An Extraordinary Person（倜戃不羈）

Background

The phrase “extraordinary students” (unconventional, independent- minded persons) is an expression that appears in one of the last wills and testaments of Neesima, who spoke about the future of Doshisha in Oiso,Kanagawa Prefecture, after falling ill during a trip in Japan. The phrase (倜儻不羈 = Tekitoh-Fuki) “extraordinary person,” which means “brilliant,” “independent,” and “hard to control.” Educating extraordinary students without oppressing them means, in modern parlance, not putting them into the stereotypical education. Although this phrase is not used in everyday language, it has become widespread within Doshisha and is understood as an educational policy that symbolizes Doshisha.
　Behind this is Neesima’s own original experience. It is his own painful experience of spending his youth as a low-ranking samurai in a feudal society without freedom at the end of the Edo period. Unable to bear it any longer, Neesima violated national prohibition and escaped from Japan. He then went to the U.S., gave up his preconceived notion of being a samurai, encountered Christianity, and came to understand freedom as a truly independent individual. In other words, he probably compared this “extraordinary person” with the social situation at the end of the Edo period, when he suppressed himself with the phrase “not to oppress” or “without restraints.” Therefore, there must have been a strong desire not to have the “extraordinary student” or the “exceedingly wiser” young men be educated in a way that would restrict them.

Contemporary Significance

The testament, “Never oppress the extraordinary students” is the culmination of Neesima’s views on education in his later years. It has been passed down from generation to generation within Doshisha because it was expressed in his last will, but it should instead be said that it has become an essential phrase to this day because it is an expression of the entirety of Neesima’s spirit. It is Neesima’s long-cherished desire for “true freedom.”
　The spirit of the “extraordinary person” is still important today as an educational philosophy. It refers to an education that does not take a one-way teacher-guided stance but rather respects the independence and initiative of students, believes in their potential, and strives to enable each student to act freely and spontaneously to demonstrate his or her abilities.

“Deep Forests and Large Lakes”

　The phrase “deep forests and large lakes” (深山大沢 = Shinzan- Daitaku), from Shunju-Sashiden, an old Chinese book (written as “Deepforests and large lakes produce dragons and snakes”), was also a favorite phrase of Neesima. Like “an extraordinary person,” the phrase “deep forests and large lakes” became the catchphrase of a fundraising prospectus approved by Neesima in 1889, the last year of his life (See “Deep Forests and Large Lakes”). In it, it is stated that he wanted to train people who are large in scale, high in ideals, and have great goals and objectives. This way of thinking is directly linked to the phrase “extraordinary person.” Neesima had the idea that only in an atmosphere (place) where freedom could be enjoyed, such as in “deep forests and large lakes,” the true talents of a brilliant and “uninhibited person” could be fully utilized. And as Neesima believed, only a man who is “exceedingly wiser than the common” man can break through and change society.
　Doshisha has produced a variety of individuals who have been active in their careers, valuing the phrase “extraordinary person.” These were not only well-known figures but also unknown but unique individuals in various fields who were spirited, unconventional, capable of reforming society, and capable of breaking through difficult challenges.

Breakthrough Power for Change

However, times have changed drastically, and although we may enjoy freedom more easily now than we did then, there is no denying that this freedom has become something different from what Neesima sought, something to satisfy one’s desires in an unrestrained manner. Even in such a situation, Neesima’s idea of fostering extraordinary students who are wiser than the common man is of great significance in the modern age. This does not mean admitting the selfishness of the modern age, nor does it mean educating so-called “copy people” who adapt to society without any initiative. Rather, it is an education that nurtures people who will boldly seek change and break through the existing framework of injustice and unreasonableness with a strong independent spirit, even if they are called somewhat “eccentric.”

(Katsunobu Kihara)