Now, let me digress a little bit and share a story that Okuma wrote about in his autobiography, regarding his encounter with the founder of Keio University, Yukichi Fukuzawa, and their subsequent friendship.
Okuma was about three years younger than Fukuzawa. Although they both had established their names in society and knew of each other, Okuma admits that he initially thought of Fukuzawa as a bit of an impertinent fellow. However, in 1874, they coincidentally met at a gathering and immediately opened up to each other like old friends, discussing various topics. They remained close friends for the rest of their lives and held mutual respect for each other.
Fukuzawa, on the other hand, did not hold a government position and kept his distance from politics, focusing instead on spreading Western ideas and fostering talented individuals in Meiji society.
However, as mentioned earlier, in the Meiji 14 political upheaval that led to Okuma's downfall, Fukuzawa and Okuma were seen as being of the same kind, with Fukuzawa being suspected of acting as Okuma's strategist and secretly manipulating things behind the scenes. Okuma jokingly talks about this in his autobiography.
For Okuma, Fukuzawa may have been one of the few close friends he could trust to talk about the situation at the time and Western affairs. The two often visited each other's homes and enjoyed drinking together.
Fukuzawa and Okuma were both born in Kyushu, but in different regions: Fukuzawa in Nakatsu City, Oita Prefecture on the eastern side of Kyushu, and Okuma in Saga City, Saga Prefecture on the western side. They both lost their fathers at a young age and were raised by philanthropic mothers who fostered their interest in Dutch and Western studies. They also had in common a lack of personal ambition, frank speech, and a tendency to make enemies.
Despite their different backgrounds, both Okuma and Fukuzawa left their rural hometowns and made significant contributions to the building of Japan's modern nation-state and the development of human resources. They both embarked on different paths, but in the end, they met at the common goal of nurturing capable individuals. The fact that they were from opposite sides of Kyushu and met under a shared purpose is a testament to the serendipity of history.
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