Know ye, Our Subjects:

Our Imperial Ancestors have founded Our Empire on a basis broad and everlasting, and have deeply and firmly implanted virtue; Our subjects ever united in loyalty and filial piety have from generation to generation illustrated the beauty thereof. This is the glory of the fundamental character of Our Empire, and herein also lies the source of Our education. Ye, Our subjects, be filial to your parents, affectionate to your brothers and sisters; as husbands and wives be harmonious, as friends true; bear yourselves in modesty and moderation; extend your benevolence to all; pursue learning and cultivate arts, and thereby develop intellectual faculties and perfect moral powers; furthermore, advance public good and promote common interests; always respect the Constitution and observe the laws; should emergency arise, offer yourselves courageously to the State; and thus guard and maintain the prosperity of Our Imperial state; and tus guard and maintain the prosperity of Our Imperial Throne coeval with heaven and earth. So shall ye not only be Our good and faithful subjects, but render illustrious the best traditions of your forefathers.

The way here set forth is indeed the teaching bequeathed by Our Imperial Ancestors, to be observed alike by Their Descendants and the subjects, infallible for all ages and true in all places. It is Our wish to lay it to heart in all reverence, in common with you, Our subjects, that we may all attain to the same virtue.

October 30, 1890

<h3>Primary School Enrollment Rates (percent of children of primary school age who were enrolled in school)</h3> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <thead> <tr> <th>Date</th> <th>Primary Schools</th> <th>Boys</th> <th>Girls</th> <th>Total</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>1873</td> <td>12,597</td> <td>39.9</td> <td>15.1</td> <td>28.1</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1874</td> <td>20,017</td> <td>46.2</td> <td>17.2</td> <td>32.3</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1875</td> <td>24,303</td> <td>50.8</td> <td>18.7</td> <td>35.4</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1880</td> <td>28,410</td> <td>58.72</td> <td>21.91</td> <td>41.06</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1885</td> <td>28,283</td> <td>65.80</td> <td>32.07</td> <td>49.62</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1890</td> <td>26,017</td> <td>65.14</td> <td>31.13</td> <td>48.93</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1895</td> <td>26,631</td> <td>76.65</td> <td>43.87</td> <td>61.24</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1900</td> <td>26,857</td> <td>90.35</td> <td>71.73</td> <td>81.48</td> </tr> <tr> <td>1905</td> <td>27,407</td> <td>97.72</td> <td>93.34</td> <td>95.62</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <br /> <h3>Enrollment and Attendance in Yoshida Elementary School, 1883</h3> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <thead> <tr> <th>Month</th> <th># children enrolled</th> <th># children attending</th> <th>Avg daily attendance</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>January</td> <td>100</td> <td>90</td> <td>80</td> </tr> <tr> <td>February</td> <td>100</td> <td>90</td> <td>50</td> </tr> <tr> <td>March</td> <td>132</td> <td>120</td> <td>111</td> </tr> <tr> <td>April</td> <td>119</td> <td>109</td> <td>100</td> </tr> <tr> <td>May</td> <td>119</td> <td>106</td> <td>93</td> </tr> <tr> <td>June</td> <td>119</td> <td>80</td> <td>68</td> </tr> <tr> <td>July</td> <td>119</td> <td>77</td> <td>54</td> </tr> <tr> <td>August</td> <td>119</td> <td>94</td> <td>75</td> </tr> <tr> <td>September</td> <td>118</td> <td>89</td> <td>83</td> </tr> <tr> <td>October</td> <td>118</td> <td>92</td> <td>81</td> </tr> <tr> <td>November</td> <td>118</td> <td>76</td> <td>66</td> </tr> <tr> <td>December</td> <td>118</td> <td>87</td> <td>82</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

It is only by building up his character, developing his mind, and cultivating his talents that man may make his way in the world, employ his wealth wisely, make his business prosper, and thus attain the goal of life. But man cannot build up his character, develop his mind, or cultivate his talents without education – that is the reason for the establishment of schools. Language, writing, and arithmetic, to begin with, are daily necessities in military affairs, government, agriculture, trade arts, law, politics, astronomy, and medicine; there is not, in short, a single phase of human activity which is not based on learning. Only by striving in the line of his natural aptitude can man proper in his undertakings, accumulate wealth, and succeed in life.

Learning is the key to success in life, and no man can afford to neglect it. It is ignorance that leads man astray, makes him destitute, disrupts his family, and in the end destroys his life. Centuries have elapsed since schools were first established, but man has gone astray through misguidance. Learning being viewed as the exclusive privilege of the samurai and his superiors, farmers, artisans, merchants, and women have neglected it altogether and know not even its meaning. Even those few among the samurai and his superiors who did pursue learning were apt to claim it to be for the state not knowing that it was the very foundation of success in life. They indulged in poetry, empty reasoning, and idle discussions, and their dissertations, while not lacking in elegance, were seldom applicable to life. This was due to our evil traditions and, in turn, was the very cause which checked the spread of culture, hampered the development of talent and accomplishments, and sowed the seeds of poverty, bankruptcy, and disrupted homes. Every man should therefore pursue learning; and in doing so he should not misconstrue its purpose. Accordingly, the Department of Education will soon establish an educational system and will revise the regulations relating thereto from time to time; wherefore there shall, in the future, be no community with an illiterate family, nor a family with an illiterate person. Every guardian, acting in accordance with this, shall bring up his children with tender care, never failing to have them attend school. (While advanced education is left to the ability and means of the individual, a guardian who fails to send a young child, whether a boy or a girl, to primary school shall be deemed negligent of his duty.)

Heretofore, however, the evil tradition which looked upon learning as the privilege of the samurai and his superiors and as being for the state caused many to depend upon the government for the expenses of education, even to such items as food and clothing; and, failing to receive such support, many wasted their lives by not going to school. Hereafter such errors must be corrected, and every man shall, of his own accord, subordinate all other matter to the education of his children.