The early 20th century: Shaping the discipline of psychology in Japan.

In this paper, we aim to describe the developing process of early Japanese psychology. This is the story of the institutionalization of psychology in Japan. We deal with the first period of Japanese psychology and trace the process of shaping the discipline of psychology in Japan. We also focus on the life and studies of Motora, who was the first psychology professor in Japan, and those of his students. In 1903, Yuzero Motora opened the first formal laboratory of psychology at Tokyo Imperial University, and in 1904, the first 2-year course in psychology was commenced. Both the laboratory and the two-year course could produce psychology students who studied“new” or experimental psychology. But not all the experimentation resulted in success. We also examine Fukurai's clairvoyance and thoughtgraphy experiments. Although Fukurai was one of the promising students of Motora, he gradually changed interest to parapsychology. Fukurai's adherence to these psychic phenomenon and his isolation from academic society resulted in the removal of clinical psychology from the psychology discipline in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]