Its people set up a number of schools to lead the way in the great changes that would soon sweep Japan.

In 1867, Nabeshima Naomasa, lord of the Saga Clan, founded Chienkan in Nagasaki.

Nabeshima's graduates played an important role in the political and economic backdrop to the Meiji revolution, and considered it their urgent business to implement Western thoughts and sciences in Japan.

So the original Chienkan School became a place for progressive Western learning, especially that of the English language.

Many ambitious young people were drawn to this exciting academic center, where they studied subjects from technology to economics to legislation.