The female writer Nagayo Michiyo was active from the end of the Meiji era to the end of the Taisho era. In addition to writing many novels targeting females and children, Michiyo also translated some books. This paper focuses on Michiyo’s translation of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Specifically, it examines the reasons for the translation, with a focus on the similarities between Michiyo’s and Stowe’s lives. First, the paper reviews the history of African Americans in the United States, as the background for the original Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and discusses the impact of the original book’s publication. Next, it focuses on two commonalities between Stowe and Michiyo: their bereavement due to their children’s deaths and the idea of reforming women’s image. This leads to a discussion of Michiyo’s motivations and intentions in translating this work.