Abstract
Among researchers the problem has frequently been discussed how the relation between the liberal and enlightened thinking which Mori maintained as a Deputy Ambassador in America and the nationalistic and centralistic attitude he took as Minister of Education in Japan is to be interpreted. By making a distinction between nationalism in education and nationalism in general, this paper attempts to point out the possibility of a new understanding of this problem, more in line with the interest of the history of educational thought.
Looking at the problem from this angle, it turns out that Mori in his fundamental thinking was an educational nationalist throughout. This study tries to establish the logic of this assumption by means of an examination of Mori's works and at the same time it points out that this type of nationalism possessed characteristics, in terms of educational thought, peculiar to the Japanese in their entirety and consequently the attempt is made to emphasize the importance of interest in educational research of this type of nationalism.
