Bansho Shirabesho and Japan’s Road to A Modern Nation-State: A Historical Survey

Abstract

This paper argues that the establishment of government-sponsored and private schools during the Meiji era that specifically embraced Western learning into its curriculum and syllabus were considered to have played an important role in leading Japan to become a modern nation-state. In fact, the Meiji leaders had given a strong emphasis on education in the country as it will serve as a long-lasting platform through which reforms and progress could be translated on one hand and to prepare the young Japanese for a new future that was envisioned by the Meiji Government on the other. Such an example was Bansho Shirabesho which came into being at the time of the later years of the Tokugawa administration and it primarily focused on western learning. It was discontinued for a while following the Meiji Ishin in 1868, nonetheless, it was reopened in the following year to become what is known today as Tokyo University in the 1870s. It rose to prominence since the new Meiji Government took the country’s leadership in 1868. Using a method of content analysis, the study examines a wide range of published scholarly works and relevant archival documents on the subject matter under discussion. In the end, the study suggests that the creation of such a westernized institution that later became the predecessor of the University of Tokyo became an indispensable tool for the Meiji Government to achieve its mission.