Lecture Commemorating Yukichi Fukuzawa's Lectures on Wayland's Economics: "The Constitution Translated by Yukichi Fukuzawa: The Shape of the Nation Known as the United States of America" by Naoyuki Agawa (Professor Emeritus, Keio University; Special Guest Professor, Doshisha University)

2017/04/13

[Date] Monday, May 15, 2017, from 2:45 PM (Doors open: around 2:00 PM)

[Venue] Mita Enzetsukan (Public Speaking Hall), Mita Campus

[Eligibility] Open to everyone

[Registration] Not required

[Notes] Hosted by: Keio University, Fee: Free

*For details about the Wayland Lectures and past lectures, please see here .

Yukichi Fukuzawa provided a full translation of the U.S. Constitution in his book "Things Western (Seiyō Jijō)." This was likely one of the first such attempts in Japan. Although Fukuzawa was not a constitutional scholar, he appears to have seriously considered the shape of Japan's government since the end of the Edo period and studied the U.S. Constitution. This lecture will explain the changes this constitution, which drew the attention of Fukuzawa and Tocqueville, has undergone since its enactment, in connection with the issue of amending Japan's own constitution.

Born in Tokyo. Special Guest Professor at Doshisha University. He withdrew from the Faculty of Law at Keio University and graduated from the School of Foreign Service and the Law Center at Georgetown University in the United States. After working for Sony and law firms in Japan and the U.S., he became a professor at the Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University in 1999. From 2002 to 2005, he served as Minister for Public Affairs and Culture at the Embassy of Japan in the United States. He became Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University in 2007, and served as Vice-President of Keio University from 2009 to 2013. Since April 2016, he has been a Professor Emeritus at Keio University and a Special Guest Professor at Doshisha University. He is also a trustee of the Nomura Foundation, the Suntory Foundation for the Arts, and the International House of Japan, among other positions.

"The Birth of the American Lawyer," Chuko Shinsho, 1986

"Friendship Across the Sea," Chuko Shinsho, 2001

"Reading American History Through the Constitution (Complete)" (Winner of the Yomiuri-Yoshino Sakuzo Prize), Chikuma Gakugei Bunko, 2013

"What is Constitutional Amendment?: A View from the History of U.S. Constitutional Amendments," Shincho Sensho, 2016

"Reading Modern American History Through the Constitution," NTT Publishing, Summer 2017 (scheduled for publication)

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