Born the son of a samurai at the Annaka domain residence in Edo.
Longing to study Western learning, he secretly left Japan from Hakodate, bound for America.
Arriving in Boston, he went to school with the help of the shipowner Hardy and his wife.
He graduated from Amherst College, said to be the first Japanese to earn a bachelor's degree.
He assisted the Iwakura Mission as an interpreter.
Graduating from seminary, he became a missionary and returned to Japan.
He founded the Dōshisha English School (later Dōshisha University) in Kyoto.
He married Yamamoto Yae.
He appealed nationwide for support to turn Dōshisha into a university.
Falling ill while touring to raise funds, he died at Ōiso in Kanagawa.
Kuroda KiyotakaItō HirobumiTanaka ShōzōŌyama IwaoInoue MasaruSaigō TsugumichiMutsu MunemitsuInoue Kowashi
People of the Meiji period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.