Griffis Museum Tour Outline William Elliot Griffis Was a Graduate Of

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Griffis Museum Tour Outline William Elliot Griffis was a graduate of Rutgers University, located in the City of New Brunswick, New Jersey. Established in 1766, Rutgers is one of nine so called “Colonial Colleges” along with colleges such as Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. From its founding and onward through the time of Griffis, Rutgers had close ties with the Dutch Reformed Church. This would be the impetus for Kusakabe Taro and other young Japanese samurai to attend what was then Rutgers College in the late Edo and early Meiji period. As a result of these connections, Matsudaira Shungaku, lord of the Echizen-Fukui Domain, would hire Griffis, a recent Rutgers graduate, to teach modern science in present day Fukui City. Though Griffis only spent ten months working in Fukui, he was able to achieve much in education, including the establishment of a modern scientific laboratory and of course, teaching a number of young pupils who would go on to contribute much to the development of Japan. After returning to the USA, Griffis became America`s foremost expert on Japan until the early 1900s, publishing many works on Japan including his most famous, the Mikado`s Empire. The connection between New Jersey and Fukui faded for a time after Griffis`s final visit in 1928; however, interest in Kusakabe Taro and William Elliott Griffis was reignited in the 1970s, after which Fukui City and the City of New Brunswick would establish a sister city relationship in 1982, which also led to a sister state relationship between Fukui Prefecture and the State of New Jersey. This connection has led to numerous educational exchanges between New Brunswick and Fukui City, including my own position as a Cultural Ambassador. My interest in coming to Fukui is tied to this long historical relationship, and I am honored to give a tour of the Griffis Museum. I look forward to discussing this unique history with the residents of Fukui so that we can together explore a bit of what it was like in the 1870s and see how it is still having an impact on our societies 150 years later. Please do not hesitate to stop by! .

Copy Link

Recommended publications

The Rutgers Network in Early Meiji Japan
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE The Rutgers Network in Early Meiji Japan Fernanda Perrone In the mid-nineteenth century, Rutgers College in New Brunswick, New Jersey, was a small private all-male institution with less than two hundred students. Founded in 1766, its original purpose was to train ministers for the Dutch Reformed Church. Only in 1855 did the college and the New Brunswick Theological Seminary become separate, although they remained neighboring and closely cooperating institutions. And only in 1864 with federal funding through the Morrill Act, did Rutgers establish a scientific school under the leadership of pioneering state geologist George H. Cook. It was to this rather obscure college, however, that some of the first ryugakusei-Japanese overseas students-came to study during the Bakumatsu period. And it was from Rutgers that some of the first oyatoi gaikokujin-foreign teachers-made their way to Japan to work under the new Meiji government. Why Rutgers? The college’s longstanding affiliation with the Dutch Reformed Church meant that the early Dutch missionaries in Japan, particularly Guido Verbeck, were familiar with Rutgers. Born in Zeist in the Netherlands in 1830, Verbeck was trained in Utrecht as an engineer before emigrating to the United States in 1852. He worked briefly as an engineer in the United States before entering Auburn Seminary in western New York. Graduating in 1859, he was commissioned in that year as one of pioneer Reformed Church missionaries bound for Japan.1 Many of the early ryugakusei initially studied with Verbeck in Nagasaki; when they sought further educational opportunities abroad he referred them to John M.
[Show full text]
Rutgers AAUP Emeriti
RRuuttggeerrss AAAAUUPP EEmmeerriittii Reporter Volume 19 – Issue 2 October 2015 speakers for our monthly meetings - both from outside THE CHAIRPERSON’S CORNER and from within our own group. Outside speakers have Elfriede Schlesinger, Chair come both from Rutgers, other universities and various Professor Emerita, Social Work organizations. Speakers are recruited on the basis of their interest, research and expertise in areas thought to be of interest to us. As in the past, we will not focus on any particular areas. As we begin the new season of the Emeriti Assembly, it is time, once more, to reflect on the past year and In spring 2015, our speakers and the topics on which importantly, to look ahead to these coming months. they spoke were: Before making a few comments, I want to thank you for reelecting me as chairperson. I appreciate your Fernanda Perrone - "Rutgers' Long History as a confidence, and hope that I don’t disappoint you. Global University: Highlights from the William Elliot Griffis Collection on Westerners in Japan" I look forward to working with our new vice-chairperson, Judith Friedman, who is already hard at work on Judith Friedman - “Beyond Memories: Some of What membership for our group. It is good to have a vice I Didn't Know About My Hometown” chairperson. Our prior vice chair, John Leggett, served only briefly because of illness. I understand he has Gordon Schochet - "Chickens, Chimpanzees, and moved to the West Coast, and I am sure we all wish him Lawyers: Reinventing and Expanding Rights" well, and thank him for his past contributions.
[Show full text]
Meiji Japan and East Asia
SPECIAL SECTION ON JAPAN IN U.S. AND WORLD jiHHiiW BREAKING COMPANY Meiji Japan and East Asia By Joseph M . Henning n a famous 1885 editorial, ized nation whose strategic Fukuzawa Yukichi urged interests coincided with I.hose I his nation 10 "escape from of' the United States and Great Asia." Japan could not afford to Britain. Second, they identified wait pntiently for China and racial similarities between Korea to develop on their own. themselves and Anglo-Saxons, argued the Meiji era's most influ in tum highlighting differences ential scholar. To Japan's lrate between themselves and other gic disadvantnge. ·•civilized West Enst A),ians. These claims ern peoples·· considered the reached important audiences Japanese to be akin to their back and influenced Western opin ward neighbors. "If we keep bad ion. Japanese leaders published company," Fukuwwa wrote. "we in leading English-language cannot avoid a bad name. In my journals-making their essays heart l favur breaking off with the accessible today for teachers to bad company of East Asia:·1 use as primary sources in class. This call succinctly captured These essays offer lessons in the full army of Meiji ambition: su·ategy. public diplomacy. and Japan· s leaders had set out to racial ideology in Meiji foreign reform its political and social - relations. (Included below is a institutions and modernize it.~ --- short Ust of' useful sources not industries and military. The ulti -- cited in the endnotes.) mnte goal was LO win recognjtion At the turn of the nine- as an equal among the world's 1eenth century.
[Show full text]
Western Contributors to the Modernization of Meiji Japan: Hepburn and Verbeck
ISSN: 1500-0713 ______________________________________________________________ Article Title: Western Contributors to the Modernization of Meiji Japan: Hepburn and Verbeck Author(s): Hideo Watanabe Source: Japanese Studies Review, Vol. XIII (2014), pp. 47-65 Stable URL: https://asian.fiu.edu/projects-and-grants/japan-studies- review/journal-archive/volume-xviii-2014/watanabe-hepburn- verbeck.pdf ______________________________________________________________ WESTERN CONTRIBUTORS TO THE MODERNIZATION OF MEIJI JAPAN: HEPBURN AND VERBECK Hideo Watanabe William Paterson University The modernization of Meiji Japan was aided by two different approaches in connection with other countries. One approach was that, in order to gain a better understanding of the West, Meiji delegates visited Western countries and learned about Western civilization first hand. One purpose of the Iwakura Mission was to observe and investigate the institutions and practices of advanced countries, which would help the modernization of Japan. Iwakura and high officials, such as Okubo Toshimichi and Ito Hirobumi, visited twelve countries including the U.S., Britain, and France. Upon their return home, they reported to the Meiji Emperor, “Power of nations, people, government, religions, military are deeply rooted and many branches are growing from the root.…Thus we need to quickly establish our constitutional government, accumulate wealth of our people, otherwise the growth of civilization cannot be done.”1 The other approach for the establishment of a new nation was that many Westerners came to Japan and provided an incredible assistance to the country directly. The slogan of the Meiji government was “Enrich the country, strengthen the military,” and the government invited Western specialists to Japan with the goal of modernization on their minds.
[Show full text]
Lives and Afterlives of Bushidō: a Perspective from Overseas*
DOI: 10.4312/as.2018.6.2.33-50 33 Lives and Afterlives of Bushidō: A Perspective from Overseas* William M. BODIFORD**17 Abstract Bushidō has had many different lives in many different places around the world. These transformations and afterlives constitute valuable witnesses that offer competing nar- ratives of Japan’s modern development and of its changing roles in the world. Beyond Japan they speak to the multiple ways that the country both inspires and (sometimes) displeases other nations. These lives and afterlives also serve to illustrate the myriad ways that intersections of the local and translocal, the past and present, refract per- spectives. Bushidō is not unique in its ability to assume divergent connotations and implications in accordance with the contours of the frame within which it is placed. Its elusiveness exemplifies the amorphous characteristics of our global world’s no- madic lexicon. Keywords: bushidō, Nitobé, invention of tradition, nomadic concepts Bushidō kot hibrid: hibridnost in transkulturacija v diskurzu o bushidōju Izvleček Bushidō je imel v različnih krajih po vsem svetu različne izpeljave. Njegove preobrazbe in zapuščina so dragoceno pričanje o medsebojno konkurenčnih pripovedih o sodob- nem razvoju Japonske in njenih spreminjajočih se vlogah v svetu. Zunaj Japonske med drugim pričajo o različnih načinih, na katere Japonska navdihuje in (včasih) tudi ra- zočara druge države. Ta življenja in zapuščine služijo tudi za ponazoritev neštetih nači- nov, na katere križanja lokalnega in translokalnega, preteklosti in sedanjosti na novo vzpostavljajo perspektive. Bushidō ni edinstven v svoji zmožnosti, da privzema različne konotacije in implikacije znotraj okvirja, v katerega je umeščen. Njegova izmuzljivost kaže na brezobličnost nomadskega besedišča današnjega globaliziranega sveta.
[Show full text]
A Trans-Pacific Clash? the Role of Diplomatic Missions
A TRANS-PACIFIC CLASH? THE ROLE OF DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS IN EARLY U.S.–JAPAN RELATIONS by Michael William Jones, B.A. A thesis submitted to the Graduate Council of Texas State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts with a Major in History December 2020 Committee Members: Ellen Tillman, Chair Peter Siegenthaler Thomas Alter COPYRIGHT by Michael William Jones 2020 FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT Fair Use This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of this material for financial gain without the author’s express written permission is not allowed. Duplication Permission As the copyright holder of this work I, Michael William Jones, authorize duplication of this work, in whole or in part, for educational or scholarly purposes only. DEDICATION For Barbara Elizabeth Swyryn, Anne Cale Jones, Miss Kitty, Charli, Bingley, and Wilson Andrew Jones ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I first began to seriously consider studying Japanese history as an undergraduate at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. The late professor Cecil Lawson planted the initial spark within me through his clear enthusiasm for Japanese culture and love for the Japanese people, which he displayed in his freshman studies class “Sword, Silk, and Silicon.” This interest was nurtured by professor Holly Holliday, my Japanese language instructor at St. Edward’s, who opened my mind to one of the world’s most complex and beautiful languages and, in turn, to the entire country of Japan.
[Show full text]
Nitobe Inazo and Bushido
Nitobe Inazo and Bushido By Sato Masahiro Photo : Nitobe Memorial Museum I Christian publishing house in Tokyo and the publisher of a 23-volume The year 2000 marked the 100th and two supplementary volumes set anniversary of the publication of of the complete works of Nitobe, Nitobe Inazo’s (1862-1933) Bushido marked the 100th anniversary of – The Soul of Japan, which he wrote Bushido by publishing another in English. Ceremonies were held translation. Translated by myself, all over Japan to commemorate the this latest effort is based on the first event. The Nitobe Foundation, careful comparison of the first edi- which has been steadily carrying out tion and the revised 10th edition. a succession of fine activities since Bushido was published in 1900 by its foundation in 1984, held a grand a small firm in Philadelphia called commemorative event in the north- Reeds and Biddle. Nitobe was 37 ern city of Morioka, Iwate years old at the time, and the book Prefecture, where Nitobe was born, was a mere 127 pages long. Right to mark the 100th anniversary of the after the book came out, Nitobe publication. The foundation invited went to Taiwan, then Japan’s newly Tweed Roosevelt, great-grandson of acquired colony, to take part in an former U.S. President Theodore effort to improve the sugar industry Roosevelt, to take part in the activi- there. His studies of the sugar ties. It was a well chosen invitation, industry took him all over the world, for President Roosevelt had acted as from the United States to Europe, the intermediary in negotiations and from Egypt to the Indian Ocean.
[Show full text]
Chapter I-Landing in Japan
DIVISION OF THE HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91125 CHAPTER I - LANDING IN JAPAN Robert A. Rosenstone HU ANITIES WORKING PAPER 86 © Robert A. Rosenstone June 1983 Abstract In which our three heroes -- William E. Griffis, missionary; Edward S. Morse, scientist; and Lafcadio Hearn, writer -- find during their first weeks in Japan that this Asian country lives up to some of their preconceptions, violates others, and altogether proves to be a more complicated, perplexing, challenging, and interesting place than they had imagined. CHAPTER I - LANDING IN JAPAN Robert A. Rosenstone Mount Fuji is there for William Elliot Griffis on that crisp morning of December 29, 1870. It calls to him, pulls him out of the stateroom and onto the deck of the S.S. Great Republic. It hangs in the distance,-beyond beach and timber-crested hill, beyond rolling plain and crumpled mountain range, a vision of perfection, crowned with snow and tinted with early sunlight. Its shape is at once familiar and alien, part of a world of coppery men in small fishing boats, of thatched huts and countryside quilted with the odd shapes of rice paddies, a strange world where you can tell at a glance that everything is the same and nothing is the same and where it is impossible to know what such thoughts may mean. To find his bearing in this world, to tame the vision, Griffis begins to form sentences in his mind. Shinto deity the mountain may be, but comfort comes from seeing it in Christian terms, as a "fitting temple of the Creator's architecture, at which his children might look while their hearts poured out in gratitude for kindly guidance through the perils of the deep." Familiar names, part of an offhand Western arrogance that defines the contours of many an Asian landscape, guide the way towards port.
[Show full text]
The US Navy Japanese/Oriental Language School Archival Project
The US Navy Japanese/Oriental Language School Archival Project The Interpreter Archives, University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries Number 237 Remember September 11, 2001 [email protected] November 1, 2017 Our Mission the University of Colorado, returned to Hawaii where he consultant for the Council on Boulder, where he received his remained at least until March. International Educational In the Spring of 2000, the certification in Japanese on April Since we are missing letters Exchange (1970, 1973). Archives continued the origi- 15, 1944, and then attended the from April and May 1945 his Burks supported many nal efforts of Captain Roger Advanced Naval Intelligence whereabouts during this time are endeavors related to Japanese Pineau and William Hudson, School in New York City. not known. However in June studies, such as the Japan and the Archives first at- Afterwards, he was 1945 he arrived in Guam where Society in New York and the tempts in 1992, to gather the commissioned as a lieutenant he remained until October 1945. International House of Japan in papers, letters, photographs, (junior grade) in the U. S. Naval Later that same month he Tokyo. He was also heavily and records of graduates of Reserves, and served as a traveled to Shanghai, China, involved in the Association for the US Navy Japanese/ Language Officer during World Jinsen, Korea and Sasebo, Japan. Asian Studies, serving on its Oriental Language School, War II in the Pacific Theater. By October 29, he was back at Board of Directors (1972-1975) University of Colorado at In June 1944 Burks reported sea aboard the USS Blackford, a and as the Chairman for the Boulder, 1942-1946.
[Show full text]
Elliot Griffis
Elliot Griffis: An Inventory of His Collection at the Harry Ransom Center Descriptive Summary Creator: Griffis, Elliot, 1893-1967 Title: Elliot Griffis Collection Dates: 1913-1968 Extent: 3 document boxes, 1 oversize box (osb) (2.26 linear feet) Abstract: This collection of John Elliot Griffis, an American composer, pianist, and teacher, contains manuscript and out-of-print scores, articles, programs, photographs, catalogs, and correspondence. Call Number: Manuscript Collection MS-4995 Language: English. Access: Open for research. Part or all of this collection is housed off-site and may require up to three business days notice for access in the Ransom Center’s Reading and Viewing Room. Please contact the Center before requesting this material: [email protected] Administrative Information Acquisition: Gifts, 1968, 2007 (07-06-006-G), 2018 (18-07-003-T) Processed by: L. Christine Amos, 2004; Catherine Stollar, 2005; updated by Hagan Barber, 2012 Repository: The University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Center Griffis, Elliot, 1893-1967 Manuscript Collection MS-4995 Biographical Sketch The American composer, pianist, and teacher John Elliot Griffis was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 28, 1893. His father, William Elliot Griffis, came from a family of ship captains and coal merchants and is remembered for his books on the Far East and U. S. History. His mother, Katherine L. Stanton, hailed from a family comprised of ministers and college professors. Griffis grew up attending public school in Ithaca, New York but also attended the Manlius School before spending the years from 1909-1913 in study at Ithaca College. During childhood, Griffis studied piano with various teachers.
[Show full text]
UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations
UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Untelling the Tales of Empire : : Intimate Epistemologies of the Korean War Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4049n200 Author Kim, Joo Ok Publication Date 2013 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Untelling the Tales of Empire: Intimate Epistemologies of the Korean War A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Literature by Joo Ok Kim Committee in charge: Professor Shelley Streeby, Chair Professor Lisa Lowe, Co-Chair Professor Dennis Childs Professor Jin-kyung Lee Professor Curtis Marez 2013 Copyright © Joo Ok Kim, 2013 All rights reserved. The Dissertation of Joo Ok Kim is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Co-Chair ________________________________________________________________________ Co-Chair University of California, San Diego 2013 iii DEDICATION For my 할머니, 정 명단, whose life spans decades and continents, For 김 용민, a revolutionary of the heart and spirit, and For my father and my mother. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page……………………………………………………………………………iii
[Show full text]
Alice of Korea by Marion Wallace Reninger
Alice of Korea by Marion Wallace Reninger CHAPTER I Family Background In his book, "A Modern Pioneer in Korea," published in 1912, William Elliot Griffis states:- "Appenzeller of Korea built himself a living stone into Christian Chosen (Korea). The coming of a live, typical American Christian in 1885, into the mysterious hermit kingdom was like an invincible stream of light. He found Korea in bal'barism. He left the "Land of Morning Calm" full of hope, promise and attainment." Alice Appenzeller was the oldest of his four children. True to the ideals and dedication of her parents, she spent thirty-five years of her life in developing a new outlook and opportunity for the women of Korea. Ewha University in Seoul, Korea, stands as a real tribute to her. She carried out her parent's vision of a new way of life in this Oriental country. Henry Gerhart Appenzeller, her father, was born and raised in Souderton, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, of Swiss and German stock. Her forefathers from the Province of Appenzell in Switzer land brought to America their sturdy heritage as settlers and farmers in William Penn's colony. German was the language of the household, although young Henry went to the public schools where the English language was spoken. After completing his grade school education and being con firmed in the German Reformed Church his family attended, he was sent to the Teachers' Training School of West Chester, Penn sylvania, to prepare for college. It was here at a revival meet ing, conducted by a Presbyterian evangelist named Fulton, that Henry was truly converted and became a dedicated Christian.
[Show full text]