Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T01:23:22.382Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Tradition of Conflict in the Governance of Japan's Imperial Universities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2017

Byron K. Marshall
Byron K. Marshall*
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The past decade has been a tumultuous one for Japanese higher education with faculty pitted against students, students against government, and government against both in an often chaotic and seemingly incessant search for an answer to the question “Who governs Japan's universities?” The answer given by many analysts is “no one”—that the conflict between these three bodies have rendered Japanese universities ungovernable. Failure to achieve consensus and implement needed reforms in higher education has been attributed largely to the decentralized internal organization of the leading universities and the tradition of deep-seated hostility between academic intellectuals and the Japanese government. Although the more violent and dramatic of the conflicts in the late 1960s and early 1970s have received considerable attention by observers outside Japan, the long tradition of conflict over university governance which provides such a significant part of the intellectual and political context for those caught up in the contemporary debates has received far less attention. The purpose of this essay is to provide an historical perspective on this conflict by sketching in the prewar background that constitutes the heritage of academic self-government at Japan's oldest and still foremost universities, the imperial universities of Tokyo and Kyoto.

Type
Article II
Information
History of Education Quarterly , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , Winter 1977 , pp. 385 - 406
Copyright
Copyright © 1977 by New York University 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Notes

1. See Michio's, Nagai Higher Education in Japan: Its Takeoff and Crash (Tokyo, 1971) especially pp. 129–137, and 251–252. Nagai has recently stepped down as Minister of Education, the first bonafide scholar to hold that position since the end of the American Occupation. Ivan Hall and William Cummings are two American observers whose recently published analyses have reached conclusions similar to those of Nagai. See Hall's, “Organizational Paralysis: The Case of Tōdai,” in Vogel, Ezra, ed., Modern Japanese Organization and Decision-making (Berkeley, 1975), pp. 305–330; and Kitamura, Kazuyuki and Cummings, William K., “The ‘Big Bang’ Theory and Japanese University Reform,” Comparative Educational Review (June 1972): 303–324. For translations of other Japanese views of the problems in higher education, see the special issues of The Journal of Social and Political Ideas in Japan, I (December 1963), and 5 (December 1967).Google Scholar

2. The only in-depth study in English of the prewar experience is an unpublished 1952 doctoral dissertation by Suh, Doo Soo, “The Struggle for Academic Freedom in Japan Universities before 1945” (Columbia University). Although Dr. Doo presents a wealth of information and a valuable bibliography, his study was completed too early to take advantage of the research and memoirs published in the last twenty-five years, and the account here differs in interpretative perspective as well as on some facts. For more general introductions to the history of Japanese education, see Passin, Herbert, Society and Education in Japan (New York, 1965); and the writings of Ronald P. Dore listed in my review essay, “Universal Social Dilemmas and Japanese Education History,” History of Education Quarterly, 12 (Spring 1972): 97–106.Google Scholar

3. The figures, which include twenty-two foreign teachers, are taken from Teikoku Daigaku ichiran [Bulletin of the Imperial University] (Tokyo, 1890). Details of the early history are found in Daigaku, Tōkyō Teikoku, ed, Tōkyō Teikoku Diagaku goj&uacrnenshi [Fifty Year History of Tokyo Imperial University; hereinafter cited as TTDGS] (Tokyo, 1932; 2 vols.), Volume 1.Google Scholar

4. For details on the roles played by Tokyo University professors in the period 1870–1910, see my “Professors and Politics: The Meiji Academic Elite,” The Journal of Japanese Studies, 3 (Winter 1977).Google Scholar

5. The series was reprinted as a pamphlet entitled Gakumon no dokuritsu [The Independence of Scholarship] in Gijuku, Keiô, ed., Fukuzawa Yūkichi zenshū [The Works of Fukuzawa Jukichi] (Tokyo, 1959), 5,pp. 369–370.Google Scholar

6. See quotations in Saburô, Ienaga, Daigaku no jiyū no rekishi [The History of Freedom in the University] (Tokyo, 1962), pp. 16–18.Google Scholar

7. The relevant regulations are reprinted in TTDGS , 1, pp. 258–288; 459–462; 507–510. Ivan Hall, in his brilliant biography of Mori Arinori (Cambridge, Mass., 1973), p. 404, suggests that foreign teachers held the positions of divisional head until Mori's reforms of 1886. According to the University's own history, they were filled in 1881 by Japanese professors and no foreign teachers are listed as having attended the 1881 Shijunkai meeting. See TTDGS, 1, pp. 512, 524; and 2, pp. 1229–1230.Google Scholar

8. Mori's friends on the faculty included Tōyama Masakazu chairman of the Department of Letters, Kikuchi Dairoku, chairman of Sciences, and Ryokichi, Yatabe Professor. Toshimichi, Okubo, Nihon no daigaku [The University in Japan] (Tokyo, 1945), pp. 304–305; and Hall, , Mori Arinori, pp. 390–397, 414.Google Scholar

9. TTDGS, 1, p. 936; 2, p. 1242; Terasaki Masao has made a careful analysis of the recorded minutes of the Hyōgikai in his “Nihon no diagaku ni okeru jijiteki kankō no keisei” [The Emergence of Self-Government Practices in the Japanese University], Kyōikugaku Kenkyū, 32 (September 1965): 134–147.Google Scholar

10. Kumaki, Uzaki, Aoyama Tanemichi [Aoyama Tanemichi] (Tokyo, 1930), pp. 139–148. I owe this reference and the quote, which do not appear in standard Japanese accounts, to James Bartholomew. See his “Japanese Moderization and the Imperial Universities, 1876–1920,” Journal of Asian Studies, 37 (May 1978), in press.Google Scholar

11. Ienaga, , Daigaku no jiyū rekishi, pp. 29–34, 37n, 267n; Kōtarō, Tanaka, et al., Daigaku no jichi [University Self-Government] (Tokyo, 1963), pp. 4–9, and Sakae, Wagatsuma, “Teikoku Daigaku dokuritsuanshiko [A Proposal for the Autonomy of the Imperial University], Jurisuto, No. 259 (October 1, 1962), p. 25. The drafters of the initial proposal included Deans Tōyama Masakazu (Letters), Hozumi Nobushige (Law), Kikuchi Dairoku (Science), and one senior professor each from the faculties of Medicine, Engineering, and Sciences.Google Scholar

12. TTDGS, 1, p. 938.Google Scholar

13. Masao, Terasaki, “Kōtō kyōiku” [Higher Education], in Tokiomi, Kaigo, ed., Inoue Kowashi no kyōiku seisaku [The Education Policies of Inoue Kowashi] (Tokyo, 1968), pp. 317–325, 333–340.Google Scholar

14. Calculated from the lists in TTDGS. Google Scholar

15. Terasaki, , “Nihon no daigaku ni okeru jichiteki kankō keisei.” Google Scholar

16. See Marshall, , “Professors and Politics”. Ivan Hall describes the Tokyo president in these years as “chosen for his administrative talents” (“Organizational Paralysis,” p. 318). This was, no doubt, true in Mori's appointment of Watanabe Kōki, but one could just as plausibly argue that after 1893 rapport with the faculty was the critical attribute in the appointments of Professors Tōyama Masakazu (1897–1898), Kikuchi Dairoku (1898–1902), and Yamakawa Kenjirō (1901–1905 and 1913–1920). As we shall see below, Hamao Arata's reappointment in 1905 was part of the settlement in the Tomizu Incident.Google Scholar

17. For greater detail on the political atmosphere and the role of the Tomizu group, see Marshall, , “Professors and Politics,” and Shumpei, Okamoto, The Japanese Oligarchy and the Russo-Japanese War (New York, 1970).Google Scholar

18. Hiroto, Tomizu, Kaikoroku [Memoirs] (Tokyo, 1904); Zoku kaikoroku [Memoirs Continued] (Tokyo, 1906); and Kinenkai, Danshaku Yamakawa Sensei, eds., Danshaku Yamakawa Sensei den [Biography of Baron Professor Yamakawa Kenjirō] (Tokyo, 1939).Google Scholar

19. Interpretation and speech presented February 7, 1906 to the 22nd Session of the House of Peers; reprinted in Isoo, Abe, ed., Teikoku Gikai kyōiku giji sōran [Excerpts from Imperial Diet Debates on Education] (Tokyo: Koseikaku Shoten, 1932–1935; 5 vols.), 2, pp. 266–273.Google Scholar

20. October 3, 1905 edition, quoted in Tomizu, , Zoku kaikoroku , pp. 341–345.Google Scholar

21. Asatarō, Okada, “Bungei no kaishaku to kyōjū no genron” [Interpretations of the Personal Regulations and the Speech of Professors] Kokka Gakkai Zasshi, 19:10 (October 1905), p. 13.Google Scholar

22. Danshaku Yamakawa sensei den, p. 128.Google Scholar

23. Tomizu, , Zoku kaikoroku, pp. 341–346, 278; and Abe, , Teikoku Gikai Kyōiku gigi Sōran. Google Scholar

24. See Mitchell, Richard H., Thought Control in Prewar Japan (Ithaca, 1976), pp. 22–27.Google Scholar

25. Noburu, Kanai, “Gakusha no genron ni appaku o kuwaru no fuka naru o toku” [Why It Is Wrong to Suppress the Speech of Scholars], Kokka Gakkai Zasshi (hereinafter cited as KGZ), 19 (October 1905): 2–6.Google Scholar

26. Toru, Terao, “Gakusetsu to seiron” [Scholarly Theory and Political Discussion], KGZ, 19 (October 1905): 7–12.Google Scholar

27. “Shakai ni taisuru gakusha no seiryoku” [The Influence of Scholars in Society], interview in the Chūōkōron, April 1, 1905; reprinted in Tomizu, , Zoku kaikoroku, pp. 608–612.Google Scholar

28. Tetsujirō, Inoue, “Teikoku daigaku ron” [A Discourse on the Imperial University], Taiyō, 12 (January 1, 1906): 45–54.Google Scholar

29. Sakue, Takahashi, “Kokusai hōgakusha no genron” [The Speech of Scholars of International Law], KGZ, 19 (October 1905): 91–92.Google Scholar

30. Inoue Kowashi no kyōiku seisaku. Google Scholar

31. See the contributions to the KGZ by Kanai, , Terao, , and Kiheiji, Onozuka.Google Scholar

32. Etsuji, Sumitani, “Keidai Hōgakubu konjaku monogatari” [Tales of the Law Department at Kyoto University], Chūōkōron, 48 (July 1933); cited in Suh, Doo Soo, “The Struggle, 11 p. 321. See also Danshaku Yamakawa Sensei den, p. 257.Google Scholar

33. Danshaku Yamakawa Sensei den, pp. 257–273; Ienaga, , Daigaku no jiyū rekishi, pp. 43–50; and Suh, Doo Soo, “The Struggle,” pp. 332–333.Google Scholar

34. Ienaga, , Daigaku no jiyū rekishi, p. 46; and Tanaka, ,et al., Daigaku no jichi, pp. 32–34.Google Scholar

35. Speech by Morta Kotarō to the 31st Session of the House of Representatives, January 30, 1914; reprinted in Abe, , Teikoku Gikai Kyoiku gigi sōran, 3, pp. 199–202.Google Scholar

36. Danshaku Yamakawa Sensei den, pp. 262–273. Later accounts often cite this as the first instance of the “election” of an imperial university president, although there seem to be no details on whether there was indeed a formal ballot of the faculty; Tanaka, , et al., Daigaku no jichi, pp. 36–37.Google Scholar

37. TTDGS, 2, pp. 84–85, 553; Shigeru, Nambara, Masamichi, Rōyama, and Teiji, Yabe, Onozuka Kiheiji [Biography of Onozuka Kiheiji] (Tokyo, 1961), pp. 135–137; and Tarō, Yamanouchi, “Diagaku to semmongakko.” [Universities and Colleges], in Tokiomi, Kaigo, ed., Rinji Kyōiku Kaigi no kenkyū [Studies on the Extraordinary Commission on Education] (Tokyo, 1960), pp. 517–592.Google Scholar

38. Yamanouchi, , “Daigaku to semmon gakko,” p. 555; and Mombusho [Japan Education Ministry], eds., Meiji ikō kyōiku seidô hattatsushi [History of the Development of the Educational System since Meiji; hereinafter cited as MIKSH] (Tokyo, 1964–65; 12 vols.; 2d ed.), 5, pp. 464–472.Google Scholar

39. See the lists in Daigaku, Tōkyō Teikoku, Tōkyō Teikoku Daigaku gakujutsu taikan (Tokyo, 1942–1944; 5 vols.).Google Scholar

40. See the autobiographical account in Yikitoki, Takikawa, Gekiryū [Raging Current] (Tokyo, 1963). A number of magazine articles written at the time by participants are collected in Sōichi, Sasaki, Kyōdai jiken [The Kyoto University Affair] (Tokyo, 1933). See also the account and bibliography in Doo, , “The Struggle,” pp. 168ff. For a description in English of the pressures being brought to bear on Japanese intellectuals in the mid-1930s, see Miller's, Frank O. account of the 1935 Affair, Minobe, Minobe Tatsukichi (Berkeley, 1965). It should be kept in mind, however, that Minobe had previously retired from Tōdai and thus the university was not directly involved.Google Scholar

41. A description of the actions taken by faculty leaders and a verbatim record of the meeting with Araki is given in Tanaka, , et al., Daigakn no jichi, pp. 116–139. In English, see Doo, Soo Suh, “The Struggle for Academic Freedom in Japan University before 1945”.Google Scholar

42. The influence of Hiranuma and his protégés is documented in English monographs by Mitchell, Richard, Thought Control; and Yasko, Richard, “Hiranuma Kiichirō and Conservative Politics in Pre-War Japan” (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 1973).Google Scholar

43. Kiyoshi, Ōshima, Takano Iwasaburō [Biography of Takano Iwasaburō] (Tokyo, 1968), pp. 166–174; Masato, Miyaji, “Morito Tatsuo jiken,” in Sakae, Wagatsuma, ed., Nihon seiji saiban shiroku: Taishō [Historical Record of Japanese Political Trials in the Taishō Period] (Tokyo, 1969), pp. 228–272. In English see Mitchell, Richard H., “Japan's Peace Preservation Law of 1925,” Monumenta Nipponica, 28 (1973): 317–345; and my “Academic Factionalism in Japan: The Case of the Tōdai Economics Department, 1919–1939,” forthcoming in the journal Modern Asian Studies. Google Scholar

44. Itsurō, Sakisaka, Arashi no naka no hyakunen [A Century within the Storm] (Tokyo, 1952), pp. 170–171; Hyōe, Ōuchi, Keizaigaku gojūnen [Fifty Years of Economics] (Tokyo, 1959), pp. 201–203; and Watakushino rirekisho [My Curriculum Vitae] (Tokyo, 1956), pp. 252–258; Tanaka, , et al., Daigaku no jichi, pp. 62–65; and Nambara, , et al., Onozuku Kiheiji, pp. 171–172.Google Scholar

45. Ōuchi, , Watakushi no rirekisho, pp. 262–264; Seibi, Hijikata, Gakkai shunjūki [A Chronicle of Academe] (Tokyo, 1960), pp. 173–191; Kenkyō, Shakai Shisō kai, eds., Kawai Eijirō denki to tsuiso [Kawai Eijirō: A Biography and Reminiscences] (Tokyo, 1948), pp. 88–93; Tadao, Yanaibara, Watakushi no ayunde kita michi [The Road by Which I Came] (Tokyo, 1958), pp. 44–49, 52, 99–103; Ōshima, , Takano Iwasaburō, pp. 355–357; and RyōKichi, Minobe, Kumon suru demokurashii [Democracy in Agony] (Tokyo, 1952), pp. 206–223. For discussions in English of the 1938 arrests, see Totten, George O., The Social Democratic Movement in Prewar Japan (New Haven, 1966), pp. 166–174; and Doo, Soo Suh, “The Struggle”, pp. 190ff.Google Scholar

46. Tanaka, , et al., Daigaku no jichi, pp. 116–141; Ōuchi, Keizaigaku gojūnen, pp. 289–294, 304; Kenkyūkai, Shakai Shisō, ed., Kawai Eijirō denki to tsuiso, pp. 99–195; Nambara, , et al, Onozuku Kiheiji, pp. 285–286; Hijikata, , Gakkai shunjūki, pp. 201–227; and Teiji, Yabe, Yabe Teiji nikki [The Diary of Yabe Teiji] (Tokyo, 1974; 4 vols.), 1 pp. 185–200.Google Scholar