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 Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

), as the second son of Mitsukuri Shūhei, a professor at Bansho Shirabesho, himself the adopted son of Mitsukuri Gempo, a Shogunate professor. The Mitsukuri family had distinguished themselves as scholars, and were at the centre of Japan's educational system in the Meiji era. His grandfather had been a student of Dutch studies ("rangaku"). Kikuchi Dairoku changed his surname from Mitsukuri to Kikuchi upon succeeding as the heir to his father's original family; the requisite legal procedures were completed in 1877.

Education

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 The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

to the

University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_he ...

, 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 The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

( St. John's College) and the only one to graduate from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in the 19th century. His specialisation was in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and mathematics. In 1884 he attended the

International Meridian Conference The International Meridian Conference was a conference held in October 1884 in Washington, D.C., in the United States, to determine a prime meridian for international use. The conference was held at the request of U.S. President Chester A. ...

in Washington, D.C. and the master class of Kelvin in Baltimore.

Career

After returning to Japan, Kikuchi later became president of

Tokyo Imperial 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 ...

, Minister of Education (1901–1903,) and president of Kyoto Imperial University. In 1909 he lectured in London on Japanese Education and 1910 at New York on New Japan: Its Intellectual and Moral Development.Baron Kikuchi (1910
New Japan: Its Intellectual and Moral Development
/ref> His textbook on

elementary geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ca ...

was the most widely used geometry textbook in Japan until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Kikuchi was made a baron under the ''

kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ...

'' peerage system in 1902 and was the eighth president of the

Gakushūin The or Peers School (Gakushūin School Corporation), initially known as Gakushūjo, is a Japanese educational institution in Tokyo, originally established to educate the children of Japan's nobility. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2002)"Gakushū- ...

Peers' School. In 1917 he became the first president of RIKEN, but died that same year.

Family and issue

Kikuchi's children became well-known scientists, and his grandson Minobe Ryōkichi became governor of Tokyo.

References and further reading

*Cobbing, Andrew. ''The Japanese Discovery of Victorian Britain''. RoutledgeCurzon, London, 1998. *Keane, Donald. ''Emperor Of Japan: Meiji And His World, 1852–1912''. Columbia University Press (2005). *'Kikuchi Dairoku, 1855–1917: Educational Administrator and Pioneer of Modern Mathematical Education in Japan,' by Noboru Koyama, Chapter 7, ''Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits'' Volume 5, Global Oriental 2005,

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 Ruxto

(Lulu Press, September 2004, ). Kikuchi is the central figure in this book.

on the National Diet Library database, Tokyo

— The Science Research Institute of Japan * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kikuchi, Dairoku 1855 births 1917 deaths 19th-century Japanese mathematicians 20th-century Japanese mathematicians Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of London Education ministers of Japan Japanese expatriates in the United Kingdom Kazoku Kyoto University faculty Mitsukuri family People educated at University College School People from Tokyo People of Meiji-period Japan Presidents of the University of Tokyo Presidents of Kyoto University Riken personnel University of Tokyo faculty Textbook writers

Biography

Early life and family

Education

Career

Family and issue

See also

General

Japanese at Cambridge

British contemporaries at Cambridge

References and further reading

External links