Strangers – Today

Joseph Hardy Neesima, also known as Niijima Jō (新島 襄), February 12, 1843 — January 23, 1890

Joseph Hardy Neesima was a Japanese Protestant missionary and educator. Born as the son of a samurai in Japan, Neesima secured passage to the United States as a stowaway in 1863. When he arrived in Massachusetts he was sponsored by Alpheus and Susan Hardy, who had him baptized and sent him to Amherst College. After graduating, Neesima studied theology and began touring schools, as he planned to establish his own school in Japan. He gathered support and donation from various Protestant organizations before returning to Japan and establishing a school in Kyoto in 1875, which would evolve into Doshisha University. The Record of Strangers indicates that Neesima visited the Athenaeum with fellow educator Tanaka Fujimaro on this occasion.

Portrait courtesy of the Library of Congress — Source — Source

Tanaka Fujimaro (田中 不二麿), October 16, 1845 — September 8, 1909

Tanaka Fujimaro was a Japanese politician and educator. He was a samurai and member of Japan's Iwakura Mission, a mission to study the political, military, and educational systems of Europe and the United States, and to boost diplomatic and commercial relations between the countries. Fujimaro specifically studied the educational systems of each country the Mission visited, and later guided Japan's public elementary school system, inspired by systems in the United States. The Record of Strangers indicates that he visited the Athenaeum with Joseph Hardy Neesima on this occasion, who was also studying educational systems in America at the time.

Source — Source