Part 22

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_.

III

ANGLO-FRENCH DIPLOMACY IN JAPAN FORTY YEARS AGO[1]

It is now some forty years ago since there took place in Japan some very interesting episodes of English and French diplomacy, which are little known to the Western public.

It was during the last days of the Shogunate and before the restoration of the Imperial régime. The Western powers with whom Japan had treaty relations were still few in number at that time. The principal of them were: The United States of America, England and France. Holland, though secondary, as she is, had some semblance of equality with the others from the fact that she was a nation which had had commercial relations with us for a longer time than they. Russia and Germany were already in treaty relations with us also, but in the practical sphere of diplomacy they had not played much part. It was England and France who displayed the greatest activity in that sphere. They were both represented by very interesting characters: England by Sir Harry Parkes and France by Léon Roches. It is needless to comment on what an interesting character Sir Harry Parkes was, as doubtless his biography is well known to my readers. I will give here, however, a concise outline of his life.

At the early age of fourteen years he was attached to an English consulate in China. He soon acquired the Chinese tongue, and his extraordinary activity and ability gave him good chances of advancing his position. At the time of the Anglo-French expedition to Peking he was attached to the English army, and many adventurous and romantic incidents are told about him in connection with it. After that expedition he was made English Consul-General at Shanghai, and soon afterwards transferred to Japan as minister, in succession to Sir Rudford Alcock. Sir Harry may be regarded as an adventurer.

Léon Roches was of a similar character; he began his career in Algeria in a most adventurous and romantic manner. He was subsequently made French agent in Tunis and thence was transferred to Japan, as minister, by Napoleon III. It was through his influence that France succeeded in drawing the Shogun's government into her confidence. Military instructors were sent from France, the Yokosuka dockyard was constructed with French materials, a young brother of the Shogun was sent a little later on to Paris, where he stayed for many years as the favourite of the court of Napoleon. In other words, French influence was paramount in Yedo, the present Tokio, the site of the Shogun's government.