The Dean's View of Yukichi Fukuzawa: Toward a New jitsugaku (science) for the East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere | Tomoyuki Kojima (Dean, Faculty of Policy Management)
2007.04.12
There is no direct connection between Yukichi Fukuzawa and myself. However, personally, I am filled with a sense of familiarity whenever I hear his name. This is because, after all, my mother, like Yukichi Fukuzawa, was from Nakatsu. Before the Meiji Restoration, my mother's family were lower-class samurai, and like Yukichi Fukuzawa's family, they were apparently not very wealthy. My grandmother served as a director of a nursing home on the outskirts of Nakatsu City until she passed away at the age of 95, and she was a person of strict character. However, she also had a warm heart, and my children were very fond of their great-grandmother. I myself lived in Hakata from elementary school through high school, and during vacations like summer break, I would often go to Nakatsu and swim in the sea of the Kunisaki Peninsula.
For me, my interest in Yukichi Fukuzawa lies in his views on Asia. This is likely because my field of research has been area studies and international relations focusing on East Asia, including China. In his work "Gakumon no Susume" (An Encouragement of Learning) (1872–76), he prioritized individual freedom and equality, stating, "For the sake of reason, I would bow to an African slave; for the sake of the path, I would not fear the warships of Britain or America." While learning from the West, Yukichi Fukuzawa was one of the ideologues who led modern Asia, aiming to overcome the shock of the West and achieve national independence. He opposed both the Seikanron (Debate on Conquering Korea) and the Taiwan Expedition, and sought "kyosei (coexistence and co-prosperity)" for modernization on an equal footing with East Asian countries such as China and the Korean Peninsula. That is why he pointed out that the Western powers were the ones who profited most from the Taiwan Expedition, and that Asia should unite in its vigilance against the West. It was for this reason that he accepted reformists from the Joseon Dynasty on the Korean Peninsula, such as Kim Ok-gyun, into Keio University and actively supported the modernization of Asia (Shinichi Kitaoka, "Dokuritsu Jison" [Independence and Self-Respect], Kodansha).
However, in 1885, Yukichi Fukuzawa published "Datsu-A Ron" (On Leaving Asia), in which he expressed his abandonment of cooperation with China and the Korean Peninsula, which hesitated in their major shift toward modernization, stating that Japan should "cast in her lot with the civilized countries of the West, and that the way to deal with China and Korea is no different from the way the Westerners do, not because they are our neighbors should we have special feelings for them." From this point on, Yukichi Fukuzawa tended to be criticized as a proponent of "disposing of Asia" or "Datsu-A Nyu-O" (Leave Asia, Enter Europe).
However, Yukichi Fukuzawa had not, in fact, changed into a proponent of "disposing of Asia" or "Datsu-A Nyu-O." This is supported by his own writings. When a trend of contempt for the Qing dynasty emerged in Japan after Japan's victory in the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), he published an editorial emphasizing the strengthening of exchange with the Chinese people, stating, "How much more so when it comes to insulting others with terms like chan-chan or tonbikan," and "Japanese people, regardless of their status as officials or civilians, should recognize the benefits of befriending the Chinese." Although "leaving Asia" is the ideological image associated with Yukichi Fukuzawa, it is beginning to be rigorously and meticulously analyzed through comparative analysis of primary sources like the "Fukuzawa Yukichi Zenshu" (The Complete Works of Yukichi Fukuzawa) that he remained within the context of "independence and self-respect," which upholds the principles of freedom and equality that encompass "kyosei" (for example, Yo Hirayama, "Fukuzawa Yukichi no Shinjitsu" [The Truth about Yukichi Fukuzawa], Bunshun Shinsho). This suggests that most research, including theoretical analysis, is premised on the steady work of analyzing primary sources.
The "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" during the Sino-Japanese and Japan-US wars was an attempt to create an East Asian community with Japan as its leader. Now, however, East Asian countries, including China, have achieved economic development, and although the conditions for sharing "independence" and "kyosei" are still small, they have begun to take shape. At the "ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations, 10 countries) + 3 (Japan, China, and South Korea in Northeast Asia)" summit, where an agreement was reached on the realization of an "East Asian Community," the realization of an "East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere" has come to be spoken of positively in parts of Southeast Asia (Singapore).
The tradition of Yukichi Fukuzawa, who emphasized "kyosei" with East Asia, is still carried on at Keio University today. Shinzo Koizumi, who served as President during and after the war, recognized the importance of relations with China during the Sino-Japanese War and established the China Research Institute within Keio. After the war, with former President Tadao Ishikawa at the center, area studies, including those on China, have led Japan's Asian studies as a base for modern Chinese research. I was also a student of Professor Ishikawa, and at SFC, Asian studies are now flourishing, developing and carrying on the tradition of "kyosei" with Asia that Yukichi Fukuzawa aimed for, with professors such as Atsushi Kusano, Michio Umegaki, Jun Shigematsu, Toru Nomura, Yoshikazu Watanabe, Yorizumi Watanabe, Tadashi Hikami, Eiichi Tajima, and Haolan Zheng. Why don't you join us in the creation of a new jitsugaku (science), a "21st-century version of East Asian studies," which is the tradition Yukichi Fukuzawa aimed for and is now beginning at SFC?
(Date of publication: 2007/04/12)