Free Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912 by Donald Keene Page A

that had been passed down from generation to generation; rather, this formal education in scientific techniques would lead to increased agricultural production and to a more prosperous society.
    On July 15, 1878, the emperor pronounced a rescript at the ceremonies opening the engineering university. A school where technology would be systematically taught was new to Japan and an important part of the process of “enlightenment.” In order to raise Japanese techniques to the standards in the advanced countries, it was necessary to hire foreign experts as teachers. On his visits to schools throughout the country, Meiji always singled out the foreign teachers for special attention. When they were about to leave Japan after completing their contractual duties, he usually granted them audiences, an honor much less frequently bestowed on Japanese. President Grant, as we have seen, urged the Japanese to retain their foreign advisers. Although he expressed the hope that teaching positions of every kind would be one day filled entirely by Japanese, he noted that it would be unwise “to hurry unnecessarily the dismissal of foreign instructors…. I believe that you should keep for as long as they can be kept foreigners, like those of world reputation who have founded His Majesty’s Engineering University.” His advice was heeded.
    Meiji also encouraged Japanese (who could afford it) to study abroad, to observe conditions in other countries, acquire practical learning, and keep Japan from falling behind in progress. 13 He stressed even in his poetry the importance of the absorption of Western civilization:
wa ga sono ni
Here in my garden
shigeriaikeri
They have grown in profusion—
totsukuni no
Because I planted
kusaki no nae mo
And cultivated seedlings
ō shitatsureba
Of plants and trees from abroad.
    In 1872 an edict on education had been promulgated providing for the standardization of education throughout the country, mainly along the lines of the French educational system. 14 Although the plan proved to be too idealistic to be realized with Japan’s limited resources, it was indicative of the great importance attached to education from the start of the Meiji era.
    Soon after the new school system was promulgated, there were complaints that the authorities were so determined to carry through the ambitious plan, regardless of the costs, that they were spending huge sums of money. The administrators were also charged with excessive interference in the schools. As the result of these and other complaints, Education Minister Tanaka Fujimaro (1845–1909) was sent to America to observe education there. On his return he proposed basic departures from the system instituted in 1872: the educational system should be changed to accord better with the national strength, the conditions of people’s life, and the existing culture. The French system would be replaced by a decentralized educational system in which responsibility would be shifted to the localities. 15 A draft bill was submitted in May 1878 for examination by It ō Hirobumi, who made some modifications such as giving greater autonomy to local authorities and minimizing interference from the central government. After passing the Genr ō -in with further modifications, the bill was presented to the emperor for his approval.
    In the meantime Iwakura Tomomi, charged by the emperor with incorporating traditional virtues into the new education, had concluded that Japan’s educational policies had to be changed. Such men as Sasaki Takayuki and Motoda Nagazane were convinced that loyalty and filial piety must be the cornerstone. Moral training ( sh ū shin ) had always been a basic part of the elementary-school curriculum, 16 using such Confucian works as the Great Learning for texts, but these men felt that sh ū shin tended to be overshadowed by foreign learning.
    On April 16, 1878, Iwakura and Sasaki had an audience with the emperor at which he stressed the importance of moral