The Plan to Establish the Bakufu English College and its Failure

Abstract

This article aims to clarify the formation and contents of the plan for the establishment of the Bakufu English College, and its failure. The documents used in this article were collected during recent visits to England.
Firstly, I describe how the plan for the College was first suggested by Sir Harry Parkes, British Minister in Japan, and drawn up against the background of the dynamics of the Western impact on the Bakufu and their perception of comtemporary international relations. I point out that Ernest Satow, the interpreter for the British Legation, played an important role in formulating the English College's plan for the study of the English language and of sciences cultivated in Europe.
Secondly, given the contributions made by Parkes and Satow to the planning of the College, I examine the British influence on the proposed College. By means of an analysis of the available documents and Satow' s memoirs, it is clear that the planned College was modelled on the English Public School.
Thirdly, I examine the implementation stage of the original plan, and in particular the employment of teachers. Documents held at the Public Record Office reveal that the British Foreign Office made efforts to identify teachers for the College; Lord Edward Stanley, Foreign Minister asked Dr. Frederick Temple, Headmaster of Rugby School, to locate a competent person who might be disposed to undertake the position of Headmaster and could then be usefully entrusted with the selection of teachers to be employed under him; Temple failed to find men he could recommend mainly due to the employment opportunities in England and India for men of education competent to undertake the proposed duties in Japan. Lastly, I discuss the implications which the proposed Bakufu English College and its failure had for the Bakumatu and Meiji period of history in terms of the British influence upon Japanese Education.