Background
Narushima Ryuhoku was born in 1837 in Edo (former name of Tokyo. His original personal name was Hiroshi. He was the grandson of Motonao.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
Ryuhoku Narushima
Edit Profile柳北 成島
also known as
Hiroshi Narushima
Career
He served as a Confucian scholar in the Tokugawa Shogunate and gave lectures to Shogun Iesada and Iemochi.
He was appointed Magistrate of Foreign Affairs.
Having also learned English, he was acquainted with events of the world.
After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, he left public office and accompanied Kosho, heir to the Chief Abbot of the Honganji Temple, on his overseas trip (1870).
Afterward he became president of the Choya Shimbun and wrote witty Chinese poems and articles for the paper.
He and Ochi Fukuchi of the Tokyo Nichinichi were considered the best newspaper writers of the time. Ryuhoku's writings about geisha were acclaimed as inimitable.
He was also a pioneer in Japan’s insurance business and a collector of old coins.
