著者

齋藤 健次郎

出版者

日本産業教育学会

雑誌

産業教育学研究 (ISSN:13405926)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.39, no.2, pp.1-11, 2009-07-30

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In the Meiji Period, 'Industrial Education' was termed 'Jitsugyokyoiku' (Vocational Training Education) in a peculiar manner. Today the Japanese term 'jitsugyo' refers to the management of commerce and industry and means that business corporations engage in business with a view to pursuing profits as previously arranged. Accordingly, the term is used more often than not to imply management. What caused such a propensity for the shift derived from the fact that there existed a strong middle-class consciousness related to education in the Japanese society. Education, aside from the primary education, used to gain a wide acceptance as such that would meet the social needs of the middle-class. Reference materials on Meiji Period reveal that the term was created in the 14th year of Meiji (1881). It was in that year when a political disturbance broke out and reformers were in opposition to the industrial education which was then to be initiated by the government. The force for promoting a change attempted to transform the American type of industrial education initiated by the Ministry of Education into a German type, but ended in an abortive attempt. A government official, whose name was Ryuichi Kuki, succeeded in destroying the plot contemplated by promoters of the German type. That was the beginning of the concept of industrial education in Japan and the process of its realization. This is the development of the Japanese industrial education. Later on, however, the endeavor made by Ministry of Education came under a large-scale attack from the force advocating the German type and was doomed to end in a failure and the education in Japan embarked on a different road. It was through this research that the true history of the education was brought to light.