Through the Internet as the greatest library in human history, this essay traces the life of Inazō Nitobe—from Bushido and the League of Nations to his education, faith, struggles, and renewal during his years at Sapporo Agricultural College.

Along the way, I was also able to learn the life of Inazō Nitobe.
2016-12-06
Along the way, I was also able to learn the life of Inazō Nitobe.
Inazō Nitobe (September 1, 1862 [August 8, Bunkyū 2] – October 15, 1933) was a Japanese educator and thinker. He also conducted research in agricultural economics and agronomy.
He served as an Under-Secretary-General of the League of Nations, and his book Bushido: The Soul of Japan, written in elegant English, has been read for many years. He is also known as the portrait on the former D-series 5,000-yen banknote. He was the first president of Tokyo Woman’s Christian University and the first principal of Tokyo Women’s College of Economics (Tokyo Bunka Junior College; now Nitobe Bunka Junior College).
Life
He was born in Iwate District, Mutsu Province (present-day Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture), as the third son of Nitobe Jūjirō, a retainer serving the domain lord Nanbu Toshiyoshi of the Morioka Domain. His childhood name was Inosuke. Many Western-made items were found in the Nitobe household, and from this time Inosuke is said to have developed a longing for the West. He later entered Sakujinkan (present-day Morioka Municipal Niō Elementary School), while also studying English under the family physician. His grandfather had succeeded as a wealthy timber merchant in Edo and later returned to the Morioka Domain, greatly supporting the Nitobe family finances. During the imperial tour of the Meiji Emperor, Inosuke knelt before His Majesty when he rested at the Nitobe residence and received words urging him to inherit the family vocation and devote himself to agriculture, after which he resolved to pursue agricultural administration.
From Morioka to Tokyo
Shortly after leaving Sakujinkan, a letter arrived from his uncle Tokitoshi Ōta, who ran a tailor shop in Tokyo, suggesting that he study in Tokyo. Seeking new learning, he departed for the capital, changing his name to Inazō at this time.
Upon arriving in Tokyo, Inazō visited his uncle’s tailor shop, was adopted, and took the name Inazō Ōta. He first studied English at an English school, and the following year entered Kyōkangijuku, a school run by former Morioka domain lord Nanbu Toshiyasu, living in its dormitory. However, he often slipped out because he found the classes unbearably dull. Owing to this habitual lack of seriousness, his uncle gradually lost trust in him, to the extent that one winter he was suspected of taking money from the shop even though he had bought gloves with his own allowance. From then on, Inazō applied himself to study as if he were a different person.
At the age of thirteen, he entered the newly established Tokyo English School (later the University of Tokyo). There he formed a close friendship with Masasuke Satō, and in their spare moments they spoke at length with each other. From this period, Inazō began to think seriously about his future and eventually resolved to devote himself to the study of agriculture.
He entered Sapporo Agricultural College (later Hokkaido University) as a member of its second class. The famous Dr. William S. Clark, known for the saying “Boys, be ambitious,” had already returned to the United States by then, passing by the second class. During his enrollment, the Sapporo Okadama Incident occurred, and he is said to have served as an anatomy assistant. Like his grandfather, Inazō was a hot-blooded man of strong backbone. One day, a notice was posted in the school cafeteria stating, “The following person is in arrears with tuition and must pay immediately,” and Inazō’s name appeared. Shouting, “I won’t let my way of life be decided by a scrap of paper like this,” he tore it down in front of everyone and was driven to the brink of expulsion, but avoided it through the desperate pleas of his friends. At other times, he would become so heated in arguments with professors that they would come to blows, earning him the nickname “Active.”
Clark had lectured the first class on the Bible as “ethics,” leading nearly all of them to convert to Christianity. The second class, too, was immediately subjected to an intense wave of “evangelism” from the first class, and one by one they signed the “Covenant of Believers in Jesus” that Clark had left behind. Inazō, who had already taken an interest in Christianity before entering the college and had even brought his own English Bible, signed at once. Later, together with classmates such as Uchimura Kanzō, Kingo Miyabe, and Isamu Hiroi, he received baptism from the Methodist missionary Merriman Harris, stationed in Hakodate. His Christian name was “Paul.” Deeply impressed by Christianity, he immersed himself in it. When fights broke out at school, he would intervene saying, “Christ said we must not fight,” and even when friends invited him to debates, he would reply, “Rather than that, read the Bible. The Bible contains the truth,” spending his time absorbed in scripture. His appearance changed completely from his early days, earning him the nickname “Monk,” chosen by friends such as Uchimura Kanzō after much thought, remarking, “We can’t call him Active anymore.”
Around this time, Inazō’s eyesight worsened and he began wearing glasses. He later developed an eye disease, which, combined with anxiety over his studies, led to depression. A few days later, he received a letter from his mother informing him of his illness, and in July 1880 he returned to Morioka, only to learn that she had passed away three days earlier. The grief was so overwhelming that his depression worsened further. Later, encouraged by a letter from Uchimura Kanzō upon learning of his mother’s death, he recovered and went to Tokyo for treatment. He subsequently reunited in Yokohama with Harris, who had baptized him, and was given a copy of Sartor Resartus. This book completely cured his depression and became a lifelong favorite that he read again and again.
This manuscript continues.