Jogaku Zasshi and the Founding of Bungakukai

Abstract

T n HE founding of Bungakukail was an important episode in the history of modern Japanese literature because it symbolized the ideological breach between early-Meiji utilitarianism and mid-Meiji romanticism. For the members of the Bungakukai coterie, however, the publication of their magazine simply marked the formal separation of bungaku (literature) from jogaku (women's education) and its principal advocate, Jogaku Zasshi.2 Their literary views notwithstanding, Kitamura Tokoku, Shimazaki T6son,3 and the other members of the coterie first met as writers for Jogaku Zasshi, staunchly supported its feminist ideals, and printed the first issues of their magazine under its auspices. A proper account of the circumstances that led to this literary parting of the ways must therefore begin with an examination of Jogaku Zasshi, Japan's first masscirculation periodical designed for women. With its simple style and wide range of subject matter, Jogaku Zasshi influenced the social history of the Meiji period for seventeen years by conveying the ideas of a new age to thousands of readers. In addition to its social and literary importance, Jogaku Zasshi was also an influential religious magazine: its goals and contents were defined by the Christian idealism of its founder, editor, and guiding spirit, Iwamoto Yoshiharu.4 Iwamoto was the adopted son of a samurai from Tajima province (modern Hy6go prefecture) in western Honshu. He graduated from Nakamura Masanao's Dojinsha5 academy in 1880, and from Tsuda Sen's agricultural college, Gakun6sha,6 in 1884. From June 1884 to May 1885, Iwamoto and an associate, Kondo Kenz6,7 edited a magazine called Jogaku Shinshi, apparently the predecessor of