In this paper I shall sketch something of the systems of education in
Japan, especially that of elementary education. My readers, however,
must not think I have anything wonderful to show to them; for, as a
matter of fact, I have nothing to take them by surprise. All that I can
sum up is, that we are doing those things with the utmost sincerity, as
we do other things which are already manifest to the Western public In
days gone by, that is to say, during the feudal period, there was one
college in the capital town of every feudal lord, in which the children
of the retainers of Samurai were educated. There were some hundreds of
such lords, some great and some petty. Their ranks and importance
differed considerably, and naturally the number of their retainers
differed; in consequence the scale and magnitude of such colleges also
varied. The most famous of them were those of Mito, Chosiu, Kumamoto,
and others belonging to great lords. Above all, there was one such
belonging to the Shogunate itself. It may be here noted that
institutions where the young Samurai practised the use of swords, or
spears, or firearms, or the art of _jiujitsu_, were established
sometimes in connection with, and sometimes independently of, these
colleges. There were also many plebeian colleges in different parts of
the empire. These were mostly private institutions founded by _savants_.
The founders were generally of plebeian origin; but there were among
them many who were originally Samurai, and who betook themselves to such
occupation from love of independence, or some other causes. But it must
be remembered that, though they did not belong officially to the _cadre_
of Samurai, yet the social respect paid to them was great. In such a
private institution, the founder himself was the master, assisted by
those of his pupils who were more advanced than others. The master
taught the advanced pupils, or gave general lectures for the benefit of
all; and the advanced taught and gave lectures to the less advanced. The
pupils were generally youths of plebeian gentry, but not exclusively so,
because many of the youthful Samurai from all parts of the empire
enlisted themselves as pupils, especially when any such institution had
become famous on account of the achievements of the master and of the
general work of the institution.
The curricula of such colleges, both of the official ones of feudal
lords and of private ones, were diverse, but generally comprised
elementary as well as higher education. There was, of course, no uniform
course of study to restrain the method of teaching; and every inventive
faculty was employed in each college, so that many special
characteristics were observable. But one thing which is undeniable was,
that ethical training formed one of the most important branches
everywhere.
The chief feature of the college institutions of those days, especially
of private institutions, was enforced privation and hardship. I can
never forget the days when I, in common with all others, of course, ate
meals only twice a day, and those, too, of the simplest diet. The food
often consisted of nothing else than a little rice with a very little
salt, or the like. We ourselves were cooks in turn. We swept and washed
out, not only our own rooms, but those of the master also. We often used
cold water in the depth of severe winters for the purpose of washing,
and suchlike. We heated the water in turn for the baths of our fellow
pupils. We sometimes sat up whole nights in winter with scarcely any
fire to warm us, in order to accustom ourselves to rigid discipline. In
those days no idea of sanitation in the modern sense entered the minds
of the master or of ourselves; neither did any outward show of
appearance trouble us, nay, the more one was regardless of those things,
the more was one thought strong in character. It is, no doubt, due to
the training of those days that I, personally, for instance, cannot bear
the trouble of appearing like a grandee, or a fashionable person. Thus,
for example, I, who never used gloves in my boyhood, cannot endure the
discomfort of wearing them, even on winter days.
Amongst the lower classes (peasants or shopkeepers) there was generally
one or other private person, in village or town, who could teach
elementary writing and reading, and who taught the children in his
neighbourhood by establishing a sort of private school. This was very
commonly done by a priest of the Buddhist or Shinto temple of the place.
It seems that at one time this was done almost universally by the
priests of Buddhist temples; so much so, that we have the term
_Tera-ko-ya_. _Tera_ means a Buddhist temple, _Ko_ means children, and
_Ya_ means a house--_Tera-Ko_ came generally to mean children who go to
learn elementary writing and reading, and _Tera-ko-ya_ to mean the place
where such children were taught. We have a famous tragedy, one act of
which is called _The Scene of Terakoya_. There is a translation in
German of that act by a German scholar. It is a scene which represents a
tragic incident taking place in the tenth century A.D., in a private
school for children opened by an old retainer of a nobleman. It has
nothing to do with a temple; and yet it is called _The Scene of
Terakoya_.
It was, however, only after the inauguration of the Meiji era that
education became thorough and universal. In the earliest days of this
era there was an officer called _Daigaku-Betto_ (Chancellor of the
University), who was a functionary of great dignity. In the course of a
few years a special Ministry was instituted for education, with a
Minister of State, who, of course, had a chair in the Cabinet; and that
system has ever remained the same. The Minister of Education controls
the educational affairs of the whole country. At first the sphere of
direct control of the central Government was naturally limited to higher
education; but, with the abolition of the feudal system and the gradual
consolidation of local administration, the sphere has extended step by
step, and has culminated in the present system of universal education.
For the system of education, also, we are indebted to Europe and
America; for the method of its practical working is, like many other new
institutions, borrowed from the Occidental nations. The only difference
perceptible, perhaps, lies in the fact that in Japan the moving force of
the whole system is manipulated by the central Government to a greater
degree than it is in any other country--certainly far more so than it is
in England. The question of how far popular education should be
interfered with by the state, or rather what difference of advantage
exists between the system whereby the state takes upon itself
far-reaching responsibility and one whereby a great margin is left to an
independent development of private institutions, is a matter which
admits many pros and cons. It is not, however, my business to discuss
this problem in this place. The fact remains, that with us the state
exercises conspicuous influence in the matter. Almost all the
educational institutions of Japan are official or public; for they
belong either directly to the state or to the local administrations
(Prefectural or Communal), and they are all controlled, directly or
indirectly, by the Ministry of Education. There are some private
institutions also, it is true; but their number is very small when
compared with the others, and even those must abide by the general
direction of the state. The reason of this is, that private undertakings
for elementary education have to be similar to the compulsory education
imposed by the state, and such similarity can only be acquired by
following the general direction of the state. In those of a higher
standard, it is because there are many things in which certain
privileges are given to those persons who possess certain educational
qualifications. For instance, in obtaining a postponement of actual
enrolment for military service, or in becoming a candidate for civil
service examinations, such educational qualifications are generally
measured by the standard of certain public institutions; so that private
institutions of higher standard have to conform themselves to the
direction of the state, if they wish to avail themselves of the
aforesaid privileges. The chief reason why in Japan the state takes upon
itself so much responsibility in education is, apart from the intrinsic
merit _per se_ of the system, that the country, under the circumstances
of the period, could not afford to wait patiently the natural growth of
extensive private enterprises.
Putting aside special and technical educational institutions, as well as
those of a private nature, the grades of our educational institutions
are: (1) the Universities; (2) High Colleges, which may be regarded as
preparatory _Almæ Matres_ for universities; (3) Middle Schools; (4)
Higher Primary Schools; (5) Common Primary Schools.
The first two belong to the state itself. The last three belong to
local administrations--in fine, there is one or more of the Middle
Schools in each Prefecture, supported by the prefectural taxes, the
number varying according to the requirement of the locality; and one or
more Higher Primary Schools in each county, and one or more Common
Primary Schools in each village-community, all supported by local rates.
The case of cities is similar to that of a county and its
village-communities put together. The system is thoroughly carried out
throughout the country; for I can say that there is no community where a
Primary School is not provided. In populous towns there are
_Kindergarten_ for the benefit of little boys and girls under school
age, though the number of such _Garten_ is still only a few hundreds in
all.
Elementary education is compulsory for both boys and girls: the school
age begins at six. Common Primary Schools are the places where
compulsory education is given. The course is four years. Excuses for
absence are taken only in certain cases. According to the official
report of the school year of 1901-2, the percentage of the boys
receiving requisite elementary education was 93.78, and that of the
girls 81.80, the average being 88.05.
The present system of our writing, which is more commonly used than
another which consists of phonetic letters only, is very cumbersome,
because it consists of a mixture of Chinese ideographs and our phonetic
letters. It is a great drawback to our education, nay to our national
life. Boys and girls, however, have to learn it; and, therefore, the
poor children of Japan have to take more pains than those of other
countries, which are blessed with the common use of a phonetic alphabet
only.
Boys and girls of all classes attend the same schools--children of rich
merchants and county gentry side by side with those of coolies or
humblest peasants. Our schools are essentially national institutions for
all classes on an equal footing. No class distinction is to be found in
them. This holds good with higher institutions. There exist, of course,
no longer any colleges like those of former days, which belonged to
feudal lords, and were more or less exclusively used by the Samurai
class. The emperor and empress have established, out of special interest
for the education of nobility, a peers' school and a peers' girls'
school in Tokio. But even these schools are not exclusively attended by
boys and girls of the nobility; for children of the commons who possess
a satisfactory social standard are admitted to them. On the other hand,
too, children of the nobility do not necessarily join those schools
only; for many such children are sent to ordinary schools, from
convenience of locality or from some particular inclination of the
parents. The zeal for education has been carried to such an extent, that
primary education was made universally free, by a recommendation of the
Diet. Without questioning the means of the family to which the children
belong; although, under some special circumstances, trifling fees,
almost nominal, may be imposed by special permission of the proper
authorities.
The method of teaching in Primary Schools has developed itself in the
following manner. A few years after the abolition of the feudal system,
namely in 1872, the first Normal School was established in Tokio; and
some seventy young students were collected. An American school teacher
was engaged to train these youths for the purpose. They were divided
into two classes, those who acquitted themselves with greater credit at
the entrance examination having been given a place in the first class.
The American teacher taught the first of these two classes exactly in
the same manner as he did in America, the students having become as mere
children. One or other of the students belonging to the class so taught,
taught in turn the other class in a similar manner, though somewhat
modified to suit our requirements. In conjunction with this practice,
charts and simple text-books were prepared by some officials of the
Ministry of Education who were attached to the school. This was soon
followed by an establishment of five more Government Normal Schools in
different parts of the empire, and a Women's Normal School in Tokio. In
the course of a few years each Prefecture came to establish its own
Normal School under subsidy of the Government; and the Government Normal
Schools were abolished, except those established in Tokio, which were
maintained as before, as a model for the local Normal Schools.
In the development of this scheme the graduates of the first Normal
School inaugurated in Tokio played an important part, of course. Since
then the system has remained the same in the main; but the method of
teaching has been gradually improved by our inventions to meet our own
requirements, supplemented by new intelligence brought back from the
West by officials or students sent abroad for studying such matters.
The mode of making teachers at present is as follows. There is a High
Normal School and a High Women's Normal School established in Tokio by
the state; and another has been recently established in Hiroshima, also
by the state. Their chief object is to train teachers for higher local
institutions, viz., teachers of Prefectural Normal Schools, Middle
Schools, and suchlike. In each Prefecture one or more Normal Schools are
established. The maximum of accommodation of the Prefectural Normal
Schools, together with the numbers of the students to be trained
therein, is determined by an ordinance of the central Government, and is
made obligatory upon the Prefectures. The students who are trained in
Normal Schools, both High and Prefectural, are supported by the State or
by the Prefecture, as the case may be, on condition that they serve as
teachers for a certain number of years. Teachers thus trained in
Prefectural Normal Schools become teachers of all elementary schools.
Teachers of this kind are not, of course, quite sufficient in number to
fill up all the positions in all schools; so that the want, for
instance, of assistants of minor importance is filled up by those to
whom certificates are given on certain examination for qualification to
take up such position. And, moreover, teachers of some special subject,
for instance, drawing, or cutting and sewing, are appointed from amongst
those who hold special certificates from the proper authorities. I may
here add, that a system of additional emolument for long services and
pensions on retirement of teachers, to the local funds of which the
state contributes a certain quota, was promulgated some fifteen years
ago, as an inducement for their devotion.
Rigidity of physical training, in the way of privation and hardship,
has become a thing of the past. But in its place physical training of a
sportive and gymnastic character, after the Western style, is much
practised. To this, in the case of boys, training of a military
character (_jiujitsu_, fencing, and military drill and manœuvre) has
been added in the case of higher grades. This begins from Higher Primary
Schools, varying according to age. The credit of the introduction of
military drill and manœuvres into our schools and colleges is due to
the late Viscount Mori, who was at one time Japanese Minister in London.
Moreover, school children are often taken out by their teachers for
so-called 'distant excursions'; and, in the case of the higher grades,
this often takes place during summer vacation for many days or weeks, in
the shape of camping out and manœuvring, or of round trips to places
of historic interest, something like a pilgrimage. Such trips of Large
numbers of students, which are called 'educational excursions,' are
personally conducted by the masters.
I do not propose here to describe in detail the curriculum of the
Primary Schools, still less those of all institutions of higher grades,
as this would only weary my readers. All these curricula are in the main
similar to those of the Western nations. There is, however, one branch
of which they would like me to say something: it is the teaching of
morality. In former days in Japan, moral teaching meant more than half
of education. Even under the altered circumstances of recent time, this
notion is still kept very vividly. Especial stress in this respect,
however, is laid in Primary Schools. One thing noticeable is, that with
us the morality taught in the public schools is entirely secular. Some
vague notion of heaven or of a supreme being or gods, in a vague sense,
might occur here and there in the course of it; but morality never has
any colour of a religious, still less of a denominational character. The
main principle of morality is laid down in an Imperial injunction
commonly called the 'Imperial Educational Rescript,' which is reverenced
by teacher and student alike; but, besides this, there are several
text-books, based upon the principles laid down in the Rescript, and
written in a style to suit the requirements of the grades, indeed, of
each class, on a progressive method. The entity of the Rescript and the
text-books form an embodiment of practical ethics illustrated by
practical examples. They teach how to be honest, how to be
straightforward, how to be loyal, how to be patriotic, to honour one's
parents, to be truthful to friends, and suchlike. On this point,
however, I must refer my readers to my article entitled 'Moral Teaching
of Japan,' in which I have given a detailed account of the subject.[2]
Nevertheless, I may add a few words. In Japan all virtues are mainly
viewed as a point of duty of those upon whom the conduct of those
virtues is incumbent. Thus to be loyal to the emperor is the duty of a
subject; to be patriotic is the duty of a citizen to his country;
truthfulness is the duty of a friend; and reverence is the duty of a
child to its parents; and so on.
In teaching morality to children, the sense of duty is constantly kept
in view. Then again, in Oriental ethics the term 'name' has an important
bearing. It may often be translated as 'fame'; but it has in reality a
wider and more pious signification. We have a proverb: 'Tigers leave
skins behind when dead, and men leave (or should leave) names.' Here the
term 'name' may certainly be translated as 'fame'; but we often say that
'we must not disgrace the name,' meaning that we must not disgrace
ourselves or our family by committing any unworthy action. In Japan, to
acquire fame and not disgrace one's family name are concurrent thoughts.
Fame does not mean a satisfaction of vanity. The trend of thought is
something like this 'Do not commit any bad act, for it will disgrace
your name, which is the greatest shame to one's self and to one's
family. If your name shines out, so much the better, as it is a sure
sign that you have behaved well or have done something good, something
worthy of yourself, your family, or your ancestors; but to seek
notoriety out of mere vanity is despicable, for it is not good conduct
and does not deserve a good name,' This notion of 'name' permeates very
widely in our idea of morality, which fact will explain many cases
wherein a Japanese prefers death to life. Perhaps the word 'honour' may
convey the nearer meaning of the word 'name'; in fact, the Western word
'honour' is generally translated in Japanese by a combination of the
words name and fame, as 'Meiyo.' This notion of 'name' is impressed in
one way or other upon the minds of our youths from childhood, that is to
say, from their days of elementary education; and it exercises a great
influence in after life.
[1] _The Independent Review_, August 1905.
[2] See _The Risen Sun_.