The first Japanese students in the United Kingdom arrived in the nineteenth century, sent to study at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

by the Chōshū and

Satsuma Satsuma may refer to: * Satsuma (fruit), a citrus fruit * ''Satsuma'' (gastropod), a genus of land snails Places Japan * Satsuma, Kagoshima, a Japanese town * Satsuma District, Kagoshima, a district in Kagoshima Prefecture * Satsuma Domain, a sou ...

domains, then the

Bakufu , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

(Shogunate). Many went on to study at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and a smaller number at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

until the end of the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

. The primary motive for this was an effort to modernise Japan in the long run. Since the 1980s,

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

students in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

have become common thanks to cheaper

air travel Air travel is a form of travel in vehicles such as airplanes, jet aircraft, helicopters, hot air balloons, blimps, gliders, hang gliders, parachutes, or anything else that can sustain flight.

Chōshū Five The were members of the Chōshū han of western Japan who travelled to England in 1863 to study at University College London. The five students were the first of many successive groups of Japanese students who travelled overseas in the late Bakum ...
(1863)

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

supervised by Professor

Alexander William Williamson Prof Alexander William Williamson FRS FRSE PCS MRIA (1 May 18246 May 1904) was an English chemist. He is best known today for the Williamson ether synthesis. Life Williamson was born in 1824 in Wandsworth, London, the second of three child ...

* Itō Shunsuke (later Itō Hirobumi) –

Genrō was an unofficial designation given to certain retired elder Japanese statesmen who served as informal extraconstitutional advisors to the emperor, during the Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa eras in Japanese history. The institution of ''genrō ...

, 1st, 5th, 7th, and 10th

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

* Inoue Monta (later Inoue Kaoru) –

, Minister of

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

, Agriculture and Commerce,

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

, and

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...

* Nomura Yakichi (later Inoue Masaru) – 1st Director of

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

(Tetsudō-chō) *

Endō Kinsuke was a Japanese statesman in the early Meiji period. Endō was born to a ''samurai'' family in Hagi, Chōshū Domain (present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture. He was selected by the domain to be a member of the Chōshū Five who were smuggled out of J ...

– Head of

Japan Mint The is an Independent Administrative Institution of the Japanese government, responsible for producing and circulating the coins of Japan. The agency has its head office in Osaka with branches in Saitama and Hiroshima. The Japan Mint does not pr ...

(Zōheikyoku) *

Yamao Yōzō Viscount was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period who became an influential member of the Meiji era government of Japan. Early life Yamao was born in Aio-Futajima, a village in Chōshū domain (present day Yamaguchi prefecture), and rece ...

– Minister of

Industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

, Director of

Cabinet Legislation Bureau The is a Japanese government agency which advises Cabinet members on drafting legislation to be proposed to the Diet. It acts as legal counsel for the Cabinet by examining bills, orders, and treaties. It also presents opinions on legal matter ...

Satsuma students (1865)

15 Satsuma students, one from Tosa and one from Nagasaki, and 4 supervisors (''ometsuke''). This group also studied at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

which was open to students of all religions. *

Niiro Hisanobu ''Niiro'' (煮色 "cooked color"), also known as ''niiro-eki'' (煮色液), ''niiro-chakushoku'' (煮色着色), ''nikomi-chakushoku'' (煮込み着色) or ''niage'' (煮上げ) is an historically Japanese patination process, responsible for the ...

(Niiro Chuzō) - Leader of Students,

Karō were top-ranking samurai officials and advisors in service to the ''daimyōs'' of feudal Japan. Overview In the Edo period, the policy of ''sankin-kōtai'' (alternate attendance) required each ''daimyō'' to place a ''karō'' in Edo and anoth ...

of Satsuma-Han * Matsuki Kōan (later Terashima Munenori) - Minister of

, and Minister of Education *

Godai Tomoatsu was one of the Satsuma students of 1865 who were smuggled out of Bakumatsu period Japan to study in Great Britain. He returned to become Japan's leading entrepreneur of the early Meiji period. Early life Godai was born in Satsuma domain (in what ...

(Godai Saisuke) - Founder of Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and

Osaka Securities Exchange , renamed from , is the largest derivatives exchange in Japan, in terms of amount of business handled. , the Osaka Securities Exchange had 477 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of $212 billion. The Nikkei 225 Futures, intr ...

Mori Arinori Viscount was a Meiji period Japanese statesman, diplomat, and founder of Japan's modern educational system. Early life Mori was born in the Satsuma domain (modern Kagoshima prefecture) from a ''samurai'' family, and educated in the ''Kaisenjo' ...

- 1st Minister of Education, Founder of

Hitotsubashi University is a national university located in Tokyo, Japan. It has campuses in Kunitachi, Kodaira, and Chiyoda. One of the top 9 Designated National University in Japan, Hitotsubashi is a relatively small institution specialized solely in social sciences ...

* Machida Hisanari - Ōmetsuke of Satsuma-Han, 1st Curator of Imperial Museum of Japan (later

Tokyo National Museum The or TNM is an art museum in Ueno Park in the Taitō ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the four museums operated by the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage ( :ja:国立文化財機構), is considered the oldest national museum in Japan, ...

) **Machida Shinsirō - brother of Machida Hisanari **Machida Seizō (later Takarabe Saneyuki) - brother of Machida Hisanari * Hatakeyaka Hatanosuke (later Hatakeyama Yoshinari) - head of Kaisei Gakkō (開成学校, one of predecessor of

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

), member of

Iwakura Mission The Iwakura Mission or Iwakura Embassy (, ''Iwakura Shisetsudan'') was a Japanese diplomatic voyage to the United States and Europe conducted between 1871 and 1873 by leading statesmen and scholars of the Meiji period. It was not the only such m ...

* Murahashi Hisanari - founder of brewery of Kaitakushi (Hokkaido Development Commission), later

Sapporo Brewery is a Japanese beer brewing company founded in 1876. Sapporo is the oldest brand of beer in Japan. It was first brewed in Sapporo, Japan, in 1876 by brewer Seibei Nakagawa. The world headquarters of Sapporo Breweries is in Ebisu, Shibuya, Toky ...

* Asakura Moriaki (later Asakura Moriaki) redeveloper of Ikuno Silver Mine * Sameshima Naonobu - Envoy to France * Matsumura Junzō - Vice Admiral of

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

, Director of

Imperial Japanese Naval Academy The was a school established to train line officers for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was originally located in Nagasaki, moved to Yokohama in 1866, and was relocated to Tsukiji, Tokyo in 1869. It moved to Etajima, Hiroshima in 1888. Students st ...

* Takami Yaichi (former Ōishi Danzō) formerly

rōnin A ''rōnin'' ( ; ja, 浪人, , meaning 'drifter' or 'wanderer') was a samurai without a lord or master during the feudal period of Japan (1185–1868). A samurai became masterless upon the death of his master or after the loss of his master's ...

of Tosa-Han, assassin of

Yoshida Tōyō Yoshida Toyo was a Japanese samurai from Tosa domain. Gotō Shōjirō is his nephew-in-law. In 1853, Toyo was appointed by the head of Tosa domain Yamanouchi Toyoshige Yamauchi Toyoshige , also known as , was a Japanese ''daimyō'' in the Shi ...

Yoshida Kiyonari Yoshida Kiyonari ( ja, 吉田清成; died 3 August 1891) was a Japanese samurai and diplomatic envoy to the United States. Early life and education In 1865, Yoshida was sent with Sameshima Naonobu and seventeen other samurai from Satsuma Doma ...

- Envoy to USA * Isonaga Hirosuke (later Nagasawa Kanaye) - winemaker of Fountain Grove Winery in California * Nakamura Hironari (or Nakamura Hakuai) - Ministry to Belgium, member of House of Peers *Hori Takayuki - Interpreter of Dutch language in Nagasaki *Nagoya Tokinari *Togo Ainoshin - died in

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

Bakufu students (1866)

Supervisors: *

Kawaji Taro Kawaji (written: 川路) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese politician *, pen name of Kawaki Makoto, Japanese poet and literary critic See also *Kawaji Station is a train station in Iida, Nagano Prefe ...

* Nakamura Keisuke Students: (12) * Naruse Jogoro * Toyama Sutehachi, * Mitsukuri Keigo *

Fukuzawa Einosuke Fukuzawa (written: 福澤 or 福沢) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese actor *, Japanese writer, translator and journalist *, Japanese businessman *, Japanese volleyball player *, Japanese golfer {{surname ...

(no relation of

Fukuzawa Yukichi was a Japanese educator, philosopher, writer, entrepreneur and samurai who founded Keio University, the newspaper '' Jiji-Shinpō'', and the Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases. Fukuzawa was an early advocate for reform in Japan. His ...

) * Hayashi Tozaburo (later Hayashi Tadasu) * Ito Shonosuke * Okukawa Ichiro * Yasui Shinpachiro * Mitsukuri Dairoku (later Kikuchi Dairoku) *

Ichikawa Morisaburo may refer to: Places *Ichikawa, Chiba, a city in Chiba, Japan **Ichikawa Gakuen (Ichikawa Junior and Senior High School), a large private boys and girls school in Moto-kita-kata, Ichikawa, Chiba * Ichikawa, Hyogo, a town in Hyōgo, Japan *Ichikawa ...

Sugi Tokujiro ''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae, formerly belonging to the family Taxodiaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' ( syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' ...

Iwasa Genji Iwasa (written: 岩佐, 岩浅 and 岩朝) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Ayumu Iwasa (born 2001), Japanese racing driver *, Japanese artist *Janet Iwasa Janet Iwasa is an American data visualization expert and ...

Students in the Meiji era

Cambridge University

Kikuchi Dairoku Baron was a Japanese mathematician, educator, and education administrator during the Meiji era. Biography Early life and family Kikuchi was born in Edo (present-day Tokyo), as the second son of Mitsukuri Shūhei, a professor at Bansho Shi ...

Suematsu Kenchō Viscount 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. He was portrayed in a nega ...

Inagaki Manjirō was a Japanese diplomat and political theorist who 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. As a young man he was a warder of the Satsuma men im ...

Okura Kishichiro Baron was a Japanese entrepreneur and hotelier. Biography Baron Kishichiro Okura was son of Okura Kihachiro (1837-1928), an entrepreneur who built up the Okura-gumi and founded the giant Okura Zaibatsu (family owned conglomerate) and the Okura ...

* Tanaka Ginnosuke

Oxford University

Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu , was the second son of Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) and Empress Teimei (Sadako), a younger brother of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) and a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. As a member of the Imperial House of Japan, he was the patron of severa ...

Hachisuka Mochiaki was the 14th and final ''daimyō'' of Tokushima Domain, Awa Province, and the 2nd President of the House of Peers in Meiji period Japan. Early life Hachisuka was born at the Hachisuka domain residence in Edo, as the eldest son of the 13t ...

Nanjo Bunyu Nanjō Bun'yū (南条文雄) (1 July 1849 – 9 November 1927) was a Buddhist priest and one of the most important modern Japanese scholars of Buddhism. Nanjō was born to the abbot of Seiunji Temple (誓運寺), part of the Shinshu Ōtani-ha ...

- professor of Sanskrit at

Tokyo University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

Takakusu Junjiro , who often published as J. Takakusu, was a Japanese academic, an advocate for expanding higher education opportunities, and an internationally known Buddhist scholar.Pāli_Canon.html" ;"title="apanese translation of the Pāli Canon">apanese trans ...

Naval trainees

Prince Arisugawa Takehito was the 10th head of a cadet branch of the Japanese imperial family and a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Early life Prince Takehito was born in Kyoto as a scion of the house, one of the ''shinnōke'' branches of the Imperial ...

*Prince

Higashifushimi Yorihito was the second (and last) head of the Higashifushimi-no-miya, an ''ōke'' cadet branch of the Japanese imperial family. Early life Born on September 19, 1867, as seventeenth (and posthumous) son of Prince Fushimi Kuniie, head of the Fushimi-no ...

Tōgō Heihachirō Marshal-Admiral Marquis , served as a '' gensui'' or admiral of the fleet in the Imperial Japanese Navy and became one of Japan's greatest naval heroes. He claimed descent from Samurai Shijo Kingo, and he was an integral part of preserving ...

Yuzuru Hiraga Vice Admiral Baron was a career naval officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy, Doctor of Engineering and head of the engineering school of Tokyo Imperial University and a leading Japanese naval architect in the 1910s and 1920s, responsible for desi ...

Other

Hayashi Tadasu was a Japanese career diplomat and cabinet minister of Meiji-era Japan. Early life He was born Satō Shingoro in Sakura city, Shimōsa Province (present-day Chiba prefecture),Kowner, '' Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War'', p. ...

Takamine Jōkichi was a Japanese chemist. He is known for being the first to isolate epinephrine in 1901. Early life and education Takamine was born in Takaoka, Toyama, Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, in November 1854. His father was a doctor; his mother a member of ...

After World War II

Naruhito, Emperor of Japan is the current Emperor of Japan. He acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on 1 May 2019, beginning the Reiwa era, following the abdication of his father, Akihito. He is the 126th monarch according to Japan's traditional order of succession. ...

, Oxford * Masako, Empress of Japan, Oxford *

Aiko, Princess Toshi is a member of the Japanese imperial family. She is the only child of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan. Birth Princess Aiko was born on 1 December 2001 at 2:43 PM in the Imperial Household Agency Hospital in Tokyo Imperial Pal ...

, Eton *

Fumihito, Crown Prince of Japan is the younger brother and heir presumptive of Emperor Naruhito of Japan and the younger son of Emperor emeritus Akihito and Empress emerita Michiko. Since his marriage in June 1990, he has had the title and has headed his own branch of the i ...

, Oxford *

Mako Komuro , formerly , is a former member of the Japanese imperial family. She is the eldest child of Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko, niece of Emperor Naruhito, and granddaughter of Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko ...

, University of Edinburgh, University of Leicester *

Princess Kako of Akishino is the second daughter of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Japan and a member of the Japanese imperial family. She is a niece of Emperor Naruhito and the second-eldest grandchild of Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Michiko. Biograp ...

, University of Leeds *

Prince Tomohito of Mikasa was a member of the Imperial House of Japan and the eldest son of Takahito, Prince Mikasa and Yuriko, Princess Mikasa. He was a first cousin of Emperor Akihito, and was formerly sixth in the line of succession to the Japanese throne and the ...

, Oxford *

Princess Tomohito of Mikasa (born ; 9 April 1955) is a member of the Japanese Imperial Family as the widow of Prince Tomohito of Mikasa. Background and education Nobuko, a Catholic, was born on 9 April 1955 in Tokyo. She is the third daughter and youngest child of , th ...

, Rosslyn College *

Princess Akiko of Mikasa is a member of the Imperial House of Japan and the elder daughter of Prince Tomohito of Mikasa and Princess Tomohito of Mikasa (Nobuko). Biography Education Princess Akiko graduated from Gakushuin University in Tokyo with a bachelor's degree ...

, Oxford *

Hisako, Princess Takamado (born ; 10 July 1953), is a member of the Japanese Imperial Family as the widow of Norihito, Prince Takamado. Background and education Hisako was born on 10 July 1953 in Shirokane, Tokyo. She is the eldest daughter of Japanese industrialist ...

, Cambridge *

Princess Tsuguko of Takamado is a member of the Imperial House of Japan and the eldest daughter of Norihito, Prince Takamado, and Hisako, Princess Takamado. Biography Princess Tsuguko was born on 8 March 1986 at Aiiku Hospital in Minami-Azabu, Tokyo. She graduated from th ...

, University of Edinburgh *

Katsuhiko Oku Katsuhiko Oku (奥克彦 ''Oku Katsuhiko'', 3 January 1958 – 29 November 2003) was a Japanese diplomat who played rugby for Oxford and Waseda University. In Britain he was known as "Katsu". Character and life A very popular and dynamic person ...

, Oxford *

Hisashi Owada is a Japanese former jurist, diplomat and law professor. He served as a judge on the International Court of Justice from 2003 until June 7, 2018, and was President of the Court from 2009 to 2012. He is the father of Empress Masako and the father ...

, Cambridge ''see also
"For Japan’s royals, studying abroad is freedom"
'

References

* Cobbing, Andrew. ''The Japanese Discovery of Victorian Britain''. RoutledgeCurzon, London, 1998. * Cobbing, Andrew. ''The Satsuma Students in Britain: Japan's Early Search for the Essence of the West''. Curzon Press, 2000. *
Japanese Students at Cambridge University in the Meiji Era, 1868-1912: Pioneers for the Modernization of Japan
', by Noboru Koyama, translated by Ian Ruxto

(Lulu Press, September 2004, ). * Gardiner, Michael. ''At the Edge of Empire: The Life of Thomas B. Glover''. Birlinn, Edinburgh, 2007. {{ISBN, 1-84158-544-0 * The History of the satsuma student

by Satsuma Students Museum Meiji Restoration

Students in the United Kingdom A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementary ...

Japan–United Kingdom relations S Students in the United Kingdom International education industry

Chōshū Five The were members of the Chōshū han of western Japan who travelled to England in 1863 to study at University College London. The five students were the first of many successive groups of Japanese students who travelled overseas in the late Bakum ... (1863)

Satsuma students (1865)

Bakufu students (1866)

Students in the Meiji era

Cambridge University

Oxford University

Naval trainees

Other

After World War II

See also

References

Chōshū Five The were members of the Chōshū han of western Japan who travelled to England in 1863 to study at University College London. The five students were the first of many successive groups of Japanese students who travelled overseas in the late Bakum ...
(1863)