Chapter 4 From his Return to the Start of Doshisha English Academy 1. Toward the Establishment of Doshisha 10 years had passed since he had escaped overseas when, on November 26th, 1874, he arrived at Yokohama Port. The following day, he rented three rickshaws and headed to Annnaka to meet his family, who had returned to their homeland from Edo. He stayed in Annaka for about a month and left for Kansai, since missionaries from the American Board had started their mission in the area (mainly in Osaka and Kobe). He first went to Osaka in order to receive permission to open a school. However, the Governor of Osaka, Nobori Watanabe, did not allow him to open a Christian school, so he had to give up opening his school in Osaka. The next place he went to was Kyoto, where the Governor Masanao Makimura took his idea positively and introduced to him Kakuma Yamamoto as a patron. At that time, Kakuma Yamamoto was in an advisory position for Kyoto prefecture and was working hard to develop industries and education in Kyoto. He was a samurai from Aizu and joined the Battle of Toba Fushimi on the Old Government’s side. He was injured and lost his sight during the battle and was captured in Satsuma domain in Kyoto. While he was there, he had his apprentice dictate a petition letter (Kanken) to the new government. The letter was highly appreciated by the government and he was asked to remain in Kyoto after his release and to work for modernization of Kyoto. When Yamamoto heard of Neesima’s plan to make a Christian school, he encouraged Neesima to make the school in Kyoto, and even provided the land he owned for the project. In August, 1875, Neesima and Yamamoto co-authored a petition for the opening of a private school and submitted it to Kyoto prefecture. They also had J.D. Davis, a missionary from American Board, join them as their first teacher. However, Buddhist monks and Shinto priests loudly protested against the idea of making a Christian school in Kyoto and Neesima had to promise to Kyoto prefecture that they would never teach the Bible on their campus.
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