Having limited access to colleges and universities offering women the same educational opportunities available to men, elite women of the 19th century crossed national borders for advanced study and teaching opportunities. The career of Tsuda Umeko, founder of one of the first private institutions of higher education for women in Japan, leader in English-language instruction in Japan, author, and first president of the Tokyo YWCA, demonstrates the significance of a transnational network of advocates for women's education. Tsuda forged a network of personal and professional contacts in the United States and Great Britain that enabled her to envision, fund, and staff an elite academy for women in Japan. In this study, the author analyzes Tsuda's development of a transnational network of supporters and argues that it was made possible by her skill in articulating shared values of educational reform. (Contains 16 notes.)