Maejima Hisoka

Baron Maejima Hisoka , born , was a Japanese statesman, politician, and businessman in Meijiperiod Japan. Maejima founded the Japanese postal service, and is known as , or Father of the Postal System.

Maejima was born as Ueno Fusagor, in the village of Shimoikebe, Echigo Province . In 1866 he was adopted into the Maejima family. He was sent to Edo to study rangaku, medical science and English. In the Bakumatsu period he was considered a radical reformer and proponent of westernization. In 1866, he submitted an unsolicited proposal to Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu that Japan abolish the use of kanji in its writing system. In 1868, shortly after the Meiji Restoration, he also proposed to kubo Toshimichi that the capital of Japan be moved from Kyoto to Edo.

Source: Wikipedia