Choshu Five
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The were members of the Choshu han of western Japan who studied in England from 1863 at University College London under the guidance of Professor Alexander William Williamson. It was still illegal to leave Japan when they left, as sakoku was still practically in force until the Meiji Restoration.
Voyage to Britain
A Mr. Weigal, Jardine Matheson's manager in Yokohama, put the Choshu youths, disguised as English sailors, aboard a reluctant Captain J. S. Gower's vessel at 1000 ryo each, bound for Shanghai where they were sheltered on an opium storage ship before dividing into two groups for the long voyage to London.When they reached London the Choshu students were introduced by William Matheson to Professor Alexander Williamson.
Inoue Kaoru and Ito Hirobumi, destined to be two of the greatest Japanese statesmen of the age, worked as deckhands aboard the 1500 ton steamer Pegasus on the voyage to Europe. They also returned earlier than the other three when they realised that the Choshu clan was in danger of attack by the allied powers for trying to close the Straits of Shimonoseki to foreign shipping.
Identity of the Choshu Five
- Ito Shunsuke (later Ito Hirobumi)
- Inoue Monta (later Inoue Kaoru)
- Yamao Yozo who later studied engineering at the Andersonian Institute, Glasgow, 1866-68 while working at the River Clyde shipyards by day
- Endo Kinsuke
- Nomura Yakichi (later Inoue Masaru).
See also
External links
- [Nagasaki in the Meiji Restoration] - links Thomas Glover and the Choshu Five
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