Orita Hikoichi (折田彦市)
Hikoichi ORITA (January 27, 1849-January 26, 1920) was an educator in Japan. He was the first principal of the Third High School (in old education system) for long periods from 1880 to 1885 and from 1887 to 1910 (it was in 1894 that the school became the Third High School) and created free characteristics of the high school.
Biography
He was born in Satsuma Province in 1849. When he moved to Kyoto in 1869, he was named as an assistant of Tomomi IWAKURA. In February 1870, he went to the United States with the second son of IWAKURA and enrolled in Princeton University in September 1871. He had been interested in Christianity since he moved to the United States and got baptized to be a Christian in May 1876. In June of the same year, he graduated from the university and returned to Japan in October. After he returned to Japan, he was widely active as an educator. He died due to the Spanish flu in 1920.