Biography of fukuzawa yukichi in real life

Yukichi cat

Born into a poor samurai family, Fukuzawa diligently educated himself, learning first the Dutch and then the English language. During the period from until , he took part in three Shogunate missions to Europe and the United States , and based on these experiences, he introduced Western culture to Japan through his writings, such as " Seiyo jijo " Conditions in the West.

After the Meiji era, he rejected all government appointments and did not receive any court rank or honors, but remained a private citizen. In he founded Keio University , the first Japanese university to be independent of the government, which produced many business leaders. He is highly respected as one of the founders of modern Japan.

He published many works including " Gakumon no susume" Encouragement of Learning and " Bunmeiron no gairyaku" An Outline of a Theory of Civilization Fukuzawa emphasized importing knowledge and ideas as well as technology and material goods from the West, theorizing that with the necessary foundation of knowledge, Japan could develop its own technology.

This attitude is still evident in Japan today, where education is taken very seriously. Fukuzawa advocated a strong Japan which could win the respect of the West, not an expansionist Japan. When he died in , he did not see the imperialist path that the Japanese government was later to follow. Fukuzawa Yukichi was born January 10, into an impoverished low-ranking samurai family of the Nakatsu clan in Osaka.

Fukuzawa had little hope for advancement; his family was poor following the early death of his father.

Fukuzawa yukichi philosophy

After his father died, he returned to Nakatsu and became a disciple of Tsuneto Shiroishi. At the age of 14, Fukuzawa entered a school of Dutch studies, or Rangaku a Japanese term used to describe Western knowledge and science during the period before the mid-nineteenth century, when the Dutch were the only Westerners in Japan. In , shortly after Commodore Matthew C.

Perry 's arrival in Japan, Fukuzawa's brother, the family patriarch, asked Fukuzawa to travel to Nagasaki, where the Dutch colony at Dejima was located.