The Doshisha

Joseph Hardy Neesima

--From birth to flight from Japan (1843-1864)--

Introduction


Joseph Hardy Neesima

Joseph Hardy Neesima escaped from Japan to the United States and studied at Phillips Academy, Amherst College, and Andover Theological Seminary and became the first Japanese person to receive a degree at a Western institution of higher education. He became a missionary and came back to Japan and founded the Doshisha which is a group of schools based on Christianity. He died in the process of founding Doshisha University, which was probably the main goal of his life's work. This is a biography of Joseph Harday Neesima which also discusses his influence on the Doshisha.

Birth


stone memorial for birth place

Neesima was born on February 12 (January 14 in lunar calendar), 1843, at Annaka Han's (Fief's) Residence in Kanda, Edo. His father was Tamiharu and mother, Tomi. Neesima was the first son, after four daughters. He may have been named Shimet


parents

a because Benji, his paternal grandfather, said, "Shimeta (We got it!)," when he heard that a son had been born, since a son was necessary to continue the family line of a samurai (soldier) family. Another story is that his name was came from the shime (decoration for celebrating the New Year) which were hanging up when he was born.

Benji had started the Neesima family and had come to the Annaka Han's Edo residence to work as an ashigaru (soldier who guards a lord). Tamiharu was also a low-ranked samurai, and he was a record keeper. He taught calligraphy to earn extra money to support his large family.

Childhood

Shimeta did not always behave well at home. One day he was asked to do an errand by his mother, but he did not do it because he was busy playing. His mother scolded him, but he did not obey her. Then Benji heard this and rolled him up with some bedding and put him in a closet for an hour. Shimeta cried, and Benji told him how important it was to correct bad behavior in childhood, because otherwise Shimeta would engage in bad behavior all his life. Shimeta understood his gradfather's love, and this would influence his behavior later in his life.

Shimeta was an active boy and liked to play outside with tops and kites. He sometimes did dangerous things while playing. Once he was injured on the left side of his forehead. It took two months for the injury to heal, and he had a scar there for the rest of his life. (It is visible in his later portraits and photos.) He became less active and became fond of studying rather than playing outside.

Shimeta studied calligraphy, drawing, and manners. Good manners were very important, because they could help him attract the attention of a higher ranked samurai, which was the way that he would be promoted. He also studied Chinese writing, horseback riding, and fencing. He was ordered by Katsuaki Itakura, the head of Annaka Han, to study Dutch. This involved not only studying the language itself but also studying the types of knowledge that the Dutch had brought to Japan, including navigation, surveying land, and mathematics. He really liked those subjects and became increasingly interested in other countries. However, he had to stop studying Dutch temporarily because his teacher went to Nagasaki. Though he was a samurai, he liked studying better than fencing or horseback riding, which were very important for soldiers.

Adulthood

Shimeta had a ceremony to become an adult on November 15, 1857 (lunar calendar), and he received the name Keikan. He was appointed an assistant to the record keepers. When his father went to Osaka with Katsumata Itakura, head of Annaka Han at the time, he became an active record keeper and taught calligraphy. He began studying Dutch again.

Katsumata Itakura was not interested in academic matters, and he did not give Neesima good opportunities to study. He appointed him a guard, and Neesima had to go to Annaka for the first time in his life with Katsumata in 1860. He did not like this job. He went to study Dutch at his teacher's home during his work hours, and he was warned not to. Around this time, he saw Dutch warships in the Edo Bay, and he was surprised by their size and strength. He thought that Japan should have a strong navy because it is surrounded by the sea.

In November, Neesima went to the military academy for crews of warships run by the Tokugawa Shogunate. He became particularly interested in mathematics and navigation in the military academy. He was much influenced by John Manjiro of Tosa, whose ship had been wrecked and who had been saved by Americans, after which he had lived in the United States for about ten years. Two years later, Neesima quit the military academy. However, he had some training in navigation, and he sailed on the Kaifu Maru to Tamashima near Okayama on November 12 and came back on January 14 (lunar calendar). Though it did not have engines, it was a large western ship, and the experience increased his desire to sail abroad.

Neesima began studying English in addition to Dutch. He read a book of stories from the Bible in Chinese, and he read Robinson Crusoe. He attended a secret study group meeting to read the Bible. He became much interested in Christianity because it had supported Manjiro and Crusoe spiritually, and all western countries which had power were based on Christianity. He came to believed in God as his Creator and Heavenly Father. He was building up a dream to go abroad to study in order to be of service to Japan in the future. He heard that the Kaifu Maru would leave for Hakodate, so he got permission to go there for one year. He made up his mind that he would go abroad if he had the opportunity.

Neesima was not happy with keeping records or guarding the prince. He did not find any interest in talking with people who were engaged in those jobs. He was rather interested in studying Dutch, English, new knowledge from the West, and Christianity. His desire to go to the West to study them increased day by day.

monument of Neesima's flight from Hakodate

Neesima Leaving from Hakodate

Flight from Japan

One night before the departure, the family had a farewell dinner for Shimeta. They knew that they might not see him again. Benji indicated Shimeta would be able to open his world in Hakodate if he wished. Shimeta would not see Benji and brother Souroku again.

Neesima left for Hakodate on March 12 and arrived in Hakodate on April 21 (lunar calendar). He boarded the Berlin illegally on June 14 (July 17 in the present calendar) went to Shanghai. If he had been found and arrested, he probably would have been sentenced to death in those days.

Captain Savory

Captain Taylor of Wild Rover
Neesima wanted to go to the West because he believed that a knowledge of Christianity and of Western civilization would be necessary for Japan in the future. He wanted to go to school in the United States.

Captain Savory of the Berlin made arrangements for Neesima to take the Wild Rover from Shanghai to Boston. He was given the nickname Joe by the captain, which would be Joseph in the United States.

Conclusion


Wild Rover

Though Joseph Hardy Neesima was a missionary and his main work was preaching Christianity in Japan, his major desire was to establish a liberal arts college like Amherst College based on Christianity. He started some schools as a part of the Doshisha, but his dream was not completed during his lifetime, and even today Doshisha is still in the process of growing and changing.

Neesima's autobiography of his younger days

(These photos are used with permission from the Doshisha Archives.)