The School of European Languages in the Tokugawa Government And Professor Hori Tatsunosuke

Hon Tatsunosuke (1823-94) was the first interpreter of Dutch whotaught English at the School of European Languages of Tokugawa Government (Bansho Shirabesho). Tatsunosuke was the chief editor of the English-Japanese Dictionary (Eiwa Taiyaku Schuchin Jisho), published in 1862.His colleague Ichikawa Kanenori (Itsuki) kept a diary named “Futensai Nikki” every day from 1851 to 1883. This diary provides a very important inside look into the Tokugawa Government, including friendly discourse with Hori. One may suppose that he consulted with Ichikawa on printing technology for the English-Japanese Dictionary.Kusaka Genzui was influenced by Yoshida Shoin, a famous patriots in the closing days of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Kusaka was a pupil at Hori's English school from May 1860 to Mar. 1861, but he left the school and died in civil war 1864, at only 25 years of age.