Histories of women in and around Japan, 1868-1945

Beatrice Lane Suzuki was born in 1878 in New Jersey. She graduated from Radcliffe (where she was introduced to Theosophy by William James, and shared classes with Gertrude Stein) and received a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University in 1908. While at Columbia, she went to hear a lecture at the Vedanta Society given by the Japanese Buddhist scholar Suzuki Daisetsu (D.T. Suzuki); in 1911, after she finished her studies at Columbia and he his at Oxford, they were married in Japan. Their wedding reception was held at the Hotel New Grande, hosted by Nomura Yozo and Michi. Beatrice was sometimes thereafter known by the Japanese name Suzuki Biwako.

Both Suzukis became Theosophists in Tokyo in 1920 (if not earlier). The following year, after they moved to Kyoto, Beatrice founded the Eastern Buddhist Society and began to write numerous books (in English) on Japanese Buddhist temples, Mahayana Buddhism, and related subjects. She also spent her later life spreading Theosophy within Japan, leading Theosophist efforts in Kyoto. She was known as an animal lover and a strict vegetarian (although one report says that in her early days in Japan she enjoyed a good steak). Although the Suzukis had no children of their own, they adopted a son (Masaru, sometimes known as Alan), who was the child of a maid by an unknown foreigner, and became a successful lyricist. Beatrice died in 1939.

Sources
https://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/beatrice-lane-suzuki-an-american-theosophist-in-japan (English) Details of Beatrice’s Theosophical work and her views on its (lack of) acceptance as a religion in Japan
https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=gCxuEAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=ja&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false (English) Not directly about Beatrice, but an interesting-looking book about their adopted son Alan