Nobukichi Koizumi

Image: Nobukichi Koizumi (around 1876, in London)

In her book "Talking about My Father, Shinzo Koizumi," Ms. Tae, the granddaughter of Nobukichi Koizumi and the second daughter of Shinzo Koizumi, stated: "Nobukichi Koizumi was apparently no good at martial arts, but he was smart from childhood. There is a story that he read the Analects of Confucius in front of the Lord at the age of two, and then went back to his mother to nurse. Then, at the age of 18, he came to Edo from Kishu as a student and entered the school of Yukichi Fukuzawa." Also, Koizumi's son Shinzo wrote in "Teacher and Student: Yukichi Fukuzawa and My Father" (included in "Selected Essays of Shinzo Koizumi 2"): "It might sound strange for me, his son, to say this, but I believe my father was one of the disciples who was particularly trusted by Fukuzawa."

Nobukichi Koizumi was born in 1849 into a family of samurai in the Wakayama Domain of Kii Province. In November 1866, he entered Fukuzawa's Dutch studies Juku in Tsukiji Teppozu as a student funded by the domain (Yoshiro Wada, the first head of the Yochisha, also entered the Juku from the same Kishu domain on the same day).

In 1868, due to the chaos of the Boshin War, the number of Keio students temporarily dropped to only 18. On May 15, even amidst the battle between the Shogitai and the New Government forces in Ueno, Fukuzawa continued his Saturday routine of lecturing on Wayland's economic text, encouraging the Keio students by saying, "No matter what changes occur in the world, as long as Keio University exists, the lifeblood of learning in our country will never be extinguished."

Every year, at the beginning of the Yukichi Fukuzawa Birthday Commemoration, Yochisha students sing the lyrics of "Here Stands Yukichi Fukuzawa," which include: "Do not let the light of Western learning go out / If it fades, the country will be in darkness / Do not forget our duty / Encouraging the 18 / Here stands Yukichi Fukuzawa." Nobukichi Koizumi was among those 18. Koizumi was so trusted by Fukuzawa that he even served as a teacher.

The song "Here Stands Yukichi Fukuzawa" was first sung in 1964 at the 90th anniversary ceremony of the founding of the Yochisha. Haruo Sato, who was commissioned to write the lyrics, consulted a certain person about which event in Fukuzawa's life should be chosen as the theme. When asked, "Which part do you intend to sing about?" Sato replied, "How about the teacher giving a lecture while ignoring the war in Ueno?" and the person explained it to him in detail. The person Sato consulted was Koizumi's eldest son, Shinzo. May 15, the day the commemorative ceremony was held, is the very day of the "Yukichi Fukuzawa-Francis Wayland Memorial Lecture." Haruo Sato died suddenly just nine days before the ceremony. Shinzo Koizumi, who was invited to the ceremony, must have thought of the late Sato on the podium, and of his late father who was sung about in the poem.

Koizumi went to study in England with Hikojiro Nakamigawa in 1874 and studied social systems in general. To improve skills in public speaking and debate, the Mita Public Speaking Event was launched that same year. Fourteen people, including Fukuzawa, Tokujirō Obata, and Nakamigawa, were involved in the preparations, and Koizumi was counted among them. It is famous that Fukuzawa translated the English word "speech" as "演説 (enzetsu)," but it was Koizumi who explained the necessity of public speaking to Fukuzawa. After returning to Japan in 1878, he worked for the Ministry of Finance at the recommendation of Kaoru Inoue. In 1880, during the preparations for the founding of the Yokohama Specie Bank, he served as the first Vice President upon Fukuzawa's recommendation. He went to England to establish the London branch, but returned to the Ministry of Finance in 1882 to become a tax official.

Then in 1887, at the strong request of Fukuzawa, he was appointed President of Keio University (initially titled Chancellor) to prepare for the establishment of the college (in 1890). Koizumi, a Ministry of Finance official skilled in finance, was expected to reform and stabilize the financial state of the Juku, which Fukuzawa had been supporting with his own funds. It is said that Fukuzawa had been thinking of having Koizumi involved in the management of the Juku for more than two years before his appointment as President.

Koizumi proceeded with fundraising, academic improvements, and preparations for the founding of the college. He also spared no effort at the Kojunsha, serving as a founding promoter and the first chairman of the Board of Councilors (then called President). His conviction was that separating Keio University from the Fukuzawa family and making it a corporation of a public nature would strengthen the Juku's existence. In January 1889, the "Keio University Capital Fundraising" was conducted under the names of Fukuzawa, Obata, and Koizumi, calling for donations to launch the college. However, there were differences in the way Fukuzawa and Koizumi thought about securing funds, and it is said that the request for him to take office was not necessarily in a form that left everything to Koizumi.

Fukuzawa trusted Koizumi, and Koizumi admired Fukuzawa. Shinzo wrote, "They were teacher and student who trusted each other from the bottom of their hearts, and it can be said that my father's happiness was meeting this teacher in his life ('My Daily Life')." However, due to temporary misunderstandings, they did not always understand each other deeply or remain on good terms throughout their lives. In particular, there were many instances where they disagreed on the management of the Juku.

In 1888, there was a student boycott incident known as the Strike Incident. Regarding the passing or failing of exams, Ikinoshin Kadono proposed a revision to strict conditions where a score of 60 or higher in all subjects was required to pass, which the Keio students rebelled against. The boycott of classes lasted for over ten days, and more than 280 students participated. When the situation escalated to the point of expelling opposing students, they did not respond to Koizumi's persuasion, and students wishing to withdraw appeared one after another. Fukuzawa worked to resolve the situation by persuading them himself. "This is a misfortune for Koizumi," Fukuzawa wrote in a letter to Nakamigawa.

Fukuzawa began to feel some anxiety about Koizumi, thinking it was a clumsy turn of events after having him quit the Ministry of Finance to come. Conversely, Koizumi likely felt dissatisfied with Fukuzawa for interfering in the management of the Juku and showing understanding toward the students. Even when criticism arose against Kadono, who had planned the reform of the examination system, Koizumi supported his former student Kadono, but despite the disagreement of Koizumi as President, Fukuzawa advised Kadono to take a leave of absence. These factors triggered a subtle divergence in feeling between the two.

Fukuzawa must have intended to leave all management of the Juku to Koizumi and retire from the front lines, but in 1889, he continued to exert influence, such as asking for an explanation regarding the salary amount Koizumi had decided for hiring foreign teachers. Even if Fukuzawa himself had no intention of owning the Juku privately, as long as the Juku had been maintained by Fukuzawa, it was difficult to "make Fukuzawa powerless." For Koizumi, this was not what he would call "being entrusted with management." If what the President decided did not remain decided, then such a President was unnecessary. Koizumi was clearly dissatisfied with Fukuzawa's actions and returned to his hometown of Wakayama in May of that same year, citing illness. When Koizumi's wife, Chiga, went to the Fukuzawa house to say goodbye, Fukuzawa asked, "O-Chiga-san, why won't you stop Nobu-san?" She cried in front of Fukuzawa, saying, "Isn't it all because you are in the wrong, Teacher?"

Fukuzawa sent Nakamigawa to Wakayama, wrote letters himself, and met Koizumi directly in Osaka, repeatedly asking him to return. Koizumi, who returned to Tokyo in October, was re-elected as President at the first Keio University Board of Councilors meeting, but he did not return to work (Obata acted as President), and he finally officially resigned as President in March of the following year, 1890. The duties of the President he was supposed to have been entrusted with thus ended in resignation.

Considering the relationship since Koizumi entered the Fukuzawa Juku and the kindness Fukuzawa showed to Koizumi himself and his family, it can be inferred that this event was the most painful incident of Koizumi's life. Even if there were sufficient reasons for leaving the Juku and not listening to the pleas to return, it must have been unbearable when he thought of Fukuzawa's kindness and his true respect for his teacher. And presumably for Fukuzawa as well, it must have been painful to have fallen into such a relationship with one of the disciples he trusted.

The young Shinzo, aged six, remembered that Koizumi simply called Fukuzawa "Teacher" at home. This is an episode showing that Koizumi continued to respect his teacher long after.

After resigning as President, Koizumi served as an executive of the Bank of Japan before returning to the Yokohama Specie Bank in 1891, where he lived a life of intense work as the head office manager. The busyness that continued day and night damaged his health, and his appendicitis worsened into peritonitis, leading to his death. This was in December 1894. Fukuzawa had visited Koizumi's house in Sakuragicho many times until then. Mourning Koizumi's death, he delivered the following eulogy the day after his passing.

"You were rich in natural literary talent and precise in reasoning. Reading Western books five lines at a time was your unique strength, and there was almost no field of learning you did not master. In particular, you reached a high level in mathematics without a teacher, which was your greatest joy. Not only were you already a great master of the academic world, but your heart was resolute and free from greed, your conduct was upright and capable of accepting others, and your gentle words and deeds naturally made others respect you. This is truly the true character of the Japanese samurai class, and perhaps it is what your family precepts have instilled in you since childhood. Among modern Western scholars, you are the only one in whom we can see a person who makes their heart that of a Genroku samurai. Among the nearly 10,000 students who have attended our Keio University, there are not many others besides you who can truly represent the spirit of this Juku and serve as a general model. Therefore, your service at the Ministry of Finance and your involvement with banks in your aforementioned career were merely using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken, and are not worth discussing in terms of success or failure. Now, our party loses a hero in the academic world. This is not only a misfortune for Keio University, but something to be lamented for the sake of the world's civilization. Yukichi Fukuzawa records this while wiping away tears."

How much must this poignant eulogy by Fukuzawa have encouraged the bereaved family? "I can say nothing but that I am grateful," Shinzo wrote. At the same time, he also imagined, "Perhaps the fact that my father and the teacher were separated even for a short while made the teacher grieve the death of his disciple all the more." Shinzo also wrote that if Fukuzawa had died first, Koizumi would likely have "thought of the teacher's favor during his lifetime and his own inadequacy in turning against it even for a moment, and would have been unable to bear the remorse and grief."

In the Koizumi family thereafter, this eulogy was always hung in the alcove on the anniversary of Nobukichi's death. Young Shinzo, who lost his father at the age of six, continued to feel close to his father by seeing this every year, and at the same time thanked Fukuzawa for his deep affection. He also continued to pass on his grandfather's character to his own children. It is a treasure of the Koizumi family.

The youngest daughter, born one week after Koizumi's death, was named "Nobu," taking one character from "Nobukichi." The naming was done by none other than Fukuzawa himself.