Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901) is one of the most famous figures of modern Japan. He was an intellectual, journalist, and educator who was the most visible advocate of modernization and Western Learning in the 1870s and 1880s. In this excerpt from his… [more]

The following paragraphs came at the beginning of a 109-article plan, promulgated in 1872, to establish a national school system under the direction of the new Meiji government. This ambitious plan divided the country into eight university… [more]

The Iwakura Mission was a visit to the United States and Europe between 1871 and 1873 by many of the top officials of the new Meiji government. The primary purpose of the mission was to observe Western countries with an eye towards building a modern… [more]

This module employs primary sources from Japan to illustrate themes in the rise of modern education systems, such as the equation of “education” with "schooling", the impact of modern schooling upon the culture and social experience of childhood, the connection between education and the nation-state, and the influence of European imperialism upon schooling.

This is an ink painting on a scroll by Hanabusa Itchô (born Taga Shinkô), a Japanese artist of the early Tokugawa period (1600–1868). Tokugawa artists typically used pen names and Itchô used several names at different times as an artist and… [more]