Part 1　The Life and Thought of Joseph Hardy Neesima

Introduction: The Era in Which Neesima Lived

To understand why Jo Neesima fled Japan and what kind of ideas he formed in a foreign land, it is necessary to look at the situation in Japan from the time of his birth in 1843 until he fled Japan in 1864.
　At that time, Japan was ruled by the Tokugawa family, the ruling samurai family. The emperors, who unified ancient Japan, handed their absolute power to the samurai family in the 12th century. The warrior rulers of Japan were given the legitimacy of ruling as great generals (shoguns responsible for driving out invading armies) by the emperor. In other words, the authority of the Emperor was the basis for legitimizing the shogun’s rule over Japan.
　At the beginning of the 17th century, Ieyasu Tokugawa (1542–1616), who had pacified the whole country, established a political center (shogunate) in Tokyo (then Edo). It was also called “Edo Shogunate” after the name of the place or “Tokugawa shogunate” after the name of the Tokugawa shogun family. The Tokugawa shogunate divided the country into about 300 fiefdoms, each with its lord, called a “feudal lord.” These fiefs were called “domains,” and the lords were called “feudal lords.” The emperor lived in a part of Kyoto called “Gosho Palace” and required permission from the shogunate when leaving there. The emperor and the nobles called “court nobles,” were strictly forbidden to intervene in political affairs, and strict restrictions were placed on them. The 300 feudal lords were also required to have their wives and children live as hostages in their respective clan residences in Tokyo and to come there once every two years to show their obedience to the shogun. In this feudal society, a strict status system was established for samurai, farmers, artisans, and merchants, and the samurai were divided into about 100 classes, from the shogun at the top to foot soldiers called “ashigaru” at the bottom. There was no strict ideological control over Buddhism or Confucianism, but any forces that opposed the Tokugawa family were suppressed.
　In the middle of the 16th century, Francisco Xavier (1506–52) landed in Kyushu. He began proselytizing Christianity, and several powerful feudal lords allowed Christian missionaries in exchange for overseas trade, some of whom were called “Christian feudal lords.” Hideyoshi Toyotomi (1537–98), who had laid the foundations for establishing a nationwide state, suddenly banned Christianity and imposed severe repression, fearing that overseas trade would increase the power of the feudal lords in the Kyushu region. The Tokugawa shogunate succeeded in this policy, and Christianity disappeared from the front pages of Japanese history, although the faith was secretly carried on by some “Hidden Christians.”
　Although the Tokugawa shogunate maintained the so-called isolationist regime that restricted foreign exchange, it allowed trade with the Netherlands and China, which did not engage in Christian missionary activities, only on Dejima Island in Nagasaki. In the middle of the 18th century, books on military science and medicine written in Dutch were opened to the private sector. These studies were called “Dutch studies” (Dutch scholarship), and the period during which Neesima spent his boyhood and adolescence corresponded to a time when the spirit of the times was beginning to change dramatically, with the clandestine spread of world geography books and bibles written in Chinese, in addition to Dutch studies. In 1853, Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry (1794–1858), commander-in- chief of the U.S. East India Squadron, arrived in Japan, demanding the opening of Japan to the outside world. The shogunate, unable to respond, was forced to open the country by overwhelming military force.
　The emperor had delegated the office of “shogun” to vanquish invading armies, and this was the basis for the legitimacy of the Tokugawa shogunate’s rule, but this basis for legitimacy collapsed, and forces emerged that the power should be returned to the emperor. In October 1867, the shogun decided to return power to the Emperor, and a new government led by the Emperor was born. Jo Neesima was born during this very transitional period of history, spent his youth as a young boy, and left Japan just before the collapse of the old regime. He learned of the collapse of the old regime in the U.S. and returned to Japan at the dawn of a new era.
　Jo Neesima was born on January 14, 1843, in the Edo residence of the Annaka clan in Kanda Hitotsubashi, as the eldest son of Tamiji Neesima, a scribe of the Annaka clan in Jyosyu (Gunma Prefecture). His childhood name was Shimeta, which he later changed to Jo. His grandfather Benji had risen from the lowest rank of samurai to become the head of ashigaru, and the Neesima family did not necessarily receive a large amount of kokudaka (annual income). At the age of 13, Neesima was chosen by the clan to study Dutch studies, but the sudden death of the lord of the clan put an end to his studies within a year. Blocked from rising in the world, Neesima spent a depressing period from boyhood to adolescence. He left Hakodate in 1864 and arrived in Boston the following year. It was a reckless venture, but under the protection of Alfius Hardy, a devoted Christian and philanthropist, he studied English at Phillips Academy, the equivalent of a modern high school, then at Amherst College and Andover Theological Seminary. He returned to Japan ten years later and founded the Doshisha English School in Kyoto in 1875. “English school” was a general term for modern European and American studies. In addition, the school embarked on women’s education to nurture independent women. Neesima’s ambition was to establish a private university with faculties of law and literature, science and technology, and medicine, but he fell ill in the middle of his ambition and passed away on January 23, 1890.