The Way here set forth is indeed the teaching bequeathed by Our Imperial Ancestors, to be observed alike by their Descendants and the subjects, infallible for all ages and true in all reverence in common with you, Our subjects, that we may all thus attain to the same virtue.
There are between 200 and 300 kindergartens, public and private, in Japan; and they are conducted, so far as outward forms are concerned, very much as in America and Europe. The common means of training are games, singing, conversation, and handiwork. But the Christian kindergartens are the only ones that carry out to full fruition the real spirit, as expressed in Froebel’s own words: “My system is based upon religion and leads up to religion.” The Christian kindergartens are quite popular and successful.
The Japanese elementary school, like the American grammar school, covers a period of eight years, which is, however, divided into two parts of four years each. The lower portion is called the “common elementary school,” and the upper portion is the “higher elementary school.” In many a small village only the former is maintained, and the latter is often carried on by the co-operation of several villages; but in large places both exist, either separately or conjointly. Under certain circumstances a supplementary course may be established in elementary schools (Shō Gakkō). English may be begun in the higher elementary school, and it is required in every middle school.
Each prefecture must maintain at least one middle school (Chū Gakkō), and three prefectures have as many as seven each. This institution corresponds practically to an American high school; but its course of study covers five years, besides the opportunity of a supplementary year. Candidates for admission must be over twelve years of age, and possess attainments equal to those who have completed the second year of the higher elementary school. Thus two years of these schools lap over each other. The number of middle schools, in spite of annual increase, is still inadequate to accommodate all the applicants.
There are in Japan eight “higher schools” (Kōtō Gakkō), located at Tōkyō, Sendai, Kyōto, Kanazawa, Kumamoto, Okayama, Yamaguchi, and Kagoshima. These bear numbers in this order, and are often called by the name “High School,” because the word Kōtō means simply “high grade.” If the reader, for instance, sees elsewhere a reference to the “Third High School,” it will refer to the Kōtō Gakkō at Kyōto. The word “Higher” is, therefore, used in this book to avoid confusion. These schools are clearing-houses, or preparatory schools, for the universities, and have also their own complete departments.
At present there are only two public universities in Japan,—at Tōkyō and Kyōto. The former contains six colleges (Law, Medicine, Engineering, Literature, Science, and Agriculture); and the latter consists of only four colleges (Law, Medicine, Science, and Engineering), but others will be added gradually. There are also just two great private universities, both in Tōkyō: the Keiō-gijiku, founded by the late Mr. Fukuzawa, the “great commoner,” and the “grand old man” of Japan; and the Waseda, founded by that veteran statesman, Count Ōkuma. There is no Christian institution of university grade, although it is confidently expected that the Dōshisha, at Kyōto, will soon be elevated again to that rank. The Japanese universities have very good accommodations and equipment, with strong faculties, and are doing work worthy to be compared with that of Occidental universities. One of the most unique phases of university work in Japan is the fact that the Imperial University in Tōkyō maintains a chair of seismology, or, in other words, supports a most important “professor of earthquakes”!
Common normal schools number over fifty; there must be at least one in each prefecture, and in four cases there are two or three each. Besides these and above these is a “higher normal school,” or normal college, in Tōkyō, with an elementary school and a middle school for practice work. There is also in Tōkyō a “higher female normal school,” with a kindergarten, an elementary school, and a high school for practice work. But these provisions are inadequate to supply the increasing demand for teachers in public schools.
Inasmuch as Japan is an agricultural country and is rich in forests, agricultural and dendrological schools are a necessity, in order that the people may be able to make the most out of their resources. The Sapporo Agricultural College, founded by Americans in 1872, is the best of its kind, and furnishes a broader course of study than its name implies.
And, in order that the industrial life of New Japan may be elevated, and both capital and labor may profit by the latest inventions and improvements, manual training and other technical schools have been started and are very popular.
