Private Academies of Chinese Learning in Meiji Japan: The Decline ...

110 CASE STUDIESand there was sufficient teaching for everybody to makeprogress. Apparently with an axe to grind, he adds that parentsin those days would not blame the teacher if a pupil was stupidor judge the headmaster by how many of his students went on tohigher schools; nor did students yell at their teachers, who werefree to promote character training (seishin kyōiku).Several former students of Suisaien became prominent publicfigures, at least at a local or regional level. A significant numberbecame educators. 93 Possibly the most famous student ofButsusan’s was Suematsu Kenchō (1855–1920), journalist,politician, scholar, translator, poet, reformer of Japanese theatre,waka poetry, painting and of the written language. SuematsuKenchō entered Suisaien in 1865 and was one of the few studentswho remained after Butsusan had been ordered to close his jukuduring the Ogasawara unrests in 1865–66, during whichSuematsu’s family lost their home.Suematsu Kenchō visited Butsusan when he returned toKyūshū during the Satsuma rebellion. When in 1879 Butsusan’sformer students decided to erect a monument in honour of theirteacher, it may beFigure 6: Former study of Suisaien. Like that of Zōshun’en, it shows thatoriginally a juku was indistinguishable from a traditional home.Photograph:the author