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

THE DECLINE OF THE JUKU 179Hiramoto Kinsai. When the new ordinance made it possible toreopen the juku, Nishinomiya reportedly said to himself:This juku that I opened and closed myself, how should Ileave it and not concern myself whether it stays closed or isreopened? Shijodō was opened by my predecessorKurosawa and taken over by Hiramoto, and he passed it onto me. From this scholarly line it originates. Previously I hadto distort the will of my predecessors to follow the order ofthe prefecture. Now to reopen the juku is to follow theimperial order and to fulfil the will of the teachers that wentbefore me. Meeting with this good opportunity, if I did notgive up my official post and revive the juku, I would not beable to face meeting my teachers in the other world in death,nor have the words to speak to the students I met in thisworld in my lifetime. Whether the revival succeeds willdepend on whether or not students take it up; but even iffollowing the order achieves no success, I am only doingmy duty, so why should I feel shame in my heart?Kizendō also described the curriculum:[…] the curriculum will consist mainly of kanseki; butNishinomiya will not get stuck in the old methods, butcombine selectively with today’s methods and, based on thethird section of the Education Ordinance [which specifiedthe subjects to be taught at elementary schools], teach theway of ethics, only polish the moral behaviour, let studentsread Japanese, Chinese and Western historical works tomake clear peace and unrest, gain and loss of old times andmodern, not be glued to the details of words and phrases,nor discuss circumlocutions. Instead, by means of abacuscalculation the principles of the four arithmetical operationswill be taught; in brush writing, handling the brush will bemade the first purpose and in all times he will choose toconsider the measure of human progress, so I am told.Kizendō’s remarks reflect Nishinomiya’s efforts to counter thecriticism the prefecture had levelled at kangaku juku a few yearsbefore and to provide an education suited to the times in the bestway he knew.