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慶應義塾の創設者。学問のすゝめで知識と独立の精神を説き、近代日本の思想形成に大きく貢献した。
Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901) was a Japanese educator, writer, and liberal thinker of the Meiji era. Born into a low-ranking samurai family in Osaka, he studied Dutch and English learning in Nagasaki and Edo.
After joining early diplomatic missions to the United States and Europe in the 1860s, he became deeply versed in Western politics, economics, and social systems. He founded Keio Gijuku (now Keio University), one of Japan early modern private universities.
His celebrated work An Encouragement of Learning (1872-1876) became the bestselling book in Meiji Japan. He championed independence, self-reliance, and Western enlightenment, earning him a place among Japan greatest modern intellectuals. His portrait appears on the 10,000 yen note.