Abstract
Twelve years after Josiah Conder first introduced the European system of architectural education into Japan, the scope of study was broadened to include Japanese architecure when the first official course on the subject was established at the Imperial University in 1889 (M. 22), and the person selected to serve as the initial lecturer was Kigo Kiyoyoshi. Kigo was at that time an architect employed by the Imperial Household Agency as a specialist involved in Japanese style design. The lecture course offered by Kigo Kiyoyoshi, in comparison with the more formal Japanese architectural history courses later taught by Ito Chuta, has been repeatedly criticized as having been little more than a short course in carpentry technique centered on explanations of the Kiwari method. This criticism cannot be considered entirely apt, however, since the intent of Kigo's approach was not academic historicism but rather practical training covering a broad range of knowledge related to Japan's architectural traditions, from history to design to construction. The establishment of this new field was a reflection of the emerging emphasis on Japan's own tradition, resulting in part from such background factors as the rise in political and social nationalism and changes in academic and professional leadership. This study takes these points into account in an analysis of the content of Kigo Kiyoyoshi's first series of lectures on Japanese architecture ; included is a re-examination of source materials such as those in Kigo's personal library collection and in the diaries of Ito Chuta.
