Background
Shigeki Nishimura was born on 26 April 1828 in Tokyo. He was a son of a samurai of the domain of Sakura in Shimôsa, present-day Chiba Prefecture. He went by the literary name Hakuô.
西村 茂樹
Shigeki Nishimura was born on 26 April 1828 in Tokyo. He was a son of a samurai of the domain of Sakura in Shimôsa, present-day Chiba Prefecture. He went by the literary name Hakuô.
He studied at the Onkodo, a school at the domain residence in Edo, and at the same time took instruction in horsemanship and the handling of the sword and lance. In addition, in order to strengthen Japan’s position in the face of threats from foreign powers, he also studied Western gunnery and what he could learn of Dutch and British science.
He served the Hotta and Sano families, being entrusted with various important posts, and took part in the administration of the domain. After the Restoration, he held posts in the Sakura and Inba areas and participated in the local administration. In 1872 he resigned these posts and went to Tokyo, where he opened a private school and became active as an educator. In 1873 he joined with Mori Arinori and other intellectual leaders in forming a cultural organization known as the Meirokusha, publishing a magazine called Meiroku Zasshi and working to educate the Japanese public. In 1873 he was also ordered to serve in the Ministry of Education and in 1875 was appointed a lecturer to Emperor Meiji.
For the following twenty years or more, he held posts in the Ministry of Education and Department of the Imperial Household, helping to formulate the educational policies of the government.
In 1886 he became a court adviser, in 1887 the head of the Peeresses’ School, and in 1890 a member of the Upper House of the Diet. In 1901 he was awarded a Ph.D.
He was critical of the tendency of the time to imitate European and American ways and worked to set up a system of moral education for the common people based upon the teachings of Confucianism.