A Handbook of Modern Japan

by Ernest W. Clement

NUMBER OF SCHOOLS, ETC. IN JAPAN IN 1900-1901.[227]

By the government establishments are meant all institutions under the control of the Department of Education.

Statistical items relating to the Higher Normal School for Females are included among those for the Higher Normal School, and those relating to the three institutes for the training of technical teachers among those for technical schools.

	No. of Schools.
	Gov.	Public.	Private.	Total.
Elementary schools	2	26,485	369	26,856
Blind and dumb schools	1	1	9	11
Normal schools	..	52	...	52
Higher normal schools	2	...	...	2
Middle schools	1	183	34	218
Higher female schools	1	44	7	52
Higher schools	7	...	...	7
Imperial universities	2	...	...	2
Special schools	3	4	41	48
Technical schools	9	265	23	297
Miscellaneous schools	..	122	1,195	1,317
Total	28	27,156	1,678	28,862
1899	27	27,051	1,639	28,717
1898	22	26,799	1,600	28,421
1897	22	26,753	1,677	28,452
1896	21	26,621	1,762	28,404
	Instructors and Teachers.
	Gov.	Public.	Private.	Total.
Elementary schools	31	91,767	1,101	92,899
Blind and dumb schools	15	15	25	55
Normal schools	...	958	...	958
Higher normal schools	110	...	...	110
Middle schools	22	3,067	659	3,748
Higher female schools	19	525	114	658
Higher schools	345	...	...	345
Imperial universities	291	...	...	291
Special schools	128	81	734	943
Technical schools	238	1,382	137	1,757
Miscellaneous schools	...	90	4,273	4,363
Total	1,199	97,885	7,043	106,127
1899	1,128	92,286	6,692	100,106
1898	983	86,634	5,346	92,963
1897	913	81,632	5,310	87,855
1896	785	77,720	5,509	84,014
	Students and Pupils.
	Gov.	Public.	Private.	Total.
Elementary schools	1,124	4,622,930	59,544	4,683,598
Blind and dumb schools	231	196	194	621
Normal schools	...	15,639	...	15,639
Higher normal schools	803	...	...	803
Middle schools	321	64,051	13,943	78,315
Higher female schools	306	9,746	1,932	11,984
Higher schoolS	5,684	...	...	5,684
Imperial universities	3,240	...	...	3,240
Special schools	968	1,447	10,985	13,400
Technical schools	1,730	23,599	2,126	27,455
Miscellaneous schools	...	4,817	80,117	84,934
Total	14,407	4,742,425	168,841	4,925,673
1899	13,230	4,339,490	160,614	4,513,334
1898	11,788	4,086,323	149,230	4,247,341
1897	10,839	4,005,164	152,714	4,168,717
1896	9,321	3,872,794	148,858	4,030,973
	Graduates.
	Gov.	Public.	Private.	Total.
Elementary schools	318	736,907	8,580	745,805
Blind and dumb schools	14	8	12	34
Normal schools	...	7,323	...	7,323
Higher normal schools	180	...	...	180
Middle schools	40	5,584	2,163	7,787
Higher female schools	91	1,832	637	2,560
Higher schools	1,019	...	...	1,019
Imperial universities	633	...	...	633
Special schools	138	210	1,687	2,035
Technical schools	349	4,406	249	5,004
Miscellaneous schools	...	721	15,783	16,504
Total	2,782	756,991	29,111	788,884
1899	2,454	655,112	27,201	684,767
1898	2,129	600,528	23,486	626,143
1897	2,146	550,738	20,912	573,796
1896	1,819	507,969	20,419	530,207

Japan’s University for Women[228]

The most remarkable occurrence in Japan in the opening year of the Twentieth Century was the establishment of a University for Women. What does this mean? It means that the Twentieth Century is to be the century for women in Japan and perhaps in other parts of the Orient, just as the Nineteenth Century was the century for women in the Occident. This new University will be the centre of woman’s activity, social, educational, economical (and perhaps political?), in the future in Japan.

About ten years ago Mr. Naruse began to think about establishing a university for girls and went to America to inspect female institutions of learning. There he spent three years going about from place to place, and thus made a thorough observation and study of colleges for women in the United States of America. In 1894 he was encouraged to start the enterprise, in which his special friends were such men as Marquis Itō, Marquis Saionji, Counts Ōkuma and Itagaki, and Baron Utsumi, then Mayor of Ōsaka, now Home Minister.

Among the first promoters of the enterprise were well-to-do persons of Ōsaka, such as Mr. Dogura and Mrs. Hiroöka (of the Mitsui family). The idea was, and still is, to secure 300,000 yen, of which half should be used for property and half for endowment. It was also decided not to begin to build unless at least 100,000 yen had been raised. The money was obtained quite rapidly; and in this Mr. Naruse’s skill and tact were remarkable. Many not in sympathy with the idea of higher female education (like Baron Katō, ex-President of the Imperial University), were won over by Mr. Naruse’s presentation of the cause.

The problem of location was thoroughly discussed in Ōsaka, and at last it was unanimously agreed that Tōkyō, being the capital, was the most convenient place, because the institution was not local, for either Ōsaka or Tōkyō alone, but was national, for all Japan.

The faculty number forty-six in all, among whom are several professors of the Imperial University. The President is, of course, Mr. Naruse; and the Dean is Professor S. Aso, a Dōshisha alumnus. There are also several ladies; and it is the purpose to have as many lady teachers as possible.