Fukuzawa Yukichi, the leading advocate of reform in the early Meiji period, wrote in his widely read essay

published in 1875, An Outline of Civilization, that the overriding concern with power was the defining characteristic of Japanese society: Comparison of Japanese civilization with Western civilization reveals that the greatest difference between the two is this imbalance of power. (Japan Rising 43) The new Meiji leaders responded to the challenge of the international system not with resistance, but with a marked realism, pragmatism, and opportunism. As a result, the Japanese alone among Asian peoples accommodated quickly to the norms, principles, and mores of the imperialist system. Recognizing and respecting the superior power of the Western nations, Japans new leaders were determined to play by the rules of the game, adapt them to their own purposes, and rise within the existing system (Japan Rising 75) Japan, in effect, apprenticed itself to the Westexcept that its citizens were motivated largely by an instrumental use of their borrowings. And, of course, the Meiji Westenizers were anti -Western in their purpose. For them, westernization was a means to an anti-Western end. By adopting the techniques and institutions of Western society they hope to eliminate all manifestations of Western power, especially the unequal treaties, from their country. (Japan Rising 102)

Japan followed a bifocal approach to borrowing foreign ideas and developing its higher education system, looking both to the foreign models and to its own earlier patterns of university development. This window-shopping approach with the West for ideas about academic development abled Japan to borrow a number of higher education ideas from other countries and adapt them to suit Japanese national needs (Foreign Influences on Japanese and Chinese higher education: A comparative analysis)

Education was primarily provided by the study of Chinese writings, especially the Confucian classics; its purpose was chiefly to develop moral character, both as an absolute human duty and also to better fulfill the samurais function in society; a secondary purpose was to gain from the classics that knowledge of men and affairs and of the principles of government which was also necessary for the proper performance of the samurais duties. The private school Keio Shijuku (later named Gijuku), founded by a pioneer of western culture, Fukuzawa Yukichi, was the preeminent private institution at the end of the Tokugawa period, and educated many of the future leaders from the samurai class recruited from throughout the country. As such it had the opportunity to greatly influence the initial standards of education for the leadership class in the Meiji period Fukuzawa made a critical decision from the outset. In the One Hundred Year History of the institution, the purpose of his school was simply described as the pursuit of western studies through texts from America and Britain This greatly influenced the education of the next generation of Meiji leaders The subject matter in his classroom had been drastically transformed from Confucian studies to modern western studies Keio students, however, stood out from other private and public school students through the particular influence of Fukuzawa. They were taught, either through western books chosen by Fukuzawa or through his lectures, the concepts of equality, freedom, and independence that he championed through his bestselling books familiar to all his students. They were encouraged to apply these unfamiliar concepts in their daily lives. Key leaders realized early on that the nation could not advance without achieving a scientific level comparable to that in the West. In particular the need for advanced military technology to protect the country from potential foreign invaders during the period of colonialism haunted policy makers. The realization that the military power of the West developed from and depended upon modern social and political institutions stimulated a more comprehensive approach. The school inexorably became deeply involved in broader investigations of the

West that attracted students and faculty who had a wider perspective beyond military affairs. The emphasis on western military technology was expanded to include politics, government, economics, law, education, and so on.22 The training of modern scientists became a prime objective of the Meiji government from 1877, a decade after the fall of the feudal government, with the founding of Tokyo University.

The term Meiji Restoration is applied not only to the events leading up to the overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate, but also the whole cluster of reforms that followed. For more than two decades, from 1868 down to 1890, a series of reforms was promulgated that established constitutional government and put Japan on the road to industrialization. As they groped for alternatives to the old order, Japans new leaders drew heavily for inspiration on the ideas and instituti ons of Western societies With foreign nations approaching Eastern shores more frequently during this time, the Japanese grew increasingly aware of their lagging position in the changing world The appearance of superior Western technologyin the form of steam-powered naval vesselsforced the leaders of imperial Japan to abandon their policies of isolation Leaders were quick to realize that to avoid succumbing to a Western power, they would have to become both militarily and economically powerful and that developing such power would require technological sophistication As the magnitude of Western military superiority came to be understood, the failure was more often seen as a cultural one, requiring sweeping, fundamental reforms Fukuzawa Yukichi was the leading proponent of this line of thought The activities of Yukichi Fukuzawa (1835-1901) who was founder of Keio University, has been regarded as a great contributor to the introduction of Western organizations, education, politics, economics, and philosophy Born into a family of lower samurai form the province of Buzen in northern Kyushu, Fukuzawa as a young man evidently chafed under the restrictions of the feudal hierarchy His chance to leave Nakatsu came in 1854 when he was nineteen years old. It was the year after Perrys arrival, and Fukuzawa was sent to Nagasaki and then to Ogatas school in Osaka for the so -called Dutch studies. Being that up to that time only limited contact with the western world through the Dutch was permitted by Japan, Fukuzawa and other Japanese specialists in the Dutch language were employed to carry out the investigation of Dutch studies (rangaku), which included the translation and study of Western works on science, geography, medicine, military science, and other subjects, which thereby opened a new window to the West. These studies allowed Japanese to be exposed to Western technology and ideas, which eventually facilitated the transition of Japan to a modern country in the Meiji period He had assessed that these activities represented an attempt to transfer ideas from the enlightenment movement being experienced in the West to Japan Fukuzawa took no active part in the Restoration. But when he realized that the new Meiji government was receptive to reform proposals, the whole tenor of his writings changed.

Instead of merely recording information about Western society, he began vigorously urging the adoption of Western values and institutions and the fundamental transformation of Japanese culture Fukuzawa argued that one could not cling to Confucian ethics and acquire an understanding of Western science, because the former carried with it an attitude toward nature and society that was irreconcilable with scientific habits of thought The essence of modern civilization, he contended, was found in the cultivation of individual qualities of independence, initiative, and self-reliance He went on to explain that a young mans position in society should be determined by his grasp of utilitarian knowledge. He therefore, throughout his writings, attacked Confucianism, traditional education, and authoritarian government As an educator, newspaper editor, and advisor to politicians, he exercised immense influence over the generation of Japanese that opened the country and rebuilt its institutions Fukuzawa wrote of this sweeping rejection of his heritage: If we compared the knowledge of the Japanese and Westerners in letters, in techniques, in commerce, or in industry, form the smallest to the largest matterthere is not one thing which we excel.In Japans present condition there is nothing in which we may take pride vis --vis the West. All that Japan as to be proud ofis its scenery. Despite this thorough rejection of Japanese civilization, Fukuzawa held almost limitless hope for the future Japanese enlightenment and stressed the cultural example of the West Because universal laws of nature governed human behavior, Japan could, if it developed in accord with these laws, progress in the same way that Western nations had Progress, in other words, was unilinear; it was determined by universal forces of historic development rather than by the particular trends of national history Civilization in the West had progressed further along this universal path of development and therefore it could be looked to as an example