tokyo, Japan
DiedDecember 18, 1975(1975-12-18) (aged 91)
NationalityJapanese
Other namesMoriya Azuma
Occupationtemperance worker
In this Japanese name, the surname is Azuma.

Early life

Azuma Moriya was born in 1884.[1]

Career
A news photograph showing a group of Japanese women at the White House in 1921.
A news photograph of Yajima Kajiko (lower left) and Azuma Moriya, standing next to her, in Washington, D.C., in 1921, from the Library of Congress.

Temperance

Moriya was secretary and traveling assistant to temperance activist Yajima Kajiko, first president of the WCTU in Japan.[2][3] In 1908, Moriya was appointed Japanese national chair of the Loyal Temperance Legion (Shonen Kinshu Gun) program, the WCTU's outreach to children.[4] She organized at least 65 chapters of the organization in Japan.[5][6] "Everywhere she goes," commented a 1918 report, "legions spring up to bless Japan – not only today but in years to come."[7] She organized a temperance conference for students in 1921, and in 1924 began a campaign to provide temperance resources such as posters and pamphlets to primary schools.[8][9][10] In 1927 she attended the World Convention of the WCTU in Edinburgh.[11] In 1939 she served on the board of the WCTU in Japan, working with chair Utako Hiyashi and vice-chair Tsuneko Gauntlett.[12]

Other causes

Moriya traveled to Washington, D.C., with Yajima and Chiyo Kozaki in 1921,[13] to meet with president Warren G. Harding and deliver a petition on disarmament signed by over 10,000 Japanese women.[14] In 1922, Moriya became director of the Jiaikan, a Christian rescue home for women escaping prostitution.[15] She also ran a summer camp and a home for delinquent children.[16] In 1927, she traveled to Singapore to rescue women from sex work, saying "The more we cry for the abolition of licensed prostitution and the traffic of prostitutes abroad, the more we need a place to help and rehabilitate such women."[1][17] She also visited Shanghai during that project.[18]

In 1952, she was head of Chiisai Hoshi Kai, a Japanese women's organization for the welfare of prisoners and parolees.[19] In 1955, Azuma Moriya was described as the leader of the Women's Public Welfare Movement when she attended a royal reception for Helen Keller in Tokyo.[20]

Personal life

Azuma Moriya took temporary custody of two girls from Pohnpei, arranging for their schooling in Japan before they returned to the island as teachers.[10] She died in 1975, aged 91 years.[1]

References
  1. Shimizu, Hajime (2018-05-31). "The Pattern of Japanese Economic Penetration of Prewar Singapore and Malaya". In Shiraishi, Takashi; Shiraishi, Saya S. (eds.). The Japanese in Colonial Southeast Asia. Cornell University Press. pp. 68–69. ISBN 978-1-5017-1893-9.
  2. DeForest, Charlotte Burgis (1923). The Woman and the Leaven in Japan. Central Committee on the United Study of Foreign Missions. p. 182. Azuma Moriya.
  3. Gordon, Anna A. (Anna Adams). Madame Kaji Yajima, peace pilgrimage to America : a message from the women of Japan to the women of the world. Columbia University Libraries. Evanston, Illinois : National W.C.T.U. Pub. House. pp. 9.
  4. Burton, Margaret Ernestine (1914). The Education of Women in Japan. Fleming H. Revell. pp. 196. Azuma Moriya women.
  5. Davis, Ruth Frances (1906). "Greetings from Japan". Report of the ... Biennial Convention and Minutes of the Executive Committee Meetings of the World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union. White Ribbon Company. p. 109.
  6. Ervin, Mary B. (October 24, 1918). "A Chance to Help". The Union Signal. 45: 11.
  7. "L. T. L. Secretary's Letter". Our Messenger. April 1, 1918. p. 6. Retrieved November 20, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Gauntlett, Tsuneko (August 20, 1928). "Progress of Prohibition and Reform in Japan Told WCTU". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. p. 6. Retrieved November 20, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Japan Women War on Booze". Westerville American Issue. March 20, 1925. p. 6. Retrieved November 20, 2019 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  10. Kawai, Michi (1934). Japanese Women Speak. pp. 32–33, 108.
  11. Edwards, J. F. (March 1927). The Indian Temperance News And White Ribbon. pp. 18.
  12. Iglehart, Charles Wheeler (1939). The Japan Christian Year Book. Emmanuel - University of Toronto. Tokyo : Christian Literature Society of Japan. pp. 300–301.
  13. Woman's Christian Temperance Union. (October 13, 1921). "Three Distinguished W. C. T. U. Representatives from Japan on Peace Mission to United States". The Union signal : a journal of social welfare. College Park University of Maryland. National Woman's Christian Temperance Union. p. 3.
  14. "Woman of 90 Here with her Japanese Sisters' Message to Arms Parley". The Springfield News-Leader. December 23, 1921. p. 5. Retrieved November 20, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. Holtom, D. C. (1923). "Rescue Work". The Japan Christian year-book. Emmanuel - University of Toronto. Tokyo : Christian Literature Society of Japan. p. 371.
  16. Bolliger, Aurelia (June 1929). "Miss Moriya". The Outlook of Missions. 21: 260–261.
  17. Ogawa, Manako (2004). "Rescue Work for Japanese Women: The Birth and Development of the Jiaikan Rescue Home and the Missionaries of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Japan, 1886-1921". U.S.-Japan Women's Journal (26): 98–133, quote on page 120. ISSN 2330-5037. JSTOR 42771913.
  18. Soga, Yasutaro (January 15, 1928). "Incredibly Shocking Facts". Nippu Jiji. p. 2. Retrieved November 20, 2019 – via Hoji Shinbun Digital Collection, Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
  19. "Christian Women's Affiliation". Pacific Stars and Stripes. October 21, 1952. p. 7. Retrieved November 21, 2019 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  20. "List of guests at a reception for Helen Keller at the Imperial Hotel in Japan. May 28, 1955". American Foundation for the Blind. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
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