An Aizu samurai's son, a Byakkotai survivorAn Aizu samurai's son, a Byakkotai survivor
Yamakawa Kenjiro was born into a family of senior counselors in the Aizu domain. He is said to have belonged to the Byakkotai's Shichū Second Unit at the time of the Aizu War, and survived because his age kept him away from the front line. After the war, the Aizu domain was ordered relocated as an "enemy of the court" to the unforgiving Tonami domain on the Shimokita Peninsula, where the young Kenjiro endured a life of dire poverty as a settler.
A meeting with a Choshu man, Okudaira KensukeA meeting with a Choshu man, Okudaira Kensuke
In the midst of this hardship, it was Okudaira Kensuke, a former Choshu samurai, who opened the path of learning to Kenjiro. Okudaira sheltered the son of a defeated Aizu samurai in his own household and gave him an education. That a personal bond of teacher and student could form across two domains once locked in battle shows a side of history that the simple formula "Choshu equals Aizu's enemy" cannot capture.
Japan's first physics doctorate, then president of Tokyo Imperial UniversityJapan's first physics doctorate, then president of Tokyo Imperial University
Kenjiro studied physics at Yale University in the United States, and on his return became Japan's first Japanese professor of physics and one of the country's first Japanese holders of a doctorate in physics. In 1888 he was appointed president of Tokyo Imperial University — an extraordinary turn of events for the time: a man from a domain branded "enemy of the court" rising to the summit of Japan's highest institution of learning.
Kenjiro went on to serve as president of both Kyushu Imperial University and Kyoto Imperial University as well, holding the top post at three imperial universities over the course of his career — a record unmatched in the history of Japanese education. Aizu's reputation as an "education prefecture" was built on the lineage of figures like him.