PHILOSOPHER

Fukuzawa Yukichi

1835 - 1901

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Fukuzawa Yukichi (Japanese: 福澤 諭吉; 10 January 1835 – 3 February 1901) was a Japanese author, educator, and philosopher. He is known for his efforts to introduce and promote Western ideas and institutions in Meiji Japan. Born into a low-ranking samurai family, Fukuzawa became critical of the feudal class system of Tokugawa Japan. He studied Dutch (Rangaku) and later taught himself English, eventually becoming an official translator for the shogunate. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in 38 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 36 in 2024). Fukuzawa Yukichi is the 362nd most popular philosopher (down from 300th in 2024), the 153rd most popular biography from Japan (down from 100th in 2019) and the most popular Japanese Philosopher.

Fukuzawa Yukichi is most famous for his book "An Outline of a Theory of Civilization," in which he argued that Japan's cultural identity is based on the "three pillars" of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Shinto.

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Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Fukuzawa Yukichi ranks 362 out of 1,267. Before him are Otto Neurath, Peter Singer, Abul A'la Maududi, Nasir Khusraw, John Philoponus, and George Santayana. After him are Julius Caesar Scaliger, Stilpo, Ramanuja, Maurice Halbwachs, Francisco de Vitoria, and Étienne Cabet.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1835, Fukuzawa Yukichi ranks 18. Before him are Demetrius Vikelas, Samuel Butler, Henryk Wieniawski, César Cui, Eduard Strauss, and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. After him are William Stanley Jevons, Nikolai Rubinstein, Alexander Agassiz, Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern, Hijikata Toshizō, and John La Farge. Among people deceased in 1901, Fukuzawa Yukichi ranks 16. Before him are Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, George Francis FitzGerald, Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, Li Hongzhang, Charles Hermite, and Milan I of Serbia. After him are Abdur Rahman Khan, Peter Tait, Adolf Eugen Fick, Gaetano Bresci, Francesco Crispi, and Elisha Gray.

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In Japan

Among people born in Japan, Fukuzawa Yukichi ranks 153 out of 6,245. Before him are Emperor Kōrei (-341), Tarō Asō (1940), Abe no Seimei (921), Junichiro Koizumi (1942), Kunishige Kamamoto (1944), and Nobusuke Kishi (1896). After him are Yasuo Takamori (1934), Sen no Rikyū (1522), Shoichi Nishimura (1912), Ashikaga Takauji (1305), Masao Uchino (1934), and Emperor Go-Sai (1638).

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Among PHILOSOPHERS In Japan

Among philosophers born in Japan, Fukuzawa Yukichi ranks 1. After him are Masanobu Fukuoka (1913), Hakuin Ekaku (1686), Daisaku Ikeda (1928), Kitaro Nishida (1870), Motoori Norinaga (1730), Hayashi Razan (1583), Arai Hakuseki (1657), Ogyū Sorai (1666), and Kohei Saito (1987).

Japanese born Philosophers

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