Zen and Philosophy

Chapter 2. Mathematics or Philosophy?: (1886–1891)

Chapter 2 Mathematics or Philosophy? (1886–1891) In September 1886 Nishida, now sixteen, was admitted into the preparatory division of Ishikawa Prefecture Senmon Gakkö, when a place fell vacant. Höjö’s recommendation must have been instrumental in his acceptance. Senmon Gakkö, or Higher School of Specialized Training, was the preparatory elite school for Tokyo University in and around Ishikawa Prefecture. It was a seven-year institution, of which the first four years were devoted to the preparatory curriculum; in the last three years students specialized in their chosen field—humanities, natural sciences, or law.1 These subjects were mainly taught in English .2 Nishida had no problem following the preparatory courses taught at Senmon Gakkö, thanks to the private lessons he had received. Because the professors themselves were all graduates of Senmon Gakkö, the school enjoyed a congenial, family-like atmosphere; besides, the number of students enrolled in each class was small. Nishida thrived in this environment and successfully completed his first semester of study. For his academic excellence, he was awarded a prize, Goldsmith’s Vicar of Wakefield and Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare . He graduated from the preparatory division with flying colors in July 1887. During his first year in the preparatory division, Nishida made friends with Mukö Kikutarö, a kind, lively, frank young man, whose “sunflower-like” disposition he adored. The two traveled together to Tokyo in the summer of 1888, when Mukö took the entrance examination for naval school. Nishida probably visited the First Higher School and the Imperial University to see what they were like.3 Nishida’s “honeymoon days” with the Senmon Gakkö came to an end too soon, however. The government issued a series of school regulations , Gakkörei, in March and April of 1886, launching a sweeping Mathematics or Philosophy? (1886 –1891) standardization of the educational system, which was identified as one of the three pillars of modernization (along with the promotion of industry and the building up of modern military forces). Before the announcement of the school reform measures, the government adopted the cabinet system in December 1885, with Itö Hirobumi4 as the first prime minister. Itö appointed his old friend, Mori Arinori,5 to the post of minister of education. Mori, a native of Satsuma Province (today’s Kagoshima Prefecture), was, like Itö, a member of the political clique known as the hanbatsu (Meiji oligarchy), composed of leading figures from the former feudal provinces (han) that had sided with the 1868 “Restoration.” As part of the new national educational system, Mori divided Japan into five higher school blocks; in each of these blocks a higher middle school was to be opened.6 These higher middle schools were considered the preparatory institution to the only university then in existence , the Imperial University. Ishikawa Prefecture lobbied hard to secure Kanazawa as the site of the Fourth Higher Middle School. Since Kanazawa already had the elite Senmon Gakkö and an excellent medical school, it seemed a natural choice.7 The Fourth Higher Middle School was opened on April 18, 1887. Mori appointed the speaker of the Kagoshima Prefecture Assembly, Kashiwada Morifumi, a politician and not an educator, as the first principal of the school. From Kagoshima Kashiwada brought former police officers and similar types to fill the positions of dormitory master and other administrative positions .8 Their intention was to “inject the Satsuma-hayato”9 spirit into the Kanazawaites. Behind this harsh measure was Mori’s thought that the strong lingering anti-hanbatsu (oligarchy) sentiment among the Ishikawaites had to be curtailed. The antioligarchy sentiment had erupted in the person of Shimada Ichirö, who, together with other likeminded young men, carried out the assassination of Ökubo Toshimichi in Tokyo on May 24, 1878.10 The general sentiment of the people of former Kaga Province was still very pro-Maeda, and they looked back upon the days of the Maedas’ rule with profound nostalgia. To the leaders of the Meiji government, Ishikawa Prefecture had to be brought under firm state control. The semimilitaristic administration placed in the Fourth Higher Middle School reflected that resolution. Senmon Gakkö officially closed in September 1887, and in October the entrance examination of the Fourth Higher Middle School was held, drawing students from Ishikawa, Toyama, Fukui, Niigata, and other neighboring prefectures. Out of one hundred forty-two applicants , eighty-eight were admitted into the school. Nishida was among 17 Mathematics...