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

182 PRIVATE ACADEMIES OF CHINESE LEARNING IN MEIJI JAPANOne of the few kangaku juku allowed to continue was that ofKanzawa Shigeru (1848–1902). Kanzawa had been a pupil ofNishinomiya’s and excelled at the domain school, Meitokukan,where he held the position- of administrator (gakukan) in 1869. In1873 he entered the domain’s new school, denshūsho, determinedto obtain the formal qualifications to become a teacher, but illnessprevented him from completing the course and instead he taughtprivately in his own home. When Nishinomiya revived Shijodō,Kanzawa became his administrator (jukukan). After the closure ofShijodō he again ran his own juku (Shinzen gakusha, formallyestablished in 1882), and was tolerated by theauthorities. 29 Kangaku, ethics, reading and writing formed themain part of the curriculum, but from 1888 the number ofsubjects was increased and included English. Some of thesubjects were taught by Kanzawa’s pupils. Kanzawa received nofees from his students until 1888. Even then his income fromteaching only covered the cost of maintaining the buildings.Altogether he taught well over 1,000 students. If Akita didmanage to bring forth some well-educated leaders, this was in nosmall measure thanks to the efforts of Kanzawa. 30JUKU AND PUBLIC EDUCATION INCONFLICTAkita is an extreme example, but in other prefectures too theauthorities took a more determined stance against juku than thecentral government or the metropolitan government of Tokyo, atleast at first. In Aomori, all juku were ordered closed in July 1873,but the following year the authorities began to encourage privateschools. Iwate prefecture aimed to abolish private establishments,but unlike Akita, the authorities accepted the old teachers asteachers in the new schools. 31 In Gifu prefecture the authoritiesforbade juku in March 1873 and attempted to force their closure,but many survived, especially at post-elementary level. Unlike thenew schools, the juku had the trust of the local people. 32 Theauthorities of Chiba prefecture were also stricter initially than thecentral authorities in their attempts to control private education,although they did not actually forbid private schools.Nevertheless, in the late 1870s and early 1880s Chiba had thehighest number of private middle schools after Tokyo, as well asa number of illicit juku. 33 In Saitama prefecture, privateestablishments were forbidden in November 1872, but from 1874