[Special Feature: Exhibiting the History of the Academy] Waseda University's Founding Principles and the "Waseda Network"

2021/05/10

The themes assigned to this article are the "Waseda Network" and the "Formation of Academic Culture." Indeed, academic culture and networks are important themes when considering the history of any university, not just Waseda University. At Waseda University, the compilation of the "150-Year History of Waseda University" is currently underway with a target completion date of 2032. The draft table of contents includes items such as "Faculty and Scholarship at the Time of Waseda University's Founding" and "Alumni and Students in the Early 20th Century," aiming to understand the academic culture and networks nurtured at Waseda in each era.

However, while acknowledging their importance, trying to write about them in a way that is academically explainable immediately leads to a headache. At its founding in 1882, Waseda University (known as Tokyo Senmon Gakko until 1902) had only 80 male students. By 1918, the number of students reached 10,000, and today it exceeds 50,000. As for graduates, as of April 2021, they number approximately 660,000 (according to the Waseda University Alumni Association website, excluding the deceased). Is it possible to find some kind of characteristic "network" among this vast number of people? Furthermore, the departmental system, which consisted of three departments—Political Science and Economics, Law, and Science—at the time of its founding (the Science department was abolished after about two years), expanded to include Literature, Commerce, and the Faculty of Science and Technology by the early 20th century, and has now grown to 13 undergraduate schools. Is there a common "academic culture" that exists among the diverse range of scholarship produced there—for example, between Sokichi Tsuda, Koichi Sato, and Ikuo Oyama?

On the other hand, Waseda University has principles such as "Independence of Learning" and "Antiestablishment Spirit" that are known to some extent even outside the university as representing its academic culture and networks. Of course, principles do not represent the reality as they are, but they can be thought of as reflecting it to some degree. Therefore, in the following, I would like to state my personal views on the circumstances in which Waseda's founding principles, represented by "Independence of Learning," were born, what meanings they contain, and what relationship they have with specific networks and academic culture, while learning from previous research on the history of Waseda University.

The independence of a nation is based on the independence of its people, and the independence of the people is rooted in the independence of their spirit. Since the independence of the national spirit is truly due to the independence of learning, if one wishes to make a nation independent, one must first make its people independent. If one wishes to make the people independent, one must first make their spirit independent. And if one wishes to make the spirit independent, one must first make their learning independent.*1

This is a passage from a public speaking given on the opening day by Azusa Ono, a brain to Shigenobu Okuma and a leader in the founding of Tokyo Senmon Gakko. As a public speaking that explained the founding principle of "Independence of Learning," it is always mentioned when discussing the history of Waseda University. It is a principle that also resonates with Yukichi Fukuzawa's "Independence of the individual leads to the independence of the nation." However, in a situation where only Japan and the Qing Dynasty maintained independence in the vastness of Asia, "Independence of Learning" was, for Ono, a task that had to be achieved above all to maintain the "independence of a nation."

In this public speaking, Ono also explains the specific content of "Independence of Learning." First, Ono cited education in the "vernacular language." Since the introduction of Confucianism to Japan, there has been no "Japanese scholarship," only a search for models in foreign countries such as China, Britain, America, France, and Germany. Furthermore, as a result of using foreign languages and documents for education, students had to devote enormous effort to mastering foreign languages before entering the main subject of study, which became an obstacle to understanding the core of scholarship. Therefore, Ono explains that Tokyo Senmon Gakko teaches specialized scholarship in the vernacular language so that students can master their studies efficiently. The independence of Japanese scholarship from Western scholarship, and the vernacular language education to guarantee it—this is one meaning of what Ono calls "Independence of Learning."

In addition, Ono included another meaning in "Independence of Learning." At the end of the public speaking, Ono states, "I wish to make Tokyo Senmon Gakko independent outside of political parties." He says that while he is a "member" of this school (equivalent to a current trustee) and also a member of the Constitutional Progressive Party (Rikken Kaishinto), he will not use this position to commit the cowardly act of guiding students to his own political party. The school's hope is for students to accumulate "true scholarship." "This school will never distinguish between those who enter the Progressive Party, the Liberal Party, or even the Imperial Party." Independence of the school from "political parties" (the Constitutional Progressive Party). This is the other meaning Ono imbued in "Independence of Learning."

In this way, the "Independence of Learning" advocated by Ono was a specific school management policy before it was an abstract principle. At the time, at Tokyo University, the only university, classes were usually conducted in English, and even at other private Juku that provided specialized scholarship, it was common to use Western books as texts. In such an environment, Tokyo Senmon Gakko's educational policy of conducting classes in Japanese and aiming for quick mastery of scholarship, combined with tuition fees that were about half to 70% of those at Tokyo University, made it feel pragmatically attractive to students. In fact, for this reason, many students chose to enroll in Tokyo Senmon Gakko.*2

On the other hand, regarding the other meaning of independence from "political parties," the circumstances were somewhat complicated. At the time of its founding, the lineup of Tokyo Senmon Gakko consisted of Hidemaro Okuma, the son-in-law of Shigenobu Okuma, as the principal; Kazuo Hatoyama, Azusa Ono, Fumio Yano, and Saburo Shimada, who were also influential members of the Progressive Party, as the trustees in charge of management; and Sanae Takada, Tameyuki Amano, Ichiro Yamada, Kanekichi Okayama, Yoshinosuke Yamada, and Takeo Sunagawa, who had formed the Outokai under Ono, as the lecturers in charge of classes. Therefore, it was obvious that there was a deep connection with the Constitutional Progressive Party. On the other hand, as is well known, Tokyo Senmon Gakko, which opened the year after the Political Crisis of 1881, was viewed by the government as a school to "train people to be sent out for canvassing" for the Progressive Party*3, and as something "somewhat more cultural than the private school built by Saigo Nanshu," who caused the Satsuma Rebellion.*4 Therefore, Ono tried to deflect the government's vigilance by specifically professing independence from "political parties." In this case, "Independence of Learning" had a strong connotation of political neutrality.

However, this intention of Ono's seems to have been received with a somewhat different nuance by the students themselves. To begin with, due to the circumstances of its founding, many students enrolled through the Progressive Party network*5, and as Toru Watanabe, an 1886 graduate, recalled, "There were, of course, those who came to the campus feeling the majestic power of a single Okuma from Saga challenging the powerful leaders of the Satsuma-Choshu alliance*6," many students enrolled because they felt attracted to the fact that Tokyo Senmon Gakko was in a confrontational relationship with the clan-based government. Among such students, "Independence of Learning" took on an anti-establishment connotation of independence from political power, rather than political neutrality.

The issue surrounding specially authorized schools clearly illustrates this discrepancy in perception between the school's management and the students. In 1888, the government issued the "Specially Authorized School Regulations," granting students of schools that came under the supervision of the President of the Imperial University as specially authorized schools the qualification to take the civil service probationary examination and the privilege of appointment as junior official apprentices without examination.

Since it would be advantageous for graduates to find employment, Tokyo Senmon Gakko also tried to obtain authorization, but at that time, of all things, the students themselves opposed it. The reason was, "We are independent students; our school's principle lies in the independence of learning. We consider ourselves the talent of the nation. How could we receive designation, enter the ranks of common officials, and bow our heads for a pittance of rice?*7"

In the previous opening public speaking, Ono had disclosed a plan, as a statement by Shigenobu Okuma, that "Our government should select forests and return them to the possession of the Imperial Family, and the Imperial Family should distribute the profits to the scholars of the world, providing them with the convenience of investigating the depths of scholarship for their entire lives, thereby making scholarship independent." To achieve "Independence of Learning," the government should give scholars "honor and profit" and actively protect them. It can be said that the gap in perception regarding "Independence of Learning" between the students, who did not consider it honorable to receive government protection even if it was in exchange for coming under the supervision of the Imperial University, and the school administrators like Ono, was not small. The students' sense of avoidance toward the official world was significant, and anecdotes remain such as "There was not a single graduate who wished to enter the official world, and at the same time, someone who tried to enter the official world was viewed almost as a heretic, and there were even those who went to recommend their resignation.*8"

Instead of the official world, the paths the students desired were to become newspaper reporters by relying on the connections of their seniors, or to cultivate their strength locally and become party politicians. While it was certainly a narrow gate, it has also been found that a significantly higher number of graduates entered those professions compared to other schools.*9 When the Department of Literature was established in 1890 under the leadership of Yuzo Tsubouchi (Shoyo), many literary figures emerged from there, and the number of graduates entering the academic and educational worlds also increased. Within about ten years of its founding, the career patterns of graduates—politics, literature, and journalism—which resonate with the image of the university today, were formed. The "Antiestablishment Spirit," known as a phrase representing the spirit of Waseda, can be said to reflect such student orientations and the social distribution of graduates. However, it can also be read from the above process that the students' "misreading" of the "Independence of Learning" played a significant role in the cultivation of that spirit.

In any case, under the principle of "Independence of Learning," Tokyo Senmon Gakko made an effort to conduct classes that were not biased toward partisanship. Kenichiro Shimada, an 1889 graduate, recalled, "I never noticed anything like being guided by a partisan tone in the lectures."*10 In an atmosphere where "freedom of thought is absolutely unlimited" (ibid., p. 47), students turned their interests to fields of their own choosing. Some spent every day reading, some studied with pale faces day and night, and some were engrossed in religious debates, saying things like "I am a Christian, or a Buddhist, or a Unitarian."*11

In the 1890s, when the school's management began to get on a stable track, unusual scholars arrived at Tokyo Senmon Gakko. These were faculty members from Doshisha, such as Hajime Onishi, Kazutami Ukita, and Isoo Abe. Having received Christian-based teachings under Jo Niijima, they brought a spirituality backed by philosophical and ethical thinking to Tokyo Senmon Gakko, where the mainstream had been the practical social sciences taught by faculty from the Outokai.

On the other hand, for them, who remained devoted to Christianity but were not satisfied with traditional doctrines and even conflicted with the church, the free atmosphere of Tokyo Senmon Gakko was the perfect place for their thoughts to blossom. Even after taking up their posts, they often developed bold discourse from a minority position, as seen when Onishi took up the pen in defense of Christianity in the famous "Conflict between Education and Religion" controversy, and when Ukita and Abe advocated anti-war views during the Russo-Japanese War. Their statements often caused controversy and were frequently subject to social criticism. Shigenobu Okuma is said to have told Isoo Abe to his face, "I am somehow opposed to socialism."*12 However, that did not mean their positions within the university were threatened because of those statements. In that sense, the spirit that "freedom of thought is absolutely unlimited" was by no means a lie.

Hajime Onishi saw the essence of the "Conflict between Education and Religion" controversy not as a conflict between Christianity and nationalism, but as a "conflict between enterprise and conservatism."*13 On that basis, Onishi emphasized that the attitude of accepting a "new spirit" like Christianity is precisely what brings benefits to Japanese society. It can be said that by accepting owners of such a "new spirit," Waseda was able to enjoy great benefits. For example, the Waseda University Baseball Club was founded with Isoo Abe as its first director, and similarly, the Waseda University Oratory Society was established by students who conducted relief activities for the victims of the Ashio Copper Mine Mineral Pollution Incident along with Abe. Intellectuals from Waseda, such as Hogetsu Shimamura, Ikuo Oyama, and Kan'ichi Asakawa, also grew up receiving their teachings.

Above, I have discussed the relationship between Waseda's founding principles, networks, and academic culture while introducing several examples. The personal view stated here may capture the relationship between principles and reality in a somewhat over-idealized way. There are graduates like Sokichi Tsuda who specifically left a record saying, "When I enrolled, I didn't take into account at all that it was Mr. Okuma's school."*14 There were also eras, such as during the Asia-Pacific War, when even the president stopped trying to mention "Independence of Learning."*15

Nevertheless, the relationship in which an academic culture is born from sympathy for the founding principles and a network is formed cannot be ignored. Students who entered the gates of Waseda inspired by "Independence of Learning" become active as politicians and journalists after graduation. Then, young people of a new era, attracted by their figures, similarly aim for the land of Waseda. Through that repetition, the thick lines of academic culture and networks are formed. Now that the spatial functions of universities are significantly restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the connection of people and thoughts mediated by the founding principles can be said to be increasing its presence as the "reality" that makes a university a university.