IOWA LAW
First International Students
Iowa City Daily Republican Articles
In the summer of 1889, Kizo wrote several articles about his life in Japan for the Iowa City Republican newspaper.
An announcement, “Japan as Sketched by a Japanese Prince,” told readers to expect articles from Kizo, the son of a samurai.
Kizo wrote 3 articles:
- Japanese Hospitality (July 17, 1889)
- Japanese Hotels (July 27, 1889)
- Education in Japan (August 17, 1889)
On September 25, 1889, the paper announced Kizo had malaria which “prostrated him for weeks,” but he would soon “resume his literary labors.” It does not appear that any further articles were published.
Explore Kizo's Articles
Click on the image below to read full article.
July 17, 1889 | Japanese Hospitality
July 27, 1889 | Japanese Hotels
August 17, 1889 | Japanese Education
A Quote from Kizo Ishikawa
Noble pedagogues of the world!
It is in your powers to change the status of continents and oceans.
It is through your efforts that legal sanction in international law may be devised!
Thereby the military organizations of the world would be disbanded, horseshoes and rails would be manufactured from the mountains of bayonets and cannons;
--and, as to the ammunition, well, let them be distributed among the schools of the five continents and let the schoolboys make firecrackers to celebrate the millennium!
- Kizo Ishikawa
From Education in Japan, Iowa City Republican Saturday Evening, August 17, 1889
Son of a Samurai
Samurai were the hereditary military nobility caste of medieval and early-modern Japan until their abolition in 1876. The period between 1868 and 1912 is known as the Meiji Restoration.
Under Emperor Meiji, Japan opened up to westernizing influences from the U.S. and Europe, which saw the decline of the samurai warrior class.
Kizo was the eldest son of Naritaka Ishikawa, a samurai from Gunma prefecture.
“Under the feudal regime education of the Japanese youths consisted chiefly in the art of killing their fellow creatures.” - Kizo Ishikawa, Education in Japan, Aug. 17, 1889
“One morning my old man, that is, my Spartan father said, ‘My son, don’t forget war in peace.’ ‘All right, sir,’ I rejoined.” - Kizo Ishikawa, Japanese Hotels, July 27, 1889
Junior High School Diploma
Kizo’s July 1878 junior high diploma (right) contains a note that he is the eldest son of a Gunma samurai.
Notations on the diploma indicate that another student is a “commoner.”
Though the samurai class was abolished two years before, these labels were still included in the school record.
Photo courtesy of Yuka Ohba-Kreiter and Yuko Odashima