Japanese Oxford

It turns out that St Hilda's College, a former women's college and the last Oxford college to go mixed, has a significant link to one of Japan's most famous female educators.
Umeko Tsuda, whose picture graces the ¥5,000 note (above) was one of the first women sent to England by the Japanese Empress in 1899.
 She stayed at St Hilda's college for an entire term and evidently remembered it very fondly.  In correspondence between Ume Tsuda and the Principal of St Hilda's, Mrs Burrows, she says 'I shall often think of my term at Oxford as such a pleasant experience' and the Principal remembers Tsuda giving 'a very comprehensive and interesting lecture on the Past and Present of Japanese Women' with an audience of 70 and concludes ' We parted with much regret from this charming and high-minded little lady'.
In 1900 Ume Tsuda founded what is today one of the most prestigious women's educational institutions in Japan, Tsuda University in Tokyo, whose students are still coming to visit Oxford each year.
St Hilda's today remembers Ume Tsuda with a plaque and a plum tree, Ume being the Japanese word for plum.
Since Ume Tsuda, Oxford has become a favourite with Japanese royalty:  In 1921, Crown Prince Hirohito visited and so enjoyed watching the rowing that he donated a golden Chrysanthemum Medal, originally worn by the cox of Exeter College's first eight for the Oxford bumps races.
In 1925, Prince Chichibu, the son of Emperor Taisho came to study at Magdalen College. There is a Pathé newsreel of him being taught to scull by the King's Bargemaster. 
Today's Emperor Naruhito also loved the Thames and while studying at Oxford (from 1983) researched trade on the Thames for a dissertation.  He even wrote a memoir entitled The Thames and I. His wife, Empress Masako, is also an Oxford alumna, having studied International Relations at Balliol.  In 2024, the Imperial couple visited their alma mater and planted trees at their respective colleges.
The most recent royal to study at Oxford is the most educated so far.  Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko, second cousin to the Emperor, went so far as to achieve a DPhil.  Her particular interests are in how Japanese culture, tradition and art are perceived by westerners.  Her recent bestselling book Aka to Ao no Gown (Red and Blue Gown) is all about her time in Oxford.