40 Facts About Fukuzawa Yukichi

Fukuzawa Yukichi was a Japanese educator, philosopher, writer, entrepreneur and samurai who founded Keio Gijuku, the newspaper Jiji-Shinpo, and the Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases.

Fukuzawa Yukichi appears on the 10,000-Japanese yen banknote from 1984 to 2024, replacing Prince Shotoku.

Fukuzawa Yukichi was born into an impoverished low-ranking samurai family of the Okudaira Clan of Nakatsu Domain in 1835.

Fukuzawa Yukichi's family lived in Osaka, the main trading center for Japan at the time.

Fukuzawa Yukichi's family was poor following the early death of his father, who was a Confucian scholar.

Fukuzawa Yukichi turned 19 in 1854, shortly after the Perry Expedition's arrival in Japan marking the beginning of the opening of Japan to trade via Gunboat diplomacy.

Fukuzawa Yukichi instructed Yukichi to learn Dutch so that he might study European cannon designs and gunnery.

Okudaira planned to get rid of Fukuzawa Yukichi by writing a letter saying that Fukuzawa Yukichi's mother was ill.

Fukuzawa Yukichi studied at Tekijuku for three years and became fully proficient in the Dutch language.

Fukuzawa Yukichi then began to study English, but at that time, English-Japanese interpreters were rare and dictionaries nonexistent, so his studies were slow.

The delegation stayed in the city for a month, during which time Fukuzawa Yukichi had himself photographed with an American girl, and found a Webster's Dictionary, from which he began serious study of the English language.

Fukuzawa Yukichi was regarded as the foremost expert on western civilization, leading him to conclude that his mission in life was to educate his countrymen in new ways of thinking in order to enable Japan to resist European imperialism.

Fukuzawa Yukichi added public speaking to the educational system's curriculum.

Fukuzawa Yukichi often spoke up in favor of equality between husbands and wives, the education of girls as well as boys, and the equal love of daughters and sons.

However, even Fukuzawa Yukichi was not willing to propose completely equal rights for men and women; only for husbands and wives.

Fukuzawa Yukichi stated in his 1899 book New Greater Learning for Women that a good marriage was always the best outcome for a young woman, and according to some of Fukuzawa's personal letters, he discouraged his friends from sending their daughters on to higher education so that they would not become less desirable marriage candidates.

Fukuzawa Yukichi was buried at Zenpuku-ji, in the Azabu area of Tokyo.

Fukuzawa Yukichi bought English-Chinese Dictionary in San Francisco in 1860.

Fukuzawa Yukichi translated it to Japanese and he added the Japanese translations to the original textbook.

Fukuzawa Yukichi started by buying a few Japanese geography books for children, named Miyakoji and Edo hogaku, and practiced reading them aloud.

Fukuzawa Yukichi then wrote Sekai Kunizukushi in six volumes in the same lyrical style.

Fukuzawa Yukichi advocated a move toward "civilization", by which he meant material and spiritual well-being, which elevated human life to a "higher plane".

Fukuzawa Yukichi argued that Japan should not import guns and materials.

Fukuzawa Yukichi talked of the Japanese concept of being practical or pragmatic and the building of things that are basic and useful to other people.

Fukuzawa Yukichi translated many books and journals into Japanese on a wide variety of subjects, including chemistry, the arts, military and society, and published many books and journals himself describing Western society, his own philosophy and change, etc.

Fukuzawa Yukichi was one of the most influential people ever that helped Japan modernize into the country it is today.

Fukuzawa Yukichi never accepted any high position and remained a normal Japanese citizen for his whole life.

Fukuzawa Yukichi was in danger of his life as a samurai group killed one of his colleagues for advocating policies like those of Fukuzawa Yukichi.

Fukuzawa Yukichi wrote at a time when the Japanese people were undecided on whether they should be bitter about the American and European forced treaties and imperialism, or to understand the West and move forward.

Fukuzawa Yukichi greatly aided the ultimate success of the pro-modernization forces.

Fukuzawa Yukichi appeared on the 10,000-yen banknote in the 1984 and 2004 issues, and has been compared to Benjamin Franklin in the United States.

Fukuzawa Yukichi's image was eventually replaced by Shibusawa Eiichi in 2024.

Fukuzawa Yukichi was a firm believer that Western education surpassed Japan's.

Fukuzawa Yukichi believed that the problem in Japan was the undervalued mathematics and science.

Fukuzawa Yukichi later came to state that he went a little too far.

Fukuzawa Yukichi believed that national independence was the framework to society in the West.

However, to achieve this independence, as well as personal independence, Fukuzawa Yukichi advocated Western learning.

Fukuzawa Yukichi believed that public virtue would increase as people became more educated.

Fukuzawa Yukichi was born in 1835 in the Nakatsu Domain warehouse in Osaka and the family returned to Nakatsu after his father's death when he was 18 months old.

Fukuzawa Yukichi lived in this house in Nakatsu until age 19.