Yukichi Fukuzawa

A. Who is this person?

Fukuzawa Yukichi, an important late 20th century Japanese Writer.

He was an Educator, Journalist, Entrepreneur.

He founded Keio University.

B. Why should I care about Yukichi Fukuzawa?

Interested in:

1. West-East Discourse,
2. Modernization,
3. Japan History
4. Education Models of East-West

C. Why was the West better asks, Yukichi Fukuzawa?

Merely importing, gunnery or machines wasn't the solution.

That took him on a journey to write his works, to absorb, emulate many works of the West.

He is part of inter-civilizational dialogue between West and Japan.

He is considered to be one of the Founders for Modern Japan.

In this Work, he iterates:

-Equality of Men
-Equality of Nations
-Duty of Scholars

He basically encourages independence - self-sufficiency, national independence,

And introduction of Western learning in Japan.

D. What are your favorite parts from this work?

1. In addition, if we want to widen our circle of friends, it is essential to have as broad a range of interests as possible.

We have to be able to play more than one note ourselves, and this means we should associate with people of all sorts of interests—intellectual interests, business interests, calligraphy and art, the games of go and shōgi.


2. "Let me therefore say to the younger generation: if you are dissatisfied with another person’s efforts, go and do it yourself. If you think another’s business is poorly done, just try to do better. Put your own household in order if you think your neighbor’s household is not. Write a book yourself before commenting on another’s.

Before you comment on a scholar or a doctor, become one yourself. If you want to meddle in another’s work, no matter how trivial, put yourself in the other’s shoes and then examine yourself.

Or if someone else’s job is completely different from yours, make a fair estimation of the relative difficulty and importance of his work. Even if his work is different, you will not make a great mistake as long as you compare just the practical ability of yourself and the other person’s."

In the process of Modernization, Patrick Smith writes, Asian countries have suffered confusing identities called, "Doubling." Asian countries have a frame of reference towards the West.

Patrick Smith is a Journalist, has lived in Japan, China and India for 20 years. He writes in his work Somebody Else's Century.

For Tamil People:

Similarly, I ask -- What could Tamil People absorb and learn from the West?

Nope, not wearing Western clothes, watching sitcoms, gadgets or spewing out fancy english is Western.

Perhaps, could we create knowledge? And so, we can churn out products that could be traded?


What could, we Tamil People absorb, that could improve overall socio-economic aspect of Tamil People, to put it on a Global Map?

E. What others would I recommend?

1. Yukichi Fukuzawa's, Theory of Civilization -He makes a Key Point, the West has been pursuing Knowledge, Virtue.

2.Patrick Smith's, Somebody's Century, part of East-West Discourse. He says India could evade losing its identity, unlike China or Japan.

Patrick's work in unique.

He writes as an exploratory essay, story, rather than conclusive or, thesis style.

May you explore, come up with interesting answers.

Deus Vult,
Gottfried… (altro)

I came across this book on my quest for understanding Eastern authors perspective on the West. Fukuzawa Yukichi opened the Dutch school of learning, Keio University. If you are looking for answers between West and East.

I suggest you remember Rangaku. Fukuzawa doesn't talk about honor or shame that ties a lot of thinking in the rest of the world. I have been formulating my own theory on Great Divergence, East, and West differences.

Fukuzawa also gives a good question to ponder about, "Morality hasn't progressed or improved when compared with knowledge." Whether it is Buddhism, Christianity, Shintoism.

His book starts with the basis of argumentation, western civilization, the essence of civilization. The meat of his book is on page 145. I think it is worth reading the book if you are not familiar with Japanese history, Western Civilization. I didn't find anything surprising from his book.

His key ideas from the West is that it has pursued Knowledge, Virtue and the essential idea on page 145.

Worth reading if you are not familiar with Japanese history.

Deus Vult,
Gottfried… (altro)

Yukichi Fukuzawa—scholar, translator, author, and educator, among many other things—is one of Japan's most influential historical figures of the modern era, helping to shape the country as it is known today. As the founder of Keio University whose writings continue to be taught and whose likeness appears on the 10,000 yen banknote, there are very few Japanese to whom Fukuzawa is entirely unknown. Fukuzawa's life was recently brought to my attention while reading Minae Mizumura's The Fall of Language in the Age of English which discussed some of his influence and included excerpts of his autobiography. Intrigued by this, I decided to read the work in its entirety. The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa was originally dictated by Fukuzawa in 1897. The first English translation by Eiichi Kiyooka, Fukuzawa's grandson, appeared in 1934 and was later revised in 1960. Many editions of The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa have been released in English, but the most recent was published in 2007 by Columbia University Press.

The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa originated from a request by a foreigner interested in Fukuzawa's account of the time period leading up to and surrounding the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Fukuzawa narrated the story of his life fairly informally in 1897 and soon after edited, annotated, and published the transcribed manuscript. He intended to write a more formal and comprehensive companion volume, but he died in 1901 before it was completed. The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa begins with Fukuzawa's childhood and follows his life into his old age. Fukuzawa was born in 1835 in Osaka into a samurai family originally from Nakatsu, where he grew up. From an early age, Fukuzawa showed interest in Western learning, first studying Dutch (at the time the only foreign influence permitted within Japan) and the eventually English. He was very passionate about language as a tool to access new knowledge and understanding, and he served on multiple missions to America and Europe as an interpreter and translator. But his interest in the West also put him in danger during a time when anti-foreign sentiment was rampant in Japan.

The various editions of The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa available in English are primarily distinguished by the accompanying materials included to supplement Fukuzawa's main text. The most recent release from Columbia University Press offers several useful additions, some of which were available in previous editions or which were published elsewhere. Albert Craig, an academic and historian whose work focuses on Japan, provides the volume's foreword as well as its lengthy afterword "Fukuzawa Yukichi: The Philosophical Foundations of Meiji Nationalism." Originally published in 1968 in the the volume Political Development in Modern Japan, the afterword places Fukuzawa and his ideals into greater historical and political context. Also included in Columbia's recent edition of The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa are two appendices—a chronological table outlining the events in Fukuzawa's life and in world history and a translation of Fukuzawa's influential essay "Encouragement of Learning"—as well as copious notes and an index.

The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa is a surprisingly engaging, entertaining, and even humorous work. In his autobiography, Fukuzawa comes across as very amicable, down-to-earth, and forward-thinking. I particularly enjoyed Fukuzawa's invigorating account of his experiences as a young man who was devoted to his studies, but who would also willingly participate in the revelry, antics, and pranks of his fellow students. Speaking of how drunken "nudeness brings many adventures" and such other things greatly humanizes a person primarily known for his impressive accomplishments. As Fukuzawa matured, he played a pivotal role in the development of the Japanese education system. While he introduced many Western concept and ideas in his pursuit of knowledge, at heart Fukuzawa was a nationalist who abhorred the violent methods of many of his contemporaries. The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa provides not only a fascinating look into the life of Fukuzawa, it provides a glimpse into a particularly tumultuous and transformative period of time in Japan's history.

Experiments in Manga… (altro)