The Curiosity of Yukichi Fukuzawa: His Surprising and Familiar Footprints

2007/01/15

Published in "Juku" No. 253, 2007

Based on his three trips to the West, Yukichi Fukuzawa vigorously worked to introduce Western civilization to Japan.
His efforts spanned a wide range of fields, from education, philosophy, economics, and science and technology to lifestyle and culture.
Here, using the keyword "first in Japan," we will trace the footprints of Yukichi Fukuzawa in some surprising fields that are still familiar to our modern lives.

Yukichi Fukuzawa's "Bookkeeping" was a translation of "Bryant & Stratton's Common School Book-keeping," which was used as a bookkeeping textbook in American business schools. The "Single-Entry Bookkeeping" volume was published in 1873 (Meiji 6), followed by the "Double-Entry Bookkeeping" volume the next year. Bookkeeping terms such as "credit" (kashikata) and "debit" (karikata) originated from this translation.

Furthermore, on his first trip to the United States in 1860 (Man'en 1), he brought back a Webster's dictionary and a copy of "Kaei Tsūgo" (A Chinese-English Vocabulary). Yukichi Fukuzawa revised this for a Japanese audience, adding pronunciations in kana and Japanese translations, and published it as the "English-Japanese dicitonary." This revised edition already contained many bookkeeping terms. It can be said that Yukichi Fukuzawa was one of the earliest figures in Japan to recognize the importance of bookkeeping and accounting and to strive to popularize it in society.

When thinking of public transportation symbolic of the Meiji period, equivalent to modern taxis, the rickshaw comes to mind. This "Japan Original" vehicle is said to have been invented by several former samurai of the Fukuoka domain living in Tokyo. The inspiration for their development of the rickshaw is said to be the baby carriage (pictured) that Yukichi Fukuzawa brought back from America in 1867 (Keiō 3). This baby carriage is still preserved today in the Old University Library on the Mita Campus.

The "Jiji Shinpō," a newspaper founded by Yukichi Fukuzawa in 1882 (Meiji 15), became the first in Japan to regularly publish a weather column, starting on April 4, 1883 (Meiji 16). Initially, it published the previous day's weather as a "Weather Report." In 1884 (Meiji 17), weather forecasting began as a national project, and from March 23, 1888 (Meiji 21), the newspaper started publishing these forecasts. However, this ambitious attempt did not quickly gain popularity among the general public, so from the New Year's Day issue of 1893 (Meiji 26), they began publishing weather forecasts with illustrations (see photo), which were very well received. The illustrations for sunny or rainy weather can be considered the origin of the weather symbols used in today's forecasts.

In 1862 (Bunkyū 2), while traveling to Europe as a member (hired interpreter) of the First Japanese Embassy to Europe, Yukichi Fukuzawa purchased a pocket diary in Paris, France, the first country he visited. In this diary, he recorded his observations during his stay in Europe, and it became an important record that formed the basis for writing books such as "Things Western (Seiyō Jijō)" after his return to Japan. The building of the Fortin Papeterie, where Yukichi Fukuzawa bought his "Westward Voyage Diary," still exists in Paris. The company itself has relocated to Clichy, a northwestern suburb of Paris, and continues to operate as one of France's leading manufacturers of general office equipment.

In the first volume of "Things Western (Seiyō Jijō)," published in 1866 (Keiō 2), the following description can be found in the section on "Museums": "There are also things called zoological gardens and botanical gardens. In a zoological garden, birds, beasts, fish, and insects are kept alive. Lions, rhinoceroses, elephants, tigers, leopards, bears, brown bears, foxes, raccoon dogs, monkeys, rabbits, ostriches, eagles, hawks, cranes, wild geese, swallows, sparrows, large snakes, toads—there is no rare bird or strange beast from around the world that is not in this garden."

Yukichi Fukuzawa wrote this text based on his observations in Europe. At the time, zoos did not yet exist in Japan, and it is said that this was the first time the word "dōbutsuen" (動物園, zoo) was used.

"Guide to travel in the western world," published in 1867 (Keiō 3), is a full-fledged guidebook to Western travel in which Yukichi Fukuzawa, drawing on his experience from three trips to Europe and the United States, introduces essential knowledge for traveling to the West. It is also the first document in Japan to describe foreign exchange and the modern insurance system. At the time, there was no Japanese translation for "insurance," and in a section titled "On Contracting for Disasters—Insurance," he introduced three types of insurance systems: lifetime contracts (life insurance), fire contracts (fire insurance), and maritime contracts (non-life insurance).

Did you know that Keio University was the first school (private academy) in Japan to collect a monthly "tuition fee"? In 1868 (Keiō 4), Yukichi Fukuzawa moved his private academy, which had returned to Teppōzu, to a new location in Shiba-Shinsenza. Making a fresh start, the academy, now named Keio University, attracted many students, and school rules were established to manage the school building. "Among its various articles, the practice of collecting a monthly fee from students was a new idea initiated at Keio University" ("Fukuō Jiden," 'The Meiji Restoration,' The Origin of Tuition Fees). The term "jugyōryō" (授業料, tuition fee) was also coined by Yukichi Fukuzawa. Until then, the common practice at private academies was for students to pay a sum upon admission and then give gifts of money to their teachers twice a year, at the Bon and year-end seasons, wrapped in decorative paper. However, Yukichi Fukuzawa established Keio University as a modern educational institution through the management philosophy that it belonged to the Keio Gijuku Shachu and the rationalization of its management through tuition fee income.

In mid-May 1870 (Meiji 3), Yukichi Fukuzawa contracted typhus, developed a high fever, and at one point fell into a critical condition. As it was summer, obtaining the ice necessary for his treatment was difficult. Concerned about his condition, Keio students decided to make the ice themselves. They borrowed an ammonia absorption refrigerator owned by Matsudaira Shungaku, the former lord of the Fukui domain. Under the guidance of Professor Saburo Utsunomiya of Daigaku Tōkō (the predecessor of the University of Tokyo), they produced ice by machine for the first time in Japan.