As Neesima was educated in the United States, he was also a believer in women's rights. Yaeko, with the help of the American missionary Alice J. Starkweather, opened a Joshijuku (small girls’ school) at the former residence of the Yanagihara family. The girl's school was subsequently renamed to Doshisha Branch School for Girls and then to Doshisha Girls’ School in 1877.