In 1854, Commodore Matthew Perry came to Japan and demanded that they open up to the West. Japan had for hundreds of years remained closed off, immersed in its own traditions and culture. Upon seeing the “black ships” many Japanese people believed that Japan needed to modernize to compete with the West. To do so, students were sent to America to study and learn from the Western way of life. Katsu Koroku was one of those students. Katsu was born on March 7, 1852 in Edo, Japan. His father, Katsu Awa, was a greatly powerful statesman who was present at the signing of the treaty with Perry. Katsu Koroku went to study at Rutgers Grammar School in order to enforce the Satsuma ideal of “Eastern ethics, Western science”. Therefore, his purpose was essentially to learn enough about the West to remove the foreigners from Japan. During his time at Rutgers, Katsu studied at the Grammar School for two years. He spent time in the small but vibrant Japanese community that was growing in New Brunswick. Katsu went on to the Annapolis Naval Academy in Maryland after he left Rutgers Grammar School. Once he passed through his schooling at the Naval Academy, he returned to Japan and joined the Imperial Japanese Navy. His education in America allowed him to become an officer. Evaluating Katsu Koroku’s legacy, it is important to acknowledge that he served as an influential force being one of the first Japanese students to come to America. Having never left Japan, he was able to adjust to life in the West and then take what he learned back to his home country. Katsu left a mark on the Rutgers community and helped to bridge the gap between America and the rest of the world as more and more foreign students came to study.