Abstract
The establishment of Imperial University in 1886 was one of the epoch-making areas in the history of universities in modem Japan and served as a model for the subsequent organization of the university system. Therefore, ananalysis of the university policies of Arinori Mori, the first minister of education, who exhibited leadership in helping to establish of the university system in this period, is very immportant. The first purpose of this essay is to identify some important research materials, which can be located at the University of Tokyo. These university materials had not been utilized for any research until quite recently. To date, studies related to the Imperial University Ordinances have been inadequate, largely because the location of many important historical documents has been unknown. In this context, some of these materials will greatly contribute to the study of educational history. The second is to consider the process of university regulation enactment or amendment, centering about correspondence with University and Mori, using concrete three themes as following. 1) University entrance requirements related to the articulation of Universitiys and lower schools; 2) Bachelor degree conferment related to degree regulations; 3) The Graduate School system (it was known as the University Hall system at that time) in the early phases. The final aim of this research is to reconsider the historical concept of Imperial Universitiys in relation to Mori's educational policies. The conclusions reached in this essay are as follows. The first is related to two important documents. Two explanations, of the revision of graduate school regulations and bachelor degree conferment, indicate that the Imperial University had made proposals in these areas themselves. It follows from this that the identity of Imperial universities gradually developed following the establishment of the system. In addition, the two documents suggest that many other documents, conceming Mori's educational policy, may be found at other universities and schools and, if they do exist, would be very important for further research and analysis in this area. The second concerns the exchange of ideas on the concept of Imperial University. Judging from the abovedocuments, indications are that there were exchanges of ideas between faculty members on the concept ofuniversities. Explanations related to revisions of graduate school regulations indicate that the graduate school system was in name only, while colleges constituted the institutional body. This has been the essence of exchangeson the concept of Imperial University. Within the "Regulations of Imperial University, " the 2nd Articlestates that, "The Imperial University shall consist of theUniversity Hall and the Colleges." On the one hand, the Imperial University system was conscious of Minister Mori's influence and correspondence. On the another hand, it began to reform itself in response to the real conditions experienced within the universities a few years later. We may say that the universities had fulfilled their principal functions of cultivating students and had developed the capacity to conduct institutional research, after their establishment. It follows from what this analysis that Mori recognized the need to accept the exchange of ideas of related to what constituted a university along with views held by the state.
