Kazue Togasaki (June 29, 1897 – December 15, 1992)[1] was one of the earliest women with Japanese ancestry to earn a medical degree in the United States.
Togasaki's father's unemployment resulted in her parents opening a store selling Japanese tea, rice, and chinaware.
Togasaki came from a family of devout Christians; therefore, they regularly welcomed immigrants arriving from Japan and offered them a place in their home.
[2] Togasaki's higher education began at UC Berkeley for two semesters, later transferring to Stanford in 1920, receiving her bachelor's degree in Zoology.
[2] Kazue Togasaki started her career in the medical field as a nurse; however, due to her parents’ opinions about education, she decided to become a physician instead.
[3] She worked as a fundraiser and secretary, and after that studied public health nursing at the University of California for one year, before enrolling in medical school in 1929.
[4] Togasaki's devotion obstetrics and gynecology has helped built her reputation as a pillar in the Japanese American community, as she never once took days off from work for a vacation.
[3] During the time that she had the medical practice, Kazue Togasaki remembered her charitable roots and treated families regardless of their ability to pay.
[3] When Togasaki's memory began to fail her, she persisted for twenty years with Alzheimer's disease before she died on December 15, 1992, at the age of 95.