The Three Generations of Otsuki (Part 3: Fumihiko)

2022/06/27

Image: Provided by Ichinoseki City Museum

Fumihiko Otsuki spent 16 years compiling "Genkai," which is regarded as Japan's first modern Japanese dictionary. Tetsunosuke Tomita (former Governor of the Bank of Japan), a fellow native of the former Sendai Domain, suggested to him, "Why don't you hold a celebratory banquet?" Upon receiving Otsuki's reply, "I would like to if it is a gathering of great figures," Tomita himself took the lead in the organizing committee to prepare for the banquet. Tomita visited Hirobumi Ito with a copy of "Genkai" to request his attendance and received his consent. Furthermore, when he went to see Yukichi Fukuzawa and spoke of the banquet, Fukuzawa also readily agreed, saying, "I shall go. I shall offer a congratulatory speech."

However, on June 23, 1891, the day of the banquet, Fukuzawa was nowhere to be seen at the Koyo-kan, a high-class social club in Shiba that served as the venue. Furthermore, there was no mention of Fukuzawa's congratulatory speech in the "Genkai Banquet Program" distributed to the attendees.

Otsuki was born in 1847 in Kobikicho, Edo. His common name was Fukusaburo, and his pen name was Fukken (he began using the name Fumihiko in 1872). His grandfather was the Rangaku (Western medicine) scholar Gentaku, his father was the Confucian scholar Bankei, and his elder brother was Jo (commonly known as Shuji), who was well-versed in Japanese, Chinese, and Western studies. The field of study Otsuki initially aimed for was English studies, and he entered the Shogunate's Institute for the Investigation of Foreign Books. Around the same time, Fukuzawa, who had become close friends with Bankei, began visiting the Otsuki residence. Otsuki's English studies were interrupted by Bankei's relocation to Sendai. In Sendai, he entered the domain school Yokendo and was appointed as an assistant instructor four months later. In 1866, Otsuki received an appointment from the domain as a student of Western studies and returned to Edo. Shindayu Owarashi, a government official (Rusu-yaku) in Edo, favored Western styles and sent promising young men to the treaty port of Yokohama. Otsuki also received his support, based himself in Yokohama, and while pursuing English studies, was involved in editing the "Bankoku Shinbunshi" (International Newspaper).

As the era moved rapidly, the Sendai Domain, located in a corner of the Tohoku region and unfamiliar with the trends in the Kyoto-Osaka area, rushed Owarashi to Kyoto to gather information. Otsuki was chosen by Owarashi to accompany him and was active as a secret agent in Kyoto. During the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, he witnessed the battlefield firsthand and experienced shells exploding nearby.

Furthermore, when the Sendai Domain opposed the new government, Otsuki went into hiding in Edo. While many of his comrades were captured because of their Sendai dialect, Otsuki, who was born and raised in Edo, was able to slip through the search net. After the surrender, when Bankei was ordered to be imprisoned in April 1869, Otsuki returned to Sendai and worked tirelessly to petition for his father's life. After seeing Bankei's provisional release from prison, Otsuki returned to Edo and entered the Sansa Gakusha, a school hosted by Shuhei Mitsukuri, to resume his English studies. Six months later, his language skills were recognized, and he became the Juku manager (President). Otsuki joined the Ministry of Education in 1872, and the following year, he was posted to the Miyagi Normal School in Sendai, where he served as principal.

In 1873, an academic society was born at the suggestion of Arinori Mori, who had returned from the United States, and was named Meirokusha after the year of its formation. Mori consulted Shigeki Nishimura, who had studied under Bankei Otsuki and would later preach "Nihon Dotoku-ron" (On Japanese Morality), about the concept, and Nishimura called upon the "distinguished families of the capital." The initial membership consisted of 10 people, including Fukuzawa and Mitsukuri. The following year, the journal "Meiroku Zasshi" was published, playing a major role in the enlightenment of the public in the early Meiji era by publishing essays by progressive members.

It was a natural progression for Otsuki, who had been called back to Tokyo by Nishimura—now the head of the Report Section (later the Editorial Bureau) of the Ministry of Education—to join the Meirokusha, where the people surrounding him were listed as members. Because the "Meiroku Zasshi" could no longer continue the free publication of essays due to the enforcement of the Libel Law and the Newspaper Ordinance, Fukuzawa proposed its suspension, and the Meirokusha followed the fate of natural dissolution. However, the people of the Meirokusha continued to fulfill the mission of the society—the enlightenment of the public—in their respective fields thereafter. Otsuki was one of them.

Otsuki's efforts to compile a Japanese dictionary began. Nishimura entrusted this national project to Otsuki alone. Having mastered English studies and possessing a foundation in Chinese classics, Otsuki was the right person to be entrusted with this great undertaking. With no precedent to serve as a model in Japan, Otsuki initially thought it would be sufficient to translate Webster's English Dictionary from America. However, he soon realized that a translation of a dictionary from another country—with different linguistic origins, customs, and climates—would not function as a dictionary, and that he had to investigate and clarify Japan's unique content himself. From here, Otsuki's ordeal began. It was an era when the distinction between standard language and dialects was not established, and loanwords were being born one after another. From among them, he selected the words to be included, interviewed people, scoured books to research etymologies, and considered the definitions of each and every word. In the postscript of the dictionary, "Kotoba no Umi no Okugaki," Otsuki expressed the extraordinary difficulty, saying, "In the midst of the sea of words, the oar-rope snapped, and I knew not where to steer; I was merely astounded by its distance, breadth, and depth, and could only shame and blame myself for the shallowness of my own learning."

In 1886, Otsuki finished the revision of the dictionary he named "Genkai" and submitted it to the Ministry of Education. At this time, Nishimura, who had been the "protector of this dictionary's success," had already been transferred. After a year and a half passed without any word of publication, the Ministry of Education finally conveyed its intention to return the work to him on the condition of self-publication. The publication of the Japanese dictionary, which was supposed to be a national project, became a self-published venture for which Otsuki had to scrape together his private funds.

The publication of "Genkai" was delayed time and again due to interruptions in printing caused by issues with the factory's survival and other delays in the printing process. During that time, of the two people who had been helping with the proofreading, Kuniyuki Nakata passed away, and Hatsuo Okubo was posted to a middle school in Tokushima, leaving Otsuki alone. Furthermore, in November 1890, his second daughter Emi died of a worsened cold before reaching one year of age, and the following month, he lost his wife Iyo to typhoid fever. While facing unbearable misfortune and nearly losing his will, Otsuki was able to accomplish this great undertaking because he remembered the teaching of his father Bankei, who repeatedly spoke of his grandfather Gentaku's legacy: "In any undertaking, one must not start it lightly; if one decides to start it, one must have the spirit of 'never stop until accomplished.'" He roused his spirits. In April 1891, Otsuki published the fourth volume of "Genkai," completing the project.

Otsuki visited Fukuzawa with a copy of the completed "Genkai." Fukuzawa was greatly pleased, saying, "A wonderful thing has been produced," but he frowned at the fact that the words were in the 50-sound (Gojuon) order, asking Otsuki, "Can the footwear tags at a vaudeville theater work with the 50-sound order?" In the world at that time, the "Iroha" order was still the mainstream. This was a comment typical of Fukuzawa, who believed that a dictionary must be a practical tool that the masses can use. On the other hand, Otsuki took this comment as, "Could it be that he did not realize that the 50-sound order has already been taught in elementary schools for 20 years?" ("Kokugo to Kokubungaku"). A short while after Otsuki's visit, Fukuzawa sent a letter of thanks. In it, Fukuzawa accurately pointed out the value of the dictionary compilation, stating, "Thanks to you, something that can truly be called a dictionary has been created in Japan for the first time; it is not only convenient for today's scholars but also sufficient to demonstrate the prosperity of our literary culture to foreigners" (Letter 1624).

Fukuzawa had prepared a congratulatory message in response to the invitation from Tomita, but in a letter to Tomita dated the 21st, he conveyed his absence, saying, "I must decline the honor of attending on the day" (Letter 1627). Furthermore, after looking through the "Banquet Program" sent by Tomita and feeling it was insufficient, he added a postscript, "I request that the name of Fukuzawa be removed" (Letter 1628), insisting that his name be deleted from the program, and sent it back with a reminder written on the program itself. The reason for Fukuzawa's sudden change in attitude is clarified in the letters. In the "Banquet Program," Hirobumi Ito was to read a congratulatory message first, followed by Fukuzawa's turn. Fukuzawa pointed out, "The society of scholarship and education and the political society are completely different things. It is already a mistake to rank alongside politicians who have no connection to scholarship," and stated flatly, "I do not wish to have my humble name recorded following Count Ito." He told Tomita that this was not for "personal honor or disgrace," but for the "independence of scholarship (Shibun Shido)." Later, it was Shinzo Koizumi who praised this attitude of Fukuzawa, saying, "As one of the successors, I am grateful that there was a man as 'childish' as Yukichi Fukuzawa in the Meiji era who sought to make scholarship respected through his own actions" ("Dokusho Zakki").

The banquet was held grandly, gathering people from the political and official worlds as well as those who were once members of the Meirokusha, following the "Banquet Program" which had been reprinted with Fukuzawa's name removed in accordance with his wishes.

After spending over three years in Sendai following the publication of "Genkai," Otsuki returned to Tokyo and focused on establishing the national language. He published "Ko-Nihon Bunten," which summarized his grammatical theories, and when the government's National Language Research Committee was established, he served as its chief member, conducting a wide range of investigations and reports, including the adoption of the colloquial style (Genbun-itchi) and the reduction of kanji. Prior to this, as a central figure of the "Kana-no-kwai" (Kana Society), Otsuki had advocated for the use of kana characters while abolishing kanji, which required much time for learning, and had engaged in debates with opponents. Although the abolition of kanji was not realized, such investigations, research, and discussions became the foundation for the modernization of the Japanese language.

In 1912, Kajima Sakamoto, the president of Fuzambo, visited Otsuki and encouraged him to expand and revise "Genkai." Otsuki himself had intended to do so since the initial publication but had been unable to take the plunge due to the weight of the difficult task. The following year, when the National Language Research Committee was abolished, Otsuki literally immersed himself in the expansion and revision work from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. He called Okubo, who had helped with the compilation of "Genkai," back to Tokyo as an assistant and had him live in the house next door. For Otsuki, who was over 65 years old, this project was a race against time. Otsuki emphasized etymological research by referring to foreign language dictionaries, which also became a cause for the time required. In February 1928, the 16th year since the start of the work, Otsuki passed away due to pneumonia. The manuscript was completed up to the "Sa" row, which accounted for two-thirds of the entire dictionary. His elder brother Joden took over the project, and the expanded and revised version was published as "Daigenkai," with the first volume released in 1932 and completed with the publication of the fifth volume in 1937.

Fukuzawa's congratulatory message was published in the "Jiji Shinpo" four days after the banquet. Although it was not presented at the banquet as Fukuzawa wished, he likely could not help but celebrate Otsuki's great achievement. In it, Fukuzawa clearly stated, "Before Genkai, there was no dictionary in Japan," and touched upon the admonition (Kaigo) of his grandfather Gentaku (Bansui), "Never stop until accomplished," praising the achievements based on the strong mental strength and perseverance spanning three generations of the Otsuki family: "It must be this legacy that truly enabled you to endure these hardships and achieve this great feat." He concluded with a supreme tribute and a stylish congratulatory remark to Otsuki: "If the deceased have souls, they must be smiling broadly in the underworld and praising your success."