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

PRIVATE ACADEMIES OF CHINESE LEARNING IN MEIJI JAPAN 41Source: Adapted from the table in Umihara Tōru, Nihonshi shō hyakka:Gakkō (Tokyo: Kondō shuppansha, 1991), p. 29 in the appendix (based onNKSS).terakoya. But the regional variations also suggest that it may be allbut impossible to generalize about how juku developednationwide. Thus the numbers above give only a rough idea.Further investigation at prefectural level has usually producedinformation about additional juku. Moreover, the classification ofan institution as juku or terakoya has been revised in some cases,where information about the curriculum suggested this. Thedistinction between the two is far from clear-cut, and manyauthors do not attempt it and treat juku and terakoya together. Buthowever difficult it may be to decide in individual cases whetherwe are dealing with a juku or a terakoya, overall there was adifference between institutions offering only elementaryeducation and those providing the possibility for further study.The difference became more marked when the terakoya wereabsorbed into the national school system as elementary schools