Terashima Munenori

  • Other Names: 出水泉蔵 (Demizu Senzou), 松木弘安 (Matsuki Kouan)
  • Japanese: 寺島宗則 (Terashima Munenori)

Terashima Munenori was an early Meiji period Minister of Education and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

After spending two years in England as a student sponsored by the Tokugawa shogunate, he returned to England in 1865, at age 34, to serve as guide and teacher for a group of nineteen students from Satsuma han.

Serving as a Japanese representative in diplomatic discussions with the British government, he secured British support for Satsuma, and played a significant role in the anti-shogunate movement of the Bakumatsu period. Originally known as Matsuki Kôan, and going by the name Demizu Senzô while overseas, he later changed his name to Terashima Munenori, and attained several top-level positions in the Meiji government.

References

  • Plaque on monument to Satsuma students at Kagoshima Chûô train station.[1]