On the 17th, President Yoon Seok-yeol visits Keio University in Japan. He plans to give a lecture on the future Korea-Japan relationship to Korean and Japanese students.
Keio University is one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan. It is also famous as a so-called ‘escalator’ type educational institution that leads from kindergarten to elementary, middle, high school, and university.
The founder is Yukichi Fukuzawa, Japan’s first American student. He is a figure on the Japanese 10,000 yen bill. A boarding school for Western studies opened by Fukuzawa in 1858 became the origin of today’s Keio University.
The value that Keio University promotes can be summarized as ‘independent self-respect’. In the first sentence of Yukichi Fukuzawa’s representative book ‘Recommendation for Learning’ (?
Fukuzawa, who was a representative modern educator and also a journalist, is the founder of the Sankei Shimbun’s predecessor, ‘Shisashinbo’ (時事新報).
He was a supporter not only of Japan but also of Joseon’s reformists at the time. Representatively, Kim Ok-gyun of Gapsin Coup can be cited. However, when the Gapsin Coup eventually ended on the 3rd, he abandoned his hopes of modernizing Joseon and changed his attitude.
Afterwards, Fukuzawa insisted on ‘getting out of Asia’ (脫亞入歐), saying, “Now Japan must abandon its bad friends in the East and go its own way like the Western empires.”
Meanwhile, the Korean Student Association at Keio University was established in 1936 by the late president Min Byeong-do. According to the website of the Korean Student Association KKSA, about 300 Koreans, both undergraduate and graduate students, are currently enrolled at Keio University.
Keio University has produced a total of four prime ministers, including Ryutaro Hashimoto and Junichiro Koizumi. Idol Arashi member Sho Sakurai and actor Mana Ashida are also from Keio University.
(Tokyo = News 1)
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.