Fukuzawa Yukichi: Thoughts for Living Today—The Last Dutch Scholar

2023/06/29

Keio University has its origins as a Rangaku Juku.

This is a historical fact well known to many. In fact, when it was named "Keio University" in 1868, it was proudly declared that Keio University was established upon the academic tradition of Rangaku (Dutch Studies), which began with the "Kaitai Shinsho" (New Text on Anatomy).

It is also well known that Fukuzawa Yukichi studied Rangaku during the Tokugawa period at Tekijuku in Osaka, which was led by the Rangaku physician Koan Ogata.

However, the relationship between Fukuzawa and Rangaku has not yet been fully elucidated.

This book goes back to the "origins of Fukuzawa Yukichi" and aims to decipher his life and 19th-century Japanese political thought through the lens of Rangaku, while keeping the context of world history in view.

When one hears "Rangaku," medical sciences or astronomy might come to mind. However, the scope of Rangaku, the Western learning of the Edo period, was not limited to those fields.

At the end of the Tokugawa period, as a Rangaku scholar, Fukuzawa was a pioneer in adopting European statistical tables. Furthermore, while engaging with Western military science, he keenly observed the logic of the modern nation-state lurking behind the Napoleonic Wars. Behind Fukuzawa's political vision, which preached that "independence of the individual leads to the independence of the nation," lies a deep insight into Western military science rooted in the Rangaku of the Tokugawa period. Moreover, at Tekijuku, he was exposed to various theories supporting the "electrical revolution" progressing in contemporary Europe.

Above all, Fukuzawa himself repeatedly stated that the origins of modern Japan's civilization lay in the Rangaku of the Edo period.

As a Rangaku scholar, Fukuzawa Yukichi stood at the starting point of the globalization that continues today, and from his time at Tekijuku, he explored the principles of technology that would support the coming world. It was because this experience and scholarship formed his foundation that, upon entering the Meiji era, he was able to present a political vision for Japan's civilization and independence, while also providing a sharp diagnosis of the negative effects that the development of transportation and media would have on the human spirit.

In modern society, the development of social media has led to people being manipulated by fake news, deepening division and conflict. As if foreseeing this so-called post-truth era, Fukuzawa emphasized the study of "Kyuri" (the principle of things) and declared, "There is much falsehood in the world of belief, and much truth in the world of doubt."

I hope that with this book as your guide, you will enjoy the pleasure of wandering deep into the forest of Fukuzawa Yukichi's thought.

Fukuzawa Yukichi: Thoughts for Living Today—The Last Dutch Scholar

Takeharu Okubo

Kodansha Gendai Shinsho

128 pages, 880 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.