LONDON — The number of Japanese studying at top universities abroad has been declining while the number of outstanding Chinese students has been increasing. Numbers are not everything, but it is disturbing to see reports that Japanese students are less willing than Chinese to participate actively in discussions and are less articulate in English.

The young men of the Meiji Restoration, like Ito Hirobumi, Inoue Kaoru, Togo Heihachiro and many others, had been through dangers and hardships before they left Japan. They relished the adventures and challenges that faced them overseas. In the Meiji Era, families were often large and there was often intense rivalry between siblings. Most families were also poor and had to struggle to survive. Youngsters had to be over-achievers if they were to get on.

Communications in those days were slow and difficult and many Japanese youngsters had to spend many years abroad without seeing their families while mastering foreign languages and then pursuing their studies often of complex scientific and technical matters. A number died while they were studying abroad. Many were lonely. Some found wives in foreign countries. Others succumbed to diseases physical and mental, but the majority returned to Japan determined to contribute to the modernization of Japan and its emergence as a major power. They were ready to speak up for the New Japan.