November 25, 2020
Keio University
The lecture mentioned above, which is usually held on May 15, the "Yukichi Fukuzawa-Francis Wayland Lecture Day," will be held on the following date this year due to various circumstances.
On May 15, 1868 (July 4, 1868), in the midst of the Boshin War, while the battle between the imperial army and the Shogitai corps raged in Ueno and the roar of cannons echoed throughout the city of Edo, Yukichi Fukuzawa calmly continued his regular Saturday lecture on "Wayland's* Political Economy" ( The Elements of Political Economy , 1866) at Keio University in Shiba-Shinsenza.
To pass down the spirit of Fukuzawa, who respected scholarship and education regardless of any changes in the world, Keio University has designated May 15 as the "Yukichi Fukuzawa-Francis Wayland Lecture Day" and has held a commemorative lecture every year since 1956 (Showa 31).
This year, Yukihiro Ikeda, Dean of the Faculty of Economics at Keio University, will give a lecture titled "Yukichi Fukuzawa and the Discourse of Economy: Between Old and New Ideals." We kindly request that you list this event in your event calendars and provide media coverage on the day.
*Francis Wayland (1796–1865, 4th President of Brown University, USA)
Please see below for the full press release.