A Study On The Process Of Sending Students To Britain By Satsuma In 1865

The first Opium War broke out in 1840.The war ended up with the defeat of China and the signing of Treaty of Nanjing.The War rang the alarm for Japan which was separated from China by a strip of water.Shimazu Nariakira,the lord of Satsuma which located in the southernmost part of Japan,realized the military threats from western nations and the necessity to dispatch relevant personnel to western countries for investigations.However,the death of Shimazu Nariakira in 1858 shelved the dispatch of relevant personnel to western countries for investigations.The AngloSatsuma War broke out in 1863.Satsuma suffered heavy losses due to the war.The Anglo-Satsuma War enabled far-sighted authorities represented by Godai Tomoatsu to realize the malpractices of national isolation and the necessity to learn from the west.In 1865,to make the region rich and its military force efficient,Satsuma dispatched a team to Britain for investigation and study consisting of 3 investigators,1 interpreter and 15 overseas students.On their way to Britain,they travelled across many countries in Asia,Africa and Europe.The students were amazed at exotic cultures and their world views were shocked by the advanced technologies of various nations.After arriving in Britain,they tried hard to learn English,participated in all kinds of activities and selected corresponding majors for diligently study.Investigators and the interpreter,who were endowed with investigation tasks by the government of Satsuma,actively attempted to establish friendly relations with Britain and to conduct investigations on nations of Western Europe.One year later,targeting at their respective ideals,some of the students went to Europe,the United States or other countries for further study or some of them went back to Japan to take office to strive for the promotion of modernization process in Meiji period of Japan.The paper has been mainly expounded about the background,tour experience and activities in Britain and back in Japan of overseas students dispatched by Satsuma in 1865.