Sakura Tōsaka
Sakura Tōsaka | |
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| Minister of Education and Research of Gylias | |
| In office 2 January 1958 – 5 March 1976 Serving with Rin Tōsaka | |
| Prime Minister | Darnan Cyras |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 22 April 1932 Zaul, Xevden |
| Political party | Socialist Party |
| Occupation | Teacher |
Sakura Tōsaka (Miranian: 桜 遠坂; born 22 April 1932) is a Gylian teacher and politician. She was Gylias' education minister in the Darnan Cyras government, alongside her sister Rin Tōsaka. The two had a fundamental impact on Gylian education, and are considered the "mothers of Gylian public education".
Sakura was born into the Tōsaka family, later a prominent political family. She and Rin worked as volunteer educators in the Free Territories before joining the Darnan Cyras government.
As education ministers, the sisters brought revolutionary and profound changes to Gylian education. Building on the anarchist heritage of the Free Territories, they oversaw the creation of Gylian public education on progressive and democratic foundations, and consolidated the autonomous, free schools into a decentralised and radically student-focused system.
Notable achievements of their tenure included abolition of illiteracy, establishment of the Open University, and most importantly, the successful construction of an experimental, anti-authoritarian educational system that encouraged the cultivation of broad knowledge, interests, and skills.
Soft-spoken and modest, Sakura sought to avoid the spotlight, in contrast to her charismatic and high-profile sister. Her skills emerged behind the scenes, as her quiet demeanour, knowledge, and eye for detail complemented Rin's strengths to make a successful partnership.
Early life
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Sakura was born on 22 April 1932 in Zaul. The Tōsaka family were a modestly well-off Miranian Gylian family that later became a political family with a legacy of public service.
Sakura grew up with her sister Rin and cousin Tomoko, forging a lifelong bond. The sisters were first educated at home and later in volunteer classes in the Free Territories. They differentiated themselves in childhood: Sakura was unassuming and soft-spoken, while Rin was outgoing, self-confident, and charming.
Volunteer classes refined the sisters as a team: Sakura had an aptitude for working with numbers and figures, while Rin excelled at liberal arts subjects. Sakura remained monolingual in Miranian throughout her career, and relied on Rin's fluency in English and German.
The sisters began working as volunteer teachers in their twenties. They prepared classes as a team, but Sakura left Rin to mainly handle presentation and discussions. Influenced by their parents, they adopted distinctive outfits for work. Sakura began dyeing her hair purple and made it her permanent colour; she and Rin have provided different explanations for the decision. They remarked themselves for their diligent research, wide knowledge, and Rin's talent for communicating clearly.
Sakura and Rin became itinerant teachers, traveling around the Free Territories to provide their services. They participated in local revolutionary assemblies, but concentrated on education foremost. Their politics crystallised during this time: they were broadly libertarian socialists, and joined the Socialist Party.
The sisters' successful teaching career came to the attention of Darnan Cyras. They were guests of honour at Democratic Communist Party congresses in 1956 and 1957, making a strong impression of leading party figures. At the latter one, Darnan asked them to join the Executive Committee he was planning for after the war, with responsibility for education. They accepted the offer. Sakura was stunned by the request and could only nod enthusiastically in response.
Minister of Education and Research
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Sakura and Rin took office with the rest of the Executive Committee on 2 January 1958. They were two of the youngest members, only surpassed by Eoni Nalion. Their post was retroactively renamed "Ministers of Education and Research" when the Constitution was adopted in 1961.
The sisters worked to systematise and spread the Free Territories' educational model throughout Gylias, and ensure universal and equal access to education. Most educational institutions became public, symbolically adopting conventional names while keeping their methods unaltered. Education received the greatest share of federal budgets, and was prioritised in Eðe Saima's massive public works program.
Alternate methods of education were provided ample support: public places were open for volunteer classes and free schools. Official recognition and support was given to community classes, evening classes, night schools, and adult education. Community markets and "popular libraries" remained a significant means to exchange information, knowledge, and lessons. The sisters strongly supported distance education and drove the creation of the Open University.
Public education became autonomous and nonhierarchical, based on principles of freedom without license, experimentation, and learner-responsibility. Teacher–student relations were equalised, and educational institutions organised on the basis of direct democracy. Interdisciplinarity and narrative evaluations became standard. Class sizes were dramatically reduced and education came to be dominated by cooperative, ludic, and experiential methods.
Students received generous financial assistance, free school meals and milk, and subsidies for youth clubs and organisations. Teachers benefited from high wages and government-subsidised training. Programs encouraged talented graduates to go into teaching, and prioritised their placement in disadvantaged schools and special education, which Sakura identified as one of her proudest achievements.
The educational system played a significant role in the Golden Revolution. By instilling experience with direct democracy at an early age in a non-hierarchical environment, it perpetuated the energy and enthusiasm for social revolution and experimentation that defined the period. The introduction of comprehensive, explicit, and student-tailored sex education, taught in a joyful context emphasising the diversity of human sexual activity, was a great benefit for the spread of liberated norms of gender and sexuality.
Sakura and Rin's role in shaping the education system was recognised as one of the government's greatest achievements. Even anarchists who criticised the failure to deliver a stateless society recognised it as a monumental example of "anarchy in action". One historian writes:
"Newer generations of Gylians on average reported feeling happier, more confident, more content, more informed, and more fulfilled than ever before. Gylian children felt looked after and valuable, they had the freedom to discover for themselves, learned how to live and shape society from an early age, and showed greater sensitivity to the needs of others and the harms of prejudice and discrimination."
Public image
The sisters shared credit for all of their accomplishments in office. Nevertheless, Sakura was uncomfortable with the spotlight, and kept a low profile as minister. She accompanied Rin to school visits and press conferences, but largely let Rin take the initiative in meeting with the public.
In public, the sisters wore a "Tōsaka suit" consisting of a white shirt, light brown waistcoat, black skirt, red bowtie, and, in Sakura's case, brown coat. She became known for her tendency to stand and smile bashfully behind Rin in public while carrying a dossier, which endeared her to the public.
The sisters shared a famously close relationship. Sakura appreciated Rin's protective nature and the efforts she made to look after her well-being. She occasionally attended cabinet meetings at Rin's invitation, and appreciated the lengths to which Rin and the cabinet went to make her feel comfortable and valued. Nevertheless, she felt her presence was "rather superfluous" as Rin could handle the portfolio by herself.
Unlike Rin, Sakura was not a member of the Gylian Parliament. She never attended parliamentary sessions, as she found them tedious and disliked the sensation of being the centre of attention.
While she had an introverted personality, Sakura shared Rin's playful sense of humour, and to an extent her serene disposition. Rin enjoyed light-heartedly embarrassing Sakura with lavish displays of affection and praise in public, playing on Sakura's well-known shyness.
Later life
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The sisters retired from government at the end of their term in 1976. They were disheartened by the 1976 federal election and the formation of the Aén Ďanez government. They despised Aén Ďanez for her controlling and overbearing personality.
Out of politics, Sakura and Rin moved back to Zaul with their families and resumed teaching together. They kept a low profile, refusing to be interviewed and politely asking colleagues and students to think of them as teachers rather than former ministers.
Beginning with the Filomena Pinheiro government, an unofficial tradition developed for new education ministers to meet with the sisters and seek their advice.
Sakura and Rin retired as teachers in 1994, and largely live quietly with their families. They collaborated with a biographer to produce a "definitive" biography, published in 1996 to critical acclaim, and were interviewed for the 1999 documentary series Nation Building.
Private life
Sakura sought to avoid the spotlight throughout most of her career. She only began giving detailed interviews for their "definitive" biography.
She married a Miranian Gylian social worker in 1953. The couple have three chidren.
She is a practitioner of Kisekidō.