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

158 PRIVATE ACADEMIES OF CHINESE LEARNING IN MEIJI JAPANyoung women are known to have attended lectures at Nishōgakusha. They included the educator Kaetsu Taka (1867–1944)and the future Christian minister and missionary Uemura Tamaki(1890–1982). Kaetsu later reported that there were three or four ofthem in her time (1890–91); they used a separate entrance to thelecture hall from the men and found graffiti on their desks.Kaetsu remembered Chūshū lecturing in a hall with damagedtatami mats and old desks and thought the other women did notcome for long. Uemura remembered that there were about 30students in her time (1914–15); she and her friend were the onlywomen, and the students were all disciplined. 114What was the master’s ideal student like? Yamamura Benzaidescribes such a student in two dedications he wrote (in 1885 and1888) for Satō Shiken (Kihachirō), who studied at his juku from1879 to 1888. Satō was praised for his personal and moral qualitiesrather than his intellectual abilities. He was reportedly verydilligent, did not trouble the servants, mix with people outsidethe juku, overeat, drink, visit tea and sake houses, or waste timewith women, music or games. He went for walks only in his freetime, kept his room and his things clean and tidy, studied harderthan anyone else, sticking to kangaku at a time when Westernstudies were fashionable. He visited his family twice a monthand after completing his studies prepared to return to them andfulfil his promises to them, although he also wanted to askpermission to continue studying. Benzai stated that of all hisstudents, Satō really practiced what he had been taught and wasa true gentleman (kunshi). Benzai referred to his model student in89 poems. They continued to have a close relationship and afterBenzai’s death, Satō built a monument to him built with a text byFujisawa Nangaku inscribed on it. 115Traditional juku are remembered today for the relationshipsthat defined them, mainly the relationship between master andstudent, but also the relationships between students. They livedtogether in close quarters, often for years. In some cases they camefrom different parts of the country with different customs anddifferent dialects. How did they communicate, given that therewas no standardized spoken language and people speakingregional variants can be mutually unintelligible, even today?Sometimes with difficulty, it seems. Of Daigaku Nankō, aprecursor to Tokyo University, it is reported thatmisunderstandings between students could lead to fights, andthis may well have applied to kangaku juku as well. 116