A Historical Study of Takinogawa Gakuen in Its Formative Years

Abstract

Takinogawa Gakuen, the first institution for mentally retarded children in Japan, was founded as an orphanage by Ryoichi Ishii in Tokyo in 1891. Finding an "idiotic" child among the orphans, Ishii tried to teach her, and went to the United States in 1896 and 1899, to study the theory and practice of education for mentally retarded children. After a few years of preparation, he transformed the orphanage into an institution for mentally retarded children during the period 1902 to 1905. The early objective of the institution, according to its regulations, was not custodial care, but rather education and treatment of mentally retarded children of school age who were not accepted by regular schools. The enrollment increased from 15, in 1902, to over 50, around 1910 (fixed capacity 60). Most pupils were diagnosed as having mental retardation of the so-called pathological type. Medical care was amply provided by doctors of psychiatry. Much impressed with Seguin's writings, Ishii introduced the method of sensory education of mentally retarded children, following Seguin's theory and method. Teachers were recruited from the orphan girls who had been sustained and trained by Ishii as special teachers of mentally retarded children in the institution. Ishii ran the institution in its early stages without any public assistance, using funds provided by donations, mainly from foreign residents in Japan and from the United States. However, in order to achieve financial independence, he gradually shifted the finances from donations to tuition fees. In 1911, 97.5% of the running expenses were covered by fees. Because of the high tuition fees, most of the pupils came from wealthy families capable of paying such fees; the number of poor and needy pupils exempted from the fees was limited to less than 20% of the total enrollment. With fairly stable finances and a sufficient staff of teachers, Takinogawa Gakuen played a leading role as an educational and research institution, establishing education for mentally retarded children in prewar Japan.