Keio University and its Integrated Education System <Part 1>

2007/10/15

Published in "Juku" No. 256, 2007

The integrated education system, which has continued since the Meiji era, is one of the traditions Keio University should be proud of.
This article will provide an overview of how Keio University built its integrated education system by looking at the origins of the Yochisha Elementary School and the Keio Futsubu School, both of which were established during the lifetime of Yukichi Fukuzawa.

The origins of Yochisha Elementary School, one of the oldest private elementary schools in Japan, date back to 1874 (Meiji 7), when Yukichi Fukuzawa entrusted the education of young Keio students to one of his most accomplished disciples, Yoshiro Wada.

The background to the establishment of Yochisha Elementary School was the increasing number of younger students among the Keio students who gathered from all over the country as the fame of Yukichi Fukuzawa and Keio University grew. For this reason, a dormitory for younger students called "Dojiryo" had been established on Mita Hilltop Square even before the founding of Yochisha Elementary School. At the time, many of the children of Yukichi Fukuzawa and Keio University faculty members were reaching school age, and momentum was gradually building for the creation of a formal elementary educational institution for children younger than those in the "Dojiryo."

Yoshiro Wada, who was appointed the first head of Yochisha Elementary School by Yukichi Fukuzawa, was a former samurai of the Wakayama domain and had once studied at Fukuzawa's private school in Teppozu as a student sponsored by his domain. The Wadas, who were fond of children, housed and educated young Keio students in their home on Mita Hilltop Square. For this reason, it was initially known by the nickname "Wada Juku," but from around 1880 (Meiji 13), it came to be called "Keio Yochisha Elementary School."

Yochisha Elementary School had various educational features not seen in public elementary schools of the time, such as being a boarding school in principle and hiring foreign teachers to focus on English education from the lower grades. Wada, who excelled at jujutsu, followed Yukichi Fukuzawa's wishes and focused not only on academics but also on developing strong bodies. Although Yochisha Elementary School at the time was, in principle, a school for children aged seven to thirteen, it did not adopt a strict grade system and also accepted Keio students equivalent to today's junior and senior high school students, indicating that it was run with extreme flexibility.

The name "Futsubu" was first used in the history of Keio University in 1890 (Meiji 23). This was when the "college" was established as a comprehensive university, the first private one to have specialized courses in the three fields of literature, finance, and law. At that time, the traditional curriculum, which had a history dating back to the private school opened by Yukichi Fukuzawa, was named the "Futsubu" to distinguish it from the "college." It was later clearly positioned as a middle school curriculum between the university and elementary school. The present-day Keio Futsubu School marks its founding from the year the integrated education system was completed, as described in the next section, and in 1998 (Heisei 10), the "Centennial of the Futsubu School and the Centennial of the Establishment of the Integrated Education System" was celebrated. Of course, the current Keio Futsubu School, like the Chutobu Junior High School established after the war, is a junior high school under the School Education Act.

The word "futsu" (普通) used in Futsubu has a different nuance from the modern image of "ordinary" or "general." In the first part of "Gakumon no susume (An Encouragement of Learning)," Yukichi Fukuzawa wrote of "jitsugaku (science) that is close to the common daily use of man," and here 'futsu' (普通) is used with the nuance of 'common' or 'universal.' It means a place to learn the fundamental liberal arts that everyone should acquire as a human being.

In 1890 (Meiji 23), the Keio University college was launched. However, since graduating from the Keio Futsubu School was recognized as "graduating from Keio University," and because the timing of enrollment and graduation differed, few Keio students advanced to the college. Eventually, after overcoming debates about the college's continued existence, Keio sought to implement a new academic system centered on the college. As a result, in 1898 (Meiji 31), Keio University became an organization (*1) consisting of a five-year college, a five-year Keio Futsubu School, and a six-year Yochisha Elementary School, thus completing a 16-year integrated education system starting from Yochisha Elementary School.

That year, Yukichi Fukuzawa fell ill and passed away three years later in February 1901 (Meiji 34). The completion of the integrated education system became a major reform that capped his life as an educator.

At the same time the integrated education system was established, a new school building and dormitory for Yochisha Elementary School were built at the foot of the cliff on the west side of Mita Hilltop Square. The history of Yochisha Elementary School in Mita continued until 1937 (Showa 12), when a new school building designed by Yoshiro Taniguchi was completed at its current location in Tengenji, and the school relocated.

The Keio Futsubu School was initially located on Mita Hilltop Square but moved in 1917 (Taisho 6) to Mita Tsunamachi, where the Chutobu Junior High School is currently located. However, the school building was destroyed in the Tokyo air raids of May 1945 (Showa 20), and classes were held in a temporary space at Yochisha Elementary School in Tengenji until a new school building designed by Yoshiro Taniguchi was completed in Hiyoshi-honcho in 1951 (Showa 26) (*2). During the postwar educational reforms, many of the old-system middle schools transitioned to new-system high schools, but the Keio Futsubu School started a new history as a new-system junior high school without changing its traditional name.

--

The next issue will focus on the origins of the various integrated schools established after World War II.

*1: When the integrated education system was first established, the Keio Futsubu School was called the General Course (Futsu Gakka) and the college was called the University Course (Daigaku Gakka), but the names were changed back to Keio Futsubu School and college the following year.

*2: A portion of the classroom building was completed in September 1951 (Showa 26), and the first-year students moved in. The relocation of all grades was completed by September of the following year.