Legal Education in Modern Japan. thing. How this state of affairs has come about is not very clear. But it exists uni versally,— with less emphasis, perhaps, in the Imperial University, because of the competi tion for the government prizes which there are to be gained. In an institution now in mind four instructors have been dismissed in two years because the students did not like their methods. In case the authorities presume to be obstinate, the screw is applied, and there follows a strike, — a word which has been thoroughly acclimatized in the Japanese language, and is applied by the students themselves to the process. Some two years ago a strike of four hundred strong took place in a certain private institution, because of some new regulation; and although the manager was ultimately dis missed as a part of the resulting compromise, the strike had lasted so long that many never returned, and the school is only just recovering from the blow.1 In the private I As I write, the newspaper brings a report which will illustrate in an extreme manner what I have said. JAPAN MAIL, JAN. 9, '892.
THE HIGHER COMMERCIAL SCHOOL The Hochi Shimiun reports another disturbance in the above school. It took place on Saturday last. The account of what occurred is thus described by our contemporary : '• As lus been reported in these columns from time to time, a bad feel ing exists between the Director and the students of the Higher Commercial School. It had bcen decided that certain of the second year pupils must be expelled from the school. The Director, considering that this measure would, if unexplained, cause a great stir among the students, ordered them to be sum moned to the Lecture Hall on the ijth instant, and deputed a member of the school staff, Mr. Imamura, to make clear to them that the step to be taken was absolutely essential to the main Ienanc? of discipline in the establishment. Mr. Imamura as cended the platform .md was alxnit to eommence a speech when, in excited tones, a student asked him in what capacity he was -coing to address the school, and what he purposed saying. Mr. Imamura replied that he was acting in the capacity of a member of the school staff, and represented the Director. The subject on which he proposed to address them was the policy of the school. To this the student rejoined, ' In that case we are unwilling to listen to you. We do not wish to hear about the policv -if the school from any one but the Director. Let us have an interview with the Director.' Here the whole school com men<ed to stand on the forms and shout. Mr. Imamura. in order to pacify the students, said that the Director was unwell and could not be seen. To this one of their number replied, ' He is not unwell; ' another added, ' I saw him enter the school com pound this morning; ' and a third shouted, ' If he is unwell, we will go in a body to his house in Azabu.' Perceiving that his efforts were fruitless, Mr. Imamura dismissed the school. Where- I
law schools, which (except Keiogijuku) de pend largely on the patronage of the stu dents, the result is that the authorities prac tically follow every command of the latter. Another effect is that the marks of an ex amination seldom represent the actual merit of the student. The authorities do not care to reduce the attendance any more than can be helped, or to drive away students by get ting a reputation for severe marking. But in the Imperial University and Keiogijuku this tendency is less apparent. Another consequence is that a teacher who finds his methods unsatisfactory to the students must, if it is to them an essential matter, choose between forfeiting his convictions or his posi tion. Sooner or later he becomes tired of kicking against the pricks, and falls into the habit of following what he discerns that the students desire. To be yakamashii — that is, to be a disturber of peace or the cause of trouble — is to commit a signal breach of Japanese morals. A righteous cause is not a complete excuse, for no one can be quite innocent who has voluntarily entered into strife. The managers of a school, in the slang of the day, have no use for an instruc tor who cannot get along harmoniously with his students. The instructor knows this, and guides himself accordingly. I am speaking now chiefly of Japanese instructors; for the foreigner, trained amid different tra ditions, usually does not easily succumb to the harness. But after a time his struggles become gradually fainter; and the lapse of several years usually leaves him as tractable upon a number of the second year students went off in search of the Director, and eventually succeeded in entering his room and plying him with a string of questions. Mr. Vano made no re ply whatever, and without delay despatched an officer to the De partment of Education to report the occurrence to the Minister. We are informed that the students demand the resignation of the Director. JAPAN MAIL, JAN. IO, iSqi
Mr. Yano Jiro, Director of the Tokyo Higher Commercial School, has resigned his post. This School is a Government Institution, ranking with the Higher Middle Schools. The Director in question is one of the most experienced educators in Japan, and is well known to some of the riostnnians who have resided in Japan.
