Fukuzawa Yukichi documents

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AutobiographA of Yukichi
Fukuzaua
from The
During the Meiji era, the government attempted to modernize Japan by sending
ifs stafesmen to Europe and North America to study Western ways. Yukichi
Fukuzawa (183/t-1901), a well-known tapanese educator and advocate of
Western learning, traveled to the United States and Europe several times. tn the
following excerpt from his autobiography, Fukuzawa describes one of his visits
to America, What were his impressions of California?
bosts in Sirn Friurcisco \\zere very considerate
shoiving us e.xamples of rnodem industry.
There rvas as yet no railway laid to tlie city, nor rvas
there iury electric light in use. But tlie telegraplt system and also Galvani'.s electroplnting were nlreacly
in use. Then lve tvere taken to a sugar refinery atid
had the priuciple of the operation explained to us
quite n'rinutely. I am sure that our hosts tliouglit
they r.vere showing us son-rething entirely nell', naturally looking fol our surprise at ench nerv device o{'
modern engineering. But on the contrary, there rvas
leally nothirg new, ilt lerrst to lne. I knerv the principle of the telegraphy even if I htrd not seen the
actual rnachine beibre; I knerv that sugar rvas
bleachecl by straining the solution with bone-black,
zrnd that in boiling clouar the solution, the vilcuurn
.nvas used to better e{fect than heat. I had been
studf ing nothing else but such scientific principles
ever since I hnd entered Ogata's scliool.
Ratlier, I u'as sur?rised by entirely diiferent
things in Arnerican life. First of all, there seemed
to be iin enorlnolrs rvaste o{'iron ever1.'rvhere. In
gttrbage piles, ou the seashores-everynvhere-I
{bund lying old oil tins, errpty cans, and broken
tools. This was rernarl<able to us, ibr in Yedo, after
a fire, there rvoulcl appear a swanr of people look-
ing {br niiils in the trshes.
Then too, I r.vtrs surprised at tlie high cost o{'
daily cornrnodities in Crrli{bmia. We htid to priy a
half-dollnr for a bottle of oysters, and there rvere
only trventl' or thirty in the bottle at that. In Japan
the price of so many rvoulcl be only a cent or turo.
Things socinl, political, and econorlic proved
most inexplicable. One day, orr a sudden thought, I
asked a gentlernan rvhere the descendnnts of
George Wasliington rnight be, He replied, "I think
there is a worn2ln rvho is directly descelded {ron-r
Wnsliington. I don't knorv rvhere she is norv, but I
think I liave heard she is rlarried." His arlswer wils
so very ctrsrral th:rt
Of course, I kneu' that America u'irs a repultlic
a nerv president every {brir years, but I could
not help feeling that the {'arnily o{'\\rashingtol
u'ould be reverecl above all otlier {hmilies. lvly reasoning rvas based on the reverence in Japan {br the
four.rders of the great lines of rulers-like that ibr
Ie;'asu of'the Tokugau.a farnily of Shoguns, really
deified in the popul:rr mincl, So I remernber thc
astonishrnent I felt at receir.ing this indi{T'erent
ilnswer about the Washington {'anilli As {or scientific
inventions and industrial rnachinery', there u'as no
great novelty in them {br r.ne. It rvtrs rather in nnt-
u'ith
ters of life and social custor.r.r and rvays ol tliinking
tliat I found rnyself at a loss in Arnerica. . .
Befbre u'e sailed, the interpreter, Naknhanrtr,
and I each bought a copy of Webster'.s dictionary.
This, I knorv, u,as the very fir'st irnporttrtion of
\Vebstert into Japan, Once I irtrcl securecl this virhrable r'vork, I {'elt no disappointri-rent on leiu'ing tlie
ner.v r.vorld and returning horr-re again.
.
y'tnr Eiichi
Kiyooka, trnns., ?/re Ariobiogruplry of \1*iclti
Fttkrnou;a (Neu'Yolk: Columbia Unil'ersity Press, 1966),
110-117, 134-135, 214-217. Reprinted in Petel N. Steanrs,
etl., Douuttcttts in \\/orld Histonl, \/ol. II (Ne*'Yorli:
Ilarper Collins Publishers, t9B8), 60-61.
Activity Options
I.Writingfor a Specific Purpose
hnagir"re thirt
you are Yukiclii Fukuzai.va. Write a trilvel journal
entry in wliich you record irnpressions of your
trip to the United States.
2. Recognizing Point of Vieu \\zith a partner,
role-play an Arnericnn or a Japanese journalist
rvho inten'iervs Fukuzarva nbout his visit to
California.
3. Summarixing Written Terfs Collect Ful<uziuvil's
irnpressions of Califomia in a cluster diagranr or
another kind of grapliic organizer.
it shocked me.
Transformations Around the Globe 53
Primary Source Document
with Questions (DBQs)
EXCERPTS FROM THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF FUKUZAWA YUKICHI
I
ntrod
u
cti
on
Fukuzawa Yukichi (1834-1901) was Japan's preeminent interpreter of "civilization and enlightenment" (bunmei
kaika)
the lifestyles, institutions, and values of the modern West that Japan strove to understand and embrace in
the early decades of the Meiji period. Born into a samuraifamily of modest means and little influence, Fukuzawa was
intelligent, energetic, and ambitious, and as a youth he eagerly studied foreign languages (Dutch and then English)
to expand his horizons and improve his prospects in life. ln 1860, he was a member of one of the first missions sent to
America by the Tokugawa shogunate, and in 1862 he traveled through Europe. Based on these experiences
Fukuzawa wrote a series of books that explained the customs and manners of the West in accessible, practical ways
and became runaway bestsellers. Fukuzawa was well known as a forceful advocate for the Western way of life, was a
teacher and advisor to many of Japan's most influential national leaders, and founded a successful newspaper as well
as a leading private university.
-
Fukuzawa dictated his autobiography, now seen as a classic account ofJapan's transition from a closed, feudal state
a modern world power, in 1898, not long before his death.
to
Document Excerpts with Questions
From Sources of )oponese Tradition, edited by Wm. Theodore de Bary, Carol Gluck, and Arthur L. Tiedemann, 2nd ed., vol. 2 (New
York: Columbia University Press, 2005), 658-660. @ 2005 Columbia University Press. Reproduced with the permission of the
publisher. All rights reserved.
Excerpts from-fhe Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi
I am willing to admit my pride in Japan's accomplishments [in rapid modernization].
The facts are these: It was not until the sixth year of Kaei (1853) that a steamship was seen for
the first time; it was only in the second year of Ansei (1855) that we began to study navigation
from the Dutch in Nagasaki;by 7860, the science was sufficiently understood to enable us to sail
a ship across the Pacific. This means that about seven years after the first sight of a steam ship,
after only about five years of practice, the Japanese people made a trans-Pacific crossing
without l'relp from foreign experts. i think we can without undue pride boast before the world
of this courage and skill. As I have shown, the Japanese officers were to receive no aid from
Captain Brooke throughout the voyage. Even in taking observations, our officers and the
Americans made them independently of each other. Sometimes they compared their results, but
we were never in the least dependent on the Americans.
As I consider all the other peoples of the Orient as they exist todap I feel convinced that
there is no other nation which has the ability or the courage to navigate a steamship across the
Pacific after a period of five years of experience in navigation and engineering. Not only in the
Primary Source Document with Questions (DBQs) on
EXCERPTS FROMTHE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF FUKUZAWA YUKICHI
Orient would this feat stand as an act of unprecedented skill and daring. Even Peter the Great of
Russia, who went to Holland to study navigation, with all his attainments in the science could
not have equaled this feat of the Japanese. Without doubt, the famous Emperor of Russia was a
man of exceptional genius, but his people did not respond to his leadership in the practice of
Science as did our Japanese in this great adventure. [pp. 118-119]
Qu
1,
2.
estion s:
0n what basis does Fukuzawa feel pride in
Japan? What qualities in the
Japanese does he admire?
How does Fukuzawa compare Japan to other nations? How do you think he
compares Japan to nations not mentioned here, like the United States or
Great Britain? What does he see as the measure of a great nation?
... A perplexing institution was representative government.
When I asked a gentleman what the "election law" was and what kind of institution the
Parliament really was, he simply replied with a smile, meaning I suppose that no intelligent
person was expected to ask such a question. But these were the things most difficult of all for
me to understand. In this connection, I learned that there were different political parties
- the
Liberal and the Conservative - who were always "fighting" against each other in the
government.
For some time it was beyond *y cornprehension to understand what they were
"fighting" for, and what was meant, anyway, by "fighting" in peace time. "This man and that
man are 'enemies' in the House," they would tell me. But these "enemies" were to be seen at the
same table, eating and drinking with each other. I felt as if I could not make much out of this. It
took me a long time, with some tedious thinking, before I could gather a general notion of these
separate mysterious facts. In some of the more complicated matters, I might achieve an
Understanding five or ten days after they were explained to me. But all in all, I learned much
from this initial tour of Europe. [pp. ru2a441
lThe Autobiogrnphy of Fukuznzoa Yukichi, trans.
Kiyookal
Questions:
3,
4.
5.
Why do you think Fukuzawa had such a hard time understanding the
workings of British democracy?
How would you explain a democratic political system to Fukuzawa, in terms
he might have understood in 1862?
From these short passages, what insights do you have into Fukuzawa's
character and his feelings toward the West?
Asia for Educators I Columbia University I http://afe.easia.columbia.edu
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