private academies of chinese learning in meiji japan

281 Pages·2003·10.42 MB·English

by  Gerald Jackson

Private Academies of Chinese Learning M P A
RIVATE CADEMIES
E
in Meiji Japan
H
L
OF CHINESE LEARNING IN
The Decline and Transformation of the Kangaku Juku
P
R
MARGARET MEHL I M J
V EIJI APAN
A
The establishment of a national education system soon after the T
E
Meiji Restoration of 1868 is recognized as a significant factor in

A
Japan’s modernization, hence research on education is concen-
C The Decline and Transformation
trated on the state system. However, this development did not A
mean the disappearance of the juku, the private academies that D
E of the Kangaku Juku
were so much a feature of the Tokugawa period. Indeed, these
M
played a far greater role than has been appreciated so far and this
I
E
book aims to rectify the omission. Not only does this compre-
S
hensive study of a little-known but significant area contribute to O
a better understanding of education in the Meiji period but also it F

C
is relevant to Japan’s public education system today.
H MARGARET MEHL
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E
S
E

L
E
A
R
N
I
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G

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M
E
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www.niaspress.dk
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Mehl-pbk_cover.indd 1 20/4/05 9:27:30
Mehl_prelims Page i Tuesday, April 19, 2005 5:12 PM
PRIVATE ACADEMIES OF CHINESE
LEARNING IN MEIJI JAPAN
Mehl_prelims Page ii Tuesday, April 19, 2005 5:12 PM
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PRIVATE ACADEMIES
OF CHINESE LEARNING
IN MEIJI JAPAN
The Decline and Transformation
of the Kangaku Juku
MARGARET MEHL
Mehl_prelims Page iv Tuesday, April 19, 2005 5:12 PM
Nordic Institute of Asian Studies
Monograph series, no. 92
First published in hardback in 2003 by NIAS Press
Published in paperback in 2005
Nordic Institute of Asian Studies
Leifsgade 33, DK–2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark
tel: [phone] • fax: [phone]
E–mail: [email protected] • Website: www.niaspress.dk
© Margaret Mehl 2003
Publication of this book was assisted by a grant from
the Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Mehl, Margaret
Private academies of Chinese learning in Meiji Japan : the
decline and transformation of the kangaku juku. - (NIAS
monograph ; 92)
1.Private schools - Japan - History - 19th century
2.Education - Japan - History - 19th century 3.Japan -
Social life and customs - 1868-1912
I.Title II.Nordic Institute of Asian Studies
371’02’0952’09034
ISBN 87-91114-03-9 (cloth)
ISBN 87-91114-94-2 (paper)
Typesetting by NIAS Press
Printed and bound in Great Britain
Production by Bookchase
Mehl_prelims Page v Tuesday, April 29, 2003 12:33 PM
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgements … ix
Notes on Usage … xi
Notes on Currency and Prices … xii
Introduction … 1
The juku in the history of education
The focus of this book
CHAPTER 1: Education in Transition from the Tokugawa to
the Meiji Period … 11
Education and juku in Tokugawa Japan
The education policies of the Meiji government
Types of private schools
Kangaku in the Meiji period
Kangaku juku in transition
CHAPTER 2: Kangaku Juku in the Meiji Period … 40
Juku and juku attendance after 1868
Juku in Tokyo
Juku outside Tokyo
CHAPTER 3: Case Studies … 62
The “old guard”: Yasui Sokken
The modern success story: Mishima Chûshû
A woman changing with the times: Miwada Masako
The recluse: Ikeda Sôan
The country scholars: Tsunetô Seisô and Murakami Butsusan
CHAPTER 4: Life at the Juku … 117
The masters
Teaching methods and curriculum
Organization and rules
Boarding house life
The students
The juku as a business: finance
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CHAPTER 5: The Decline of the Juku … 173
The case of Akita
Juku and public education in conflict
Student careers: narrowing options
The gakureki shakai and the juku as a cram school
CHAPTER 6: The Legacy of the Juku … 207
Kangaku scholars and juku commemorated
Inspired by the juku
The juku myth
Continuities
Conclusion … 237
Is the juku unique?
The idea of juku education today
Select Bibliography … 246
Index … 255
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Illustrations and Tables
MAP
Places mentioned in the text … xiv
FIGURES
Cover illustration: Scene from the kangaku juku of Kodama Nanka in
Iwatsuki domain around the middle of the nineteenth century. I
thank Professor Ishikawa Matsutarô for permission to use the picture.
Initial chapter pages: Sketch of Murakami Butsusan’s juku Suisaien
preserved at the Suisaien museum and printed in Tomoichi, 214
(see Chapter Three).
1: Seikei shoin, the juku of Ikeda Sôan in the early twentieth
century … 90
2: Portrait of Ikeda Sôan and copy of his Record of Seikei shoin … 90
3: Reading stand used by Ikeda Sôan … 91
4: Building of the former study at Zôshun’en … 99
5: Plan of Zôshun’en … 99
6: Former study of Suisaien … 110
7: Statue of Murakami Butsusan, reading stand and other possessions
in the Suisaien museum … 110
8: Illustration of juku students … 151
9: Stone commemorating Uchimura Roka … 209
10: Scene from a modern school in early Meiji … 238
TABLES
1: Numbers of juku … 41
2: Kangaku juku in Tokyo according to the year they were opened … 47
3: Continuity of juku in Fukuoka prefecture … 53
4: Survival of juku in Hyôgo prefecture … 55
5: Occupations of juku masters … 118
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Preface and Acknowledgements
T
HIS STUDY BEGAN WITH A VAGUE IDEA about the importance of
kangaku and kangaku juku during the Meiji period and a feeling that
Rubinger’s book Private Academies in Tokugawa Japan (1982) needed
some kind of sequel. The journey from there to the present book has
been long and full of unexpected turns. So many people have helped
on the way, I almost fear to list names lest I should forget some.
The fieldwork was made possible with generous grants from the
Japan Foundation (1995), the British Academy in conjunction with
the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (1996) and the Canon
Foundation (1999), as well as a sabatical from the University of Stirling
in 1999.
My colleagues at what was then still the Scottish Centre for Japan-
ese Studies at the University of Stirling provided moral support and
constructive feedback in our staff research seminars.
In Japan, I am grateful to Asia University and Waseda University
for their hospitality.
I found many sources thanks to the advice and help of numerous
people at various stages of this project. In Tokyo: Professor Amano
Ikuo, Professor Furukawa Tetsushi, Professor Hashimoto Akihiko, Pro-
fessor Hôya Tôru, Professor Imai Osamu, Professor Ishikawa Matsutarô,
Professor Itô Takashi, Professor Kanbe Yasumitsu, Mrs Kotaki Haruko,
Ms Kumamoto Eriko, Professor Kurozumi Makoto, Mrs Miwada
Yoshiko, Professor Miyachi Masato, Mr Nakano Kazuo (Atomi Gakuen),
Professor Nakano Minoru, Professor Nakura Saburô, Professor
Okamoto Kôichi, Professor Ôkubo Toshiaki, Mr Sakaguchi Chikubo,
Mr Sakakibara Makoto (Education Research Institute, Association of
Tokyo Junior and Senior Private High Schools), Mrs Suzuki Akiko,
ix