Last summer, I responded to a request for scholarly opinion on the “leaders” of Japan from 1840-1920. Ms. Kim has now completed compiling responses and doing her own research and reports back her list (roughly in chronological order):
- Abe Masahiro (1819-1857)
- Ii Naosuke (1815-1860)
- Kujo Hisatada (1798-1871)
- Okubo Toshimichi (1830-1878)
- Saigo Takamori (1828-1877)
- Tokugawa Nariaki (1800-1860)
- Yoshida Shoin (1830-1859)
- Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901)
- Ito Hirobumi (1841-1909)
- Iwakura Tomomi (1825-1883)
- Kido Takayoshi, also known as Koin (1833-1877)
- Okuma Shigenobu (1838-1922)
- Sakamoto Ryoma (1835-1867)
- Shibusawa Eiichi (1840-1931)
- Inoue Kaoru (1835-1915)
- Kuroda Kiyotaka (1840-1900)
- Matsukata Masayoshi (1835-1924)
- Yamagata Aritomo (1838-1922)
- Hara Takashi (1856-1921)
- Katsura Taro (1847-1913)
- Matsukata Masayoshi (1835-1924)
There’s a few names on there that aren’t on my list: Kujo Hisatada is a pretty good addition for the early period, where I was pretty stumped; Sakamoto Ryoma was left off my list because I was paying too much attention to the chronological boundaries, I think; Kuroda Kiyotaka doesn’t seem more important to me than Saigo Tsugumichi, or Mori Arinori, who were on my list, and the Meiji Emperor seems like a pretty serious omission.
Let’s face it: if we got through a survey of Japanese history and our students knew who all these people were, we’d be doing OK, I think. Of course, there’s no cultural figures here, etc….
