Museums and Exhibitions in Japan

Abstract

THERE is probably no function of Government which to the rulers of new Japan have performed so adequately and thoroughly, with such persistence and such unvarying success, as that which consists in the education of the people. It would be impossible in the space at our disposal to describe the course and results of education under the usurpation of the Shôgun; suffice it to say that, though learning of a peculiar kind always received sup port and encouragement, these were given on no sound or general system. The masses were neglected as beneath consideration, while literary labour of the best kind was always rewarded. No Japanese Horace need ever have lacked a generous Mecænas. But it was not until the restoration of the Mikado and the overthrow of the feudal organisation that a system of universal education which should reach the lowest classes of the people was introduced, and the Government of Japan then looked abroad to those Western lands, to which the eyes of all Japanese were then turned, for models on which to base their new scheme. American teachers of eminence were first brought to the new University established in Tokio; these were soon followed by subordinate instructors for the various schools in the local centres, and in six years after the restoration there were two large educational establishments—the University and the College of Engineering—besides numerous smaller ones in the capital, while every administrative division had its central school—all provided with competent foreign professors or teachers. A large normal college in Tokio trained instructors for the schools in the interior in Western knowledge and Western methods of teaching; and from that time to the present the wise and beneficent system of general education adopted by the Government has gone on extending itself into the remotest parts of the country. As mentioned in a previous article, the number of foreign instructors was gradually reduced, first in the interior, afterwards at the capital, as Japanese trained at home or abroad became competent to take their places. The history of this remarkable spread of education in Japan will be found in the annual reports of the Minister of Education to the Emperor, and in an excellent series of papers published by the Japanese Commissioners to the Philadelphia Exhibition. The spirit in which this work is carried out is well shown in a circular recently issued by the Minister of Education for the guidance of teachers in elementary schools. According to the Japan Mail this document contains sixteen clauses, embodying a number of directions for the conduct of school officials. The chief points are (1) “the importance of imparting a sound moral education to the students, both by precept and example, since the condition of a man's heart is of far greater moment than the extent of his knowledge; (2) the necessity of proper hygienic arrangements, which have more effect upon the health of the students than gymnastics or any other physical training; and (3) the value of mental energy in a teacher, for without it he cannot possibly support the fatigue and trouble of really careful tuition.” The circular goes on to advise teachers not to constitute themselves advocates of any particular religious or political doctrines, and to take every opportunity of increasing their own stock of knowledge.1