For higher education, there were academies for the study of Confucianism, but a university of the European variety did not appear in Japan until 1877. In that same year the University of Tokyo was founded, with four faculties—law, physical sciences, literature, and medicine. In the early years, research and education were dominated by foreigners: most programs were taught in the English language by English and American teachers or, in the medical faculty, in the German language by German instructors. In 1886 the University of Tokyo was renamed the Imperial University by imperial order and, as a state institution, was assigned to engage exclusively in research and instruction of such sciences and technology as were considered useful to the state. Modern Western sciences formed the core of this research and instruction, though some traditional Japanese learning was revived. Engineering and agricultural science were added to the four established faculties. Tokyo Imperial University borrowed much of the style and mode of the German universities and served as the model for the imperial universities established thereafter. Meanwhile, the higher middle schools established in 1886 were remodeled into the kōtōgakkō, or higher schools, in 1894, and in the 20th century these higher schools developed as preparatory schools for the universities.
Higher education was advanced in another area by the College Order of 1903, which enabled certain upper-level private schools to be approved as senmongakkō, or colleges, and to receive the same treatment as state-run universities. Until then the private colleges had not been given a clear legal status and had been treated as rather inferior. Education to 1940
The events of World War I and its aftermath tremendously influenced Japanese society. In the postwar days, Japan experienced the panic and social confusion that was sweeping many countries of the world. Moreover, the intensified leftist movement and the terrible Kantō earthquake of 1923 caused uncertainty and confusion among the Japanese. Nevertheless, the period was one that earned the name of the “Taishō democracy” era, which featured the dissemination of democratic and liberal ideas. It was also a period that marked Japan’s real advancement on the world scene and the expansion of its capitalistic economy, all conducive to the flourishing of nationalism. It was quite natural that these social and economic changes should greatly influence education.
The Special Council for Education, established in 1917, was charged with making recommendations for school reforms that would adapt the nationalistic education system to the rapid economic growth. Their recommendations involved modifying the existing educational organizations rather than creating new ones. The reform emphasized higher education, though secondary education also grew remarkably. As for elementary education, the target of the reform was to improve the content and methods of education and to establish the financial foundation of compulsory education.
After World War I the new educational movements generally called progressive in the West were introduced into Japan and came to thrive there. Many private schools advocating this “new education” were established, and the curricula of many state and public schools were also refashioned. The method of new education was gradually introduced into the state textbooks. Preschool education was also encouraged. A state-run kindergarten attached to Tokyo Girls’ Normal School had been first established in 1876, and later many public and private kindergartens emerged, particularly after issuance of the Kindergarten Order in 1926.
Government aid for compulsory education was gradually put forward, and by 1940 this developed into a system whereby the government financed half the teachers’ salaries and the prefectural governments the other half. Elementary education thus further expanded. Between 1910 and 1940 the number of elementary teachers and pupils almost doubled. In the latter year there were 287,000 teachers and 12,335,000 pupils.
Secondary education continued to be provided by the middle schools for boys, the girls’ high schools, and the vocational schools. These schools increased remarkably both in numbers of institutions and in enrollments after World War I, reflecting the social demand. As a result, the secondary schools assumed more of a popular and less of an elitist character than they had evidenced in the Meiji era. In 1931 two courses were provided for the middle school system; one was for those who advanced on to higher schools, and the other course was for those who went directly on to a vocation. Enrollments of all kinds leaped: whereas in 1910 the enrollments in middle schools, girls’ high schools, and vocational schools had been 122,000 pupils, 56,200 pupils, and 64,700 pupils, respectively, the respective figures in 1940 were 432,000 pupils, 555,000 pupils, and 625,000 pupils.
A drastic reform of higher education was instituted in 1918, when the University Order and the Higher School Order were issued on the recommendation of the Special Council for Education. Before that, there had been only the imperial universities, which were state-run. The order approved the founding of private universities and colleges. As a consequence, the old influential private colleges, or senmongakkō, rich in tradition, were approved as formal universities or colleges, resulting eventually in such famous universities as Keiō and Waseda. National colleges of commerce, manufacturing, medicine, and so on were also opened. In general, universities and colleges multiplied, numbering in 1930 as many as 46 (17 state, five public, and 24 private). College-preparatory education concurrently enlarged through the establishment of public and private higher schools under the Higher School Order. The higher schools were remodeled after the German Gymnasium and the French lycée and offered a seven-year course.
The schools could not keep pace with the mounting demand for education. The ratio of applicants to the total number of seats being offered at higher schools, for example, rose from 4.3 in 1910 to 6.9 in 1920 and 10.5 in 1926. Because pupils could not proceed from elementary to secondary schools and from there to colleges or universities unless they passed a competitive entrance examination at each stage, the importance and severity of the examinations grew with the number of applicants. Despite efforts by the Ministry of Education to revise and deemphasize the examination system, its importance continues to the present day.
After World War I, social education, or education offered outside the formal school system, gained greater recognition in Japan. During the Meiji era, social education, then called “popular education,” had been promoted by the Ministry of Education to encourage school enrollment, but by 1890 it had taken the form of adult education, attempting to enlighten middle- and working-class adults with public lectures and library resources. By 1929 social education had again become important as a result of the Ministry of Education’s emphasis on youth organizations, supplementary vocational education, youth training, and adult education. The jitsugyō hoshūgakkō, or supplementary vocational schools, which had been built after 1893 as part-time educational institutions for working students, reached enrollments exceeding 1,277,000 by 1930. In 1935 seinengakkō, or youth schools, were newly established, uniting these supplementary vocational schools with the seinen kunrenjo, or youth-training centres, that had earlier been set up to provide military training for youth. Education changes during World War II