News Details Page

The Legacy of the Keio Spirit: 
Investment and Appreciation

Let me  begin with my stock phrase at an interview with applicants for Keio Academy of New York: “How do you place the role of Fukuzawa Yukichi?”

So many applicants are tempted to identify Fukuzawa sensei simply as an educator, reciting from memory the first sentence of An Encouragement of Learning. However, since we would like to hear some insightful interpretation of him, this simplistic identification sounds hopelessly tautological, if not incorrect.  

Thus, I made a habit of modifying my question from another perspective: “Why was Fukuzawa sensei portrayed on the 10,000 yen bill, the most expensive banknote in Japan?” Some applicant extremely amused me by giving me the following answer: “Probably someone wanted to make him more famous.”  Well, this is a perfect example of the perversion of logic.  I think this applicant must have mistaken the banknote for something like advertisement or TV commercial. If he had not been widely well-known, Fukuzawa sensei could not have been portrayed on the most precious bill in Japan. 

Therefore, I modified my question once again from a radically different viewpoint. “Please compare the Japanese 10,000 yen bill with the American 100 dollar bill. If you know who is portrayed on the latter, you will quickly understand the role of Fukuzawa sensei.”  At this point, I assumed that it is very easy for any applicant living in the United States to recall Dr.  Benjamin Franklin, the leading figure of the American Revolution, who has long been compared with Fukuzawa sensei culturally and philosophically. While Benjamin Franklin was called the exemplary founding father of modern America, Fukuzawa sensei was designated as the founding father not only of Keio Gijuku but also of modern Japan. Both of them embodied the idea of democracy in the United States and Japan respectively. However, one applicant disrupted the horizon of my expectation radically and even insightfully. He answered, ”Since we are used to credit card payment, we have never seen any kind of banknote.” 

I started my congratulatory speech with this episode, because Fukuzawa sensei, who has been portrayed on the 10,000 yen bill since 1984, is to be replaced by Shibusawa Eiichi this summer. The father of Japanese democracy is to be replaced by the father of Japanese capitalism.　Likewise, Ms. Higuchi Ichiyo, a female novelist in the Meiji era, who has been portrayed on the 5,000 yen bill since 2004, will be replaced by Ms.Tsuda Umeko, the founding mother of Tsuda College.  And Mr. Noguchi Hideyo, an international bacteriologist, who has been featured on the 1,000 yen bill since 2004, is to be replaced by Dr. Kitasato Shibasaburo (1853-1931), the father of modern medicine in Japan.

What will happen to the Japanese bills after Fukuzawa sensei disappears this summer? Don’t worry. His legacy will remain intact in the 1,000 yen bill marked by Dr. Kitasato, who admired Fukuzawa sensei so deeply as to establish the Faculty of Medicine of Keio University.

Historically speaking, Dr. Kitasato was born in Kumamoto prefecture in 1853, studied medicine at Tokyo Imperial University and the University of Berlin with Robert Koch as mentor. What with the discovery of the infectious agent of bubonic plague in 1894 and what with the discovery of diphtheria anti-toxin serum, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1901. What intertwined his distinguished scholarship with Keio Gijuku is Fukuzawa Yukichi’s generous sponsorship. After coming back from Germany to Japan in 1891, Dr. Kitasato established in 1892 the institute for Study of Infectious Diseases with the financial assistance of Fukuzawa sensei.  Showing deep interest in the medical project of Dr. Kitasato, Fukuzawa sensei decided to invest heavily in this promising scholar.  

At this point, Fukuzawa sensei warned Dr. Kitasato against the unreliability of government; back in 1877, when Keio Gijuku suffered financial crisis, Fukuzawa sensei made a plea for governmental help in vain. Since then he has never trusted whatever is bureaucratic,　 and reconfirmed his idea of anti-authoritarianism as represented by his belief in independence and self-reliance (独立自尊).   However, in the year of 1892, despite Fukuzawa sensei’s anticipation, Dr. Kitasato, being a graduate of Tokyo Imperial University, was so optimistic as to believe in public servants. 

It is the year of 1914 that devastated his life; the Japanese government ordered that his institute for Study of Infectious Diseases should be incorporated into Tokyo Imperial University.  It is certain that Japanese government planned a conspiracy to reappropriate Dr. Kitasato’s private institution, depriving him of hegemony within academic community. Fukuzawa sensei’s prophecy came true. Thus, he resigned in protest and founded instead the Kitasato Institute, the prototype of Kitasato University, which he headed for the rest of life. What is more, he helped establish the faculty of medicine of Keio University, primarily because he could finally share the legacy of anti-authoritarianism with Fukuzawa sensei and wanted to repay him for his favor. Thus, in 1917, at the opening ceremony of the faculty of Medicine, Dr. Kitasato highly admired his mentor, who had passed away in 1901 without seeing this new faculty. “Though I was never a pupil of Fukuzawa, he taught me more than I ever could have hoped to learn under his tutelage.”

What I have spelled out here will convince you that the legacy of Keio Gijuku is driven by the twin engine of investment and appreciation. To put it simply, Fukuzawa sensei was so intrigued with Dr.Kitasato’s medical project as to invest much money in the Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases. In order to appreciate Fukuzawa sensei’s generosity, Dr. Kitasato acknowledged his deep indebtedness to Fukuzawa sensei by paving the way for the next generations.

These principles of investment and appreciation could well be applicable of all of you. On one hand, if you appreciate the talent and activities of your friends, keep supporting them without hesitation. On the other hand, if you are being supported by your friends, repaying them for their favor is not enough. Keep passing on the legacy to the junior students. You should pass on the lessons and gifts the older generations gave you to the younger generations. This is what constitutes the Keio spirit and the first step for what we have meant by “Triculture.”

Happy graduation and keep learning!     Thank you for your attention.