About Matsuda Ritsu,松田りつ氏について

About Matsuda Ritsu

Matsuda Ritsu (1880—1947), later known after marriage as Takiguchi Ritsu, was qualified as a midwife and nurse, and she became the first woman in Yamagata Prefecture to obtain the national qualification as a pharmacist. She was born in Kahoku Town, neighboring Yamagata City. In April 1900, she passed the midwifery examination administered by Yamagata Prefectural Hospital Saiseikan and graduated from the Yamagata branch of the Japanese Red Cross Society Nursing Training School. The following month she enrolled in the Kyoto Municipal School of Pharmacy. She graduated in November 1902 and, in the same month, passed the national pharmacist examination. After working for three years as a nurse at Osaka Ogata Hospital, she was called up for service during the Russo-Japanese War, where she cared for wounded soldies returning with the Yamagata Prefecture Relief Unit in Osaka. In recognition of these services, she was awarded the Eighth Class Order of the Precious Crown, a decoration conferred to women. She later worked as a pharmacist in Gifu and Yonezawa, before serving as Head Nurse at Saiseikan Hospital for one year beginning in February 1913. She resigned following her marriage. The materials relating to Matsuda Ritsu displayed here were donated to the Local History Museum in the fiscal year of 2018 through the generosity of several organizations.