(Last updated on 1/14/2001)
| 1843 | Shimeta Neesima, who is now known as Joseph Hardy Neesima, was born on January 14 (February 12 in the present calendar) in a house owned by Annaka Han (Fief) near Kanda Hitotsubashi in Edo (what is now Tokyo). His father was Tamiharu (35 years old at the time of his son's birth). His mother was Tomi (35). His paternal grandfather was Benji (56), and his grandmother, Nobu (age unknown). His sisters were Kuwa (11), Maki (8), Miyo (4), and Toki (3). | 1847 | His brother Soroku was born on December 14. | 1848 | He began studying calligraphy on February 14. | 1849 | Neesima was severely scolded by his grandfather Benji because he did not obey his mother. | 1852 | Four American warships commanded by Commodore Matthew Perry anchored at Uraga near Edo (what is now Tokyo) on June 3. | 1853 | Neesima studied Chinese writing and the Chinese classics under Rensai Soekawa, horseback riding, and fencing. | Four American warships commanded by Commodore Matthew Perry anchored at Uraga near Edo (what is now Tokyo) on June 3. | 1854 | Kanagawa Treaty (Treaty of Peace and Amity between the United States and the Empire of Japan) was signed. Similar treaties were signed with Great Britain (1854), with Russia (1855), and with Holland (1856). | 1856 | In January, Neesima was ordered by Katsuaki Itakura, the head of Annaka Han, to study Dutch, and he studied it under Junsuke Tajima. | 1857 | Neesima gave up the study of horseback riding and fencing in order to concentrate on the Chinese classics. | He had a ceremony to become an adult on November 15, and his name became Keikan Shimeta Neesima. | 1859 | He studied Dutch again, this time under Gentan Sugita. | He secretly read a Chinese book on Christianity. | 1860 | 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 saw Dutch warships anchored in Edo Bay and was impressed by them and by the culture and technology that could produce them. | A Shogunal mission left for the United States on the Kairin Maru, whose captain was Kaishu Katsu. | 1862 | In September, he quit the military academy because his eyes had become weak from studying hard. | He sailed on the Kaifu Maru to Tamashima near Okayama on November 12 and came back on January 14. | 1863 | Neesima studied English in addition to Dutch. | He read a book that contained stories from the Bible in Chinese. He was deeply impressed by the creation story in particular, and he came to the conclusion that he belonged to God, his Creator, rather than to his parents. | 1864 | He left for Hakodate on March 12 and arrived in there on April 21. He hoped for an opportunity to escape from Japan from there, so he could study Western science and Christianity. | On June 14 (July 17 in the present calendar), he escaped from Japan with the help of the captain of the Berlin, which was sailing for Shanghai. | He took the Wild Rover from Shanghai to Boston. |
| 1865 | The American Civil War ended, and Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in April. | Neesima arrived in Boston on July 20. | The captain of the Wild Rover introduced Neesima to Alpheus Hardy, the owner of the ship (October 11). | Alpheus Hardy agreed to take responsibility for his expenses, education, and so on, after reading a statement that Neesima wrote about his reasons for coming to America. | He began using the name Joseph Neesima. | Mr. and Mrs. Hardy moved Neesima to Andover in late October, where they had arranged for him to stay with Mr. and Miss Hidden, who treated him as a member of their family, on a farm near the city. | He entered Phillips Academy on October 30. | Neesima was tutored in mathematics, geography, and the New Testament by a neighbor of the Hiddens. | 1866 | Neesima wrote to his father for the first time since his escape from Japan on February 21. | On December 30, Neesima was baptized. | 1867 | He graduated from Phillips Academy in June. | He entered Amherst College in September. | 1868 | The Meiji Restoration started. | 1870 | Neesima graduated from Amherst College on July 14. He received a Bachelor of Science degree, becoming the first Japanese person to receive a degree from a Western institution of higher education. His rheumatism made it difficult to work for the last six months of his time at Amherst College. | Neesima considered the possibility of US citizenship, since it might afford him some protection from religious persecution when he returned to Japan as a missionary. (Christianity was still illegal in Japan at the time.) Ultimately, he decided against this course, since he felt that he could exercise more influence in Japan as a Japanese citizen. | In September, he entered Andover Theological Seminary. | 1871 | Neesima received a Japanese passport and a permit to study from the Japanese Government. This would later allow him to return to Japan openly and legally. | The government offered to reimburse Mr. Hardy for his expenses in supporting Neesima, and to support Neesima's studies, but Neesima refused the offer and advised Mr. Hardy to do so as well, fearing that the government would try to direct his studies, and that he would be obligated to work for the government, an obligation that would interfere with his future missionary work. | In October, Neesima met Jerome Dean Davis, who would later found the Doshisha with him, at an American Board meeting in Salem, Massachusetts. | 1872 | A delegation from Japan consisting of four cabinet ministers and commissioners of several administrative departments, headed by Tomomi Iwakura, arrived in America. Its purpose was to learn about the institutions of Western nations and select the ones best suited for Japan as the basis for reforming Japanese institutions. Among the delegates was Fujimaro Tanaka, Commissioner of Education. | Neesima was invited to Washington, D.C., to meet with the delegation to discuss the educational system in the US. | Neesima arrived in Washington, D.C. on March 7. | Tanaka, who only spoke Japanese, requested that Neesima act as a translator for him when he visited educational institutions in the Northeast. Neesima accompanied Tanaka to many different types of educational institutions on the Northeast. | On March 15, Neesima was invited to accompany Tanaka to Europe to study educational institutions "as a friend, not as an under-officer." Neesima asked for and received permission from the Hardys. | Neesima left from New York with the Tanaka Educational Ministry mission to go to Europe to observe educational systems. The mission visited the United Kingdom, Paris, France; Geneva, Berne, and Zurich, Switzerland; Berlin; St. Petersburg, Russia; Copenhagen, Denmark; and The Hague. | He stayed in Berlin to write a report for Tanaka. Neesima stayed on in Germany through the winter, visiting schools, treating his rheumatism at Wiesbaden, and studying German. | 1873 | Neesima came back from Europe on September 14 and reentered Andover Theological Seminary. | Laws forbidding the preaching of or belief in Christianity were repealed in Japan. | 1874 | Neesima was appointed a corresponding member of Japanese Mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. | He graduated from Andover Theological Seminary on July 2. At graduation exercises, he gave an address on "The Preaching of Christ in Japan." | On September 24, Neesima was ordained in Boston at the Mount Vernon Church. | Neesima attended the annual meeting of the American Board in Rutland, Vermont, on October 9, where he gave a speech requesting donations to open a Christian college in Japan. Five thousand dollars was collected. | He left San Francisco on October 30 and arrived in Yokohama on November 26. | Neesima was given three weeks off to visit his parents in Annaka. He met them for the first time in more than ten years on November 29. During the weeks he spent in Annaka, he spoke to many of the people in Annaka and the neighboring towns about Christianity and many of them became Christians. | 1875 | In January, Neesima used the name "Joe" in his letter to his father for the first time and explained that it was short for Joseph. | He failed to obtain a permit to establish a school in Osaka, because the governor was strongly opposed to Christianity, and he made it a condition that missionaries could not be used as teachers in the school. | Neesima met Governor Mamura and Vice Governor Yamamoto of Kyoto and was encouraged to found a school in Kyoto. Yamamoto was blind and unable to walk, but he was highly educated and influential in the prefectural government. He developed a great interest in Christianity, and later became a Christian. | Neesima met Kakuma Yamamoto with J. D. Davis. Yamamoto offered to sell his property, which was originally Satsuma Han's Kyoto residence near the corner of Karasuma and Imadagawa streets. | He moved to Yamamoto's house from Osaka in June. | During the summer, Neesima became engaged to Yamamoto's sister Yae. | He and Yamamoto submitted a request to Kyoto Prefecture to start a school on August 23 and received a permit on September 4. | Though the governor of Kyoto had originally encouraged Neesima to start his school in Kyoto, he had become hostile to Christianity. He promised Kyoto Prefecture that the Bible would not be taught on campus under the course name "Seisho" (Bible), though he was given permission to teach Christianity under the course title "Moral Science." | A company named Doshisha, meaning "One Purpose" or "One Endeavor" was formed. | Doshisha English School (Doshisha Ei Gakko) was founded on November 29 north of Teramachi Marutamachi, Kyoto with two teachers, Joseph Hardy Neesima and J. D. Davis, and eight students. | 1876 | On January 3, Neesima married Yae, and his wedding was held at the Davis' house. | During the winter, the number of students increased to forty. | D. W. Leaned came to Doshisha in April. | The First Dormitory, Second Dormitory and Dining Hall were completed, and the ceremony dedicating them was held on September 18. These were the first buildings built on the Imadegawa Campus. The first floors of the two dormitories were used as class rooms. The Second Dormitory was moved to Kyotanabe Campus. Seven more dormitories like these two were built between 1876 and 1886. | Students of Kumamoto Western School (Kumamoto Yo Gakko) entered Doshisha in September. Many went on to be influential publishers, pastors, educators, and so on. | A women's institution opened at the Davis house on October 15. | 1877 | Neesima received a permit from Kyoto Prefecture to start women's school. | In March, Neesima's father was baptized. | 1878 | Neesima's house, located north of Teramachi Marutamachi, was completed on September 7 with donation from his American friend Mr. Joshua Montgomery Sears of Boston, and he moved into it. | 1879 | The first commencement was held on June 12, and fifteen students graduated.(The graduates were students of Doshisha Ei Gakko Yoka and Theology Department.) | 1880 | On April 13, Neesima whipped his palm with a stick to demonstrate his feeling of personal responsibility for student misbehavior. | 1882 | The first commencement of the women's school was held on June 29, and five students graduated. | 1883 | Neesima printed and distributed his philosophy in establishing Doshisha University (Doshisha Daigakuko Setsuritsu Shishu). | He published "The Founding of the Doshisha and Doshisha University" (Doshisha Setsuritsu no Shimatsu). | The ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone of Shoeikan was held on December 22. | He wrote "How the Doshisha was Established." | 1884 | Due to Neesima's precarious health, the American Board formally requested that he take a furlough and travel to the US via Europe. | Neesima left Kyoto on April 5 for the United States by way of Europe. | In August, while hiking in Switzerland, he had heart problems. He believed that he might be dying, and he wrote a will. | He arrived in Boston and met Mr. and Mrs. Alpheus Hardy on September 30. | The ceremony commemorating the completion of Shoeikan was held on September 15. Shoeikan cost $7,500. | 1885 | He arrived in Yokohama from the United States on December 12. | The ceremony for the laying of the cornerstones of the Chapel and Yushukan was held on the morning of December 18. | The tenth anniversary of Doshisha was held on the afternoon and evening of December 18. (The ceremony had been delayed from November 29 so that Neesima could attend.) | 1886 | Neesima established Doshisha Church on June 4, and he became a temporary minister there on October 8. | The ceremony commemorating the completion of the Chapel was held on June 15. | 1887 | Neesima's father Tamiharu died on January 30. | Neesima was granted an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Amherst College. | Alpheus Hardy died. | On November 7, "The Aim in Establishing Doshisha University" (Doshisha Daigaku Setsuritsu no Shii) was published in major newspapers in Japan. | The opening ceremony of Doshisha Hospital and the opening of Kyoto Nursing School (Kyoto Doshisha Kanbyofu Gakko) were held on November 15. They were located where the KBS Building is today. 1,955 tsubo was purchased the previous year for 1,044 yen, which had been donated by citizens of Kyoto and some other areas. (1,034 yen of the purchase price was from the donation.) Buildings and facilities cost about 6,000 yen, which was paid by the donation raised by American Board in the United States (6,105 yen). There were two two-story wooden buildings and six one-story buildings (together 179.6 tsubo). J. C. Perry, missionary of American Board, became the first head of the hospital. By 1897 all American staff members left and the support by American Board was stopped, and Doshisha decided to close the school in March 1906. Doshisha sold the land and buildings of the hospital in 1916 for 48,678 yen. | The opening ceremony of the first library was held on November 15 (Yushukan). | 1889 | Neesima received an offer of $100,000 from J. N. Harris to start Harris Science School on May 8. | Doshisha Ordinary School (Doshisha Futsu Gakko) was founded. | The ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone of Harris Rikagakukan was held on November 15. | The Constitution of the Empire of Japan (Meiji Constitution) was promulgated. | 1890 | On January 11, Neesima developed peritonitis while staying in Oiso, a health resort on the seashore about forty miles from Yokohama. | On January 23, Neesima explained the plans he had been working on for the furthering of mission work and said goodbye to his wife and friends. He requested that no monument be erected after his death. He wanted a wooden post with the words "The grave of Joseph Neesima." | He died at 2:20 on the afternoon of January 23. (A.S. Hardy gives the time as 4:20.) (Neesima lived for 46 years, 11 months, and 11 days.) | His body arrived at Kyoto Station at midnight on the night of January 24. The train was met by more than 1000 people, who carried his bier in relays the three miles from the station to his house. | Memorial services were held in the chapel in Japanese on the morning of January 26 and in English in the afternoon. Hundreds of people filed by the casket for a last look at Neesima. | His funeral was held at 1:00 on January 27 in front of the Chapel at Doshisha with 4,000 people in attendance. | He was buried on the top of Nyakoji Hill on January 27. The students insisted on doing everything themselves, preparing the grave and carrying the body up the hill. | A large memorial service was held on February 21 at Koseikan in Tokyo. | The first general election was held. |