The Role of Moral Education in the Modernization of Meiji Japan until 1894
by Truong Vu Khanh Chi and Nguyen Tranh Tra
Category: Social Science
Abstract – This paper will discuss the role of moral education, and its contributions in Meiji Japan until 1894. From 1868 to 1894, Meiji Japan’s moral education had developed gradually from a minor role to a device that distributed Japanese Nationalism to the Meiji population. This revolutionary change in the role of moral education had been stimulated through the changes in the Meiji ideology. Initially, the underdeveloped Kokugaku ideology was the basis of Japanese Nationalism. However, westernization in moral education had happened. This change proceeded with the emergence of Japanese Confucianism rose the role of moral education to the public. This resulted in the creation of the Meiji Kokutai, a fundamental concept that solidified Japan as an individual nation, with the Meiji emperor as the decisive leader of Japan, and the citizens as a subject to the emperor. This is explored through analysis on sources such as the “Imperial Rescript on Education,” and how the role of moral education had aligned with the state’s motives to move towards modernization by 1894.