Niijima Jō
| Joseph Hardy Neesima | |
|---|---|
Joseph Hardy Neesima
|
|
| Born |
February 12, 1843 Edo, Musashi Province, Japan |
| Died |
January 23, 1890 (aged 46) Oiso, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan |
| Other names | Niijima Jō |
Joseph Hardy Neesima (新島 襄 Niijima Jō, 12 February 1843 – 23 January 1890) was a Japanese missionary and educator of the Meiji era who founded Doshisha University and Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts.
Neesima was born in Edo (present-day Tokyo), the son of a retainer of the Itakura clan of Annaka. His childhood name was Niijima Shimeta (新島 七五三太).
In 1864, laws on national isolation were still in effect in Japan, and Japanese people were not permitted to travel overseas without government permission. However, Neesima had read extensively on various rangaku topics, and was determined to come to America. At the age of 21, he entreated Captain William T. Savory, of Salem, Massachusetts, commander of the brig Berlin, for safe passage to the United States, in order to further study Western science and Christianity. Captain Savory agreed to help him, so long as Neesima came on board at night, without assistance from the ship's crew. Knowing Neesima could be executed if apprehended, Savory hid Neesima from customs officials in his stateroom. He then secured Neesima's passage from China to the United States on the Wild Rover, commanded by Captain Horace Taylor of Chatham, Massachusetts. The Wild Rover was owned by Alpheus Hardy.
When he arrived in Andover, Massachusetts, he was sponsored by Alpheus and Susan Hardy, members of Old South Church, who also saw to his education. He attended Phillips Academy from 1865 to 1867 and then Amherst College, where he was greatly influenced by professor Julius Seelye, from 1867 to 1870. Upon graduating from Amherst, Neesima became the first Japanese person to receive a bachelor's degree.
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