Public interest in overseas prostitution was clinical in nature. The overseas prostitute was an indicator of a deeper disorder within Japanese society. However, diagnosing the women proved elusive. The JWCTU's self-prescribed role as the educator of progress was an attempt to change the interfamilial behaviour of the Japanese public by manipulating public opinion. They were not alone, however. Other contemporaneous reformers, such as Fukuzawa Yukichi, used the same strategy. The churchwomen and Fukuzawa both advocated monogamy in marriage as an end to the practice of upper samurai families and aristocracy placing concubines in their homes. However, they were at opposite ends of the spectrum when it came to their position on Japanese prostitution abroad. Whereas the churchwomen made the moral blight of overseas prostitution into a primary crusade, Fukuzawa saw ‘the freedom of prostitutes to work abroad [as] … a necessity’ in the context of state affairs.

Fukuzawa Yukichi's is the face on the Japanese ¥10,000 banknote. He is the face of Meiji Japan and its modern transformations. The iconic canonization of Fukuzawa tells us that he was a translator, author, founder of Keio University – one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan – journalist, entrepreneur and political theorist. His ideas about government, modern family, education and business changed Japan from a marginal feudal realm into a powerful industrialized world power. Fukuzawa is the renaissance man of Japanese history. He realized the modern ahead of anyone else, and it was only the lack of resources and technological support that held back his immense genius. His remarks on overseas prostitution matter because of his iconic status.

The iconography of Fukuzawa's life has two threads. One is Keio University, which has made an industry out of Fukuzawa scholarship.