Bansho Shirabesho

A marker denoting the site of the institute

The Bansho Shirabesho (蕃書調所), or "Institute for the Study of Barbarian Books," was the Japanese institute charged with the translation and study of foreign books and publications in the late Edo Period. Founded in 1857, it functioned as a sort of bureau of the Tokugawa Shogunate. It was renamed Yōsho shirabesho (洋書調所) (institute for the study of Western books) in 1862, and Kaiseijo (開成所) in 1863. After the Boshin War, it was again renamed, and became the Kaisei gakkō (開成学校). As the Kaisei gakkō, the institute became one of the predecessor organizations which merged to form Tokyo University.

References

• Perkins, Dorothy. Japan Goes to War. (n.p.: DIANE Publishing, 1997), p. 28.
• ffortune.net: "Who was the first president of Tokyo University?" (retrieved 28 January 2008)