Meirokusha

The Meirokusha (Japanese明 六 社, dt "Company of the year Meiji 6") was an intellectual society of the Meiji period in Japan.

It was proposed by the statesman Mori Arinori 1873 (6 years after the Meiji Restoration ) and officially founded on 11 February 1874. They aimed to "civilization" (文明, bummei ) and education (启蒙, Keimo ) to promote, introduce western ethics and elements of Western civilization in Japan. She played a significant role in the introduction and spread of Western ideas in the Meiji period, both through public lectures and by the published her journal Meiroku Zasshi ( "Journal of the year Meiji 6").

Mori was during his stay from 1871 to 1873 as Japan's first ambassador to the United States impressed by the activities of the American educational societies and influenced by Horace Mann's views of " universal education."

Members

The founding members were:

  • Mori Arinori
  • Nishimura Shigeki
  • Fukuzawa Yukichi
  • Katō Hiroyuki
  • Mitsukuri Rinsho
  • Mitsukuri Shūhei
  • Nakamura Masanao
  • Nishi Amane
  • Tsuda Mamichi
  • Sugi Koji

Later the company has grown to up to 31 members, among them:

  • Sakatani Shiroshi
  • Kanda Takahira
  • Maejima Hisoka
  • Nagayo Sensai
  • Tanaka Fujimaro
  • Tsuda Sen
  • Otsuki Fumihiko
  • William Elliot Griffis

So Its members included some of the leading Japanese educators, officials and philosophers of the 19th century, which had a very different background. Most had studied both Confucianism and Western philosophy and had spent time abroad.

The Confucian faction saw the basis of the strength and prosperity of Western nations in moral strength and urged that Japan should follow the same path.

The more the Western thinking behind related group stressed that the cause of logic and rationally organized and led organizations and institutions was due.

The pragmatist maintained that Japan had its own strengths that need to be combined with Western values ​​and the Western system of government.

Although members of the Meirokusha met until about 1900, its influence declined sharply after you saw in 1875 were forced to stop the release of their magazine because of a tightening of press legislation.

Further Reading

  • Ivan Parker Hall: Mori Arinori. Massachusetts, Harvard University Press 1973, ISBN 0-674-58730-8
  • Tozawa Yukio: Meirokusha no hitobito. Tsukiji Shokan, 1991, ISBN 4-8067-5690-3 (Japanese)
  • William R. Braisted, Yasushi Adachi, Yuji Kikuchi: Meiroku Zasshi: Journal of the Japanese Enlightenment Pacific Affairs, Vol 50, No. 3 (Autumn, 1977), pp. 525-528
562332
de