James Curtis Hepburn

James Curtis Hepburn

By Yuta Onodera

Life of Hepburn

"Anata wa kore wo yomemasuka?" Today, we always use this kind of typing in our daily lives, and this way of describing Japanese is understandable for both Japanese learners and non-Japanese learners. As for Japanese typing, this type of typing is always used to type Japanese words and sentences. However, who invented this useful and effective way of describing Japanese language? Some people might have heard his name: “James Curtis Hepburn”.

James Curtis Hepburn was born in 1815. After he earned a master’s degree, he became a physician. When he came to Japan as a medical missionary, he opened a clinic in Kanagawa. In addition to his clinic, he founded the Hepburn School. Also, he compiled a Japanese-English dictionary while he was in Japan. In the third edition, he adopted a new system of Romanization of Japanese language, which is widely known as “Hepburn Romanization”. However, how did he collect Japanese words and complete his dictionaries? Weren't there any difficulties collecting Japanese words and describing phonological information of Japanese?

In fact, Hepburn had knowledge of kanji because he had been in China for some years before coming to Japan, and it seemed that it was relatively easy for him to learn Japanese language because Chinese and Japanese have some common points between their languages. However, he mentioned that he had a lot of difficulties learning Japanese because that language was much different from Chinese. Thus, Hepburn collected Japanese words from Japanese people, classified those words, studied grammatical rules, idioms, etc. and finally he summed up over 20,000 entry words with Hepburn Romanization system.


Summary of Discussion

We discussed three points of Hepburn’s accomplishments:

1. Why did he found Hepburn School? 
2. What was the motivation for him to compile Japanese-English dictionary? and 
3. What are the positive and negative points of Hepburn Romanization? 

For the first topic of discussion, ”Why did Hepburn found Hepburn School?”, I got some interesting responses and opinions. One of them was that Hepburn wanted not only to cure injured people in Japan, but also to give knowledge of the way to cure people. Also, some people stated that Hepburn founded the school since he wanted to collect Japanese words because the school made it easy to do that.

The second discussion was about “What was the motivation for him to compile Japanese-English dictionary”. One of the members in my group mentioned that he wanted to spread Japanese language to foreign countries because the person assumed that there were few Japanese-English dictionaries so it seemed difficult to learn Japanese things. Another opinion was that Hepburn compiled the dictionary for himself to learn Japanese. Since he had a lot of difficulties learning Japanese language, he studied Japanese hard. As a consequence, he accidentally completed the dictionary.

The last discussion topic was “What are the positive and negative points of Hepburn Romanization?” This topic was controversial. According to our discussion, there are some positive points of Hepburn Romanization, but interestingly more negative points are mentioned. One of the positive points is that Hepburn Romanization makes it easier for Japanese learners to learn Japanese language because they can learn its pronunciation by looking at Romanization. Furthermore, it also makes it easier for Japanese people to learn other languages that use Romanization because Japanese people who know this system can understand the pronunciation of their mother tongue, and they can adopt it when they learn different languages.

However, as I mentioned above, it seemed that there are more negative points of Hepburn Romanization. One of them is this system made Japanese people learn Romanization in addition to hiragana, katakana, and kanji. This made Japanese language very complicated. What I thought interesting was that this Hepburn Romanization would generate different sounds, depending on people who read. That is, if people whose mother tongue is English see the sound “/ch/”, they would pronounce it as a fricative sound as in China or Chin. However, if those whose mother tongue is Chinese see it, then they would pronounce it as an aspirate sound (strong /ch/). This phenomenon is caused by speakers’ native languages. Thus it seems impossible that Hepburn Romanization can adapt to all human languages.


Reflection on person and project

Through this project, I learned a number of things, about Hepburn, Japan at that time, the origin of Japanese-English dictionary, lessons that we can learn from Hepburn, and so forth. Before taking this class, I wasn't interested in history so much, honestly. However, once I started to study about Japanese history, I found that our current life is based on what our ancestors did in the past. The reason why people in Japan succeeded in developing Japan and Japan became one of the most developed countries came from the history of Japan. They learned everything including good and bad from the past, and they tried to follow good points, and tried to improve or never repeat bad things.

Talking about Hepburn, he gave massive knowledge to Japanese people. Not only did he give medical knowledge, but also the Japanese-English dictionary which enables us to study foreign languages easily than the past. Some surprising things are that these seemingly recent inventions or events happened 200 years ago. I stereotypically feel that the life at that time was not so stable to live comfortably, so people couldn't afford to spend much of their time studying. Hence I believe that those who contributed to Japan, such as Hepburn whom I researched, really contributed and that we have to appreciate their works. I’m sure that things in this world are continuing to be improved and made more sophisticated. Namely, we contemporary people have to inherit our ancestors’ works and make them more sophisticated. I believe that we live in more comfortable and wealthier world than the past era, so we can inherit and improve their works if there are some points that we can do. Furthermore, what we can learn from Hepburn is that it is more important to do anything for others without reward. Hepburn treated people for free, even if he did some surgery, he didn't get any money from people. Meiji Gakuin University, which is established by Hepburn, had a lesson “Do for others”. We also should follow his lesson.

The project this time was composed of a short presentation and discussion. Because I have to spare time for discussion, I didn't make long presentation, but rather, I made three discussion questions so that the audience or participants can join the discussion and talk a lot. Since I didn't prepare for long presentation, I needed less time for practicing presentation than last time, but instead, I used more time for gathering information about the person for whom I made presentation so that I can answer any questions or doubts that the listeners had. During my presentation, I thought that I need more slides of my presentation to tell more details so that audience can get knowledge of him and join the discussion more smoothly. In contrast to my thought, every member in my group joined the discussion very actively. Sometimes after one member in my group told her opinion, one of other members asked her about what she said. This way of discussion was good and valuable. Before discussion, I was worried that this discussion would be one-way communication, like I asked questions, one member answered, and then finished. However, this two-way communication made the discussion more controversial. I have to thank them for making the discussion like that.

There are some good points and bad points in my project. One of the good points was I prepared for questions that audience would have. Although they didn't have questions, I used that knowledge and started to talk in order to not make quiet or silent atmosphere during discussion. I heard that this utterance gave them additional knowledge of the person, which made them easy to join the discussion. This is a good point but also it implies that this is a bad point. “The additional information made it easy for them to join the discussion” meant that they didn't get enough information from my presentation, I should have included more information in my presentation. Also, some people feel that my English was fluent, while others feel too fast. Presentation is not for me, but for listeners, so I should have spoken a little bit slower so that every listener of my presentation could understand what I said. Through this project, I got much knowledge of my focus person, confidence in presentation skills, delivering discussion, and so on. All of these achievements are thanks to my teacher Caroline and my peers. I would like to say “thank you” to them. Thank you.

Reference

Meiji Gakuin University. (n.d.). James Curtis Hepburn. Retrieved from
http://www.mg150th-whoswho.jp/atc01.html

Meiji Gakuin University. (2014). The Birthplace of James Curtis Hepburn. Retrieved from
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/guide/history_en.html

Michio, T. (n.d.). James Curtis Hepburn. Retrieved from
http://www.bdcconline.net/en/stories/h/hepburn-james-curtis.php

Georges Ferdinand Bigot

Georges Ferdinand Bigot

By Yui Yamamoto

Life of my focus person

Most Japanese people have seen before the picture called “gyou fu no ri (漁夫の利)”. It is one of Bigot’s masterpieces which shows the complicated international situation among Japan, China, Russia and Korea. It is drawn by a famous French cartoonist, Georges Bigot. Bigot was born and raised in Paris and learned at École des Beaux-Arts. After he started working as an illustrator, he was interested in “Japonisme” and decided to come to Japan in 1882. He learned Japanese and lived in Japanese community and frequented red-light districts (yukaku gayoi) to know more about Japan.

Although Bigot is generally known for cartoons in Japan, there are plenty of genre paintings which showed daily life and social conditions faithfully at Meiji period. For example, in a drawing of voting, there are many Japanese men in Western clothes who have Western hairstyles or mustaches. It showed that only high-class men had voting rights and participated in political events. The most significant point of this picture is a man who is wearing Kimono and has a Japanese topknot. His style is really rare in that situation, as can be seen from other men. A cartoon magazine produced and released by Bigot, called “TÔBAÉ”, was published for foreign residents in 1887. It was organized his critics such as the Japanese government. At present, those works are really important historical materials.


Summary of discussion

Q1. What do you think / how do you feel about his drawings?

Q2. Imagine if you were Bigot, what would you draw about present Japan?

Initially, listeners were impressed by the works especially cartoons for the first question. They had same opinions as mine that the pictures explained as they are. I thought that they have already known his works so it was easy to think. Although the second question was a little bit tricky for them, we could share some ideas at the end of the discussion. Most of them talked about Japanese problems such as Fukushima problems, the relationships between Japan and the U.S. and so on. On the other hand, only few ideas about our present daily lives were shared. I thought that it was not easy for us to see ourselves as others see us.


Reflection on person and project

Through this project, I learned that Bigot had really critical eyes. At first, I did not know that he drew various works as well as cartoons. For example, there are “Japanese” who he admired in his genre pictures. Also, they showed real daily lives in Meiji period. Therefore, I realized again how he saw Japan clearly, calmly and carefully. I am surprised that we are in the same situation of his works. In fact, there are plenty of types of media and they are playing a major role in the sharing of information. However, the government is still strict about them even though Japanese people want to know the truth. I think the picture shows us that it is significant to have various “eyes” on your mind.


References

Shimizu, Isao. 2001. Bigot ga mita Nihonjin. Tokyo: Kodansha

Shimizu, Isao. 2006. Bigot ga mita Meiji Nppon. Tokyo: Kodansha

Ernest Fenollosa

Ernest Fenollosa

By Aoi Hirata

Introduction

Do you think what Japanese culture is? When you introduce Japan to foreigners, what do you show them? Perhaps, we think of the historical arts as one of important parts of culture. However, about 150 years ago, a movement to destroy so many of those arts was started by Meiji government because Japan thought their culture was inferior to western one and followed them to renew Japan. During this movement, called Haibutsu-kishaku, one American whose name was Ernest Fenollosa dedicated his life to rescuing Japanese arts.


Personal history

Fenollosa was born in USA, and he was a very smart person. He graduated from Harvard University and his major was political economy there. Since that time, he had interest in art, and then entered an art school in Boston. In 1878, after he graduated from there, he came to Japan to teach economy and philosophy at Tokyo University. Then he was attracted by Japanese arts a lot; however, Japan had been active in haibutsu-kishaku movement which was belief that increased respects for God instead of destroy Buddhism during his staying. He worked on activities to protect art from such a violent movement. As example, he rescued some pictures by famous Japanese artists and sent them to Boston museum. Still, some people today criticize this action, saying that he just contributed to his wallet because he could actually get a lot of money from it.


Discussion

Then, I asked my group members two questions “Do you think such Japanese art should be in Japan?” and “Do you agree with him or not?” To the first question, one student answered that it depends on the reputation of pictures because if they can attract foreigners, it will affect Japanese popularity too. Otherwise if they would not be valued in other countries, they should be in Japan today. On the other hand, there was an opinion that arts should be in Japanese museum. We have learned Japanese history with pictures since we were in elementary school, but it is difficult to see some of them because Japan does not have them. In her opinion, they should be in Japan for Japanese to see. Next, about the second question, most people agreed with his work for Japanese arts. One of my classmates felt that even though he got money, those pictures exist today. We should notice how precious that truth is.


Reflection

From this discussion, I think Fenollosa did well in total. I feel sorry that Japanese could not save our culture and be proud of it because I think culture is built by history of all people's lives. In that confusion of history, various eyes from abroad let people realize later what was Japan and what great things we had. Without Fenollosa, we could not have learned some important piece of Japanese history. Therefore, we needed him.


References

Wikipedia. Ernest Fenollosa. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Fenollosa

近影. Bungei-Jankie paradice Retrieved from http://kajipon.sakura.ne.jp/kt/haka-topic36.html

James Murdoch

James Murdoch

By Shiori Haba

Do you know that Natsume Soseki, considered Japan's greatest modern writer, studied English? Yes, he learned English at university. Who was the teacher? The answer of this attractive question was in Australia. His name is James Murdoch.

In 1986, James Murdoch was born in Stonehaven in Scotland. He went to Aberdeen University to study. In 1881, he moved to Australia and lived here from this time to 1889. When he lived in Australia, he became a journalist and wrote about the class of Australian laborers. In 1889, he was invited to Japan and began to teach English and European history in high school. He married Okada Takeko when he taught in a commercial high school (now Hitotsubashi University). In 1917, he went back to Australia and he became an adviser of policy to Japan. Then he could visit Japan many times.

Murdoch had several faces. One was as a teacher and another face was as a journalist. He was also an adviser of policy to Japan. When he came to Japan, he taught at high school and one of his students was Natsume Soseki. At same time, he published some books. One of his books was “Ayame-san” which was the romance story. He also published books about history of Europe, Australia and Japan, but his way of writing was sometimes not good for people to read because his style of writing was unpleasant and sometimes there were strange comical parts. In addition, he became an adviser of policy to Japan, so he could come to Japan every year to get the information about Japanese people and how foreign policy was changed. Therefore, he was a mediator between Australia and Japan.


We had the discussion and I could get some interesting opinions. We talked about two topics. First one was “If you would work for foreign policy, how would you like to help Japan become close friends with the foreign countries?” There were two main opinions. First of all, student A and student B wanted to try to understand foreign culture and introduce Japanese culture for foreign people. In addition, they wanted to learn not only foreign culture but also Japanese culture to introduce about it. Secondly, student C wanted to try to have Japanese people and foreign people get to know each other. For example, they wanted to organize some events and give the chance to exchange their cultures and get to know each other more than before. I think all ideas are fantastic for making friends with foreign countries. The most interesting point is that they want to learn Japanese culture. I agree with this because in order to understand culture of foreign countries, we have to know our culture more.

The second topic was that “If you could show off Japanese strong points for foreign countries, which point would you like to introduce?” There were three opinions. The first one was that they want to introduce about Japanese traditional and modern culture such as temples in Kyoto and high technology in Tokyo. Secondly, student B wanted to show Japanese characteristics such as being kind to other people. The last one was about four seasons. Japan has spring, summer, autumn and winter, so it is tasteful. I like these opinions because they look at the good points and they are pride of Japanese culture and characteristic. I think it is important to know and find good points our country to know other countries. Therefore, we need to know ourselves more than before if we would like to understand foreign countries.


Through this project, I could learn the connection between Japan and foreign countries especially Australia by researching about James Murdoch. We learned about some travelers to Japan in Meiji and Taisho period, but I could learn and understand Japan though these foreign people. I think that researching foreign people who are related to Japan and looking at Japan through their eyes is a better way to know more about Japan. We thought about this in the discussion and I got various opinions. I would like to consider these opinions when I research the history of Japan and foreign countries. I’m interested in the history of the connection between Japan and foreign countries, so I would like to continue to learn it.


References

James Murdoch (2014) Wikipedia Retrieved July 3, 2014 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Murdoch_(Scottish_journalist)

Australian Dictionary of Biography Murdoch, James (1986) D.C.S Sissons Retrieved July 3, 2014 from http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/murdoch-james-7690

我輩は日豪パイオニアある (2010) 考えRoo Retrieved July 4, 2014 from
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/murdoch-james-7690

Hannah Riddell

Hannah Riddell

By Kana Suzuki

Hannah Riddell was a British woman who saved many Japanese patients. But her job was not a doctor. When she came to Japan, she was shocked by Japanese situation for a certain group of people.

She was born in 1855 in North London. She managed small private school with her mother. However, after her parents passed away, she went bankrupt. She joined Church Missionary Society to make her life again. So she came to Japan as a missionary in 1891. She stayed in Kumamoto with her co-workers. As well as her missionary work, she studied Japanese and taught English at local high school in Kumamoto.

In the same year she came to Japan, Riddell saw some people who were suffering from something in Honmyo temple. And they begged passers-by for alms. They were all Hansen’s disease (leprosy) patients. At that time, the patients of this disease were discriminated against and isolated because of their appearance (symptoms) such as a rash and 2 misunderstandings.

Hansen’s disease is curable now, however, it was considered to be incurable disease. And many people believed it was contagious disease. In fact, the possibility of infection is quite low. These misunderstandings also caused suffering for the patients.

In Europe, there had been patients of Hansen’s disease, and discrimination against them, in the Middle Ages. But in modern time, this situation had improved greatly. So Riddell was shocked by this difference of situation between Japan and Europe.

Riddell decided to help them. At first, she wrote a letter about what she saw and her desire to build hospital for the patients to YMCA, which organization she joined as headmistress. She also asked support to Church Missionary Society. But both of them replied “No”, because they thought it was impossible for a foreign woman to build hospital in Japan. Nonetheless, she never gave up. She also asked support to her friends in Liverpool. Her characteristics helped a lot: she was very active to make new relationship and contact with someone who has authority. She made relationships in Kumamoto. She sometimes held tea parties with professors of school and prefectural officers. She talked about strong wish to save the patients.

By her these efforts, Hannah could get agreement for her idea and support from some people of CMS. In 1985, she finally built Kaisyun (回春) hospital for the patients of Hansen’s disease. Kaisyun means “resurrection of hope” in English. She named from her thought and wish that although patients had felt much pain for a long time, now they could get back hope again.

Riddell and Kaisyun hospital still had the problem for managing and money. So she decided to write a letter to Okuma Shigenobu who was prime minister of Japan at that time. She explained about treatment of patient and how situation was bad. Next year, the meeting about relief for Hansen’s disease patient was held. It was the first time this problem was discussed as a national problem. From this time, Japanese support system has developed quickly.

Riddell came to Japan as a missionary, however, she saved the patients of Hansen’s disease not as a missionary. She saved them just as a foreign woman. So, we discussed about “if you find someone who was discriminated against or suffered from some kind of reason or disease when you were in foreign country, what would you do?” in my group. Our main opinion was we couldn't do anything for them because we wouldn’t know anything about their situation and rules in the country. And we are just a foreigner. It is difficult problem even now. Especially, in 1890s the visit to Japan of foreigners was more limited than now. So the position of foreign women was not so stable and they didn't have social power at that time. But Riddell was so brave and active person doing something new. These attitudes for Japanese serious situation changed one aspect of Japanese society and medical situation. However I don’t think every foreigner and even local people could behave like her. All we could do and need to do is to know about the country and situation well. It is true that we couldn't do anything if we don’t know anything about it. So I think we can begin help with knowing the situation.


References

Retrieved June 18 2014. Wikipedia

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%8F%E3%83%B3%E3%83%8A%E3%83%BB%E3%83%AA%E3%83%87%E3%83%AB

Retrieved June 25 2014. Fukushi shinbun web

http://www.fukushishimbun.co.jp/topics/3416

http://www.fukushishimbun.co.jp/topics/3488

http://www.fukushishimbun.co.jp/topics/3529

http://www.fukushishimbun.co.jp/series02/3571

http://www.fukushishimbun.co.jp/topics/3682

http://www.fukushishimbun.co.jp/topics/3819

Picture

from http://riddell-wright.com/history_index.php

Alexander von Siebold

By Tomomi Ishizaka

Alexander Von Siebold was one of translators who were hired by Japanese government. Alexander was from Germany, so his mother language was German. However, he made a big achievement as a Japanese-English translator.

He came to Japan in 1859 with his father, Phillip Von Siebold, when he was 12 years old. From then, he started to work as a Japanese-English translator in Imperial Russian Navy. Of course, English was not his native language, so at first, his English skill was not enough. However, it was brushed up in his work.

He was appointed official interpreter to the British consulate in Edo when he was 15 years old. He assisted British consul in negotiations pertaining to the Namamugi incident, Anglo-Satsuma War and Bombardment of Shimonoseki [all decisive incidents leading to the Meiji Restoration - Ed].

From 1870, he was sent to Frankfurt and Wien by Japanese government to negotiate. And in 1875, he became an official interpreter for the Japanese Ministry of Finance. He assisted the Japanese government and succeeded in concluding Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation. Thanks to the treaty, Japan revised the unequal treaties [the Harris Treaties of 1858 opened several of Japan's ports to trade at rates unfavorable to Japan and contained extraterritoriality clauses. Japan was keen for them to be revised as soon as possible - Ed].

Why did a German-speaking 12-year-old boy start to work as a Japanese-English translator?
The reason is that most Japanese in Dejima spoke Dutch and English speakers were in demand. At that time, there were a lot of transactions with people from Netherland, so people could speak only Japanese and Dutch. Even Commodore Perry came to Japan with Dutch speaking translator. So, the Japanese government really wanted English-Japanese translator.

Speaking of Alexander’s family, his father and his brother also came to Japan. His father was a doctor in Germany, but he was interested in the environment, such as biology and geography, so he came to Japan. He was kicked out off Japan because he tried to take a Japanese map to his home country. It was illegal in Japan to take Japanese things to other countries. After he got permission by the Japanese government, he came back to Japan again. Alexander’s brother, Heinrich, also came to Japan to study Japanese biology, geography and folklore, and he got married to Japanese woman.

In discussion, I gave two questions to audience:

1. If you were a person from Western country who had already had work like Phillip, would you want to go to Japan in Tokugawa period?

Most of audience answered “NO”. They said “because Japanese people seem barbarous from Western people’s perspective.” And some people said “living in Japan was really difficult so I would keep working in home country.” On the other hand, some people who answered YES said “I would go there because I would want to spread my idea and knowledge.”

2. If you were Phillip, would you let Alexander go to Japan?

Again, most of them answered NO. They said that Phillip was kicked out off Japan so if I were Phillip, I would not want my son to go to Japan. Another reason is that Phillip was a doctor, so Alexander could be a doctor too.

People in Meiji period called foreign people “oyatoi gaikokujin” with irony [something like "honorably employed foreigners" - Ed]. However, foreign people influenced Japanese a lot and contributed to developing Japan.

As you read the answers above, most people think that if they were Western, they wouldn’t have gone to Japan. I suppose that it was true for people of that time. But in that situation, “oyatoi gaikokujin” came to Japan and worked. Even though they got big salary, I think it’s amazing. And Alexander’s career was quite special compared with others’ because he started to work in Japan when he was only 12 years old! From researching Alexander’s career, I could know how serious problem the Japanese government had in terms of diplomacy.


References
Arata, I. (1937, Feb). Alexander Von Siebold. Historiography. p627-p667.
http://ci.nii.ac.jp/els/110007472064.pdf?id=ART0009296306&type=pdf&lang=jp&host=cinii&order_no=&ppv_type=0&lang_sw=&no=1406526152&cp=

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. (2014). Information about diplomacy. Retrieved from
http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/annai/honsho/shiryo/qa/meiji_02.html

Edmund Morel

Edmund Morel

By Takahiro Sakaguchi

Edmund Morel was the memorable British man in Japan. In 1840 he was born in London. He studied applied chemistry and became the civil engineer taught by Mr. Clerk who was the master of the civil engineer. In 1870, he was invited by Japanese government to establish the railway in Japan. He was famous as the first foreign engineer in Japan. In that time only Ookuma Shigenobu and Ito Hirobumi supported his work, but his effort for making the railway impressed Japanese engineers. Also, he invited Japanese engineers to his house to teach them how to construct the railway. Unfortunately, he fell sick and died while the railway was not complete. In 1872, the railroad between Yokohama to Shinagawa was opened. This was Japan’s first railway. After using the train, Japan developed innovatively and speedily. Nowadays, more than 80% of Japanese people use train in a day.

My three discussion questions were “How would you feel if you saw the train for the first time? ”, “What country would you want to go if you had the knowledge of train engineer? ” and “What would you think if there was no train in Japan?”. First question was easily answered - that it makes us surprised and excited - because my classmates think it was the innovation of Japanese society and economy. For the second question, most classmates thought Asian countries because they thought Asian countries had not developed and there were no trains when Morel came to Japan. For the third question they answered that it might be hard to commute to KUIS [our university – Ed] and it would take a lot of time to arrive somewhere we wanted to go.

I feel that through the presentation and discussion it can be understood that history is connected to our current life. If Edmund hadn't come to Japan, Japan would not have been developed like the comfortable life. Unfortunately, some presentations were a little bit hard to understand. The person who has the presentation needs to take care of the classmates and how to understand it for every classmate equally. It makes the discussion better. Also, making discussion question is sometimes difficult for me because other students didn’t understand discussion question even I made a nice discussion question. It made me frustrated.

Finally, Morel made Japan develop more speedily and innovatively by making the railway. Time is changing, skill also is changing.

Reference

Edmund Morel, Yokohama Association for International communications and Exchanges, 1999, regards from http://www.city.yokohama.jp/me/yoke/theyoke/no.91/morel.html

William Smith Clark

William Smith Clark

by Kotone Kikuchi

Have you ever heard the famous phrase, Boys be ambitious? These are the words of William Smith Clark. These words are very famous, but his life is not so famous, so I would like to explain about his life easily.

<Summary of his back ground>

He was born in Massachusetts in America in 1826, and he studied hard about chemistry, botany, and zoology at Amherst College. After graduating from Amherst College, he went to study abroad to Germany, and got a doctor's degree of chemistry. Then, he went back to Amherst College as a professor of chemistry, and started to teach his major subject, especially chemistry. In 1863, he established Massachusetts Agricultural School, and then in 1873, he became the 3rd president of Massachusetts Agricultural School. At the same time, in Japan, Meiji government wanted to establish the modern type of Agricultural School in Hokkaido, and also they wanted to develop the land of Hokkaido. When he got this order, he thought that if he could succeed in developing a new land in Japan, he would get a high evaluation for Massachusetts Agricultural School from other people. In 1873, he went to Japan, and became the first assistant principal. Also he taught natural science, botany, and Christianity in English. He did not only teach, but also made an effort to develop new land of Hokkaido. He spent in Japan only less than 1 year, but his achievement was big.

<Discussion>

I had two discussion questions. One was “Why do you think he made a big effort for Hokkaido?” My opinion was he wanted to get high evaluations from other people through developing new land. Yuta said that “He likes agriculture, so Hokkaido is very suitable place for him.” I agree with his idea. Certainly, he liked studying natural chemistry, or other subject like botany, so Hokkaido was suitable place for him. The next question was “Do you think his phrase ‘Boys be ambitious’ was only for students, or for all of people who lived in Hokkaido?”. My opinion was that Clark said not only for students, but also people who live in Hokkaido. Misato’s opinion was “When he said the word, Boys be ambitious was just for students, but after that this word made an influence for people who live in Hokkaido.” When I heard her opinion, I agreed with her, so my opinion changed.

<Reflection>

I would like to write reflection about how to research, the presentation, and discussion. First, I would like to write how to research about him. The reason why I chose him for presentation task because I have heard his famous word “Boys be ambitious”, but I did not know about him. Also, I like Hokkaido, so I want to know about him. He is a famous person, so there is a lot of information on web sites. I looked at only web site, so if I have an opportunity of doing presentation like this, I will read books about my focus person. Next I'll mention the presentation. Through looking at feedback form, bad points were written by my class mate that I made some English mistakes, lacked his back ground information, so I should research more detail, and review my script and slide after make it. Finally I'll mention the discussion. Lacking leadership skill is my weak point, so I could not make a good discussion. I was given an advice about discussion from my class mates, for example, using “How about you?” or “What do you think?”, so I will use these words from this time on.

<References>

http://www.hokudai.ac.jp/ July 6, 2014

http://www.pockyboston.com/ July 7, 2014

Keep up your English study motivations!!

Alexander von Siebold

By Kosei Kubota

Alexander George Gustav von Siebold was a German who worked as an interpreter of British legation in Japan and a foreign advisor (Oyatoigaikokujin) of Japanese Meiji government. He was born in Leiden Netherland; his father worked in Netherland but consequently took banishment order, and moved to Japan with him.

When he was 14, he could not speak either Japanese or English well. However, he made an effort to learn English and mastered it within only one year. When he was 15, he became a student interpreter of British legation in Japan. Student interpreter is a system which trains interpreters who deal with Asian countries, introduced by British.

He also studied harder, and one year later he had become a student interpreter, passed the national administered exam and became a translator. As a translator, he dealt with three languages, Germany, English and Japanese. He was very trusted by influential people from some countries so he was involved in a lot of events such as the Namamugi incident, the negotiation of opening a port in Hyogo in the Shimonoseki War, and navigating Shomu Tokugawa to the Paris expo.

In 1870, he resigned as a British legation officer and became a foreign advisor (oyatoi-gaikokujin) of the Meiji government. He started to support growth of Japan. As a foreign advisor, he supported Japanese travelers life in Britain, requested Vienna to participate in the expo, and concluded the treaty of Commerce and Navigation between the UK and Japan (Nichi-Ei Tsusho Kokai Joyaku).

Discussions
In our group's discussion, we talked about how members felt about his life. My group members were amazed by his eager attitude for language studies and negotiation. Obviously, there were not enough materials because technologies were still not developed, so he had to study without convenient things. How did he study effectively under that situation? And what was important for his foreign language acquisition? One interesting opinion was taking interaction with native speakers. The immersion made him to take communication in Japanese many times. Perhaps, it supported his effective learning. And in other opinion, high motivation by him was also important; when he was youth, he learned Japanese as important issue to make his future. So he could maintain his motivation. These opinions were right on the mark.

My opinions
I have learned that Siebold studied harder and made an effort to do a lot of important things for building the current Japanese country. I’m not sure whether he liked Japan or not, but he had been living in Japan for over 50 years, so I guessed that may be not too bad for working place. Through the group discussion, I totally agreed with my group members. Although the environment given for him is more difficult than nowadays, He proved that he could master languages and get the job even in such situation. This fact really encouraged our studying motivations as foreign language learners. From my point of view, Japan is still not well-developed for living with people from foreign countries. He made some bases for language studies, so we might have to study harder and contribute to supporting foreign travelers instead of saying thanks to him.

References
The web page Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_von_Siebold
Link image : http://pds.exblog.jp/pds/1/201305/27/48/b0181748_18331211.jpg

Ernest Fenollosa

Ernest Fenellosa

By Fumiya

Life of my focus person

Ernest Fenollosa is famous as a student of Japanese art. He was born in the US in 1853 when the Black ships came to Japan. He studied philosophy at Harvard University. After graduation, he was interested in art and entered an art school. When he was 25 years old, he found a job offer with information of Tokyo University and he came to Japan in the same year. He taught economy and philosophy in Tokyo University. After came to Japan, he was really impressed by the beauty of Japanese art and he began to study it by collecting antiques and traveling to old temples. Later, he was shocked that Japanese didn’t respect Japanese art because they aimed at westernization. Then, he began to protect Japanese art. He taught the beauty of Japanese art to Japanese by giving lectures to them and researching antiques with Okakura Tenshin who contributed to Japanese art greatly. In addition, he tried to develop Japanese art by creating new style of art with Kanou Hougai, who was a great painter, and researching the present conditions of western art with Okakura Tenshin. In 1888, Fenellosa established Tokyo school of Fine Arts with Okakura Tenshin and became a vice-president. Later, he went back to the US and tried hard to introduce Japanese art there. Therefore, he contributed to reviving and developing Japanese art greatly.

Summary of discussion

I asked three discussion questions about Ernest Fenollosa to my group members. Firstly, I asked them “Why do you think Fenollosa decided to go to Japan?” Student A answered that she thought his relationship with his family was not so good or his parents were divorced. Student B answered that she thought Fenollosa was interested in Japanese art since he was a child, so he wanted to go to Japan. Student C answered that she thought Fenollosa liked Japanese culture and art, so he wanted to learn about them in Japan. Secondly, I asked “Why do you think Japanese traditional art was treated badly and a lot of temples and statues of Buddha were destroyed when Fenollosa came to Japan?” Student B answered that it was very surprising and she thought because Japan aimed at the westernization at that time. Student A answered that she thought it was because of Haibutsukishaku [the move to abolish Buddhism in Japan, especially during the Meiji period - Ed]. Student C answered that it was difficult, but she thought it was because Japanese liked western art and culture at that time. Finally, I asked “Why do you think Fenollosa loved Japanese art?” Student B answered that she thought because Japanese art was not colorful but simple such as an ink painting and Fenollosa was impressed by this feature of Japanese art. Student A answered that she thought because Japanese art was different from western art, so Japanese art was fresh for him and attracted him. Student C answered that she thought because Japan had many kinds of art and each art was very beautiful.

Reflection on person and project

Through this project, I could understand about Ernest Fenollosa. Also, I could understand that he really loved Japanese art and culture. He let Japanese turn their attention to Japanese art when Japan aimed at the westernization and he carried out various activities to revive and develop Japanese art actively. Therefore, Fenollosa contributed to Japanese art greatly. I thought he was a benefactor of Japanese art. Also, I thought we should respect him and Japanese art. Finally, through this project, I felt that learning the history was very interesting and useful because the history sometimes taught us what we should do.

References

Nihonn no onnzinn Fenollosa [A benefactor of Japan, Fenollosa] Retrieved from

http://kajipon.sakura.ne.jp/kt/haka-topic36.html

The Contributions of Yamao Yozo to Japan

Yamao Yozo

By Yuka Tanaka

If you can say names of all the members of Choshu Five, you are quite familiar with Japanese history. Choshu Five are well-known as people who made Japan’s foundation from foreign countries. However, most Japanese people do not know the details or they know only one member, especially Hirobumi Ito. He was the first prime minister of Japan, so he is the most famous person of Choshu Five. However, it could be said that Yamao Yozo is one of the people who improved the level of Japan. He also traveled to learn and brought knowledge as a member of Choshu Five. He developed Japan infrastructure, education for industry and society and chances to work for people who are deaf and speech- impaired.


Infrastructure

Yamao Yozo contributed to make infrastructure of Japan. He had a chance to go to London to learn. One of studies he learned was civil engineering which is a technical skill of founding bases to live. After he came back to Japan, he had opportunities to be in the Japanese government. According to Kitayama (2006), “Yamao’s policy was that a country could grow under the power industry.” He tried to make Japanese infrastructure better, and he focused on three points for infrastructure in Japan. One of his works is that he tried to adopt engineering to improve Japanese industry. He noticed that accepting the iron industry and the shipbuilding industry as government management was a quicker way to develop Japan. Also, he provided networks of roads in Japan. He became a leader of making railways and lighthouses, and they became important things to transport people and materials. In addition, Yamao took part in a plan of building a government office quarter. He became a leader of planning to make a new government office in an area in Tokyo. This area has been well-known as the government area of Kasumigaseki, where there are many buildings of government office.


Schools

Yamao tried to give chances to educate people for the future of Japanese industry and society. According to Kitayama (2006),”his thinking is that people can create workers if the basic of industry is not in Japan, and they would be people who could contribute to Japanese industry.” Yamao thought that engineers from England exactly contributed to create Japan’s infrastructure. However, he felt it was important to educate young Japanese people who would be great engineers in the future, so Japan would not need to rely on England forever. Miyoshi’s (1992) study found the following: Yamao built an engineering school, because he felt Japan needed to educate people to create independence of any Japanese technology. Also, there was no precent that a school gave a perfectly new education of engineering around the world. (p.292) Yamao’s plan for starting a school for engineering was accepted, and the school opened in 1873. Moreover, he found a school of art for industry. At the time, he had ideas of industrial designs, and he thought that industry is connected with art, so people should study art for industry. Also, he gave education and skill to persons with hearing and speaking disabilities. He tried to collect money to establish a school for them from many people and the Imperial Family, and the school started in 1880.


Education

Yamao introduced education for persons who are deaf and speech-impaired to Japan. He felt that people could get greater skill and abilities as workers by education (Asahi.com, 2004). He had chances to study and work at Napier’s shipyard in Scotland from 1866 to 1868. During his stay in the place, he saw people who were workmen and did not speak at all. However, he noticed that the people could not communicate with words, but they used a sign language to communicate with each other. He thought that people who are deaf and speech-impaired in Japan also could work like the Scottish workmen. In addition, they could contribute to Japanese society as workers, so he tried to make chances to live and work in society for these people in Japan. Therefore, he built a school for them in 1880, and he proposed that the school should be in the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Furthermore, he became the president of the Japan Association for Persons with Hearing and Speaking Disabilities, and he tried to spread sign language in Japan.

Yamao Yozo is the person who modernized Japan, especially for industry. He contributed to make infrastructure of Japan, tried to educate people for the future of Japanese industry and society, and introduced education for people who are deaf and speech- impaired. If you are Japanese or a person who is interested in Japanese history, you should know about his contributions. Nowadays, his efforts and thinking have been inherited in Japan.


References

Kitayama, T. (2006). Life of Yamao Yozo.  Retrieved December 22, 2013 from Toshikazu Kitayama’s website: http://ktymtskz.my.coocan.jp/denki/yamao.htm

Miyoshi, N. (1992). A Career of Samurai-Engineer Yamao Yozo. Retrieved January 8, 2014 from CiNii Website: http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/110002474683

Asahi.com (2004). Yamao Yozo, His Experience in a Shipyard influenced education for persons who are deaf and speech-impaired. Retrieved January 18, 2014 from Asahi.com: home.att.ne.jp/air/walnut/japan-uk/cyousyu-five_asahi05.pdf

William Kinninmond Burton

By Shiomi Mano

William Kinninmond Burton is known as an engineer and a photographer. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1856. His father, John Hill Burton was a lawyer and an eminent amateur historian. His mother was the daughter of Dr Cosmo Innes who was one of Scotland’s foremost amateur photographers. Also, Burton had a relationship with Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of “Sherlock Holmes”. In 1973, he was apprenticed for five years to Messrs Brown Brothers who were Hydraulic and Mechanical Engineers of Rosebank Ironworks in Edinburgh. He left the firm in 1879 to enter partnership with his uncle in London to design water systems. In 1881, he became Resident Engineer to the London Sanitary Protection Association. 

In 1887, at the age of 31, Burton was invited to Japan as a foreign government adviser to assume the post of first professor sanitary engineering at Tokyo Imperial University. At that time, Japan was suffering from several serious epidemics, especially cholera. Cholera was regarded as powerful disease and compared to a tiger. It means a tiger is ferocious and people did not have any solutions at all.  

To solve this problem, Burton was invited to Japan. As soon as he arrived in Japan, he worked as a consulting engineer in Health and Medical Bureau. He was committed to providing plans for the sanitation systems and water supply of many towns and cities. Burton thought pure water was necessary to prevent cholera because in Hiroshima, people drank water which was not clean water from the river. Then, people got diarrhea and nausea. Therefore, he prepared plans for modern water plans for many Japanese cities like Hiroshima, Okayama, Sendai, Nagoya, and Kobe. Burton invented hand pump to get pure water. In Hiroshima, citizens had a ceremony to congratulate the accomplishment of water works. Also there is still pure water bottle with Burton’s picture on the label today in Shimonoseki city. He also gave a lecture of sanitary engineering in Tokyo Imperial University as a special teacher and inspired famous sanitary engineers in the future.

Burton was famous for the designer of Ryounkaku, the first western-style skyscraper in Japan. Ryounkaku was located in Asakusa and opened in 1890.

Ryounkaku was designed to attract working men and their families to visit Asakusa and became a landmark of Asakusa after the opening in 1890. It was a 225-foot (69m) tower, twelve stories and made from red bricks. The shape was octagonal and the two electric elevators served the first to the eight floor with a ten-person capacity each. These were invented by Ichisuke Fujioka, who is a founder of Toshiba, and were the first elevators ever installed in Japan. At the time, Ryounkaku was the tallest building in Tokyo. Ryounkaku was known widely as it appeared in the literary of contemporary authors such as Tanizaki Junichiro, Ishikawa Takuboku and Kitahara Hakushu. Although it survived the earthquake in 1884, it was seriously damaged and finally, was pulled down in The Great Kanto Earthquake of September 1923. 

Burton was also noted as a photographer as his grandfather was lover of photographry. He actually visited the disaster areas of Eruption of Bandai-mountain (1888) and Noubi Earthquake (1891) immediately after the earthquake and took pictures. Then, he published the photo book “The Earthquake of Japan” (1891) and “The volcano of Japan”.

In 1896, Burton visited Taiwan to develop the sanitation there. At the time, Taiwan was the territory of Japan. However, he got epidemic disease and passed away on 14 August 1899 in Tokyo of a fever. He was only 43 years old. He devoted his life to development of Japan.


References

W K Burton, Engineer extraordinaire” (December 2001), attributed December 5, 2013:
http://www.thumper.com.uk/JSS/Dec2001/page-4.htm

William Kinninmond Burton / Edinburgh South West” (January 24, 2013), attributed January 16, 2014:
http://www.edinburghsouthwest.com/william-kinninmond-burton/

Rounkaku-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia” attributed January 16, 2014: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry%C5%8Dunkaku

W.K.Burton-Wikipedia, the encyclopedia” attributed December 5, 2013: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._K._Burton

Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo)

Lafcadio Hearn

By Mio Yamada

Patrick Lafcadio Hearn was born in Greece on June 27, 1850, and he passed away in Tokyo when he was 54 years old. He died of the heart failure. In 1865, he lost his left eyesight because of the playground accident, so he always hid his left side of his face when he had his picture taken. He was one of the people who affected Japan so nicely. He was an international writer, and he was interested in Japanese culture and Japanese ghosts.

First, Hearn was a cosmopolitan. His father was Irish, and his mother was Greek. After his parents divorced in 1854, he was well-educated in France and England. In 1859, he was sent to the U.S. and succeeded as a journalist using foreign language when he was in his twenties. He lived in New Orleans for nearly a decade, and he wrote about New Orleans. He was little known at that time, and even now he is little known for his writing about New Orleans. Finally, he came to Japan as a correspondent of America in 1890.

Second, after he came to Japan, he was fascinated by Japanese culture so much. Thus, he canceled a contract, and he started to work as an English teacher in Japan. Next year, he got married to a Japanese woman, Koizumi Setsu. He became naturalized Japanese, assuming the name Koizumi Yakumo. He got Japanese last name from his wife and first name from the region where he lived. Also, he published a lot of books for introducing Japanese culture to American people. Although Japan was unknown and exotic to Westerners at that time, Japanese style became fashionable in Western countries thanks to his books about Japan.

Finally, when he was a little boy, he believed in ghosts, so when he came to Japan, he was really interested in Japanese ghosts. He published not only books about Japanese culture but also books about Japanese ghosts. His major work is Kwaidan. It has a lot of stories such as The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi, Yuki-Onna and so on. Today, many people still set a high valuation on these stories. Also, Koizumi Yakumo Kinenkan was established, which is Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum, in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture in 1933. It has an interesting content called “Matsue ghosts tour.” Guests can go around the places which are associated with Kwaidan story.

To sum up, Patrick Lafcadio Hearn had an international sense because of his childhood. He knew about lots of different cultures, but he was fascinated by Japanese culture most. Also, he decided that he would spend the rest of his life in Japan. He affected Japan so much, but he was also affected by Japanese culture. He was also interested in Japanese ghosts. There are many books about Japanese ghosts which are written by Lafcadio Hearn on Japanese subjects. People in recent years still love his books. Also, his books about Japanese life style from non-Japanese person’s eyes were loved by both Japanese people and Westerners. Hearn changed the image of Japan for Westerners at that time. Therefore, he is absolutely an important person in Japanese history.


References

Lafcadio Hearn. (2014). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafcadio_Hearn

小泉八雲. (2004). Retrieved from http://www.geocities.jp/bane2161/koizumiyakumo.htm

小泉八雲記念館 Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.matsue-tourism.or.jp/yakumo/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Lafcadio_Hearn.jpg

The Chōshū Five

The Choshu Five

By Ken Hashimoto

For us, it is really easy to study abroad in our time, compared with the last days of the Edo era. When Japan was closed country, five young Japanese men were dispatched from the Choshu domain to search for the ideal methods of the future of Japan. They would be called “The Choshu Five” later, respecting their courage. Their tremendous will was very strong and amazing. It is often said that their attitudes are just like “live instruments”. I suppose that the simile means to sacrifice even their private feelings. I assure that it can not be explained as simple heroism. I was very interested about people who sought abroad for the way to lead their nation and formed the present Japanese social system. In this article, I will refer to their characteristics and the environment which made their strong will before the voyage first, and then the social background of the last days of the Tokugawa shogunate, and lastly their contribution to Japan in their lifetimes.

At the time the principle of advocating reverence for the Emperor and the expulsion of foreigners was spreading [Editor's note: despite the nominal power of the Emperor, Japan had been ruled since 1600 by the Shogun, and had been closed to most foreign trade and influence]. In those days, the Choshu domain fired at the foreign ships hard and was definitely the base of that movement. Surprisingly, such a domain sent five young people off abroad, breaking a system of national isolation to get the information of the Great Powers of the world. Actually, scholars who had progressive ideas about Japanese foreign relations existed in the Choshu domain. I assure you that the domain was a base of flowering of culture as well as anti-foreign movement.

I should refer to Shoin Yoshida, who was the prime mover of flowering of culture and influenced the Choshu five. Before opening the country, when a fleet which was headed by Commodore Perry came to Japan to get the answer of a treaty of peace and amity, Yoshida hid in an American ship and entreated them to let him to make a voyage to America. Although his action met with failure, the necessity of getting the knowledge of foreign countries was raised.

After his death, many followers who succeeded to his idea stirred up the heads of the Choshu domain, and focused on bringing up able people. I am sure that this factor was one of great motive powers behind fulfilling the Meiji Restoration. The Choshu domain planned the secret passage of the Choshu Five, supported by cooperation of the British consul in Japan.

In the background, the five young men were selected to study abroad to London.

The members of the contingent were as follows.

• Itō Shunsuke (later Prime Minister as Itō Hirobumi), 
• Inoue Monta (later Foreign Minister as Inoue Kaoru),
• Yamao Yōzō (later Engineer, Pioneer of education for persons who are deaf and speech-impaired),
• Endō Kinsuke (later Engineer of Coinage)
• Nomura Yakichi (later made the first railway in Japan )

Itō was a pupil of Yoshida and was very close to his teacher. Taking over teacher’s will, the voyage was successful.

The Choshu Five were overwhelmed when they arrived in London and saw many huge steamships, trains or big factories. As soon as they arrived, their exclusionism was blown away in an instant. Deploring reckless exclusionism, Ito and Inoue would make every effort to open a country to foreign trade and diplomatic relations later. The others also would be leading figures in the foundation new Japan.

Studying a little, I found that many people’s strong desires had supported the Choshu five. I think that it needed huge bravery to change a nation. I was very moved by their enthusiasm and thought that I also wanted to get strength in my mind like them. I realized that it is important to have a wide vision and be confident in my own will.

http://hagilib.city.hagi.lg.jp/genkou/tokusyurist/2006.8tyousyuugoketu/1701.2006.8tyousyuugogektu02.jpg

Fukuzawa Yukichi

Fukuzawa Yukichi

By Kana Suzuki

I will talk about Fukuzawa Yukichi by presenting a brief introduction of his background, what he wanted to do for Japan, and the mediation he used to spread his thought.

Nowadays, Fukuzawa is famous for his portrait on the ten-thousand-yen-note. He was born in January 10, 1835 in Nakatsu, which is in present-day Oita. His father was a low-ranking samurai, therefore he had strong feelings about the class system in Japan from an early age. His father died when he was 2 years old, so his mother brought him up. When he was a child, he was an urchin and disliked reading books. However, when he was 14 years old, he began to fret about that everyone studied hard except him, so he started studying. Soon after he started studying, he distinguished himself in the study.

When he was 19 years old, he went to Nagasaki, and learned Dutch studies there. One year after, he visited Osaka, and decided to learn at Tekijuku, under Ogata Koan. While he was suffering from sickness, he finally reached the top of that school when he was 22 years old. After that, he went to Edo, and opened a school. When he visited Yokohama in the next year, he felt the strong necessary of English, and started studying it. In 1859, he went to America as an attendant of the captain of “Kanrinmaru” (咸臨丸). And in 1862, he went to Europe with a mission, and learned about European circumstances, history, and thoughts. After coming back to Japan he published “Seiyou Jijou” (“Conditions in the West”, 西洋事情). In 1867, he went to America as a member of the shogunate, and wrote “Seiyou Jijou Gaihen” (“Conditions in the West, vol. 2”, 西洋事情 外編) and “Sekai kunizukushi”(“Countries of the World”, 世界国尽). In 1868, he moved his school to Shiba, which is present Mita, and named the school Keioh gijuku [Editor's note: this was the forerunner of Keio University]. He wrote “Gakumon no susume” (“An Encouragement of Learning”, 学問の進すゝめ) in 1872, and “Bunmeiron no gairyaku” (“Outline of a Theory of Civilisation”, 文明論之概略) in 1875.

He is said to be an Enlightenment thinker. Firstly, he tried to introduce Western civilization to Japan, and make Japan modernized. In addition to this, he came to develop his own ideas. He insisted that the Japanese needed to be independent. He believed that national independence leads people to be independent, so he promoted business because financial independence of each person was connected to Japan’s development. At that time, he focused on tradition of Japan, spirits of samurai, which is diligence and loyalty. On the other hand, he criticized the traditional disproportion of power in Japan, and he thought new spirits could change this situation. When he proceeded to reform Japanese traditional idea, he noticed the importance of samurai. He thought that samurai could improve Japan’s industry with their animation, responsibility, and wide view. To conclude, his idea was based on asking a spirit of independence and self-respect for everyone.

Mainly he showed his thought in his books. For example in “Gakumon no susume” (学問のすゝめ), he said that whether rich and high-class or not, all people needed education, and that this connected to independence of themselves and nation. In “Bunmeiron no gairyaku”(文明論の概略), he was comparing Japan and another country, and explained that improvement of public sentiment by interchanging and competing freely could make Japan independent as a civilized country. In addition to this he made a school, “Keio gijuku”(慶応義塾), which declares his policy of education for everyone. As he focused on this school as a core, through aspects of politics, economy, society, and speech, he spread the movement of involving ideas. In 1874 he made a meeting hall in his school to show the importance of speech for public. In another way, food like milk and eating meat was introduced. He was said to be the first person who brought the word “curry” to Japan. And he did not like to be seen as domineering, so he did not dress up formally.

What he tried to do was modernize Japan. He was really familiar with western culture and social conditions, and understood them well. Then, he thought that to take some good points from them would help Japan modernize. The one of the most important focuses of his opinion was independence and self-respect. To spread this idea, he built a school, and wrote many books. It is said that we Japanese can learn a lot from Fukuzawa even now.

References

[Yukichi Fukuzawa-NAVER conclusion] <http://matome.naver.jp/odai/2137791402934501401?page=2>

[About Yukichi Fukuzawa-words] <http://kotobank.jp/word/%E7%A6%8F%E6%B2%A2%E8%AB%AD%E5%90%89>

[Wikipedia] <http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%A6%8F%E6%BE%A4%E8%AB%AD%E5%90%89>

Hutchinson.C. Personal communication (course materials)

Georges Ferdinand Bigot

By Hikari Kozono

Background

Have you ever heard of a non-Japanese painter who drew not only luxury life of Japanese upper class but also ordinary life of masses? Georges Ferdinand Bigot was the French painter who depicted Japan in Meiji period. He really liked beauty of Japan and Japanese people. He was born in France in 1860. His mother encouraged him into art. At the age of twelve, he was accepted by the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he was trained by artists such as Jean-Léon Gérôme and Carolus-Duran. He was interested in Japonism and Japanese art by number of collectors of Japanese art in school and he decided to work as an illustrator of newspaper to pay for the trip to Japan. 

He came to Japan at the beginning of the Meiji-era to study Japanese and Japanese art. After that he worked at the imperial Japanese army academy where he taught water color paintings to his students as an Oyatoi Gaikokuzin [Editor's note: a non-Japanese person employed by the Japanese government to teach necessary skills for Japan's modernisation] for 2 years. After he was done with his teaching job, he was allowed to stay in Japan by drawing pictures for French people in Japan. Eventually, his works became popular among those who were interested in Japanese life and against revision of treaty. His main customers were French people who lived in the foreign settlement Japan. However many of them were opposed to revision of treaty and went back to their home countries. That made Bigot worried about losing a lot of his customers. He also worked as a journalist by drawing scenes he saw but since photo technology developed at this time, his work gradually decreased. He thought it would be difficult to publish magazines freely in Japan and decided to go back to France. Before he went back to France, he divorced to his Japanese wife Masu Sano. In France he kept working as a painter for some French magazines and newspapers. He died in 1927 while he was walking in the Japanese style garden in his house.

Satirical cartoon

Although his first interest in Japanese art was Japonism, his main style of painting was satirical cartoons. Satire means to use humor to show how foolish some people’s behavior or ideas are. He mostly illustrated scenes of everyday Japanese life of masses and upper class but also ridiculed Japanese politicians, revision of treaty, and what he felt to be too much westernization in Japan in his famous satirical newspaper, Tobae. He published it for French people who lived in Japan but he put Japanese captions on his works in order to impress Japanese journalists, and sent them to Japanese newspaper publishing companies. He watched Japan’s rapid westernization with a mixture of curiosity and affection, producing a lot of pictures of the scenes he saw and tried to introduce these to the West.

Affection for Japan

While Bigot criticized too much westernization in Japan, he loved and respected Japanese tradition, culture and the everyday life of ordinary people. He especially expressed affection towards Japanese woman who are calm and obedient to men. In Tobae, he wrote “The best thing in Japan is women. Japanese women should keep being Japanese.” It is said that Bigot saw Japanese women as symbol of Japanese tradition. The picture below is the one of his satirical cartoons about westernized Japanese called “Rokumeikan’s lady”. He depicted westernized upper class Japanese women smoking in the dance hall as looking like monkeys. 

Bigot could draw pictures from the same point of view to Japanese masses. That is because he assimilated into Japanese masses easily by living outside of foreign settlement and carefully observing Japanese ordinary life. He drew various looking Japanese unlike many painters who drew only Japanese people with glasses, slant eyes and buck teeth. I guess that would change the image of Japan for those foreigners who knew only stereotype of Japanese. Some of his work didn’t receive good evaluations because he drew too ordinary scenes. However, he definitely played an important role in telling people about real Japanese life. I think his drawings will be great resources to tell people life of Japanese masses and upper class in Meiji era.


References

Simizu, I. (December 8, 2006). Bigo ga Mita Meiji Nippon. Tokyo: Ko-dan sha

Georges Ferdinand Bigot. (December 9, 2013). Retrieved on January 23, 2014. From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Ferdinand_Bigot

Natsume Soseki

Natsume Soseki

By Haruka Takenawa

I would like to present Natsume Soseki’s growth, experience and the effect on his character, and his contribution to society at that time and this time. The reason why I chose him is I was interested in his literature when I was junior high school student. I would like to know his personal side. I think his personal background and experience must have influenced his works, and have given a lot of ideas to his works. That is why I chose him.

Firstly, I will mention three main points about Soseki’s growth: his family, study in Japan, and study in Britain.

Soseki was born in 1867. At that time, Japan was full of upheavals. The Meiji Restoration [Editor’s note: defeat of the Shogunate and restoration of rule by the Emperor] had happened, and Sakamoto Ryouma and Nakaoka Tarou had been killed by Bakufu [the ruling Shogunate]. His father was a village head, so Soseki’s parents’ home was rich. His mother had many children. He had four brothers and three sisters. However, Soseki was not a wanted child. His parents’ treatment of him was terrible. His parents had never treated him as their child. Soseki was born in rich family, but not an amiable family. He was sent to a merchant family by his father as soon as his birth. Unfortunately, his adoptive father and his father had a trouble, so he went back to his house where he was born. The trouble between them continued until Soseki entered ASAHI press when he was 40 years old. That experience, and his domestic environment, gave him the ideas for “Michikusa”.

He acquired culture at ten different schools and Universities. He changed his learning place many times. He mainly learned English literature, because he was really interested in English. When he entered Nishyougakushya University, he learned ethics, the western sense of beauty, and Edo’s sensitivity. He had an outstanding brain, so he was the head of his class in all subjects especially English. He became an honor student of Tokyo University. As a result of his outstanding work, he got job from his professor to translate “Houjyouki” (Kamakura era masterpiece). He met Masaoka Shiki at Tokyo University, and they became best friends and haiku companions.

Governor let Soseki to study in Britain. Soseki was inspired by European thoughts, education, and their way of living. Also he could concentrate on his study of English literature. “MY INDIVIDUALISM” was inspired by their ideas of “Freedom”. British freedom meant one had to have the responsibility to be free. However, Japanese freedom was totally different. Through his studying in British, he found that an ideal English teacher is a person who has studied overseas then mastered English as a communication tool. Furthermore, he got many ideas about educational style.

Secondly, I will mention his experiences and the essential points to build up his character. I will focus on the literature, his friends, and illness.

He loved not only writing but also reading. He is famous for loving foreigner’s literature. When he went abroad to Britain, he read Jane Austen’s literature with pleasure. It is not an exaggeration to say that his literature was influenced by her works.

He had a lot of precious friends. When he was 22 years old he met Masaoka Shiki at Tokyo University. Soseki was impressed by Masaoka’s haiku and became his haiku companion. They improved each other so that Masaoka is necessary for Soseki’s works and Masaoka was too. Thanks to Shiki’s friend Takahama kyoshi (literature companion), Soseki became a full time writer. Soseki had neurasthenia (a nervous breakdown) so Kyoshi believed that if Soseki focused on his works, he would be able to forget his uneasiness. He had not only literature companions; he also had friends for boat race, and gymnastics. He was really interested in boat race and good at gymnastics. He had good relationships with them.

Soseki had really poor health. He had serious illnesses more than fifteen times. He suffered from illness from only three years old to when he died. His one-year-old fifth daughter died when he was forty-four years old. Her cause of death was uncertain, because of that, Soseki decided to ask his doctor to examine his body by dissection after his death.

Lastly, I will mention his contribution to Japanese society at that time and this time, focusing on his works, his educational style, and his famous speech at Gakushuuin University.

He produced about 37 masterpieces in his short life. His works give his reader great impact even now. “KOKORO” is really meaningful novel because depending on the age, each generation feel differently. That is why it is difficult to understand his works. Its psychological description lets reader consider deeply. The time background is of course different from these days, however the characteristics are related to us. ASAHI press took a survey to ask audience which writer is the best writer in Japan of the past thousand years. The most popular writer was Natsume Soseki.

Soseki taught mainly English at about six different Universities, junior and high schools such as Meiji, Tokyo, and Waseda University. Soseki carefully considered not only his teaching style but also how to build up students’ character. His teaching style was incredible, because he had already found that to unite grammar and communication is the best way to learn English. That idea had just started in 2013. I was so surprised to know that. His educational style was very practical, because he thought English was a tool to communicate, not for study.

“MY INDIVIDUALISM” was a speech given by Soseki at Gakushuuin University. When I read it, I was so impressed, because he noticed that Japanese society’s fault even though it was 1914. His quote must have influenced many people even now. He told the students three main topics. Firstly, “If you want to be free, you have to accept other’s freedom.” Secondly, “If you want to use your right, you have to have its duty.” Lastly, “If you want to use your power of money, you have to think about its responsibility.” After he left such meaningful speech, he passed away when he was 49 years old.

In conclusion, I have mentioned Soseki’s growth, experiences, and contribution. I noticed that he had a lot of setbacks. Through his difficulties, he made lots of outstanding and meaningful works. I think his setbacks are his works’ essential items. He had to have serious illness. However, the motivation to produce his works was his limited life I think. In learning about his background, Soseki taught me fortitude. Even we have difficulties, we should overcome our difficulties and should not give up.


References

Kimura. (1998). Natsume Soseki’s history. Retrieved May 5, 1998, from Biglobe web site: http://www2a.biglobe.ne.jp/~kimura/senpu.html

Koki, K. (2000). Natsume Soseki as English teacher. Japan: Shintyosya Institution Press.

Mizuho, I. (2004). Soseki in London. Japan: Seibundou Institution Press.

Soseki, N. (1978). MY INDIVISUARISUM. Japan: Kodansha Institution Press.

James Curtis Hepburn

By Hansol Lyu

Have you heard the name of James Curtis Hepburn? I had never heard this name before the class. In this semester, I researched about James Curtis Hepburn for my presentation then I became interested in his life. Thus, I will explain about his life in Japan.

He was born in 1815 in Milton, Pennsylvania. His father was a lawyer and his mother was daughter of minister of chapel. He entered the Princeton University, when he was 16 years old. After graduating, he entered again the University of Pennsylvania. Then, he studied medical science. At this time, he became interested in Christianity, because he was influenced by his grandfather who was a minister of chapel.

After graduating the University of Pennsylvania, he married Clara Mary Leete. In addition, in 1858, the United States start to trade with Japan. In this period, American’s Greek missionaries thought this was chance to impart thinking of the Christianity in Japan. The Christianity association decided to send missionaries to Japan. Hepburn had strong interest in Eastern Christianity, so he often checked the magazine and newspaper of missionary. Then he founded the article decision of the Christianity association and he applied for that. Therefore, he and his wife went to Japan to spread the Christianity in 1859.

　

James Curtis Hepburn & Clara Mary Leete

Hepburn arrived Japan in 1859 at Kanagawa prefecture. In 1859, the thinking that Japan was a closed country still remained. Many thought that foreigner should be killed or forced out Japan. This thinking was called “Jyoiron (攘夷論)”. In addition, Japan prohibited Christianity. If people did not follow the law, they might be killed by government. He was afraid of this situation. Thereby, Hepburn could not move freely and spread the Christianity. He decided to open the hospital at Soukou temple in Japan. He studied about medical science in the university, and he was famous doctor when he lived in America. He did surgery and ophthalmology treatment for Japanese. Also, he did not get the money from patients and he could treat about 3,500 people. However, the hospital closed in just 5 months because even though the hospital became famous, he was worried about the eyes of the people to have thinking of “Jyoiron (攘夷論)”. 

After closing the hospital, Hepburn’s wife Clara founded Hepburn cram school. At this time, Hepburn was busy making Japanese-English dictionary, so his wife was in charge of the cram school. She wanted to teach English to Japanese women. This cram school became the Ferris University now.

This picture shows Ferris University

Hepburn published the Japanese-English dictionary in 1867. He thought the dictionary is necessary to convey a correct meaning of the Bible, so he made the Japanese-English dictionary by using Romaji [Editor’s note: Japanese is a pictorial language – romaji is a system of writing it phonetically using the Latin alphabet]. Thereby, Americans were able to pronounce Japanese. 20 years later, he completed translation of the Bible.

In 1873, he could establish a church, his dream achieved 17 years after he came to Japan. Maybe, the church is one of the ways to spread the Christianity for him.

He related with various things in Japan. Firstly, he treated a lot of Japanese patients. Secondly, Hepburn and his wife tried to supply food education’s environment for Japanese. Finally, he made an effort to spread the Christianity in Japan and he attained it. I felt his love for Japan. He was always afraid of the Jyoiron (攘夷論), but he did not escape from Japan. Rather, he helped Japanese. I was really impressed by his action and thinking.


References

No name.(n.d).Retrieved January 13,2014 from A great man of Kanagawa- a great man of Japan(神奈川の偉人-日本の偉人) web site: http://www.hebon.sonanda.net/990hebon.html

Seiji, N.(2011). The James Curtis Hepburn’s achievements-宣教医、教育者として日本社会に貢献したアメリカ人-, The University of Tokyo Ariakeiryou, Tokyo. website: http://www.tau.ac.jp/outreach/TAUjournal/2011/06-nakayama.pdf#search='%E4%B8%AD%E5%B1%B1+%E3%83%98%E3%83%9C%E3%83%B3'