Nakai Chikuzan

Who was Nakai Chikuzan?

Nakai Chikuzan was a leading academic in the Kaitokudo academy tradition of scholarship. He was the first son of Nakai Shuan, one of the Kaitokudo's two founders, and was influenced by his teacher and mentor Goi Ranju. He became the administrative head of the Kaitokudo in 1797 during the Tokugawa era in Japan.

An extrovert known for his bureaucratic skills and his firm precise kanji, Chikuzan was vastly different in demeanour to his brother Nakai Riken, although their underlying epistemologies, beliefs and degree of tenacious individualism were similar. They both focused on the epistemological study of virtue in the merchant class of Tokugawa Japan, furthering the work of Goi Ranju and consolidating previous thought around the Kaitokudo school. Together, through their scholarly works they would bring a level of prestige to the Kaitokudo with their study of virtue. Ultimately they wanted to reconcile merchants and contemporary views of merchants in Tokugawa society.