Fukuzawa Yukichi Dies and Receives a Family Funeral

Fukuzawa Yukichi died from cerebral hemorrhage on February 3, 1901, at the age of sixty-six. His home stood within Keio’s Mita grounds, placing his final household life alongside the school he had founded. His death ended his personal work, while the school and Jiji Shimpō remained operating institutions.

The funeral was a family undertaking, rather than an official funeral conducted by Keio. That arrangement respected Fukuzawa’s view that the school belonged to its community, not to its founder’s household. The ceremony took place at the family temple, Zenpukuji, on February 8.

Keio nevertheless suspended classes from February 4 to 10 for mourning. Students joined the funeral procession, which left the Mita residence, attended the ceremony and continued to the graveyard at Ōsaki. A photograph in Keio’s collection records the student procession on the slope beside the campus.

Fukuzawa had chosen the burial site during his lifetime. His grave remained there until its transfer to Zenpukuji in 1977. The funeral thus combined a private family responsibility with a visible response by the school community; the place of the ceremony and the original place of burial were different.