Kawai Michi

Michi Kawai is the founder of Keisen University. She was born in Ise Yamada, Mie Prefecture, in 1877. Her father was a Shinto priest and her mother was a housewife. Michi had one younger brother. Michi’s family moved to Hokkaido in 1885. There she met an American missionary called Sarah Smith, and later moved to live with her in Sapporo. Ms. Smith became Michi's teacher, and Michi studied English and History with Ms. Smith.

After graduating from Ms. Smith's school, Michi moved back to Tokyo, and then moved to the United States when she was 21 years old. In the US she studied at Bryn Mawr College, and had many challenging and exciting experiences. After graduating from college, Michi moved back to Japan and worked for the Young Women's Christian Association for 20 years.

At the age of 51, Michi finally opened her own school in Tokyo. She called her school "Keisen Jogaku-en" which in English means "Fountain-of-blessings Girls’ Learning-garden".