Kikuchi Dairoku
Encyclopedia
Baron was a mathematician, educator, and educational administrator in Meiji period
Japan
.
(present-day Tokyo
), as the second son of Mitsukuri Shuhei. After attending the Bansho Shirabesho
, the Shogunal institute for western studies, he was sent to Great Britain
, in 1866, at age 11, the youngest of a group of Japanese sent by the Tokugawa shogunate
to the University College School
, on the advice of the then British foreign minister Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby
.
Kikuchi returned to England in 1870, and was the first Japanese student to graduate from the University of Cambridge
(St. John's College) and the only one to graduate from the University of London
in the 19th century. His specialization was in physics
and mathematics
. In 1884 he attended the International Meridian Conference
in Washington D.C.
After returning to Japan, Kikuchi later became President of Tokyo Imperial University
, Minister of Education (1901–1903) and President of Kyoto Imperial University
. His textbook on elementary geometry
was the most widely used textbook in Japan until the end of World War II
.
Kikuchi was made a baron
under the kazoku
peerage system in 1902, and was the eighth president of the Gakushūin
Peers' School. He was also briefly the first President of the Science Research Institute of Japan (Rikagakukenkyusho or RIKEN
, the equivalent of the Cavendish Laboratory
at the University of Cambridge). He died in 1917.
. His father Mitsukuri Shuhei had taught at the Bansho-shirabesho (Institute for Investigating Barbarian Books). His children were famous scientists, and his grandson Minobe Ryōkichi
became Governor of Tokyo
.
after Kikuchi:
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Kikuchi's life and career
Kikuchi was born in EdoEdo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
(present-day Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
), as the second son of Mitsukuri Shuhei. After attending the Bansho Shirabesho
Bansho Shirabesho
The ', or "Institute for the Study of Barbarian Books," was the Japanese institute charged with the translation and study of foreign books and publications in the late Edo Period. Founded in 1857, it functioned as a sort of bureau of the Tokugawa Shogunate. It was renamed ' in 1862, and ' in 1863...
, the Shogunal institute for western studies, he was sent to Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, in 1866, at age 11, the youngest of a group of Japanese sent by the Tokugawa shogunate
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
to the University College School
University College School
University College School, generally known as UCS, is an Independent school charity situated in Hampstead, north west London, England. The school was founded in 1830 by University College London and inherited many of that institution's progressive and secular views...
, on the advice of the then British foreign minister Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby
Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby
Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby KG, PC, FRS , known as Lord Stanley from 1844 to 1869, was a British statesman...
.
Kikuchi returned to England in 1870, and was the first Japanese student to graduate from the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
(St. John's College) and the only one to graduate from the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
in the 19th century. His specialization was in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
. In 1884 he attended the International Meridian Conference
International Meridian Conference
The International Meridian Conference was a conference held in October 1884 in Washington, D.C., in the United States to determine the Prime Meridian of the world. The conference was held at the request of U.S. President Chester A...
in Washington D.C.
After returning to Japan, Kikuchi later became President of Tokyo Imperial University
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...
, Minister of Education (1901–1903) and President of Kyoto Imperial University
Kyoto University
, or is a national university located in Kyoto, Japan. It is the second oldest Japanese university, and formerly one of Japan's Imperial Universities.- History :...
. His textbook on elementary geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
was the most widely used textbook in Japan until the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Kikuchi was made a baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
under the kazoku
Kazoku
The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan that existed between 1869 and 1947.-Origins:Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the ancient court nobility of Kyoto regained some of its lost status...
peerage system in 1902, and was the eighth president of the Gakushūin
Gakushuin
The or Peers School is an educational institution founded in Tokyo in 1877, during the Meiji period, for the education of the children of the Japanese aristocracy, though it eventually also opened its doors to the offspring of extremely wealthy commoners...
Peers' School. He was also briefly the first President of the Science Research Institute of Japan (Rikagakukenkyusho or RIKEN
RIKEN
is a large natural sciences research institute in Japan. Founded in 1917, it now has approximately 3000 scientists on seven campuses across Japan, the main one in Wako, just outside Tokyo...
, the equivalent of the Cavendish Laboratory
Cavendish Laboratory
The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the university's School of Physical Sciences. It was opened in 1874 as a teaching laboratory....
at the University of Cambridge). He died in 1917.
Mitsukuri family
Kikuchi was a member of one of Japan's most distinguished and outstanding families of scholars, the Mitsukuri family, and at the centre of Japan's educational system in the Meiji Era. His grandfather had been a student of Dutch studies ("rangaku")Rangaku
Rangaku is a body of knowledge developed by Japan through its contacts with the Dutch enclave of Dejima, which allowed Japan to keep abreast of Western technology and medicine in the period when the country was closed to foreigners, 1641–1853, because of the Tokugawa shogunate’s policy of national...
. His father Mitsukuri Shuhei had taught at the Bansho-shirabesho (Institute for Investigating Barbarian Books). His children were famous scientists, and his grandson Minobe Ryōkichi
Ryokichi Minobe
was a Japanese politician who served as Governor of Tokyo from 1967 to 1979. He is one of the best known socialist figures in modern Japanese history.-Early life:Minobe was born in Tokyo...
became Governor of Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
.
General
- Japanese students in Britain
- Tokyo Imperial University
- University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
- Anglo-Japanese relationsAnglo-Japanese relationsThe history of the relationship between Britain and Japan began in 1600 with the arrival of William Adams on the shores of Kyūshū at Usuki in Ōita Prefecture...
- Hayashi TadasuHayashi Tadasuwas a career diplomat and cabinet minister in Meiji period Japan. Baron Matsumoto Ryōjun, the onetime private physician to Tokugawa Yoshinobu and founder of the Imperial Japanese Army Medical Corps, was Hayashi’s brother.- Early life :...
— another member of the group sent to Britain in 1866, by the BakufuTokugawa shogunateThe Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was... - Imperial Rescript on EducationImperial Rescript on EducationThe ' was signed by Emperor Meiji of Japan on 30 October 1890 to articulate government policy on the guiding principles of education on the Empire of Japan...
Japanese at Cambridge
Other Japanese who studied at the University of CambridgeUniversity of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
after Kikuchi:
- Inagaki ManjirōInagaki Manjirowas a Japanese diplomat and political theorist that was active during the Meiji period of Japan.- Early life :Inagaki was born in Nagasaki, as the son of a samurai of the Hirado Domain...
- Ōkura Kishichirō
- Suematsu KenchōSuematsu KenchoViscount was a Japanese politician, intellectual and author, who lived in the Meiji and Taishō periods. Apart from his activity in the Japanese government, he also wrote several important works on Japan in English...
- Tanaka Ginnosuke
British contemporaries at Cambridge
British contemporaries of Kikuchi at the University of Cambridge:- Donald MacAlisterDonald MacAlisterSir Donald MacAlister, 1st Baronet KCB was a physician, and Principal and Vice-Chancellor and, later, Chancellor of the University of Glasgow.- Early life :...
- Karl PearsonKarl PearsonKarl Pearson FRS was an influential English mathematician who has been credited for establishing the disciplineof mathematical statistics....
— a close friend and contemporary of Kikuchi at University College SchoolUniversity College SchoolUniversity College School, generally known as UCS, is an Independent school charity situated in Hampstead, north west London, England. The school was founded in 1830 by University College London and inherited many of that institution's progressive and secular views...
and the University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally... - Charles Algernon ParsonsCharles Algernon ParsonsSir Charles Algernon Parsons OM KCB FRS was an Anglo-Irish engineer, best known for his invention of the steam turbine. He worked as an engineer on dynamo and turbine design, and power generation, with great influence on the naval and electrical engineering fields...
External links
- Japanese Students at Cambridge University in the Meiji Era, 1868–1912: Pioneers for the Modernization of Japan, by Noboru Koyama, translated by Ian Ruxton http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/1/prweb201396.htm, (Lulu Press, September 2004, ISBN 1-4116-1256-6). Kikuchi is the central figure in this book.
- Portrait of Kikuchi Dairoku on the National Diet Library database, Tokyo
- RIKEN — The Science Research Institute of Japan