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314 17 Education for the State The German Model, 1886–1889 During the last half of the 1880s, the system of Japanese education in place since 1873 underwent another period of major reforms. It began with a meeting that took place in Paris in September 1882 between the future minister of education, Mori Arinori, and the future prime minister, Itō Hirobumi. A new interpretation of the purpose for modern Japanese education emerged from that historic meeting: the school was perceived by these two as an instrument of nation building, and the “Prussian notion of education” was chosen as the model.1 Itō Hirobumi had traveled to Germany in 1882 to undertake a year-long study of the German constitution. A long series of lectures from respected German authorities on the topic were arranged for him in Berlin and Vienna, which kept him out of Japan for a year. At the same time, Mori Arinori was serving as the Japanese minister to the Court of St. James in London from 1880. This was the second major diplomatic assignment to the West for Mori; as Japan’s first chargé d’affaires in Washington, he had hosted the high-powered Iwakura Mission in 1872. Itō Hirobumi’s visit to Washington as a member of that mission brought him into close association with Mori. A decade later, Mori was now making a name for himself in diplomatic circles of London, striking up acquaintance with leading British figures of the day. His most notable relationship was with one of the great influential thinkers of the nineteenth century, Herbert Spencer. During a break from his lectures in Germany, Itō visited Paris in late August and early September 1882, to attend a diplomatic event. Mori Arinori was sent from London to the same event, providing Itō with an opportunity to meet with him.2 During several days in late summer in Paris, two of the most colorful urbane Japanese set in motion a powerful concept in modern Japan, that is, education for nation building. The new German state that emerged in the early 1870s out of the Prussian tradition provided the basic guidelines to achieve that goal. The understandings arrived at that historic meeting in Europe were instrumental in setting the course of educational history for Japan into the middle of the twentieth century. The Paris meeting between two leading statesmen of modern Japan provided an opportunity for them to discuss the future of the nation from a unique international perspective far from home. One of the far-reaching conclusions they reached concerned the purpose of Japanese education in the modern world. It was nothing less than the preservation and security of the nation, or nationalism (kokkashugi) based on the Prussian model. The fundamental factor in achieving that lofty aim, Education for the State 315 they concluded, was education.3 By the end of the Paris meeting, Itō, convinced ever since he worked with Mori Arinori ten years earlier in Washington that he was the best man to develop educational policy, was now more resolute in his convictions than ever. Itō felt that he could entrust Mori to develop a national plan for education to meet the overriding goal. Japanese education must be structured to ensure the welfare of the country.4 In essence, education was perceived by these two Japanese leaders as an instrument to serve the state. Prussian patterns of government and education that formed the new powerful German state in 1870 held a particular appeal both to Itō and Mori. First, the centralized structure of German government, if adapted to Japan, would enable Japanese political leaders, that is Itō and Mori, to implement educational reform from the top down in an efficient manner. Germany had also developed a strong comprehensive school system that served powerful national political interests. In other words, education that served as an instrument of resurgent nationalism in Germany conformed to the goals of the Japanese political elite for their country in the 1880s.5 For a deeper understanding of German influence on the modern system of Japanese education at that time, Itō’s appreciation of the German pattern of government and education is essential. He learned from private lectures by German scholars about the famous phrase attributed to the Prussian King Frederick that “as the state, so [goes] the school.” The new state of Germany had recently been united under Bismarck, who met with Itō, extending advice to him for the future of Japan. Itō also learned that Prussian education...

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