Abstract
It is not easy to scrutinize the accumulated products of historical studies of educational administration in Japan, since the classical work of S. Matsuura "Historical Developement of Educational Systems since Meiji" (published in 1938〜39). But it is very clear that the works of T. Kaigo, Professor of Tokyo University, a well-known authority of the history of Japanese education, written before the Second World War, contributed to the vital reform of the Japanese school system during the occupation period. He was convinced that the Japanese school system should have been reorganized much earlier from the dual system into the single tracked one. He had studied and known well the 6・3 system and the theory of the development of the school system which was organized by E. P. Cubberly of Stanford University, through Prof. S. Abe who had studied abroad in the U. S. in 1923〜24. Kaigo, thus, had rediscovered the idea of a single tracked system within the code of school administration, "Gakusei of 1872." He was convinced that the seed of the idea of the ladder system in the "Gakusei" was destined to grow into the 6・3 system after the War. But on the other hand, Kaigo was rather negative toward the destiny of a school board system transplanted at the same time because Japan had no seed of such a system. T. Nakajima, another student of Abe and later professor of Tohoku University, where he studied and taught educational administration. He had another conviction about the school board system. According to his own experiences of observing the school board system in the U. S. in 1951, he believed that the system should be revitalized in the future, so far as Japan would survive as a democratic country. After the end of the cold war between East and West, his conviction came true. Now Japan needs the school board system revitalized. He had recommended his students to study abroad in the U. S. to study the school board system there. Among them was R. Kimura. He studied abroad in the U. S. in 1963〜65. Prof. Nakajima advised Kimura to study the American and Japanese educational systems comparatively focussing upon the Japanese students studying abroad in the U. S. before and at the early Meiji period. Among them was Arinori Mori. He became the first minister of education in Japan in 1885. He was assasinated on the day of the promulgation of the Meiji Constitution in 1889, after three years of service. Kimura is now a Professor Emeritus of Tohoku University. He has devoted himself to solve the many enigmas of Mori for more than twenty years. After solving certain enigmas, he published "Ibunkahenrekisha Mori Arinori : Mori Arinori, A Traveler Wandering in Different Cultures" in 1986. Referring to the book in this paper, Kimura argued how Mori struggled to implant the board systems in various levels of education in Japan within in his limitted term of office, showing how much we can learn even now Mori's struggles.
