Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub
[graphic][merged small]
[merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small]

of annual increase, is still inadequate to accommodate all the applicants.

There are in Japan seven "higher schools" (Kōtō Gakkō), located at Tōkyō, Sendai, Kyōto, Kanazawa, Kumamoto, Okayama, and Yamaguchi. These bear numbers in the order given above, and are often called by the name "High School," because the word Kōtō means simply "high grade." If the reader, for instance, sees elsewhere a reference to the "Third High School," it will refer to the Kōtō Gakkō at Kyoto. The word "Higher" is, therefore, used in this book to avoid confusion. These schools are clearing-houses, or preparatory schools, for the universities, and have also their own complete departments.

At present there are only two public universities in Japan, at Tokyo and Kyōto. The former con

[ocr errors]

tains six colleges (Law, Medicine, Engineering, Literature, Science, and Agriculture); and the latter consists of only four colleges (Law, Medicine, Science, and Engineering), but others will be added gradually. There are also just two great private universities, both in Tōkyō: the Keiō-gijiku, founded by the late Mr. Fukuzawa, the "great commoner, and the "grand old man" of Japan; and the Waseda, founded by that veteran statesman, Count Ōkuma. There is no Christian institution of university grade, although it is confidently expected that the Dōshisha, at Kyōto, will soon be elevated again to that rank. The Japanese universities have very good accommodations and equipment, with strong faculties, and are

doing work worthy to be compared with that of Occidental universities. One of the most unique phases of university work in Japan is the fact that the Imperial University in Tōkyō maintains a chair of seismology, or, in other words, supports a most important "professor of earthquakes"!

Common normal schools number over fifty; there must be at least one in each prefecture, and in four cases there are two or three each. Besides these and above these is a "higher normal school," or normal college, in Tōkyō, with an elementary school and a middle school for practice work. There is also in Tōkyō a “higher female normal school,” with a kindergarten, an elementary school, and a high school for practice work. But these provisions are inadequate to supply the increasing demand for teachers in public schools.

Inasmuch as Japan is an agricultural country and is rich in forests, agricultural and dendrological schools are a necessity, in order that the people may be able to make the most out of their resources. The Sapporo Agricultural College, founded by Americans in 1872, is the best of its kind, and furnishes a broader course of study than its name implies.

And, in order that the industrial life of New Japan may be elevated, and both capital and labor may profit by the latest inventions and improvements, manual training and other technical schools have been started and are very popular.

In view of the fact that the Japanese are not fitted by natural temperament for a mercantile life, and yet the geographical position of Japan is so well adapted to a commercial career, the need of thorough instruction in modern methods of business has been keenly felt, and is being supplied by business colleges, of which the Higher Commercial School in Tōkyō is most useful and prosperous.

Formerly an adjunct of the above-mentioned institution, but now an independent organization, is the Foreign Language School, Tōkyō. Besides this, several foreign languages are taught in the middle and higher schools and the universities; and there are also a great many private schools and classes for instruction in one or more foreign languages. English is, of course, the most popular and most useful.

The Tōkyō Fine Arts School is the best of its kind, and gives instruction in painting (both Japanese and European), designing, sculpture, and “industrial arts," like engraving, puddling, casting, lacquer, etc. The Tokyo Academy of Music is a type of its kind, and gives instruction in vocal and instrumental music and musical composition. It has accomplished wonders along those lines.

The education of the blind, the deaf, and the dumb is not neglected in Japan; there are ten schools for the benefit of these unfortunates; and the government institution in Tokyo is the most important. Charity schools and orphan asylums are also carried

[ocr errors]
« EdellinenJatka »