Rutgers and the First Japanese Students in America

Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, was one of the first colleges in America that accepted Japanese students. Before Kusakabe, two men, Yokoi Saheita and Daihei brothers, nephews of the renowned Confucian philosopher, Yokoi Shōnan, arrived in 1866 and began attending Rutgers Grammar School.  Soon dozens of young men from all over Japan—from Kagoshima, Fukuoka, Yamaguchi, Fukushima, and more—began gathering in New Brunswick, forming a hub for Japanese students, some of whom moved on to other schools and colleges in the Eastern Seaboard. Below, on the right, is a photograph of a group of students taken in April, 1870, immediately after Kusakabe’s death. The photograph was sent to Professor and Mrs. David Murray of Rutgers as an expression of gratitude for their support of Japanese students in New Brunswick. On the left is a photograph of Japanese students in New Brunswick taken in 1871.