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

THE DECLINE OF THE JUKU 191by his personality and his dedication to their individualdevelopment. So strong was his influence that many of hisstudents converted to Christianity, provoking severe conflictswith their families. In a particularly dramatic instance, severalstudents, including Sohō, climbed a hill in Kumamoto andpublicly announced their allegiance to Christ. This was morethan the initiators of the school for Western studies hadbargained for and the school was closed soon after, in 1876.Sohō left for Tokyo. For a short time he studied at the TokyoSchool of English, but this school was different from the schoolshe had previously experinced. Classes were large and teachersonly appeared to give their lessons, then went straight homeafterwards, avoiding contact with students. There was nothing ofthe personal atmosphere Sohō had grown accustomed to in theprivate academies he had attended, or under Lansing’s tuition,and he was unhappy. Soon he left for Kyoto, where many of hisfriends from Kumamoto had entered Dōshisha, a Christian highschool, recently established by Niijima Jō, who had studied inAmerica and become an ordained minister there. Dōshisha wasfinanced by foreign missionaries, who also did most of theteaching. At the time the Kumamoto students entered, Dōshishawas on the verge of closing down, and the new students weredisappointed with what they found there. They would havereturned home, but their former teacher Lansing urged them tostay. So instead of changing to another school they set aboutchanging the school to suit their high ideals. They reformedstudent life, set new moral standards, which were rigorouslyenforced, and introduced student self-government. They alsotook part in reforming the curriculum in the programme ofsecular studies.Just before graduating from Dōshisha in 1880, Sohō left theschool after having started its first student strike, which onlyended when Niijima took full responsibility for it and thusmoved the students to give it up. For a short while Sohō attendedanother kangaku juku in Tokyo, before returning to Kumamoto.There he became involved in the political struggles connectedwith the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement (jiyū minkenundō). To promote the kind of political education he consideredimportant, but also to make a living and help improve theeconomic situation of his family, Sohō decided to establish hisown school. In 1882, when only 19 years old, Sohō opened Ōe