Nation-Building and Imperialism: Education as a Tool of the Centralized State

Abstract

This article examines Japanese history from the Meiji Era to the end of World War II as a case study to illustrate different modalities in which education can be utilized as a tool of the state from establishing national identity to exerting imperial control.

Introduction

Education as a tool for endogenous nation-building, or a weapon for state-building, is well-established throughout history. Homogenization of education through state-regulated curricula, especially in the early stages of nation-building, allows for the intentional development of a national identity. For post-colonial states such as India, this intentional development enabled the solidification of the nation as a state through promotion of social norms, economic development, and cultural values. Whereas Mussolini’s education plan skyrocketed the adoption of fascism by emphasizing indoctrination of youth. This is not to say the standardization of curricula is inherently cause for concern. Standardization of curricula permits equitable access to the same standard of education regardless of socioeconomic position or geographical limitations. For example, both Bangladesh’s National Education Program and South Africa’s National Development Plan aim to provide equitable, accessible education.

This article does not intend to provide a comprehensive history of education policy in Japan nor to infer these use-cases are in any way unique to Japan. This article intends to illustrate differing modalities in which education can be utilized as a state tool through the lens of a single state. Japanese history from the Tokugawa Shogunate to imperial assimilation policy through World War II provides examples that illustrate the different methods in which education is used as a tool for developing national identity, weaponized endogenously, and imposed exogenously to incite nationalism.

Background

After a forced break from isolationism after the arrival of Commodore Perry and numerous unbalanced treaties, the Tokugawa Shogunate was with the Meiji Restoration. The end of the Edo Period under the Tokugawa Shogunate, and beginning of the subsequent Meiji Era, was marked with a to include formal class restrictions and universal education as a means of rapidly modernizing the nation.

During the Edo Period, a robust educational system existed; however, it was highly secular without a centralized curriculum. Towards the end of the Edo period, this system evolved to include three school systems: (1) terakoya, for common class, and similar to primary school, (2) hanko, for samurai class controlled by the Shongunate, and (3) gagoku, located in centers of power, and catering to both classes. By the time of the Meiji Restoration in 1868-69, Western learning and medicine, known as yogaku, were already included in some schools too.

Building National Identity

After the toppling of the Tokugawa Shogunate with the Meiji Restoration in 1868-89, the emperor was reinstated as the political leader of Japan for the first time in over 200 years. Prior to the Meiji Era, named for Emperor Meiji, and throughout the Tokugawa Shogunate’s rule, the emperor wielded no political power – functioning more so as a spiritual figurehead. With the fear of Western encroachment and significant internal political upheaval, educational reforms during this period promoted stability through social cohesion.

The first measures to modernize the educational system in the Meiji Era began in 1868 when the Office of Education was established under the International Affairs Bureau. The Office was comprised of three appointed officials specializing in Japanese history, culture, and Shintoism. All were part of an intellectual movement known as Kokugaku, which emerged during the Edo Period. Kokugaku focused on centering Japanese history, culture, and religion within Japanese education in response to Western intervention. The goal of these officials and the Office of Education was to reestablish a robust national identity through the promotion of imperial studies – namely, Japanese cultural studies.

The goal of establishing a national identity was rooted heavily in concerns of Western encroachment. As such, to ensure conformity to the new standard, teaching methodology was as important as the curriculum. Traditional teaching methodology, consisting of memorization and recitation, student interpretation, and instructor correction, were once again utilized in newly reopened schools once originally renowned under the Tokugawa. By reestablishing traditional Japanese methodology and imperial studies in Tokugawa schools, the Office of Education hoped to simultaneous remove Tokugawa’s influence and rebuild a cohesive national identity under the Meiji Emperor.

In 1872, just four years after the Office of Education was established, it evolved into the Ministry of Education. On August 8, the First National Plan for Education, the Gakusei, was released and implementation began in April the following year. Attributed largely to Fukuzawa Yukichi, the Gakusei paved the way for a total restructuring of Japan’s formal educational system. The full adoption of the Gakusei in April 1973 signified widescale educational reform including compulsory education for both boys and girls – the first-time girls were included in education. With teaching methodology and curriculum promotion developed by the Office of Education, the Gakusei formalized a new schooling system based on American and French systems. Specifically, Japan adopted the three-level American system with elementary schools, middle schools, and universities, and the French system of administration with school districts and a centralized Ministry of Education. Schools were subsequently divided into eight university districts, 32 middle school districts, and 210 elementary school districts all under the purview of the Ministry of Education.

Nationalist Tool

In 1885, twelve years after the Gakusei was implemented, a man by the name of Mori Arinori was by Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi. Ito was studying the German Constitution in Germany and traveled to Paris for a diplomatic event where he met with Mori who was on diplomatic assignment out of London. In the days following the event, they concluded the purpose of education in modern Japan should be a tool for the “preservation and security of the national” which they referred to as kokkasugi (ENG: nationalism). Kokkasugi was inspired by the Prussian education system Ito studied in Germany. Notably, this system appealed to Ito and Mori because it relied on a centralized government to control education in order to develop a population dedicated to creating a strong, prosperous state. This was dissimilar to Japan’s use of the French administration system which left the daily governing of schools to the district. When Ito was first elected in 1885 and the cabinetry system was established, he and Mori began implementing this plan.

While Mori was assassinated only four years after his appointment, as Minister of Education he promulgated a vast series of reforms that altered the trajectory of education in Japan. Mori released a series of orders dictating the purpose for each of the existing school types – the Elementary School Order, the Middle School Order, the Normal School Order, and the Imperial University Order. In short, elementary schools were to create ideal citizens loyal to the Emperor with mandatory attendance, middle schools were to prepare students to enter the Imperial University system, normal schools were to train teachers in nationalist ideology, and the imperial university was to train elite leaders with advanced technical and political knowledge gleaned from the West.

The year following  Mori’s assassination, concerned with Western encroachment into Japan, Emperor Meiji declared the “Imperial Rescript on Education” bolstering and legitimizing Mori and Ito’s goal of developing loyal Japanese citizens through nationalist indoctrination in formal education. The “Imperial Rescript on Education” would stay in effect until the end of World War II.

An Imperialist Weapon

As the Qing Empire weakened, Japan began its over the Korean Peninsula. Following a five-year categorization as a protectorate, Japan formally the Korean Peninsula in 1910. From the onset of colonial rule, Japan enforced an assimilation policy, including the implementation of the Japanese education system in Korea with the Chosen Kyoikurei (ENG: Korean Education Ordinance). Under this law, aligned with reforms by Mori and the “Imperial Rescript on Education”, Japanese language, history, and cultural studies were prioritized while actively oppressing Korean language, cultural heritage, and history.

The Chosen Kyoikurei was as a means of “delivering [Koreans] from their pitiful situation” through education in frugality, instilling motivation to self-improve, and to educate women so they can pass these so-called critical ambitions to their children. These paternalistic assimilation policies were supported by pseudo-scientific racism and twenty years of nationalist education policy in mainland Japan.

After the March First Movement, when thousands of Koreans were killed and thousands more detained, Japanese policy changed course to a “cultural rule.” While use of conspicuous military force decreased, cultural rule was based on the idea of Japanese cultural superiority; by exposing Koreans more directly to Japanese culture while permitting access to their own culture, Koreans could advance enough as a society to recognize Japanese culture as superior.

This change to cultural rule was reflected in the education system in 1922 through the extension of mandatory primary school: four to six years for boys and girls. Further reforms included extending boys’ middle school period to five years and girls to four and vocational schools to three to five years. By 1924, Japan established Keijo Imperial University, the first university in Korea. The final change occurred in 1938 with increased co-education in schools and the use of singular names for schools instead of differing names in Korean and Japanese. This system persisted until the end of World War II.

Conclusion

From state-building to an imperialist control mechanism, the means of harnessing education systems presented in this article are not unique to Japan. Certainly, there are a multitude of examples of education as an imperial weapon as well as examples of nation-building in post-colonial state. Throughout the Ukraine War, Russia is deliberately targeting Ukrainian schools to eliminate Ukrainian culture. Children in Russian occupied Ukrainian territories are forced to attend Russian-controlled schools with solely Russian curriculum. In South Korea, education is widely regarded as a tool for national economic development and is one of the key factors behind the state’s rapid economic growth.

By using Japanese history as a case study, it is possible to identify inciting events leading to these practices: political instability, social upheaval, and a state-level desire to maintain control.