ABSTRACT
The domain of Fukui, once coterminous with the province of Echizen on the coast of the Japan Sea, was the place where William Elliot Griffis cast his lot in the final stages of han * history. 1 In response to an invitation by Lord Matsudaira of Fukui, Griffis arrived there on March 1871 - He stayed only eleven months because the newly organized central government abolished the old Tokugawa semi-autonomous domains. 2 What Griffis witnessed during his short sojourn in Fukui will be part of this essay.
