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ernational Journal of Ethics.side world they were as ignorant as the most ignorant of theircountrymen. That out of this sea of ignorance there arose anew Japan, civilized, free and strong, was due more to theintroduction of a modern system of education than to any other
one thing.There were, of course, other potent factors which contributed
toward the evolution of modern Japan. Among the more
important of these may be mentioned: the overthrow of feudalism,
with its accompanying caste privileges; the introduction
of a modern code of laws and a judicial system, giving equal
protection to all classes and to all legitimate interests of the
people; the reform of the administration of the finances and
of taxation, as well as the introduction of the modern banking
system; and finally, the inauguration of a representative form
of government. It is easy to see, however, that all these reforms,
wise and far-reaching as they were, would have proved
to be but mere paper and ink reforms, if it had not been for
the rapid successes of a newly introduced system of education.
The modern system of education in Japan is largely the gift
of America. In the middle of the seventies, when the system
was first introduced, through the efforts of Count Oki, educational
minister in those days, it was chiefly American advisors
and men inspired with American ideas about education who
shaped the policy of the government. Mr. Kido, one of the
three leading statesmen of the Restoration epoch, who, as member
of the famous Japanese Embassy of 1872-I873, paid special
attention to educational matters, seems to have been deeply
impressed by the state of things he saw in the United States.
Again, it was Mr. Arinori Mori, at one time a student in the
United States and afterwards the Japanese Minister at Washington,
who in those early days did much to inspire and
shape, though indirectly, the educational policy of the government,
and when he was finally appointed in i885 chief of
the educational department, after his mind had been further
enriched by a thorough study of educational matters in England
and the continent of Europe, he entirely reorganized the
system then in existence and gave it a new life and energy.
The educational system as it now exists is essentially similar
Education in Japan. I89
to the system in vogue in America and Europe. It begins with
the common school course, comprising a primary department
covering four years, to which children at the age of six are
admitted, and a secondary or higher grade covering another
four years. Above this there is the middle school course of
five years for boys and the high school course of four years
for girls, to both of which those who have been two years in
the higher department of the common school are admitted.
Above the middle school stand the higher schools, of which
there are six in the country, and which provide three years'
preparatory course for the Imperial University, mostly in
languages and mathematics, as well as, in the case of some of
them, four years special training in medicine, law or engineering,
instruction being given in the vernacular. Only the graduates
of the middle school are admitted to the higher middle
school, through competitive examination. Lastly, at the head
of all stand the two Imperial Universities of Tokyo and
Kyoto-the former consisti