The American Model of Education in Meiji Japan

The Meiji government claimed to shape Japan into a more democratic and meritocratic state offering equality among its entire people. To see the success of such a lofty goal, I aim to explore how Western education—specifically, the American model system—affected the social order of the Meiji state. My final project will survey the conflicted responses to compulsory education and how it aligned, or misaligned, with the merit ideal. In addition, I will also assess how the objectives of a Meiji education parallel with its curricula from its nascent development in 1872 to a more state-centered institution after 1890. These questions will be analyzed by firsthand accounts from Japanese and Western educators, attendance statistics, images of Tokugawa and Meiji era schools, maps to determine concentration of education, and official Meiji documents such as the Fundamental Code of 1872 and the Imperial Rescript of 1890.

Although the consequences were not immediately realized, the Meiji Restoration of 1868 undisputedly brought momentous changes in the islands of Japan, altering the political, economic, social and cultural landscapes.[1] The imperial government issued reforms to establish Japan as a respected nation in the global arena. Thus, in response to the former Tokugawa bakufu and Western imposition, the Meiji government eliminated the status system, replaced daimyō domains with prefectures, proposed a conscript army, maneuvered the emperor to the center of the political order, and instituted a compulsory education system.[2]