Memorial of the Birthplace of Fukuzawa Yukichi

The Monument to Yukichi Fukuzawa’s Birthplace / Site of the Buzen Province Nakatsu Domain Storehouse Residence stands on the south side of the Asahi Broadcasting Corporation headquarters building. In the past, Nakanoshima along the Dojima River was lined with storehouse residences of various feudal domains, including the Nakatsu Domain. Yukichi Fukuzawa was born in 1834 at the Nakatsu Domain residence that once stood here. However, when he was 1 year and 8 months old, his father Hyakusuke died suddenly, and he moved to Nakatsu with his mother. After studying Confucianism there, he entered Tekijuku, the private academy run by Koan Ogata, where he studied for about three years and later served as the head student. The current birthplace monument and the stone marker for the former Nakatsu Domain storehouse residence were erected in 1954, inspired by voices from Tekijuku alumni living in the Kansai region. The Fukuzawa birthplace monument has a shape reminiscent of a bird spreading its wings, and beside it is another stone engraved with his famous line: “Heaven does not create one person above another, nor one person below another.” In front of the birthplace monument, the stone marker for the former Buzen Province Nakatsu Domain storehouse residence stands closely alongside it. The nearest station is JR Shin-Fukushima Station, about a 4-minute walk away.