The History of Modern Japanese Education: Constructing the National School System, 1872-1890

Chapter 1: Education of the Samurai in Tokugawa Schools: NIsshinkan

11 1 Education of the Samurai in Tokugawa Schools Nisshinkan The movement for educational modernization that followed the 1868 Meiji Restoration did not begin in an educational vacuum. It emerged from a formidable foundation of schools designed to educate the hereditary samurai class, 5 percent of the population, which ruled Japan during the Tokugawa era.1 A significant majority of those who planned and implemented the epic transformation from feudal to modern Japan originated from the ruling samurai class.whose educational background was of paramount importance in determining the course of modernization. In Bernard Silberman’s study of the social background of senior ranking officers of the Meiji government during the initial five years of the modern era, a clear picture emerges of the first political and educational elite in modern Japan (see Table 1).2 Although the leaders of the Meiji government originated primarily from the Tokugawa governing elite of feudal Japan, there was a role reversal: in the new regime, lower-ranking samurai outnumbered upper-ranking samurai, including daimyo, the head of the han (domain), by a margin of 56 to 44 percent (Table 2).3 This phenomenon was of considerable educational significance, since 50 percent of the Meiji leaders originating from lower-ranking samurai experienced some form of western education during the Tokugawa era, in comparison to 20 percent among the others.4 The educational tradition of the samurai forged during the three-hundred-year rule of the Tokugawa regime illustrates how the leaders of feudal Japan were uniquely prepared to lead the nation into the modern era. In the definitive study of the period, Education in Tokugawa Japan by Ronald Dore, the samurai-warrior class was characterized as broadly literate in a culture where books abounded.5 They were educated in one of the three hundred domain (han) schools maintained by local clan governments in the castle towns.6 These institutions combined the literary and military arts into the samurai tradition that was transmitted to each successive generation of leaders. Paradoxically, in a feudal society governed by strict codes of conduct designed to perpetuate the traditional social order under-girding the Tokugawa military government, literary (bun) studies overshadowed military (bu) studies. The Chinese classics set the agenda of the literary curriculum as a means to inculcate moral and ethical values essential for good government, according to ancient Confucian teachings. The samurai value system included loyalty and obedience to one’s lord, filial piety toward parents, self-discipline, diligence, adherence to duty, and frugality in one’s daily life.7 Virtually all of the leaders in the initial period of 12 The Feudal Foundation of Modern Education modernization of Japanese education in the Meiji era experienced some form of schooling that stressed the integral relationship between Confucius morality and public service. This schooling was the common denominator among the political elite during the transition from feudalism to modernism.8 Education was primarily provided by the study of Chinese writings, especially the Confucian classics; its purpose was chiefly to develop moral character, both as an absolute human duty and also to better fulfill the samurai’s function in society; a secondary purpose was to gain from the classics that knowledge of men and affairs and of the principles of government which was also necessary for the proper performance of the samurai’s duties. Nisshinkan—Aizu Clan School for Samurai Youth Among the three hundred clan schools in existence during the late feudal period, Nisshinkan of the Aizu clan exemplifies the finest tradition of samurai education. It also provides some insights to how Japanese males from the governing samurai families could virtually overnight lead their nation into the modern world. NisTable 1 Social Background of Senior Officers of the Meiji Government, 1868–1873 Background No. (%) Samurai origin 161 (63) Noble origin 72 (28) Commoner 6 (2) Unknown origin 14 (7) Source: Bernard Silberman, Modern Japanese Leadership: Tradition and Change (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1966), 235. Table 2 Family Background of Senior Officials of the Meiji Government, 1868–1873 Background No. (%) Lower samurai family 90 (56) Upper samurai family 50 (31) Daimyo 21 (13) Source: Bernard Silberman, Modern Japanese Leadership: Tradition and Change (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1966), 235. Education of the Samurai in Japan 13 shinkan, completed in 1803 by the governing Matsudaira family of Aizu located to the north of Tokyo, illustrates the vital role Tokugawa schools played in modern Japanese education. Nisshinkan and...