Fukuzawa Yukichi

was a Japanese author, writer, teacher, translator, entrepreneur, journalist, and statesman who founded Keio University and the newspaper ''Jiji Shinpō''. He was an early Japanese advocate for reform and is regarded as one of the founders of modern Japan.

Fukuzawa was born into a low-ranking samurai family and spent his early life in a rigid, traditional feudal society. Dissatisfied with his limited prospects, he left his home domain to study Western learning, mastering Dutch and later English. He joined official Japanese missions to the United States in 1860 and Europe in 1862, experiences that profoundly shaped his understanding of Western civilization. During the Meiji Restoration, he remained a private citizen, dedicating himself to education and enlightenment through his writings and the establishment of Keio University (then Keio Gijuku) in 1858.

His most famous work, ''Gakumon no Susume'' (''An Encouragement of Learning''), published between 1872 and 1876, championed the principles of equality, independence, and practical studies. Fukuzawa was a central figure in the ''Bunmei-kaika'' (Civilization and Enlightenment) movement of the early Meiji period. He used the Western idea of "stages of civilization," learned from Scottish Enlightenment thinkers and American textbooks, to analyze Japan's position in the world and plot its future course. His 1875 work, ''Bunmeiron no Gairyaku'' (''An Outline of a Theory of Civilization''), applied these theories directly to Japan. In his later years, his liberal ideas evolved into a more nationalistic stance, advocating for Japan to build a "rich country and a strong army" and to assert itself as a leader in Asia, a view famously articulated in his editorial "Datsu-A Ron" (Leaving Asia). His portrait appeared on the Japanese 10,000-yen banknote from 1984 to 2024, a testament to his enduring legacy. Provided by Wikipedia