CompleteMartialArts.com - The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa
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Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 370
EAN: 9780231083737
ISBN: 0231083734
Label: Columbia University Press
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 407
Publication Date: 1980-10-15
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Studio: Columbia University Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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Here is the autobiography of a remarkable man. Yukichi Fukuzawa's life covered the 66 years between 1835 and 1901, a period which comprised greater and more extraordinary changes than any other in the history of Japan. In his country's swift transformation from an isolated feudal state to a full-fledged member of the modern world, Fukuzawa played a leading role: he was the educator of the new Japan, the man who above all others explained to his countrymen the ideas behind the dazzling material evidence of Western civilization. Dictated by Fukuzawa in 1897, this book vividly relates his story, from his childhood as a member of the lower samurai class in a small, caste-bound village. His escape from the hopeless destiny decreed by his social position, his adventures as a student of Dutch (the language of the only Westerners allowed in Japan), his travels aboard the first Japanese ship to sail to America -- all prepared Fukuzawa to write Seiyo¯ Ji¯jo¯ (Things Western), the book which made him famous. His special perspective on Japan's tempestuous 19th century gives Fukuzawa's life story added fascination.
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Summary: Old Ways Die Hard
Comment:
There are hundreds and maybe thousands of memoirs and narratives of the US Civil War. Not so Japan. This book is important due to the rarity of narratives for this unusual time in Japan.
Yukichi Fukuzawa was born the second son of a lower status samurai in a lower status clan. Being under the radar screen he was able to get approval for his studies, an approval which he connived to disguise his real passion for learning Dutch. Little did he know that his knowledge of Dutch would lead to a passion for English which would later have such great importance.
The treaties may have been a done deal for the west, but Japan would not have maintained 200+ years of seclusion unless there were a vested interest for keeping it so. Fukuzawa describes (was it 13?) years of real and imagined attempts on his life. He refers to some assassinations of those supporting relations with the world, and a chronology at the end documents even more. This schoolmaster, teaching the dreaded western ways, who could easily have been deeper in the fray, describes how kept his head down.
The book is good. Its rarity makes it valuable, but it is not a 5 star book. Its rambling style is probably a result of its being dictated. In some areas there is a lot of detail such as his drinking habit. I'd rather have less of that and more description of his living quarters, the campus, the faculty or the nature of his students. Page 140 has the first mention of his wife. There is a chapter later about his family, but it is more about harmony and the achievements of his children. Interesting to me would be his courtship, family/clan customs/rituals (he apparently lives with his mother in law) and the role his wife seems to have as and advisor.
The author is at his best in his vignettes of his life and travels such as the difficulty of getting instruction and materials in Dutch and later English, the Japanese delegation's trip to Paris, impressions of Hawaii (far too short), how students copied books and how students paid tuition wrapped like a bento.
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Summary: Tales of the Meiji Restoration
Comment: Fukuzawa was not a great thinker, but he is rightly hailed as the main Japanese proponent of modernization of his day. Fukuzawa had some charming escapades that make this a good book for young teens and adults. He recounts the nobility but foolishness of ancient Japanese society, trying to learn Dutch and English in an age when such would draw the attention of assassins, and the antics of his schoolmates in his version of college. Interesting for anyone who wants an inspiring story about hard work amidst great challenges.
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Summary: You must read this book
Comment: Yukichi Fukuzawa is on the money. Quite literally, actually. He is the face on the Japanese equivalent of the hundred-dollar bill, which is fitting because he was the Japanese equivalent of Benjamin Franklin. A man completely ahead of his times, innovative and far-thinking, yet he never sought personal or political power, and in fact gleefully surrendered his samurai status and refused his clan-paid salary in order to just be an individual. Smack in the middle of civil war, when the armies of the Tokugawa Shogun fought against the armies trying to restore the Meiji Emperor to power, Fukuzawa founded a University. Education, liberation from ignorance, these were the ideals he worked for, not who would be king. His pen was his sword.
"The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa" is an extraordinary achievement, not only because of Fukuzawa's own extraordinary life but also for its readability. The guy was a writer, first and foremost, and he knew that the value of any book, any testament of beliefs, was inherent in how many people would pick it up and read it. He specifically wrote in simple, entertaining prose because he wanted the poorest and least-educated person to be able to pick up his works and enjoy them thoroughly, rather than have them be pondered over and studied by obtuse academics.
Fukuzawa lays out his life from his earliest stages, bitterly hating the feudal system that meant he had to bow and scrape to anyone who outranked him, regardless of that persons ability. He saw education as a means out of this proscribed lifestyle, and pursued the study of the Dutch language, which at the time was the only foreign interaction with Japan. His shock when he actually meets foreigners in the open port of Yokohama, and realizing that none of them spoke Dutch and that Holland was actually an unimportant country was a bombshell to the young Fukuzawa. From then on, the study of English obsessed him. He sailed on the first official Japanese mission to the US, founded Keio University based on English education, and tried to silently prod Japan out of its nationalistic frenzy and into the modern world.
Because it is an autobiography, of course, Fukuzawa is free to paint whatever portrait of himself that he wants. There are no "warts and all" revelations here, and even when he tries to describe his faults he comes off as more of a charming rouge than anything else. There are controversies with Fukuzawa, of course, and you will find none of them here. He gives you his personal philosophy of life, tells you how he tried his best to live up to it, all the while giving you a window into one of Japan's most dramatic periods of history.
Anyone interested in Japanese history should read this book. It is that simple. Fukuzawa may be one of the most important figures ever to emerge from Japan, and is influence is still felt to this day. The sheer pleasure to be had from reading "The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa" is a double bonus, and makes this book essential.
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Summary: A Book (And Life) With Something For Everyone
Comment: Fukuzawa Yukichi's memoir is one of the most versatile tools for teaching history. It has proved its worth as a self-effacing account of one 19th-century samurai's experience of westernization and modernization. But its universal appeal derives from Fukuzawa's zeal for the pursuit of knowledge, and his development as a skilled mediator of cross-cultural encounters. The author transformed himself from a conventional warrior into a scholar of "Dutch" (i.e. western) learning, diplomat, journalist, educator and entrepreneur, achieving success in all his endeavors. His "Autobiography" has all kinds of uses; there's even a passage decribing Fukuzawa's run-in with another swordsman, where they avoid a duel of honor by fleeing---thus puncturing the samurai ethos as a particular construction of masculinity. There are some imperfections; he is less than forthcoming about backing the Tokugawa Shogunate, thus siding with the losers during the Meiji Restoration. Also, the story ends well before Fukuzawa's final decades, when he became more conservative, nationalistic and a supporter of Japanese imperialism. Still, the man portrayed here is exceptionally attractive, and an important actor in the drama of Asia's role in the modern world. Albert M. Craig is nearing completion of a comprehensive major biography, but until it appears, there is N. Tamaki, "Yukichi Fukuzawa 1835-1901," a study of his role in business. Older titles by C. Blacker, "Japanese Enlightenment," and G. Sansom, "The Western World and Japan," are still valuable. NB, Family names come before personal names in Japan, which explains the variant listings.
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Summary: Open you eyes to one man's Japan
Comment: Rethink your view of Japan as steeped in tradition. Fukuzawa helped shape modern Japan by standing against feudal Japanese thought in a critical cross-road in Japanese history. This is one man's insight into why the Japanese think the way they do and why the best course of medicine is an open embrace of Western thought.
Great for anyone interested in Japanese history without being bogged down. Great for anyone looking for a little life inspiration.
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