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Name variations: Matsuoka Moto (birth name).

Hani Motoko (羽仁 もと子 Hani Motoko, 1873 - 1957) is considered to be Japan's first female journalist.

Born into a former samurai family, Hani Motoko was born Matsuoka Motoko in Aomori Prefecture and was baptized a Christian in 1890. She was educated at Tokyo First Higher Women's School and then at the Meiji Women's Christian School. After leaving school in 1892, she taught school in Hachinohe and in Morioka. Her marriage in 1895 did not work out and she moved to Tokyo, working as a maid for a female doctor. She joined Hochi Shinbun in 1897, working first as a copy editor and later becoming a reporter. In 1901, she married a co-worker, Hani Yoshikazu. Together, they founded a new magazine called Fujin no tomo (Women's friend) in 1908. An association of readers of that magazine was established in 1930 which still existed as of 1999. In 1921, the couple founded a private school for girls, Jiyu Gakuen. She wrote an autobiography in 1928 titled Speaking of Myself.

Early life
Matsuoka Moto (commonly known as Hani Motoko) was born on September 8, 1873, in Hachinobe, Aomori Prefecture, Japan, the same year Japan's modern public school system was established. She was born into a wealthy family. Her grandfather, Matsuoka Tadataka, was a former samurai and her father was a lawyer. Hani Motoko didn't view her childhood fondly. Hani considered the other women of her household, her grandmother and mother, to be naïve, because they were illiterate. Hani was close to her father, but her father became estranged after her parents divorced. Her father's estrangement bothered her very deeply.

She attended elementary school in Hachinobe, Aomori; Tokyo First Higher Girls' School (Kōtō Jogakkō); Meiji Girls' School (Meiji Jogakkō). She was part of a new generation of girls who were allowed to pursue an education beyond basic schooling. Women’s education was a controversial issue in pre-second World War Japan. The Meiji government (1868-1912) idealized the earlier Confucian ideal of a male-centered society. Men were educated to become leaders of society and their own households. The government’s philosophy towards women was expressed with the slogan “good wife, wise mother”, which stressed women as caretakers and obedient wives. Women’s education focused on “womanliness” and preparation for marriage.

According to Hani's own personal accounts, she wasn't a popular child. She struggled to get along with her classmates and she failed to act appropriately under moral convictions. As a child, she took initiative and ranked herself among the boys. In 1884, she won an award for academic excellence, presented by the Ministry of Education. Due to Hani's close relationship with her grandfather, he enabled her to attend Tokyo's First Higher Girls' School (Kōtō Jogakkō).. Hani completed her secondary education with high objectives, but limited opportunities. At the time, no colleges in Japan admitted women. Hani became a teacher, because education was the only meaningful way of life she knew. At the time, most women worked as textile-mill operators or domestic servants, only 5.9% of teachers in Japan were women. For a woman, teaching was the most prestigious and lucrative career available.

In time, Christian Schools began to open their doors to women and Hani was able to attend the Meiji Girls' School (Meiji Jogakkō). The school's president, Iwamoto Yoshiharu, was the editor of Jagaku zasshi, a women's magazine. He became her first mentor. In an interview, she convinced him to give her a job as a copy editor for the magazine. The magazine opened many doors for her, in terms of her career.

Christian Schools, unlike the Japanese school at the time, promoted modernity and the advancement of women's social status, preparing them for leadership roles in society. To them, women were more than good wives and mothers.

For reasons which Hani didn't make clear in her autobiography, she withdrew from Meiji Women's School in 1892 and returned to her hometown to teach again.

Marriage and children
Hani Motoko married in 1892, but the marriage was short lived. According to her autobiography, she married in order to save the man she loved from a lifestyle she deemed vulgar; she married him to change him, but it didn't work. She kept her divorce a secret from her family; after the failure of her parents' marriage, her own divorce was the second most painful emotional crisis of her life: "I have always feared that this painful episode of my life, of which I am ashamed even today, might jeopardize the effectiveness of my public service. Not for a moment, however, do I regret my decision to liberate myself from the enslaving hold of emotion, for my life had been rendered meaningless by the selfish and profane love of another."

In 1901, she married a co-worker, Hani Yoshikazu. Together, they founded a new magazine called Fujin no tomo (Women's friend) in 1908. An association of readers of that magazine was established in 1930 which still existed as of 1999. In 1921, the couple founded a private school for girls, Jiyu Gakuen.

Death and afterward
She died in 1957.