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Study in Edo: Shibata Shuzo (1820-59) and Student Life in Late-Tokugawa Japan
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Study in Edo: Shibata Shuzo (1820-59) and Student Life in Late-Tokugawa Japan

T. Moriyama
East Asian history (Canberra), Vol.40, pp.27-50
2016
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Abstract

1800-1899 academies diary Edo period letters Shibata Shuzo social mobility student life Edo/Tokyo Asian history
Going to the city to study often changes people’s lives. In mid-nineteenth century Japan, dramatic changes took place in the lives of a great many people who went away to study, at a time when Japan’s political and social structure was changing rapidly as a result of the nation’s encounter with Western powers. The capital city of Edo, or Tokyo, as it was renamed in 1868, was one of the most popular destinations for ambitious young people seeking to obtain new knowledge or skills that might enable them to escape their hereditary status and occupation. Shibata Shūzō 柴田収蔵 (or 新発田収蔵, 1820–59) was one such person. Shibata travelled from the remote island of Sado to the capital city in order to undertake specialist training in medicine and other fields. Study in Edo led Shibata, the son of a fisherman, to become a doctor in his home village, and later to be a map-maker in Edo, working for the Shogunal Institute for Western Studies (Bansho Shirabesho 蕃書調所) until his early death. For the change in Shibata’s life course, education was clearly a decisive factor.

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