Background
Shimpachi Seki was born in 1839. He was the son of a physician of the Takaoka Clan in Echigo (Niigata Prefecture).
振八 尺
Shimpachi Seki was born in 1839. He was the son of a physician of the Takaoka Clan in Echigo (Niigata Prefecture).
He studied at the Shoheiko, the Shogunate college. Stimulated by the controversy on opening Japanese ports to foreigners, he turned to Western learning.
He was appointed an interpreter of the Shogunate (1861), accompanied a Shogunate mission to France and the United States. Was appointed an interpreter attached to the U.S. Legation in Hyogo Prefecture (1868). He opened the Kyoritsu Gakusha School in Honjo, Tokyo, to teach English (1870). Became director of the Translation Bureau, Finance Ministry (1872). Resigned from the post (1875) to devote himself to teaching.