Five from Choshu ( Japanese 長 州 五 傑 Cho: shu: Goketsu ) are five young men from the Japanese principality of Choshu who secretly left for the University College London in the UK for an internship in 1863 . The trip was organized by the leadership of the principality, bypassing the ban of the shogunate who pursued the policy of sakoku .
Content
The Five of Choshu List
Ito Shunsuke (later Ito Hirobumi )
Inoue Monta (later Inoue Kaoru )
Yamao Yozo
Endo Kinsuke
Nomura Yakichi (later Inoue Masaru)
Travel
Young people were taken to Nagasaki , dressed in the uniform of English sailors and taken to Shanghai . There they were divided into two groups and taken to London . The trip took six months. During this period, Ito Hirobumi and Inoue Kaoru worked as sailors on the Pegasus ship, thus deciding to pay for their trip [1] . In London, five young men studied with Professor Alexander William Williamson . However, Ito and Inoue stayed in the UK for only two weeks: after learning about the conflict between the leadership of Choshu and foreign powers over the issue of passing through the Shimonoseki Strait , they returned home to try to convince the leadership of the principality to refrain from war. The rest stayed in the UK for a longer period.
Further fate
All five played a significant role in the history of Japan.
Endo Kinsuke became a diplomat, but most of all he is known as the chief of the Mint in Osaka . He managed to establish coinage without the help of foreign engineers.
Inoue Masaru known as the "father of Japanese railways." He headed the Department of Railway Construction, and under his leadership, Japan's first railway was built between Tokyo and Yokohama .
Yamao Yozo He led the shipyard in Yokohama and worked as Deputy Minister of Public Works and Engineering. Yamao was a staunch supporter of Japan's technical modernization, and a number of engineering colleges were opened under his leadership. In addition, he opened a school for the deaf and blind. For 36 years, Yamao Yozo has been president of the Engineering Society of Japan.
Inoue Kaoru was one of the emperor’s closest advisers — genro , and was the first foreign minister of Japan. He also served as Minister of Public Works, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Internal Affairs and Special Envoy of Japan to Korea .
Ito Hirobumi managed to make the most significant career of all five. He served four times as Prime Minister of Japan , four times headed the Privy Council , twice served as Minister of the Interior, once as Minister of Justice and Foreign Affairs. He was the author of the Meiji Constitution and the first resident general of Korea . Like Inoue, Ito was one of the genroes . Ito Hirobumi was the first chairman of the upper house of the Japanese parliament and the first head of the Rikken Seyukai party. In 1907, he was awarded the title of prince - the highest in the kazoku system , created at the initiative of Ito himself. Ito Hirobumi has a leading role in the process of joining Ryukyu and Korea to Japan .
Movie
In 2007, the movie Five of Choshu was shot in Japan.