[Mita-hyoron and the 100th Year of Showa] Naive and Idealistic, Mita-hyoron

2025/06/05

The journal Mita-hyoron is a naive and idealistic thing; if it were not so, it would not be Mita-hyoron.

When it was first published in March 1898, Mita-hyoron was named Keio Gijuku Gakuho. The name changed in January 1915. It is often written that this was a major turning point. In other words, the view is that during the "Gakuho" era, it had the strong character of a school public relations magazine, but through the renaming, it took on the character of academic or journalistic essays and criticism.

Indeed, if the title represents the content, this is a clear grasp of the situation. However, is that really the case? The "Purpose of Publishing Keio Gijuku Gakuho" in the inaugural issue states the following: The spirit of Keio University education is nothing other than "to consistently maintain the principles of Western civilization, to fulfill one's own independence and self-respect, to apply this to public social affairs, and thereby to realize the progress of the nation's civilization," and it is by no means satisfied with the status quo. This is why the Juku is constantly renewing its systems in hopes of spreading civilized education. Furthermore, expanding and popularizing this principle is not limited to "classroom education." Anyone who graduates from Keio University and joins the ranks of Keio University alumni must "consider themselves a leader and advocate of civilized education," loudly proclaim and act upon this principle, and strive to spread it further. This magazine is being launched for that very purpose—.

Those who have studied at Keio University must continue to be "leaders and advocates of civilized education." And it says that this journal is published to further spread that principle to society. The purpose of the founding may be written in grand terms, but it is a magnificent ideal. Internal stories such as "the state of academic affairs and news of alumni movements" are positioned strictly as secondary matters.

That said, the inaugural issue contains many pages of academic articles, lists of donors, and even alumni directories, and it is a fact that it had a strong coloring as a PR magazine to connect the Juku with Keio University alumni.

However, after that, the balance of this coloring continued to be exquisitely adjusted. Looking at the issue immediately following the death of Yukichi Fukuzawa (March 1901), a glance at the table of contents reveals almost no Juku-related coloring. The only things visible are a photo of "the place where Fukuzawa-sensei passed away" in the frontispiece and the corner name "Jukuho" at the end.

Among the editorials in this issue is a piece titled "Education of the Heart" by sociologist Kazusada Tanaka. If you wonder which heart he means, it is undoubtedly the "Heart." Reading this, upon Fukuzawa's death, he argues that "crying out for the education of the heart in a cold-hearted educational world is indeed the urgent task of the moment," explaining as follows:

Who among men does not have a heart? There are only those that burn and those that do not yet burn. If so, what is the method to make it burn? Water cannot make fire burn; heat must be heated by heat. Fire must be lit by fire, people must be built by people, and the heart must be stirred by the heart.

In education without a heart, there is no influence, and words like discipline, command, and punishment run rampant. The result is the production of listless and inactive graduates. Moreover, such educators "often preach loyalty and teach filial piety, advocate patriotism, shout for reverence for the Emperor, and yet not satisfied, repeat the Imperial Rescript, borrowing the authority of the tiger to hide the ugliness of the fox." In this current situation, "it is indeed the duty of the few educators of the heart to make spring return" to the educational world. Tanaka appeals that this is where the Juku's duty lies. It is very dazzling. It is filled with carefree brightness and innocence. Is not the uniqueness at the root of Keio University and Mita-hyoron this point—the naive idealism of confirming the Juku's ideals and believing they will change Japan and, by extension, the world?

The name "Mita-hyoron" was not invented in 1915; it was the name of a magazine that Keio students used to produce. The editor-in-chief who pulled out the once-retired sign of Mita-hyoron as a title to replace Keio Gijuku Gakuho was Takuzo Itakura. He was known as an expert in international law and served as the Dean of the Faculty of Law. After the war, he was also seen as a member of Shigeru Yoshida's brain trust. He is remembered by graduates as a very fearsome professor, and his name still comes up from the mouths of elder Keio University alumni. While standing at the university podium, he also served as an editorial writer for the daily newspaper Jiji Shinpo, founded by Fukuzawa, where he sharply critiqued current events. And often, with that same sharp pen, he wrote about current affairs or the essence of Keio University in this journal. This spirit of Itakura must certainly be remembered in the history of Mita-hyoron.

Itakura was one of the first editorial members of the old student-founded Mita-hyoron. The time was February 1899, the year after the founding of Keio Gijuku Gakuho, a period full of vitality where the Juku authorities, faculty, and Keio students alike discussed how the Juku should be and how Japan and the world should be. The founding purpose of that other Mita-hyoron, titled "Mita-hyoron is Born," states the following:

I think that in today's world, the sources of evil to be removed and the innovations to be required are surely not limited to our Juku alone. Politics, religion, morality, literature, and all other aspects of society must all undergo a great ideological revolution. It is said that once the music of Marseille echoed through the interior of France, the whole of France rose up as a revolutionary people. Now, Mita-hyoron raises its first cry on this high ground; I know not on what day, but all Keio students shall become children of social reform. I ask you to witness this in the Mita-hyoron of future days.

This old student version of Mita-hyoron directed its completely unreserved pen even toward the school and faculty, and it seems they were often rebuked by the Juku authorities. In fact, from the inaugural issue, they published resolutions calling for the replenishment or replacement of faculty, showing a textbook example of youthful vigor.

Itakura appeared in this journal even during his student days, and his first appearance after remaining at the university was a piece titled "The Dormitories of Keio University" published in October 1903, immediately after his graduation.

In today's world where narrow-minded and bigoted educational doctrines prevail, if there is a need for the existence of private schools, they must be those that raise the banner of rebellion against such narrow-minded and bigoted educational doctrines. This is the calling of private schools and their primary condition for existence. The reason why Keio University has championed "independence and self-respect" for 50 years and has been advocating a new educational doctrine is precisely to fulfill this calling.

Is it not truly naive and idealistic? Itakura is often thought of as a stiff person, but this boiling spirit of rebellion pulsed through him throughout his life. And along with the title, the hot DNA of the student version of Mita-hyoron has been passed down.

Washichi Konno, who was in charge of editing, wrote that while the journal strengthened its character as an opinion magazine during the Taisho era, in the Showa era, it focused more on "improving information for those related to the Juku" (Issue 600, December 1961). With the major projects of opening the Hiyoshi Campus and reorganizing school buildings amidst tight finances during earthquake reconstruction, the President traveled to Mita-kai all over the country, and those events were reported in detail, focusing on the solidarity of the Keio Gijuku Shachu. At the same time, this was a period when effort was put into providing a place for young faculty members to publish. While the coloring of social criticism faded slightly, from the perspective of compiling the history of Keio University, it is also an era where much information can be gathered from Mita-hyoron.

Then, due to the effects of war and financial difficulties, after a blank period of about eight years starting from December 1943, Mita-hyoron was revived in October 1951.

An article titled "Doubts about the Flood of Exam-takers" by Japanese literature scholar Yasaburo Ikeda in the third issue of the revival (Issue 552, February 1952) is interesting. This article looks back on how Yasaburo-san's elementary school teacher stopped his wish to enter the Keio Futsubu School and forced him to change his path to Tokyo Municipal First Middle School (later Kudan High School), and how even at the middle school they tried to prevent him from going to Keio, leading him to declare, "I hate government schools," and enter Keio. He writes, "I, who was forced into a government school as a victim of an elementary school teacher's vanity, have finally returned to the school of my original choice," and continues as follows:

Seeing Keio, which was looked down upon even by elementary school teachers who said, 'What, Keio? Don't be stupid,' now showing the highest competition rates in Tokyo for the Chutobu Junior High School and Keio Futsubu School, I feel a sense of irritation rather than joy. Keio has not changed its fundamental educational policy one bit. It is just that the world is leaning this way or swinging that way as it pleases. ... Since the Meiji era, how the doctrine of government-school omnipotence sprouted and grew, and how, hand in hand with the idea of 'revering the official and despising the private,' it spread harm to the Japan of the past and brought what misfortune to the people... For someone like me, who spent middle school in a government school and university in a private one, especially a place like the Juku, the merits of the private sector, especially the Juku, are felt deeply. As competition becomes fiercer, the geniuses of the world will gather at the Juku. But I cannot bring myself to rejoice in that wholeheartedly. Not unless that popularity comes from a correct recognition of private schools.

The business of education has no glamour and does not produce immediate results. It never ends. However, it is a job of continuing to draw bright, infinite possibilities together with the youth who are the bearers of the future. The Keio University idea of "Shachu" is a naive, bright, and outward-looking philosophy that those involved with this school should continue to be involved with those future bearers for life, raising them together and changing society by growing themselves. Perhaps that is why one can continue to speak words of naive ideals and rebellion throughout one's life.

Let us add one supplement to the continuous accumulation of naive and idealistic words in Mita-hyoron.

Rebuilding Keio University (from war damage) ... is not for the sake of the Juku alone. It is a matter of urgency not only for the true democratization of Japan but also for the education and culture of the New Japan. Returning Keio University, which lost three-quarters of its facilities to war damage and requisition, to its original form as quickly as possible can be said to be for the sake of world peace and human civilization.

This passage is from a section of the prospectus for the 90th Anniversary Festival of Keio University, drafted in 1947 by President Kōji Ushioda, who led the Juku during the post-war reconstruction period. Naturally, it should have been published in this journal, but unfortunately, it fell during the post-war suspension period, and it is truly a pity that it was omitted from the "naive lineup." World peace and human civilization exist because Keio University exists. This carefree freshness. I believe that proudly and frequently speaking of this naive and idealistic philosophy is the value of Mita-hyoron.

Mita-hyoron, stay naive! Keio Gijuku Shachu, let us consider ourselves leaders and advocates of civilized education, loudly advocate this principle, and continue to spread it! Suppressing a shy smile, I wish to shout this and close my manuscript.