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

THE DECLINE OF THE JUKU 181female. Sewing classes were held for the girls. From this and fromShizendō Shujin’s statements it would appear that Shijodōcatered for pupils from elementary to more advanced levels,aiming to teach basic skills as well as to provide a kangakueducation. Thus, rather than filling a niche (as a juku specializedin advanced studies of kangaku might have done), Shijodō was indirect competition with public education. Perhaps this was whyit was not tolerated for long. When the central governmentamended the ordinance of 1879 in 1880, Akita again took anextreme course and ordered all juku closed, although thegovernment regulations did not call for this. They merelystipulated that private schools should no longer receive publicmoney. 26 But Shijodō, despite or because of its success, was notallowed to continue. Nishinomiya had to close his juku and itsgrounds and buildings were taken over by a public school (Kōungakkō).Again the prefecture’s radical stance met with criticism. Anarticle in a local newspaper in February 1881 criticized theexcesses of standardization and regretted the closure of Shijodō. 27Nishinomiya once again took up posts in the prefecturalgovernment and became head of a new girls’ school. He was veryactive during the revival of kangaku in the 1880s.The case of Shijodō illustrates how the traditional juku could beperceived as a threat to the planned system of modern schools.Scholars like Nishinomiya were respected in the community, andit is not surprising that their juku were more popular than newinstitutions which had yet to prove their worth. On the otherhand, the fact that educational provision in Akita was slow toexpand suggeststhat juku ultimately benefited the establishmentof a modern system by providing a pool of educated people fromwhich future teachers and leaders could be recruited.Akita’s policy of suppressing private education because of itsperceived threat to the success of modern schools may well havebeen the reason why the prefecture lagged behind in both schoolprovision and school attendance. The first middle school was notestablished until 1882. Private elementary schools did not existbetween 1872 and 1877, while for the whole of Japan 36.5 percent of all elementary schools were private. Until the turn of thecentury, attendance at public schools in Akita was well below thenational average; in 1877 it was below 30 per cent and theprefecture ranked among the worst five (with Aomori,Kagoshima, Wakayama and Hiroshima). 28