Fukuzawa Yukichi Research Articles

Fukuzawa Yukichi on Education: Selected Works.

Fukuzawa Yukichi on Education: Selected Works.

Inazo Nitobe as an“Educator of the Future”

“Japan's past educator is Yukichi Fukuzawa but her future counterpart is Inazo Nitobe” said once Shigetaka Shiga, a leading geographer of modern Japan.Incidentally, since November 1, 1984, the faces of both Fukuzawa and Nitobe, have been appearing on the newly-issued 10, 000 yen bill and 5, 000 yen bill respectively, along with another leading man of culture, Soseki Natsume on the 1, 000 yen bill. Both Soseki and Nitobe belong to more or less the same generation with the latter being five years senior to the former.Fukuzawa, however, is 27 years older than Nitobe, thus making the latter a member of the “future generation”. Yet, the present writer is not interested in a mere comparison of their ages; he is to explore the figurative and real meaning of what Shiga once said in this monograph.Utilizing the youthful Nitobe's letters from abroad both in the U. S. and Germany in 1880's to his best friend in Sapporo, the writer is to try to analyze how Nitobe's proposals had been materialized successfully in versatile educational institutions, especially in Enyu Yagakko (Night School). Established in 1894 in Sapporo by Mr. and Mrs. Nitobe, this pioneer private school, which lasted for half a century, was for children of poor families and for adult workers.The writer also wishes to demonstrate the everlasting importance of liberal educator Nitobe: in 1947, 14 years after his death, Nitobe's practical ideas of character building and internationalism were formally incorporated in the Fundamental Law of Education under the present “peace” Constitution of Japan. We, his “future generation”, should from now on uphold and put to work his liberal ideas in this important field of education.

The Self-Made Man in Meiji Japanese Thought: From Samurai to Salary Man.

WHAT could be more timely than a book on 'getting ahead' in Japan! As Toyotas, Yamahas, and Sonys flow out upon the world in an unending stream, there is a growing fascination with the society that has achieved such productiveness. To be sure, Professor Kinmonth's study doesn't treat the recent postwar decades. It centers on the Meiji era; but as his subtitle, 'From Samurai to Salary Man', indicates, he is concerned with the larger transition from the pre-Western to an industrial society. At the very least, his book has implications for the present. The book is part social history and part intellectual history. It flirts at times with great ideas, but its primary concern is with attitudes or opinions about 'self-advancement'. The strength of the book is the remarkable range of materials used by the author. He begins with Samuel Smiles's Self Help, discussing lucidly and intelligently what it meant in the West and what seekers after success found in its Japanese translation. He then discusses An Encouragement of Learning by Fukuzawa Yukichi, Eisai Shinshi a magazine for upwardly mobile youth with contributions from them-political novels, Tokutomi Soha, and a host of other youth magazines (Shonen'en, Gakusei Hissenjo, Yonen Zasshi, Shonen Sekai, Seiko, Chuigaku Sekai, Jitsugyo Shonen, Kugakkai, Nihon no Shonen, Jitsugy5 no Nihon, etc.). The last mentioned of these publications he describes as a 'fan magazine with businessmen in place of film stars'. He also looks at several advertisements and cartoons. Of these materials, the magazines at least have not been used before by scholars and even the more familiar materials are used in new ways. This gives the book a substantial richness. Read, for example, his description of the Japanese translation of Ernest Multravers (p. 89), his translation from Irokawa of the life-plan of a seventeen-year-old in 1884 (p. 114), or his account of a Showa description of Hideyoshi as an organization man (pp. 320-21). Kinmonth's interpretation of these materials is that the Tokugawa ethic was 'personality' centered. By this he means an ethic in which who you know and how you get along with them count for more than what you know and what you can do. The Meiji ethic, he argues, broke with this orientation, inaugurating an era in which performance was paramount. The new performance or 'character' ethic stressed hard work and perseverance and ignored interpersonal relationships. Then, after the turn of the century, 'character' again gave way to 'personality'. In the ethic of the salary man primacy was again given to interpersonal relationships. Some of the adjectives he uses to describe the behavior of the salary man are 'obsequious', 'groveling', 'ingratiating', and 'kowtowing'. What accounted for these shifts? Kinmonth's explanation is the balance between educated job seekers and available jobs. The transition from the Tokugawa to the Meiji era was from a society with relatively little mobility to one with manifold new prospects for employment. A work such as Self Help met the needs of the times, both by whetting the ambitions of educated young samurai and by instructing them on how to rise in the world. Magazines such as Eisai Shinshi chronicled the response of the upwardly mobile among Japanese youth to the new situation and to new ideas entering from the West. After the turn of the century, Kinmonth argues, a rapid, Meiji-type of career advance was no longer possible. A flood of new university graduates made it a buyer's market.

A Youthful Inazo Nitobe

The writer so far has mainly worked on Nitobe in his mid-forties and in his later years; these years happen to correspond with both the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) and the Manchurian Incident (1931) respectively. In each of these critical periods which made Japan known outside quite sensationally, Nitobe was not at all affected by either the then-prevailing militarism or the notorious chauvinism in Japan. Not only in these war-oriented eras but also throughout his whole life, he was continuously true to his faith as a genuine pacifist- “Quaker” educator. It is, therefore, quite natural that his face was chosen by the Ministry of Finance to appear on the forthcoming bill of 5, 000 yen to be issued in the autumn of 1984, along with the face of Soseki Natsume on the 1, 000 yen bill and that of Yukichi Fukuzawa on the 10, 000 yen bill. Of the three newly selected “men of culture” in modern Japan, however, Nitobe unfortunately seems to be least known to the general public in this countryThe present writer, therefore, feels it still necessary to further promote revaluating Nitobe as a leading “international-nationalist, ” a genuine educator-generalist with vast knowledge and wisdom. The writer, in this monograph, especially wishes to explore into Nitobe's youthful days, focusing on his background in English study and how it affected his brilliant career in his latter days, and thus making it a survey on the formative years of this versatile world citizen in his teens and early twenties in Japan.

A Personal Opinion Concerning the Special Meanings of Japanese Development, between “Hatten” and “Kaihatsu”

Japanese Development has two meanings in its term. Which is right the term of “Development” with Prof. Okada ask for us human or social ecology insist on Hatten or Kaihatsu.According to my personal opinion, ecology stand for control the Development of nature, but it has the meaning Hatten has not Kaihatsu.Because, Japanese speciality of “Mujokan” conclude the factor of Hatten concerning the social change gradually.After modern recent time, in our country, human ecology appeared with “Development” means Kaihatsu-a study facilitate Development.I wish to inquire into the reason of Kaihatsu about social ecology in Japan.The notion of Kaihatsu about Japanese social ecology are due to modern recent time merchant's worth living and highest order in Japan Merchant-Chonin-their economic action to aquire his own interests.Merchant-Chonin, at that time in Japan operate the class of samurai, ruler of Japanese feudalism society behind their back, so their remote control based on financial ability, consist on the notion of Kaihatsu in Japan.Supremacy of Japanese Merchant-Chonin, with ecomomic aspect, they have the initiative of social change and continuation.Meet the Japanese restoration era in Meiji, Merchant-Chonin and low class samurai, Powerlessness people in the old feudal government, changing suddenly, jump on the surface of social structure.Add to European Depression for Japan, fallen in us crisis to keep the independent of our country, the action of pursuit of Private benifit, and profit becomes to advance to belief.Under the mask of serve take off and establish the national capitalism, public interest and public welfare, merahant deed of profit acqwsition makes furn into outhodox thought of Japanese people.Seek after private interests look upon always goodness, absolutely. Our traditional “Mujokan” means Hatten, change into Kaihatsu at that aspect.We have to gaze, what is remain behind take away from the recent modern time comouflaged worth of Living and conception of the world, lead by commercialism consist on since middle era of Tokugawa feudalism society. I take up enlightenment philosopher Yukichi Fukuzawa, for the purpose of research for the Japanese traditional view of value, penetrate for “Mujo-kan” -through, the “Mu” -nothing accomplish the self realize without pursuit our own interest-possessed with aquire material world or make for tune.If that the case of calling of economic amimal toward the Japanese, found on our tradition, our racial spirit and natonality?

Fukuzawa Reconsidered:Gakumon no susumeand Its Audience

Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835–1901) is quite possibly the best-known, most widely studied, and most frequently quoted writer of the early Meiji period. More of his writings have been translated into English than those of any other nonliterary Meiji writer. So much attention is given to Fukuzawa that he often appears astheMeiji intellectual. One recent textbook describes him as nothing less than “the most influential man in Meiji Japan outside government service.” In another description he is portrayed as “one of the most remarkable” of men, one of that small number of men who move history through their own personal power, and “the man who above all others” explained Western material and spiritual culture to Meiji Japanese. Overall, scholars have been only slightly more reticent in describing Fukuzawa's importance than he himself was. In his own view, the reforms undertaken in the early Meiji period were influenced by himself to such a degree that it was appropriate to say “If I did not chiefly initiate them, I think I may have been indirectly influential in bringing them about.”

The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi

The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi

David A. Dilworth and G. Cameron Hurst (tr.): Fukuzawa Yukichi's An outline of a theory of civilization. (Monumenta Nipponica Monograph Series; UNESCO Collection of Eepresentative Works, Japanese Series.) xxiii, 205 pp. Tokyo: Sophia University, [1973]. $10.

David A. Dilworth and G. Cameron Hurst (tr.): Fukuzawa Yukichi's An outline of a theory of civilization. (Monumenta Nipponica Monograph Series; UNESCO Collection of Eepresentative Works, Japanese Series.) xxiii, 205 pp. Tokyo: Sophia University, [1973]. $10. - Volume 37 Issue 2

Yukichi Fukuzawa: A promulgator of western rhetoric in Japan

The most influential thinker in Meiji Japan was Yukichi Fukuzawa (1834–1905). Among his enduring contributions is one of particular relevance to students of speech communication: his strenuous efforts to introduce western rhetoric into Japan. This case study in cross‐cultural rhetoric attempts to shed some light on the achievements and frustrations that Fukuzawa experienced in his pioneering endeavors to promulgate western speech in Japan.

The Liberalistic Tradition in Japan and Marxism

The postwar sociology in Japan done by Takeshi Fukutake and other sociologists has developed under the slogan of modernization and democratization. There obviously has been ample liberal spirit in it ; unsimilar to “bourgeois sociology” begun by A. Comte, and moreover the Japanese sociology owns scientific aspect which could not be seen in his. Now, how do we understand the character of this positive sociology in relation to the so-called “postwar democracy” ? Moreover the problem offered by Masao Maruyama who is one of the opinion leaders of “postwar democracy” has not been fully solved yet. The flow of liberalizm from Yukichi Fukuzawa to Katsunan Kuga has been inherited by Katsunan Kuga, Nyozekan Hasegawa, Kanji Maruyama (Masao's father) and Masao Maruyama in order. Masao has possessed the tradition of the best and original liberalism. Observing the Era of Taisho democracy, the thought in Nyozekan Hasegawa or Manabu Sano, who later became a “glorious delegate” of the Japanese Comunist Party, has vivid sociological conception and theory. Former period of Sano's Marxism was “bourgeois sociology” itself, and, so that he made up his mind to convert it, Nyozekan's view of society was unique in those days - it could present a theoretical united front with Marxism. After 1933, the liberalism of Nyozekan Hasegawa, Kanji Maruyama or others has been weakened its spirit of resistance. It could not, therefore, overthrow the fascism. The postwar liberalists recognized this point, advocated “postwar democracy”, and postwar positive sociology, also, were founded on it. So that criticizm of Marxism in Japan should have the point of view and recognition in this respect.

Fukuzawa Yukichi's An encouragement of learning. Translated, with an introduction, by David A. Dilworth and Umeyo Irano. (Monumenta Nipponica Monograph.) pp. xv, 128. Tokyo, Sophia University, 1969. $5.75. - Footprints in the snow: A novel of Meiji Japan. By Kenjiro Tokutomi, translated by Kenneth Strong. (UNESCO Asian Fiction Series 4.) pp. 371. London, George Allen and Unwin, 1970. £3.25.

Fukuzawa Yukichi's An encouragement of learning. Translated, with an introduction, by David A. Dilworth and Umeyo Irano. (Monumenta Nipponica Monograph.) pp. xv, 128. Tokyo, Sophia University, 1969. $5.75. - Footprints in the snow: A novel of Meiji Japan. By Kenjiro Tokutomi, translated by Kenneth Strong. (UNESCO Asian Fiction Series 4.) pp. 371. London, George Allen and Unwin, 1970. £3.25.

The Formation of Mass-logue in Japan

A pattern of communication prevailing in one age reflects the world outlock or spirit of that age. We cannot assume that speech act as one pattern of oral communication has been universal throughout man's history. Yukichi Fukuzawa, one of the greatest educators in the Meiji period, pointed out that he could never find the Japanese equivalent to “speech” in English, and stressed that the art of public speaking be cultivated for the development of modern democracy in Japan. The pattern of oral communication in which a speaker addressed a large crowd was imported to Japan from China in ancient times. This pattern of communication, however, became diversified under the influence of Buddhism and Confucianism, both of which dominated Japan's climate. The practice of reciting passages of classic texts, for example, was the pattern of communication unique to Japan deriving from Confucianism. The common method of teaching at Japanese Buddhist temples was for a teacher-priest and a few of his studentdisciples to enact a play concerning the doctrine of Buddhism in the question-and-answer form before other student-disciples. It was something like a panel discussion of today. In the medieval age of Japan the pattern of communication called Sekkyo or Sekkyo-bushi in which a preacher recited, sang melodiously, or acted out Buddhist stories before a large crowd, was developed. In order to distinguish between such Sekkyo or Sekkyo-bushi and “speech”, the author proposes to introduce a new concept, “mass-logue”. Mass-logue, defined as the pattern of oral communication in which one speaker addresses a large crowd of people, has the following three characteristcs :(1) Mass-logue must not have elements other than those those expressed only by words. In other words, it must exclude such elements as singing and dancing. (2) Mass-logue is one-time communication. In other words, it is conceived and performed only once by the speaker and is never repeated in exactly the same form. (3) Mass-logue is one-way communication. The author believes that a comparison between mass-logue as an ideal type and Sekkyo and Kodan as historical facts will lead to a fresh approach to analysis of some aspects of the behavioral pattern of the Japanese people.

Nagai Ryūtarō and the “White Peril,” 1905–1944

It is often said that the nationalism of the 1930's was more “narrow,” more “parochial,” more “isolationist,” and more “pathological” than the nationalism of Meiji. In the earlier period, men like Fukuzawa Yukichi and Ōi Kentarō, who had ingested the liberalism of the late Victorian West, defined Japan's identity and role in the world in cosmopolitan, even revolutionary terms. By contrast, it is said, the nationalists of the 1930's were “frogs at the bottom of a well,” whose vision of the nation was clouded by folkish myths of national superiority or who were moved at most by narrow concern for national self-interest. The men of Shōwa, unlike those of Meiji, lacked a conception of Japan's role in the world which admitted the claims of higher goal or value than the nation itself.

David A. Dilwokth and Umeyo Hirano (tr.): Fukuzawa Yukichi's An encouragement of learning. (Monumenta Nipponica Monograph Series.) xv, 128 pp. Tokyo: Sophia University, [1969]. £5.75.

David A. Dilwokth and Umeyo Hirano (tr.): Fukuzawa Yukichi's An encouragement of learning. (Monumenta Nipponica Monograph Series.) xv, 128 pp. Tokyo: Sophia University, [1969]. £5.75. - Volume 34 Issue 3

Fukuzawa Yukichi's an Encouragement of Learning

Fukuzawa Yukichi's an Encouragement of Learning

TRENDS OF THE THOUGHT IN GEOGRAPHY IN JAPAN FROM THE 1870'S TO THE 1920'S: A PERSONAL VIEW

The author outlines the major trends of the thought in geography from the beginning of the Meiji Period, to the end of the Taisho Period. The account does not list the scientific achievements or works published during the period, but concentrates on clarifying the academic background or climate in Japan's geographical circles. 1. Japanese Geography for the Public and in Education Japan's geography began with the Fudoki, written in the eighth century ; and later from the 12th to the 14th centuries, rough maps of the whole territory were drawn. Geographical accounts of foreign countries increased after the arrival of the Europeans in Japan in the six-teenth century. Knowledge of this kind, however, was limited to the intellectuals of the Imperial court or of the samurai class. Commoners' conception of the world, dating from the medie-val age, was that consisting of the three countries : Japan, China and India. This belief lasted until the arrival of the “black ships” of Commodore Perry in 1853. After the opening of the country, it became necessary for the samurai class and govern-ment officials to have an adequate knowledge of world geography and recent history a diplo-matic and political tools, for the Opium War of 1840-42 had provided a warning of the danger of colonisation by the Europeans. Thus numerous European and American books, firstly on geo-graphy and history, and then, on munitions engineering and modern military organisation were introduced, some being in translation from Chinese translations or in direct translations. For old countryf olk or for children, accounts of world geography easy to understand and to memorise their verse form appeared and spread widely. The Sekai-Kuni-Zukushi (Countries of the World Without Exception) by Yukichi Fukuzawa, an eminent writer of the early Meiji Period and the founder of Keio University, was the first book of this kind. In school educa-tion, at both the primary and secondary levels, geography has remained to be an important subject up to the present When a modern education system was set up in 1872, the Ministry of Education published lengthy textbooks of Japanese and world regional geography for teachers' use, and later numerous publishers produced pupils' textbooks. All books for school use have been examined and approved by the Ministry of Education from the beginning of this century to the present day. With the establishment of geography and history courses in the Higher Normal School in 1897, geography teaching was centred on regional geography, both domestic and foreign, and lessons in geography qenerally meant the memorisation of place names with figures for population and products. It was an unattractive school subject. Moreover, detailed syllabuses were established and there was little to choose from among published textbooks. It was almost impossible to introduce any variation in descriptions due to the government policy of the times. At one period, international co-operation was emphasised in textbooks, while at another, nationalistic sentiments were stressed. Geography teachers for middle schools were fostered at four national higher normal schools and a number of private schools, all of which taught the same course, and they had to pass an annual, licensing, examination conducted by the Ministry of Education. They were trained to follow the contents of the textbooks without any special individual thought. In the latter half of the 1920's, however, two journals of academic geographical associations, were inau-gurated as well as a geography teaching magazine by a private publisher. These provided school teachers with materials for study The situation improved with the successive publication of a complete series of systematic geographical work from 1929-30 onwards.

Comte, Mill, and the Thought of Nishi Amane in Meiji Japan

One aspect of the intellectual upheaval which accompanied the Meiji Restoration of 1868 was the phenomenon of bummei kaika, “civilization and enlightenment.” Although it may be useful to think of the early Meiji years as a Japanese siècle de lumières, it is significant that the country's most progressive scholars derived their main inspiration from such contemporaneous Western social philosophies as positivism and utilitarianism, not the European enlightenment of the eighteenth century. It is natural that the proponents of bummei kaika turned for guidance to John Stuart Mill and Auguste Comte rather than Diderot or Rousseau, because their goal was to expose Japan to those urbane modes of thought from abroad which would bring her to the “civilized” stage of development envisaged by European social philosophy. The means to be employed consisted of empiricism, not abstract reasoning: “what we should call the truly enlightened world,” wrote Tsuda Mamichi in 1874, “is when practical studies become popular in our country and each person attains an understanding of truth.” Similarly, Fukuzawa Yukichi took nineteenth century England, not eighteenth century France, as the model for Japan's efforts to achieve “enlightenment.”

The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi

The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi

The autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa. By Eiichi Kiyooka, revised translation with a foreword by Carmen Blacker, pp. xv, 407. New York and London, Columbia University Press, 1966. 56s.

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Emperor and Nation in Japan: Political Thinkers of the Tokugawa Period, The Japanese Enlightenment: A Study of the Writings of Fukuzawa Yukichi and Contemporary Government of Japan

Emperor and Nation in Japan: Political Thinkers of the Tokugawa Period, The Japanese Enlightenment: A Study of the Writings of Fukuzawa Yukichi and Contemporary Government of Japan