Yukichi Fukuzawa Essay

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Yukichi Fukuzawa was a pioneer in bringing Western thought and ideas to Japan. Through his efforts he made the great nation of Japan even greater with conveying western ideas to Japan and gracing the Japanese with a whole different thought process. In order to introduce Japan to the Western world he first had to rid the country of the Chinese culture and structure. Japan had developed China’s government model which therefore brought many of the Chinese customs and traditions to Japan. In order to liberate Japan from Feudalism, Fukuzawa thought it was crucial for Japan to become familiarized to the Western ideas and technologies, and what he thought would forever change Japan. Fukuzawa first learned Dutch and later learned to English after visiting america ; he visited the United States twice and travelled through Europe for almost a year before the Meiji Restoration which was in 1868. Through these journeys Fukuzawa became accustomed to western ideas and begin to understand the basic principle of America’s society and what they stood for. Learning English became important to Fukuzawa, and he got to practice holding his position under the Shogunate government. Fukuzawa states, “Whenever a message was received from the American or British legation, I would attempt to read the original text. It happened to be difficult; I would look up the Dutch version to make my translation. This was excellent practice. So my connection with the central government brought with it a very fortunate advantage for my studies” (Fukuzawa, 123). I found this to be a great parallel to his overall goal of seeking to transform feudal Japan. Fukuzawa was a very intelligent mad, but in order for his intelligence to blossom it took dedication and strong-will. Fukuzawa understood that bringing Western ideas to Japan was going to be hard; but knew Japan would be so much better off if the country

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