Tracing Yukichi Fukuzawa's Footsteps in Europe

1999/01/01

Published in "Juku," 1999, no. 216

In December 1861, Fukuzawa, as a member of the First Japanese Embassy to Europe (Bunkyu Mission), set off on a year-long tour of Europe aboard the British warship HMS Odin.

The mission traveled across the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea, arriving in Marseille. Over approximately six months, they observed six countries: France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Prussia, Russia, and Portugal.
This article traces his footsteps through four of these cities with connections to Fukuzawa.

On April 7, 1862, the First Japanese Embassy to Europe arrived at Gare de Lyon in Paris, via Marseille and Lyon. They stayed for about three weeks at the Hôtel du Louvre until April 29, after which they continued their outward journey to the United Kingdom. On their return journey, they traveled from Prussia through Belgium, arriving at Gare du Nord in Paris on September 22 of the same year. They stayed at the Grand Hôtel until October 5. During this time, Fukuzawa visited various places such as hospitals, botanical gardens, schools, and churches, leaving several records of his observations.

Paris is one of the cities where many of the buildings the mission visited still stand today, including Gare de Lyon, Gare du Nord, the Institut de France, the Jardin des Plantes, the Bibliothèque Nationale, the Église de la Madeleine, and the Opéra. It is also where Fukuzawa purchased his "Seiko Techo" (Notes on a Journey to the West).

After their visit to the United Kingdom, Fukuzawa and the rest of the mission arrived by ship in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on June 14, 1862. A large crowd had gathered at the port to catch a glimpse of the Japanese embassy.

Due to the devastation of World War II, few buildings in Rotterdam remain from that era. However, it is still possible to visit the City Hall, which uniquely survived the war, and the site where the mission is said to have disembarked.

From Rotterdam, the mission traveled by train to The Hague and checked into the Hotel Bellevue. During their stay in the Netherlands, Fukuzawa and his colleagues used this city as a base to visit places like Amsterdam and Leiden. Today, the Hotel Bellevue has been replaced by another building, but the old Hague railway station still exists with its original exterior.

Leiden is also home to Leiden University, which has deep ties to Japan, including through Philipp Franz von Siebold, who came to Japan during the late Edo period.

In Amsterdam, Fukuzawa and his companions took a horse-drawn carriage from the station to their hotel. The buildings they visited, such as the botanical garden and churches, still remain as they were at the time.

After returning to Japan, Fukuzawa recalled his visit to the Netherlands in his autobiography, "Fukuō Jiden" (The Autobiography of Old Man Fukuzawa): "Of all the countries we toured, none treated us with more detailed care than the Netherlands. This must be due to our special relationship spanning three hundred years. Moreover, since everyone in our group who could read a Western language, myself included, knew Dutch, in terms of written and spoken language it was like returning to a second home in Europe, and we naturally felt at ease."