was a Japanese educator of the early Meiji era. Born in Aizu

Aizu

is an area comprising the westernmost third of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. The principal city of the area is Aizuwakamatsu.During the Edo period, Aizu was a feudal domain known as and part of Mutsu Province.-History:...

, she was the sister of the karō

KARO

KARO is a radio station licensed to serve Nyssa, Oregon, USA. The station is owned by the Educational Media Foundation.It broadcasts a Contemporary Christian music format as part of the Air 1 network.-History:...

, Yamakawa Hiroshi

Yamakawa Hiroshi

Baron was a samurai of late Edo period Japan who went on to become a noted general in the early Meiji period Imperial Japanese Army. An Aizu retainer famous for his ingenious strategies against the early Meiji government during the Boshin War to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu, he was of the first...

; her other siblings included physicist Yamakawa Kenjirō

Yamakawa Kenjiro

was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period who went on to become a noted physicist, university president, and author of several histories of the Boshin War...

 and Meiji-era social figure Ōyama Sutematsu

Oyama Sutematsu

was a Japanese woman of the Meiji era, who was a prominent social figure. She was born in Aizu to a family of senior retainers serving Matsudaira Katamori. In December 1871 she was sent to the United States for study, as part of the Iwakura Mission. She was placed in the household of Leonard Bacon...

. Futaba took part in the defense of Tsuruga Castle in the Boshin War

Boshin War

The was a civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the imperial court....

 (1868-9). She was also briefly married to Kajiwara Heima

Kajiwara Heima

was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period who was a retainer of the Aizu domain. He served as a karō in the Aizu administration, and supervised political affairs during the Boshin War, also attending to matters of arms procurement. After the war, he went to Nemuro, and died there...

, another Aizu karō

KARO

KARO is a radio station licensed to serve Nyssa, Oregon, USA. The station is owned by the Educational Media Foundation.It broadcasts a Contemporary Christian music format as part of the Air 1 network.-History:...

.

In the Meiji era, Futaba worked at the ,http://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/datas/209.html the forerunner of Ochanomizu University

Ochanomizu University

is one of only two national women's universities in Japan. The other one is the Nara Women's University.-History:Ochanomizu University was founded in 1875 as a teacher training institute for women located in Tokyo's Ochanomizu neighborhood. On September 1, 1923, the campus was destroyed in the...

, during the tenure of fellow Aizu native Takamine Hideo

Takamine Hideo

was an administrator and educator in Meiji period Japan.-Early life:Takamine was born to a samurai family in Aizu-Wakamatsu domain in 1854...

as principal. For her work in education, she was awarded with .