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

186 PRIVATE ACADEMIES OF CHINESE LEARNING IN MEIJI JAPANestablished in 1880 and, except for a brief interlude from 1883 to1886, remained the only one of its kind until 1897. Even so, itproduced only 35 graduates in total between 1880 and 1885. 47The lack of public alternatives and the persistence of the Mitotradition are not the only reasons for the continuing popularity ofkangaku juku. In areas remote from the large towns the fabric ofsociety changed little until after the Meiji period, and while thetraditional social structures were still in place, traditionaleducation remained relevant. Often children of the local elitewould attend the same juku for generations. 48 The prevailingatmosphere in Ibaraki was criticized by contemporaries. In 1879 anewspaper article reported:The tone of the people of Ibaraki prefecture is still one ofsubservience. Well, there are also disputants, but many ofthem are people maintaining the outdated idea of unity ofgovernment and ritual (seisai itchi) and the backwardlookingleaders of opinion are kokugaku [National Learning]and kangaku teachers, the so-called scholars Kurita, Tsuda,Obara etc. The kangaku school named Jikyōsha is flourishing,and is like a thorn in the side of the teacher trainingschool. 49Thus there is evidence that traditional, more informal types ofschooling were preferred by the population, who perceived themodern, foreign system as an imposition. 50As the modern school system became fully established,problems that came with it became apparent. Soon critics beganto contrast the modern school system with the juku and to extollthe virtues of the latter. An early example is a memorandum byWashizu Kōun, the fifth master of Yūrinsha juku in Aichiprefecture, entitled “The school must be given the role of asecond family”. 51 Present-day schools, he argued, teach a largenumber of pupils in the same way, ignoring the differencesbetween individuals. They impart knowledge, but they neglectmoral education. But schools should act as a second family, sincethe family setting is the best place to educate children. Teachersshould set a good example and associate with their pupils in aharmonious way, training their character as well as teaching themknowledge. In other words, Kōun says, in some ways a schoolshould be like a traditional juku.