Fukuzawa on the 10,000-Yen Bill and the Three Faces of the New Banknotes

2025/01/22

Although the cashless society has advanced, the image of the 10,000-yen bill being synonymous with Yukichi Fukuzawa is firmly established among people of all ages. However, from July 3, 2024, the designs of the 10,000-yen, 5,000-yen, and 1,000-yen banknotes will be renewed. Yukichi Fukuzawa, who has been the familiar face of the 10,000-yen bill for 40 years, will "retire" at this time, but the three individuals who will become the faces of the new banknotes each had various connections with Fukuzawa, who lived in the same era.

The photograph used as a reference for the portrait on the 10,000-yen bill (Photo courtesy of the Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies)

The 10,000-yen bill featuring the portrait of Yukichi Fukuzawa was issued in November 1984. According to the Ministry of Finance website, the reason for his selection was that "as the highest denomination banknote, his portrait was suitable for a dignified bill, and the person in the portrait was a cultural figure from the Meiji era onward who was well-known both generally and internationally." In other countries, monarchs and politicians are often featured on banknotes, and it is rare for a university founder to be the design of a banknote. At that time, the 5,000-yen bill (Inazo Nitobe) and 1,000-yen bill (Soseki Natsume) issued simultaneously were changed to portraits of Ichiyo Higuchi and Hideyo Noguchi, respectively, in 2004, but only the design of the 10,000-yen bill was changed, and Fukuzawa's portrait remained.

Shibasaburo Kitasato, who will be the face of the new 1,000-yen bill, is the "father of modern Japanese medicine" and the first dean of the Keio University School of Medicine. During his studies in Germany, Kitasato established a serotherapy for tetanus and gained worldwide fame as a bacteriologist. After his return to Japan, Fukuzawa provided land he owned in Shiba Park and invested his own funds to support the establishment of the Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases. At that time, Fukuzawa was 57 and Kitasato was 40. From then on, Kitasato never forgot Fukuzawa's kindness. After Fukuzawa's death, Keio University sought Kitasato's cooperation and planned to establish a new Department of Medicine in its college. Kitasato was welcomed as the first head of the Department of Medicine (later dean of the School of Medicine), which was established in 1917 (Taisho 6). At the founding party, Kitasato gave a speech, saying, "I am not a disciple of Yukichi Fukuzawa, but the favor he has shown me is greater than that of a disciple." Kitasato, who served as dean of the School of Medicine until 1928 (Showa 3), continued to support the Keio University School of Medicine for the rest of his life as an advisor.

In December 1871 (Meiji 4), 11 years after Fukuzawa traveled to the United States aboard the Kanrin Maru as a member of the Tokugawa shogunate's Man'en Mission to the United States, the new government dispatched the Iwakura Mission to observe Europe and the United States. Among the group was six-year-old Umeko Tsuda, who joined as the youngest of Japan's first female students to study abroad. Arriving in the United States the following January, Umeko spent the next 11 years growing up and being educated in American culture. After returning to Japan, Umeko experienced culture shock at the status of women in Japan. Fukuzawa, a contemporary, also shared an awareness of the issues surrounding the improvement of women's status and education through his several observations in Europe and the United States, leaving behind writings such as "On Japanese Womanhood" (1885). Furthermore, Fukuzawa had a connection with Umeko's father, Sen Tsuda, who supported her studies abroad, as they had both served as interpreters for the Gaikoku Bugyo (Commissioner of Foreign Affairs) on the shogunate's mission to the United States in 1867 (Keio 3).

After studying in the United States again, Umeko returned to Japan and founded the "Joshi Eigaku Juku" (Women's Institute for English Studies, now Tsuda University) in 1900 (Meiji 33). This was the year before Fukuzawa's death.

A common goal shared by Fukuzawa and Eiichi Shibusawa was likely the aim to "overthrow kanson minpi (respect for officials, contempt for the people)." In the same year that Fukuzawa and Sen Tsuda joined the shogunate's mission to the United States, Shibusawa traveled to Europe accompanying Akitake Tokugawa (younger brother of Shogun Yoshinobu) to attend the Paris Exposition, where he learned about conditions overseas. After the Meiji Restoration, Shibusawa served the Meiji government as an official in the Ministry of Finance, but he resigned in 1873 (Meiji 6) and established the First National Bank and the Shoshi Kaisha (later Oji Paper), beginning his journey as a private-sector businessman aiming to overthrow kanson minpi.

His first encounter with Fukuzawa was in 1869 (Meiji 2), during his time at the Ministry of Finance, when he, as head of the Kaisei Gakari (Reform Office), went to hear a lecture on weights and measures from Fukuzawa, who was knowledgeable about "Things Western (Seiyō Jijō)." It is said that they later played shogi together at Shigenobu Okuma's residence (Shibusawa won).

Shibusawa, who cherished the "Analects of Confucius," and Fukuzawa were not necessarily in complete ideological agreement, but they acknowledged each other's achievements and shared a desire to overthrow kanson minpi. What would Fukuzawa think in the afterlife if he knew he was passing the baton as the face of the 10,000-yen bill to Shibusawa? It is fun to imagine such a thing.

Currently, in Fukuzawa's hometown of Nakatsu City, Oita Prefecture, various events and tourism promotions are being developed under the title "The Immortal Fukuzawa Project," prompted by the change of the portrait on the 10,000-yen bill. Keio University is also participating in this project, helping to convey to the nation and to the next generation that Fukuzawa was the face of the 10,000-yen bill.

This article was published in the "Stained Glass" section of "Juku" SUMMER 2024 (No. 323).