Making Citizens in Modern Fukui: An Aborted Attempt at Local Citizens' Cultivation

The content of school education has always been at the center of modern school reforms. At the end of Edo period and during the early Meiji period, Fukui domain (han) and later Fukui prefecture took the initiative in modernizing their school system. The program of "futsu no gaku" ("general education" for the samurai class in Fukui domain) established at middle schools in the Fukui domain provided its students with basic learning that widely incorporated civilian and military knowledge and can be regarded as a program for the cultivation of a civil-military elite. While the initial intention was the creation of modern schools that combined civilian and military education, this later changed to creating "civilian" (bun) schools dedicated to the cultivation of a new "citizenry" (shimin) following the dissolution of the occupational monopoly held by the samurai class over administrative and military posts. In 1871, the Fukui domain opened its schools to the general public, and common people were allowed to enter elementary school alongside members of the former samurai class. Disciples of the reformer Yokoi Shonan has already implemented education that focused on public debate (koron) at the local schools (gogakusho). After the abolition of the domains and the establishment of prefectures, they promoted a process in which decisions were reached through public debate in the prefectural assembly. What set Fukui apart and ahead of the central government and other prefectures was that its "Regulations for Public Schools" provided severe penalties for those depriving others of their "right to attend school." This kind of education through regional reform seen in Fukui came under increasing government control after 1881 and was completely contained by 1886. As the country became more centralized, a shift from the regionalized cultivation of citizens to the creation of national subjects (kokumin) occurred in the education system. (Contains 1 table and 9 notes.)