Mori Arinori is considered the godfather of Japan's Meiji period "modern" education system, and was the first to serve as Minister of Education.[1]
At the age of 19, Mori was one of a number of students sent by Satsuma han secretly to England for study. While in England, he studied naval surveying. Mori then traveled to the United States in 1867/7, and returned to Japan the following year, in 1868/6. He was sent to Washington DC in 1871 as Japan's first minister to the US, and while there oversaw a number of surveys of the American educational system.
He later served terms as ambassador to China, vice-minister of foreign affairs, and ambassador to England, among a number of other positions, before becoming Minister of Education in 1885. He held that position until his assassination in 1889.
Mori's older brother Yokoyama Yasutake was a prominent member of the Meiji government as well.[1]
References
- Marius Jansen, China in the Tokugawa World, Harvard University Press (1992), 114-115.
- Plaque at the monument to the Satsuma students at Kagoshima Chûô train station, Kagoshima.[1]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Plaque on-site at monument to Yokoyama Yasutake, Fukushô-ji, Kagoshima.