Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901) was a Japanese author, writer, teacher, translator, and entrepreneur who founded Keio University. “. . . I am willing to admit my pride in this accomplishment for Japan. The facts are these: It was not until the sixth year of Kaei (1853) that a steamship was seen for the first time; it was only in the second year of Ansei (1855) that we began to study navigation from the Dutch in Nagasaki; by 1860, the science was sufficiently understood to enable us to sail a ship across the Pacific. This means that about seven years after the first sight of a steamship, after only about five years of practice, the Japanese people made a transpacific crossing without help from foreign experts. I think we can without undue pride boast before the world of this courage and skill. As I have shown, the Japanese officers were to receive no aid from Captain Brooke throughout the voyage. Even in taking observations, our officers and the Americans made them independently of each other. Sometimes they compared their results, but we were never in the least dependent on the Americans. . . .” Source: The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi, written in 1897 and translated by Eiichi Kiyooka in the Hokuseido Press 1934 9. What is Fukuzawa Yukichi’s point of view on the process Japan took to change its naval technology? 1) The Japanese could not have updated their fleet of ships without continued assistance from the Dutch. 2) The Japanese have always had a navy that was superior to those of foreign powers. 3) Though there was initial influence from foreigners, the Japanese update of their fleet of ships was done independently. 4) The Americans assisted the Japanese with updating their fleet of ships more than any other foreign government. 10. Which set of events is most closely associated with the nation described in this passage? 1) End of the Opium War → creation of European spheres of influence 2) End of the Tokugawa Shogunate → beginning of the Meiji Restoration 3) Fall of the Machus → rise of Sun Yixian (Sun Yat-sen) 4) Imperialism in China → start of World War II
9. The correct answer is 3) Though there was initial influence from foreigners, the Japanese update of their fleet of ships was done independently.
10. The correct answer is 2) End of the Tokugawa Shogunate → beginning of the Meiji Restoration.