Student Life in the Founding Era of Keio University

2009/04/28

Published in "Juku" 2009, no. 262

Yukichi Fukuzawa's school for Dutch studies, founded in the Nakatsu Domain's middle residence in Tsukiji Teppozu, was ahead of its time, becoming a school for Western studies taught in English and named Keio University.
And under its free school spirit, which broke away from old customs, it sent ambitious young people out into Meiji society as pioneers of civilization.

The origin of Keio University was a school started by Yukichi Fukuzawa in 1858 (Ansei 5) within the Nakatsu domain residence. It was a cramped space, with "one six-tatami-mat room on the first floor and a room of about fifteen tatami mats on the second floor." However, unlike the formalistic schools for Chinese classics that maintained a strict distinction between master and disciple, the school's atmosphere, reflecting Yukichi Fukuzawa's dislike of discrimination, was said to be like a dormitory for friends and students. A heartwarming scene is also recounted where Yukichi Fukuzawa, having forgotten a character while translating on the first floor, would "run up to the second floor, ask the Keio students how to write the character, and then immediately return to his translation" (from the reminiscences of Adachi Kan).

The school later moved to Shiba Shinsenza and then returned to Teppozu. This school building also had a dining hall.

The Keio students had only one piece of tableware: a large bowl (donburi). A rice container and a miso soup pot were prepared, and when the wooden clappers sounded to announce mealtime, "each of the Keio students, holding a large bowl, would rush to the dining hall, vying to be the first to scoop up miso soup, pile rice high on top of it, and hurry back to their rooms to eat. The scene was just like a battlefield" (excerpt from "Keio Gijuku Gojunen-shi" [Fifty-Year History of Keio University]).

Although it was a disorderly and ill-mannered scene, they must have returned to their rooms, wolfed down their bowl of rice, and continued their studies. Yukichi Fukuzawa was not entirely hands-off, but he did not bind them with rigid rules. In a later public speaking engagement at the "Keio Gijuku Kyu-Shoseikai" (Old Keio Student Association), he defended the spirit of the early Keio students who, aspiring to Western learning, disregarded traditional etiquette, stating, "In the beginning, we advocated for Western learning as if against all the old principles in the world, so we prioritized simplicity and convenience in all matters and should not be bound by ancient customs." The "school spirit" of Keio University gradually changed to favor cleanliness and orderliness.

In April 1868 (Keio 4), the private school previously known as Fukuzawa's school was renamed Keio University. It declared itself to be a groundbreaking, open school modeled on the system of Western "public schools," such as those in Britain, to be jointly managed by comrades aspiring to Western learning. The classes adopted the Western seven-day week system with Sundays off, and the subjects—economics, history, geography, physics (kyuri), arithmetic, grammar, and ethics—were also Western-style. The textbooks were mainly original English books purchased by Yukichi Fukuzawa during his third trip abroad in 1867 (Keio 3).

According to the "Keio Gijuku Shingi" (New Regulations of Keio University) presented in 1869 (Meiji 2), the curriculum for beginners was set at 15 months. New Keio students were expected to spend three months reading one introductory science or grammar book while learning the alphabet, the "ABCs of the West"; six months reading one book on geography or physics; and six months reading one history book. It is presumed to have been quite a challenge for someone with no prior exposure to English to read three original books in just 15 months.

Furthermore, those who advanced in their studies took on the role of learning while teaching, teaching while learning. This meant being half-student and half-teacher, teaching junior Keio students while continuing their own studies. This was a common practice in schools at the time, and at Keio, some took on this role at a very young age and were sometimes called "boy teachers."

Keio University was the first in Japan to adopt a tuition fee system. The "Keio Gijuku Shingi" clearly stated the entrance fee and tuition to be paid by new students. Before this, it was customary in Japanese society to pay a so-called entrance fee called sokushu upon admission and to offer gifts or money as a token of gratitude at the Bon and New Year holidays, according to one's means.

However, based on the rational idea that educating people is a legitimate job for which it is natural to receive compensation, the university established a tuition fee system. The accompanying regulation, stating that "it is not necessary to use mizuhiki or noshi when paying money," also illustrates that the tuition system was a departure from old customs.

At the time, Yukichi Fukuzawa was giving a lecture using a book on economics by the American economist Francis Wayland as a textbook. May 15, 1868 (Keio 4), the day the new government forces, mainly from the Satsuma and Choshu domains, surrounded and attacked the Shogitai troops barricaded in Kanei-ji Temple in Ueno, was also a lecture day. Cannons roared, black smoke rose over the Ueno forest, and the city was in an uproar. However, Yukichi Fukuzawa was completely unfazed. He conducted the lecture as if nothing was happening, following the regular schedule.

This episode, which illustrates his respect for scholarship and education regardless of what was happening around him, was not only later depicted in paintings but was also made into a film titled "Kakute Jiyu no Kane wa Naru" (Thus the Bell of Liberty Tolls).

To commemorate this day, the university designated May 15 as "Yukichi Fukuzawa-Francis Wayland Lecture Day" and holds a public lecture at the Mita Enzetsukan (Public Speaking Hall) on the same day every year.

During the founding period of the university, a time of great change from the Tokugawa era to the Meiji era and from Edo to Tokyo, the young Yukichi Fukuzawa and his Keio students earnestly studied Western learning to forge a new era, laying the foundation for the Keio University of today.