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

82 CASE STUDIESConfucianism for moral education was recognized. Nishōgakusha fitted well into the general trend. The fact that some ofthe most prominent kangaku scholars of the previous generationdied around 1877 (Hayashi Kakuryō, Yasui Sokken) may alsohave benefited Nishō gakusha. Moreover, Chūshū endeav ouredto fill a gap in the provision of education and strove to adapt theeducation he offered to the changing times. He benefited fromhis connections with the imperial house, the government and hisalumni. Among his acquaintances were such influential men asthe entrepreneur Shibusawa Eiichi (1841–1920), who becamepresident of Nishō gakusha in 1919. By the 1930s Nishō gakushahad secured its position within the education system as aspecialized school; its graduates were licenced to teach kanbun(1931) or kokugo (Japanese language, 1935) at middle schoolswithout passing the public examination.A WOMAN CHANGING WITH THE TIMES:MIWADA MASAKOKangaku was traditionally a male domain and girls were notencouraged to study the Chinese classics. There were, however,exceptions even before the Meiji period. During the late Edoperiod, the number of female literati increased. 36 Often they werethe daughters of kangaku scholars. This is true of several womenwho were active as educators during the Meiji period, includingHio Naoko (1829–97), Tanahashi Ayako (1839–1939), MiwadaMasako (1843–1927), Atomi Kakei (1840– 1926) and ShimodaUtako (1854–1936).Miwada Masako was the only child of a Confucian scholar, whogave her the same education he would have given a son. 37 Shewas a gifted child and by 1855 she was already lecturing at hisjuku. Masako also studied with her father’s teacher, YanagawaSeigan (1789–1858), and his wife, Kōran (1804–1879). In additionto kangaku she also studied National Learning. In 1866 shebecame a house tutor for Iwakura Tomomi, for whom her fatherhad lectured. By then she was already well past the age at whicha woman of her class was expected to marry and apparently shehoped to spend her life as a scholar and educator. But in 1869 shemarried Miwada Mototsuna (1826–79), son of the chief priest ofthe Hachiman Shrine in Matsuyama, and soon followed him toTokyo, where he had a post in the new government. Mototsunawas one of those ardent loyalists during the final years of the