Background
Born in Tosa (Kochi Prefecture).
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Tokusuke Nakae
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also known as
Chomin
Education
When young he studied Dutch in Nagasaki as a student of the Tosa Clan. Later he studied in Edo under Hidetoshi Murakami and Rinsho Mizukuri, scholars of Dutch learning.
Career
Became head of the Nisshinsha School of Gen-ichiro Fukuchi. His abilities recognized by Toshimichi Okubo famous statesman, he was sent to France (1871) as an official of the Justice Ministry and studied philosophy, history and literature. Returning to Japan (1874), he was appointed a Senate secretary and director of the Foreign Language School. Soon retiring from government service, he opened his private school of the French language. Started the Jiyu Shimbun to enlighten the masses on democratic ideas. His translation of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s “The Social Contract” was enthusiastically welcomed by the reading public. After the Diet was established (1890), he was elected to the House of Representatives. He went to Hokkaidd, became editor-in-chief of the Hokumon Sliimpo newspaper and engaged in a business enterprise, which ended in failure. He developed cancer of the stomach and sick m bed wrote two bestselling books, "One And A Half Years" and its sequel, in which he introduced radical French political ideas.
