Haruko Hatoyama

was a Japanese educator who was a co-founder of what is today Kyoritsu Women's University. The matriarch of the Hatoyama political family, her husband was politician Kazuo Hatoyama.

Early life Haruko Hatoyama was born in Matsumoto, the youngest of seven children (five girls and two boys). Her father, Tsumu, was a samurai. Her lessons were held both in her native Japanese dialect and in American English.

She continued her education by enrolling the Tokyo Women's Higher Normal School.

Kazuo Hatoyama was speaker of the House of Representatives of the Diet of Japan from 1896 to 1897 during the Meiji era. Kazuo later served as the president of Waseda University.

Bronze bust of Kazuo paired with bronze seated figure of Haruko Hatoyama in the garden of Hatoyama Hall in Tokyo.

Politician progeny Her son was former Prime Minister Ichirō Hatoyama, who founded and was the first president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). She wrote several essays for women's magazines on the importance of raising the level of women's education in Japan. She received awards from the Imperial Household Ministry, the Tokyo prefecture, Tokyo City, the Tokyo League of Women's associations, and the Koishikawa Young Women's Association.