School teacher Michie Tanaka

Born in Lihu‘e, Kaua‘i in 1891, the eldest of seven children of Japanese immigrant parents Sieji and Nami Tanaka, Michie Tanaka was the first Japanese woman to graduate, in 1910, as an elementary school teacher from a normal school in Hawai‘i — the Territorial Normal and Training School.

Normal schools were sub-collegiate educational institutions established in Hawai‘i to train students to become elementary school teachers upon graduation.

The Territorial Normal and Training School, originally named the Government Normal School, was founded in Honolulu in 1895.

In 1896, the Government Normal School moved from Honolulu High School (later renamed McKinley High School), at its Princess Ruth Keelikolani mansion and Royal School locations on Queen Emma Street, to Victoria and Young streets, and was designated Honolulu Normal and Training School.

Honolulu Normal and Training School relocated to Lunalilo and Quarry streets in 1905 and was given a new name — Territorial Normal and Training School.

Finally, in 1931, Territorial Normal and Training School advanced to the collegiate level by merging into the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa system.  

Miss Tanaka attended Lihu‘e School in Pua Loke until the sixth grade, when her family moved to Honolulu.

A bright student, she was able to skip a portion of lower grade work and enrolled in the Territorial Normal and Training School shortly thereafter, determined to be a teacher.

Following her graduation from Territorial Normal and Training School with honors, she became a teacher at Kaahumanu School in Honolulu, where she was noted for her popularity.

By 1913 she’d saved enough of her salary to purchase a home for herself and her parents and siblings on Philip Street, Honolulu.

She also taught at Ewa School. In 1925, she graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Science in Education and continued her teaching career.

Michie Tanaka passed away in Honolulu in 1968.