NAKAMURA MASANAO

(1832–1891)

   Nakamura Masanao was a samurai philosopher who was chosen by the Tokugawa shogunate to study abroad in Great Britain, where he learned English. Upon returning to Japan, he published loose translations of Samuel Smiles’ Self Help (Saikoku risshi hen or Success Stories from Western Countries, 1870) and John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty (Jiyu no ri or The Logic of Liberty, 1871). Both became bestsellers and had a profound impact on the Meiji Restoration. Nakamura later taught at Tokyo University and helped found two other universities in Tokyo. He is one of a handful of Japanese philosophers to convert to Christianity, as he considered it the Western powers’ source of success.

   See also ADAPTATION.