When people hear the name Yukichi Fukuzawa, many immediately think of
An Encouragement of Learning, Keio University, or a founding thinker of modern Japan.
An Enlightenment intellectual who advocated freedom, independence, and equality.
The face on the 10,000-yen bill—an almost perfectly “textbook” figure.
Yet the Fukuzawa Yukichi who frequently appears on this blog reveals another face:
a thinker who sought to strengthen Japan through trade, and who actively supported young Japanese venturing into the United States.
In this article, we explore how Fukuzawa came to see commerce and trade as essential conditions of a civilized nation—and how, through education, talent cultivation, and personal credibility, he supported Japanese pioneers challenging America.
The “Safe” Image of Fukuzawa as a Thinker and Educator
In postwar Japan, Fukuzawa has often been portrayed in the following ways:
- An Enlightenment thinker who criticized feudalism
- The father of modern education
- An independent intellectual who kept his distance from politics and business
This image is not incorrect.
But it captures only one side of Fukuzawa.
Fukuzawa Yukichi as the Architect of “Japan the Trading Nation”
A careful reading of Fukuzawa’s writings and actions reveals a consistent belief:
For Japan to maintain its independence,
it had to become a nation capable of earning in the global marketplace.
This was not ideological rhetoric.
It was a profoundly practical view of international political economy.
Fukuzawa’s View on Trade: Commerce as a Condition of Civilization
Since the Edo period, Japanese society had been shaped by the notion of
shi-nō-kō-shō—the belief that merchants occupied the lowest rung of society.
Fukuzawa explicitly rejected this hierarchy.
One of the clearest expressions of his thinking appears in An Outline of a Theory of Civilization, where he wrote:
“The flourishing of trade opens the intellect of the people within a nation, advances learning, arts, and technology, and radiates their surplus outward. It is a subtle sign of national prosperity.”
(An Outline of a Theory of Civilization, Chapter 9)
In other words, a thriving trade demonstrated a nation’s intellectual capacity, productive strength, and its legitimacy as an independent state.
For Fukuzawa, promoting trade was synonymous with promoting national prosperity.
Supporting Institutional Implementation: The Commercial Training School
Fukuzawa’s commitment to a trade-oriented Japan extended beyond theory.
When the Commercial Training School (later Hitotsubashi University) was founded in 1875 to train capable businessmen, Fukuzawa agreed to write the prospectus for its fundraising campaign. The school was established under the leadership of Mori Arinori and Shibusawa Eiichi, and even recruited William Whitney, a former American business college principal, as an instructor. Fukuzawa’s own translated bookkeeping text, Choai no Ho (Methods of Accounting), was used as a textbook.
Although he was not a founder, Fukuzawa played a deep role in shaping the school’s philosophy and human network:
- Raising public awareness of the necessity of commercial education
- Presenting a practice-oriented educational model
- Indirectly sharing expertise cultivated at Keio
Here again, the pattern was clear:
the government built institutions, while Fukuzawa supplied ideas and people.
Notably, figures such as Ryoichiro Arai, who later achieved great success in the raw silk trade, and Zenjiro Horikoshi, a pioneer of habutae silk exports, studied here.
Presenting Trade as a Career Path to Keio Students
Fukuzawa also contributed to early Japan–U.S. trade by presenting “commerce” as a viable career path to students at Keio.
In the years immediately following the Meiji Restoration, ambitious young men from across Japan largely aspired to become politicians or diplomats. Few aimed to become merchants.
Against this backdrop, Morimura Ichitaro (later known as Ichizaemon), an old acquaintance of Fukuzawa, enrolled his younger brother Morimura Toyo at Keio with the intention of sending him into Japan–U.S. trade. There, Toyo met Momotaro Sato, a turning point that led him to decide on going to America.
Similarly, Yasukata Murai of the Morimura enterprise studied alongside future political leaders such as Tsuyoshi Inukai and Yukio Ozaki, yet chose the path of commerce. Through Fukuzawa’s introduction, Murai joined Morimura & Co., traveled to the United States, and later came to be known as “one of the three elder statesmen of the Japanese community in New York.”
Even the background of the “Oceanic Group,” which included Toichiro Suzuki of Maruzen and Momotaro Sato, may well have been influenced by the close relationship between Maruzen’s founder Yuteki Hayashi and Fukuzawa.
Fukuzawa as “Credit” in the Dawn of Japan–U.S. Trade
Fukuzawa’s contribution was not limited to ideas or education.
He supported Japan–U.S. trade at the most practical level.
In 1876, when Morimura Toyo began his business in New York, no formal financial system existed to convert U.S. dollar profits into Japanese yen.
Before the establishment of the Yokohama Specie Bank, Morimura & Co. had no choice but to rely on an extremely cumbersome process:
- Depositing profits at the Japanese Consulate in New York
- Receiving a certificate of deposit
- Sending that certificate to Japan
- Converting it into yen through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The greatest obstacle for the relatively unknown Morimura firm was the final conversion at the Ministry. Here, Fukuzawa’s presence proved decisive. His personal standing with the government enabled the conversion process to proceed smoothly.
In this sense, Fukuzawa functioned as credit itself—providing practical financial support through trust rather than capital.
Supplying Talent to the Yokohama Specie Bank
Ōkuma Shigenobu, who served for many years as Finance Minister in the early Meiji period, strongly recognized the need for a bank capable of handling foreign exchange. One of the people he consulted was Fukuzawa Yukichi.
It is easy to imagine Fukuzawa’s frustration at having to rely on personal credibility to convert overseas profits into yen. Given that many of his associates were engaged in trade, his advice was indispensable.
The result was the founding of the Yokohama Specie Bank in 1880. After World War II, it was dissolved by GHQ and reorganized as the Bank of Tokyo, a predecessor of today’s Mitsubishi UFJ Bank.
Fukuzawa did more than advise Ōkuma—he supplied people.
The bank’s first president, Michita Nakamura, and vice president, Nobukichi Koizumi, were both graduates of Keio.
At the time, individuals who combined:
- Double-entry bookkeeping
- English proficiency
- A spirit of independence and self-respect
were concentrated at Keio, where Fukuzawa taught.
Thus, while the Yokohama Specie Bank was a government institution in form, its operational core was sustained by human resources shaped by Fukuzawa’s ideas and education.
Sending His Sons to Eastman Business College
Perhaps the clearest proof that Fukuzawa truly believed in his vision of Japan as a trading nation appears in his private life.
He sent his sons, Sutejiro (who became a journalist) and Momosuke (who later worked in the electric power industry), to study at Eastman Business College in New York.
They studied:
- English
- Accounting
- Practical commercial skills
Rather than abstract ideology, Fukuzawa chose education that would allow them to compete in the real world.
In effect, he tested his own belief—that Japan should become a commercial nation—within his own family.
Conclusion: Fukuzawa Was Not a Thinker Alone
Yukichi Fukuzawa never crossed the Pacific to engage directly in trade himself.
Yet behind the Japanese who challenged America, his ideas and credibility were always present.
He rejected the notion that commerce was base,
envisioned an education capable of withstanding real-world practice,
and in an era of institutional immaturity, supported trade through personal trust.
What Fukuzawa sought was not wealth commanded by the state,
but a nation where private individuals were evaluated and rewarded in the global marketplace.
Morimura, Murai, Horikoshi, Arai—
their stories quietly testify that Fukuzawa’s vision of a trading nation was not a desk-bound ideal, but a philosophy that moved reality itself.