Tokujirō Obata

Image: Collection of the Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies

In issue No. 621 of Mita-hyoron (official monthly journal published by Keio University Press) (December 1963), Masafumi Tomita, editor of the "Complete Works of Yukichi Fukuzawa," spoke of Tokujirō Obata: "We must never forget that behind Yukichi Fukuzawa's founding of Keio University and its growth to its current greatness, there was the consistent work of this man. Tokujirō Obata was the person who made the greatest contribution to the success of Keio University as Yukichi Fukuzawa's right-hand man and a power behind the scenes. To Yukichi Fukuzawa, he was the leading figure among his disciples, and to those outside the Juku, it is no exaggeration to say that there was no one else but him to represent the Juku in place of Yukichi Fukuzawa."

The image of Obata as Fukuzawa's collaborator was also recognized by his contemporaries. For example, the Choya Shimbun dated March 5, 1890, stated, "Those who know of Keio University must know of Mr. Tokujirō Obata. Who that knows the name of the venerable Fukuzawa could fail to record his name?" Obituaries in various newspapers after his death also reported: "His character was gentle, he enjoyed the deep trust of the late Yukichi Fukuzawa, and was highly respected among the Keio Gijuku Shachu. In particular, his contribution to the education of the students of Keio University was immense" (Mainichi Shimbun, April 18, 1905), and "He mastered English studies early on and assisted Mr. Yukichi Fukuzawa as a pioneer of our nation's culture" (Niroku Shimbun, same date). However, as time passed, far from "never being forgotten," Obata's name became known to few, even within Keio University.

Until now, there has been no proper biography of him, only the "Anecdotes of Mr. Obata" published in the Jiji Shimpo in 12 installments starting May 14, 1905, and a small booklet titled "A Short Biography of Mr. Tokujirō Obata and an Outline of the History of the Obata Memorial Library," produced for "Book Week" in 1926 by the Nakatsu Library, which was established through his will and donations.

Finally, in March 2022, as a joint project between Keio University and the Fukuzawa Yukichi Memorial Association, the publication of his first Collected Works began. He had various achievements, including translations from the works of Wayland, Tocqueville, and J.S. Mill, translations of practical books, and the writing of history and geography books for elementary school students. Volume 1 includes "English Idioms," "Natural Disasters," "Supplement to New Natural History," "Guide to Production," and a short biography of Tokujirō Obata. Volume 2 includes "Table of Revenue and Expenditure of Various Western Countries," "On the Freedom of Publication," "Mill's Three Essays on Religion," "Manual of Parliamentary Procedure," and writings published in newspapers and magazines up to 1878. Volume 3 includes "Wayland's Elements of Political Economy," and Volume 4 includes "Elementary History Steps," "Elementary History," "Elementary Geography Steps," and writings published in newspapers and magazines from 1879 onwards. Subsequent volumes are planned to include "Complete Book of British Naval Guns," "New Book on Marine Steam Engines," and outgoing letters.

Tokujirō Obata was born in 1842, seven years after Yukichi Fukuzawa, in Nakatsu, Buzen Province (now Nakatsu City, Oita Prefecture). Both were sons of Nakatsu samurai, but while Yukichi's father Hyakusuke was a lower-ranking samurai with a stipend of thirteen koku and rations for two, Tokujirō was the son of an upper-ranking samurai with two hundred koku. He learned the punctuation of the Four Books and Five Classics from his father, later studied under the Nakatsu Confucian scholar Hakugan Nomoto and others, entered the domain school Shinshukan, and eventually became engaged in education at the same school. The turning point for him, who was making a living through Confucianism, came in 1864. Having witnessed the high level of civilization during his inspection of Europe in 1862, Fukuzawa considered human resource development through Western studies an urgent task. He sought collaborators in Nakatsu for the reform of his own Juku and set his sights on Obata.

According to Obata's recollections in his final years ("Fifty-Year History of Keio University"), he had known Fukuzawa through his "uncle" since he was four or five years old, wearing only a bellyband, and had the "honor of reading" Things Western (Seiyō Jijō) before its publication. However, at that time, his father had already passed away, so he thought of his remaining mother and avoided meeting Fukuzawa to ensure he would not be invited. However, they unexpectedly met at his "aunt's house," and he was strongly persuaded with the words, "I have not heard of a student starving to death in Edo," leading him to head to Edo.

According to recollections of disciples who entered the school from the end of the Edo period to the early Meiji era, Obata taught and studied himself while also handling enrollment procedures and supervising boarding students (Mita-hyoron (official monthly journal published by Keio University Press) No. 223, 233, 250, etc.). Fukuzawa believed that civilization and enlightenment would progress under a stable feudal system under the "Monarchy of the Shogun," but the Shogunate met its end sooner than expected. Looking at the February 1868 diary of Yoshitake Kimura, who was the commander of the Kanrin Maru, Fukuzawa was consulting about a "school" at that time. Then, in April, the "Keio Gijuku no Ki (Notes on Keio Gijuku)," which could be called the declaration of the founding of a new school, was announced. According to Toan Matsuyama, it was Obata's draft ("One Hundred Year History of Keio University," Volume 1).

The document states that establishing a "company" and "fellow students studying and refining themselves together" to engage in Western studies is not a "private" matter, but a broad "public" one, and expresses the hope that all those with ambition, "regardless of whether they are samurai or commoners," will come to study. In other words, Keio University aimed for the sharing of knowledge. In a letter to Riozo Yamaguchi around 1870 or 1871, Obata calls Fukuzawa "Master" and identifies with "our party." For Obata, Fukuzawa was both a mentor and a comrade.

Through the publication of works such as "Natural Disasters" and "Supplement to New Natural History," Obata introduced new knowledge based on physics and biology to a wide range of people, including women and children. These activities were carried out in cooperation with Fukuzawa, as clearly shown by the fact that "Natural Disasters" and Yukichi Fukuzawa's Research Bulletin Kyurizukai (early autumn 1868) explicitly state their complementary relationship within each other's texts. Furthermore, he spent seven years from 1871 completing the full translation of Francis Wayland's economics book, which he took over from Fukuzawa to lecture on ("Wayland's Elements of Political Economy," 9 volumes).

It is well known that the first volume of Gakumon no susume (An Encouragement of Learning) was "co-authored" with Fukuzawa, but Obata is often seen as merely lending his name. Fukuzawa also claimed it as his own work in his collected works during his lifetime. However, that volume has a predecessor called "Exhortation to Literature for the Samurai and Commoners of the Prefecture," which is almost identical except for the last quarter. In Nakatsu Prefecture, an application for publication had been submitted to the Ministry of Finance to disseminate this to the world as widely as "newspapers." Considering the differences in content from the first volume of Gakumon no susume (An Encouragement of Learning), there may be room to reconsider whether Obata had no involvement at all in the "Exhortation to Literature for the Samurai and Commoners of the Prefecture," which would have been developed with the prefecture's officials.

Fukuzawa deeply trusted Obata's scholarship. In the introduction to An Outline of a Theory of Civilization in 1875, he stated that the "value" of the theory had greatly increased after receiving Obata's corrections. Also, at the time of the launch of the Jiji Shimpo in 1882, it was noted regarding the editorials that they "specifically requested the drafts of both Mr. Fukuzawa and Mr. Obata, and troubled them with their review." In the "Biographies of Newspaper Contributors" edited by Gompei Tsuda and published in 1881, it is recorded that because Obata was one step ahead in his knowledge of Confucianism, Fukuzawa would never publish a translation of a "Western book" without it first undergoing Obata's "proofreading and criticism."

Was the relationship between Fukuzawa and Obata always good? In 1887, Fukuzawa began to think about establishing specialized departments and turning Keio University into a "university." Nobukichi Koizumi, who was then serving in the Ministry of Finance, was welcomed as the Chancellor, and under him, reforms were to be carried out by Sadashiro Hamano, Ikinoshin Kadono, and Eiji Masuda. However, Obata's name was not there. Fukuzawa's nephew Hikojiro Nakamigawa was concerned and made a suggestion to Fukuzawa, but Fukuzawa replied that it was "unnecessary worry" and stated that Obata would take on the "position of advisor" and "retirement" (letter dated October 1, 1887).

Obata's reaction at this time is not clear. However, at the end of 1877, he had been forced to return from London after just over six months when he had planned to stay for a year. During a period of deteriorating management, while being consulted by Fukuzawa about closing the school, he bore the operation of Keio University on his shoulders. In a lecture he gave in 1883 at the request of students, he had to make excuses, saying, "I am usually occupied with administrative affairs and cannot simply focus my eyes on books. Therefore, I am unable to give a sufficient lecture to satisfy you all." Obata had worked so hard for academic affairs. Was the sudden notice of retirement something he could accept? In the end, the Koizumi system did not go well, and it was Obata who settled things, assuming the post of President in March 1890.

Furthermore, in 1896, regarding the continuation of the college, which continued to run a large deficit, Obata, who was then President, agreed with Nakamigawa's plan to abolish the college and enhance the advanced course. The Board of Councilors decided on the abolition and the addition of subjects to the advanced course. However, Fukuzawa insisted on its continuation to the end and overturned the decision at the next Board of Councilors meeting. Obata resigned as President on August 13, 1897, before a successor had even been decided. As the head of the organization, he likely felt that ignoring the decision of the highest decision-making body was unacceptable. Less than eight months later, he became the Vice-Chancellor. In "Anecdotes of Mr. Obata (9)" in the Jiji Shimpo, it is stated that since he was no longer "involved in Juku affairs" and only "oversaw the general outline of matters," he was "now at peace" and intended to return to Nakatsu. However, he was persuaded to stay by Fukuzawa, who said that if not Obata, "who else could be the second head priest of the main temple?" He assumed the post of Chancellor of Keio University in October 1901 after Fukuzawa's death and died of stomach cancer on April 16, 1905. His grave is at Shoun-ji Temple in Hiroo, Tokyo.

Reading the minutes of the House of Peers, one can see scenes where even Obata's statements as a member were suspected of having Fukuzawa's opinions in the background, and Obata would counter that they were "my own personal thoughts." It cannot be denied that not only the public but also Fukuzawa himself had a tendency to identify Obata with himself.

From the writings and letters included in the first collected works, Obata's own social vision becomes clear, and it is evident that he was involved in the management of Keio University and the Kojunsha as his own conviction. It is hoped that research will progress in the future and Obata's achievements will be clarified from various perspectives. This will undoubtedly lead to the elucidation of who the actual drivers of Japan's modernization were—that is, the essence of the Meiji Restoration.