Obata Tokujirō

Portrait photo of Obata Tokujirō (left) and Matsuyama Tōan, probably taken during the 1860s-70s (Nakatsu Municipal Museum of History and Folklore)

Portrait photo of Obata Tokujirō, 19th century (Nakatsu Municipal Museum of History and Folklore)

First page of the "Call to Learn" ( Gakumon no susume ), which was written in 1871 jointly by Fukuzawa Yukichi and Obata Tokujirō.

Nakatsu Library (old building built in 1909)

Obata Memorial Library, new building on the former site of the clan school ( Shinshūkan )

Obata Tokujirō ( Japanese 小 幡 篤 次郎 ; born June 8, 1842 in Nakatsu ( Buzen Province , now Ōita Prefecture ); † April 16, 1905 ) was a Japanese author, political philosopher and educator. He is one of those intellectuals of the Meiji Restoration who played an important role in the modernization of Japan.

Life

Obata was born in 1842 ( Japanese calendar : Tenpō 13) as the second son of the well-off samurai Obata Tokuzō ( 小 幡 篤 蔵 ), who served the sovereign ( daimyo ) of Nakatsu . All that is known about his early childhood is that he studied classical Confucian literature under the guidance of his father. At the age of 16 he entered the Shinshūkan ( 進脩 館 ) school , which served to train the samurai children of the fiefdom, but was also accessible to children of other classes. The subjects included classical Chinese literature, calligraphy, mathematics, military science, western studies (yogaku) ​​and a variety of practical lessons in horse riding, archery, fencing, swimming, etc. At the age of 23 he was appointed vice principal of the school.

In 1864 he moved on the advice of Fukuzawa Yukichi together with other companions from Nakatsu to Edo . Fukuzawa also came from a samurai family of the Nakatsu fiefdom , had initially worked as a teacher for Dutch studies ( rangaku ) in the Edo residence of the liege lord , but then got to know America and Europe as a member of a government delegation and henceforth studied the English language and the Dedicated to Western sciences conveyed through English texts.

Obata also began learning the English language in Edo, then took over the management of the school in Fukuzawa from 1866 to 68. At the same time, he served together with his younger brother Jinsaburō ( 小 幡 甚 三郎 , 1846–1873) as a teacher of English in the establishment Kaiseisho ( 開 成Einrichtung ) for western sciences founded by the Tokugawa government in 1862 . In 1868, according to the Japanese era, the fourth year of the Keiō era, Fukuzawa founded the 'Keiō private school' ( 慶 應 義 塾 Keiō Gijuku ) to promote the enlightenment of society ( 文明 開化 Bunmei-kaika , here also: 啓蒙 Keimō in terms of the history of ideas ). This was that year of upheaval ( Meiji Restoration ), in which the rule of the Tokugawa ended and an era of rapid modernization of the country began. Obata made considerable contributions in building the new company. In 1871, on the occasion of the establishment of a school in Nakatsu, he and Fukuzawa wrote a 'call to learning' ( 学問 の す ゝ め , Gakumon no susume ). After spending a year building up the school in Nakatsu, he returned to Tokyo in 1872. Here he got involved in the founding of the 'Model High School Tokyo' ( 東京 高等 師範学校 Tōkyō kōtō shihan gakkō ), which began operations in 1876.

In the same year he made a trip to Europe and America. In 1879 he became a member of the 'Tōkyō Academy' founded to promote science ( 東京 学士 会 院 Tōkyō gakushi kaiin ). In 1880 he took part in the founding of a politically ambitious association of entrepreneurs and business people, the so-called Kōjunsha ( 交 詢 社 ). In 1890 he became a member of the House of Lords ( 貴族 院 kizokuin ). In March of the same year he took over the management of the new Keiō Gijuku University, which he held until October 1897. Even after that he played a central role there.

Obata wrote numerous textbooks and enlightenment writings and also published a number of translations (Alexis de Tocqueville, Francis Wayland, William Chambers, Richard Senett, Reginald Francis Douce Palgrave, Frederick Martin, Emil Schalk, etc.).

Obata died at the age of 64. Shortly before his death, he bequeathed half of his extensive book collection as well as a piece of land to the family in his hometown of Nakatsu with the condition that a library be established there. This was Nakatsu's first public library, completed in 1909 and still operating as the municipal Obata Memorial Library to this day.

Works (selection)

• Obata Tokujirō / Obata Jinsaburō: Eibun jukugo shū , 1868 ( 英文 熟語 集 ).
• Obata Tokujiro: Tenhen chii ( 天 変 地 異 ), 1868
• Obata Tokujirō: Shōgaku rekishi , 1887 ( 小学 歴 史 ).
• Obata Tokujiro: Miru-shi shūkyō sanron , 1877 ( 彌 兒 氏 宗教 三 論 ).
• Obata Tokujirō: Hakubutsu shinpen hoi ( 博物 新編 補遺 )
• Fukuzawa Yukichi / Obata Tokujirō: Gakumon no susume , 1872 (first edition) ( 学問 の す ゝ め )

literature

• Nishizawa Naoko: Obata Tokujirō ryaku nenpu. In: Kindai Nihon Kenkyū , No. 21, 2004, pp. 139-141. ( 西澤 直 子 「小 幡 篤 次郎 略 年譜」 『近代 日本 研究』 第 21 号 )
• Nishizawa Naoko: Nakatsu shusshinsha-ate Obata Tokujirō shokan (letters from Obata Tokujirō to people from Nakatsu). In: Kindai Nihon Kenkyū , No. 21, 2004, pp. 89-130. ( 西澤 直 子 「中 津 出身 者 宛 小 幡 篤 次郎 書簡」 『近代 近代 日本 研究』 第 21 号 )
• Keiōgijuku Fukuzawa Kenkyu Senta: Kindai Nihon Kenkyu ., No. 21, 2004 (special edition 100th year of death of Obata tokujiro) ( 慶応義塾福沢研究センター「近代日本研究」特集小幡篤次郎没後百年 ).
• Obata kinen toshokan (ed.): Obata Tokujirō sensei shōden narabini Obata kinen toshokan enkaku gaiyō . Nakatsu, 1927 ( 小 幡 篤 次郎 先生 小 伝 並 小 幡 記念 図 書館 沿革 概要 )
• Wolfgang Michel, Torii Yumiko, Kawashima Mabito: Kyūshū no rangaku - ekkyō to kōryū (Dutch customer in Kyushu - border crossing and exchange). Kyōto: Shibunkaku Shuppan, 2009. ( ヴ ォ ル フ ガ ン グ ・ ミ ヒ ェ ル ・ 鳥 井 裕美子 ・ 川 嶌 眞 人 共 編 『九州 の 蘭 学 ー 越境 と 交流』 )

Web links

• Keiō University website
• Gakumon no susume (edition 1-17), Japanese text
• Obata Memorial Library (Nakatsu)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Matsuyama Tōan ( 松山 棟 庵 , 1839-1909), like Obata, had learned English from Fukuzwa Yukichi, then studied medicine and later made himself as dean of the 'Keiō Gijuku School of Medicine' and as a co-founder of the 'Sei-I-Kai Society for Medicine 'deserves.
2. ↑ Fukusawa subsequently published thirteen more elaborations, so that Obata's involvement in this first edition is hardly noticed today. As the epilogue of this edition shows, the original reason for this writing was to found a school in Nakatsu.
3. ↑ The name is derived from the motto 'Exchange knowledge, advise about the things of the world' ( 知識 ヲ 交換 シ 世 務 ヲ 諮詢 ス ル ).
4. ↑ The other half went to Keiō Gijuku University and is now guarded at the Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies .

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus, Obata is the family name, Tokujirō the first name.