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Engineering Education and the Spirit of Samurai at the Imperial College of Engineering in Tokyo, 1871-1886

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Engineering Education and the Spirit of Samurai at the Imperial College of Engineering in Tokyo, 1871-1886 Engineering Education and the Spirit of Samurai at the Imperial College of Engineering in Tokyo, 1871-1886 by Masanori Wada Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Science and Technology Studies Gary Downey, Chair Daniel Breslau Barbara Reeves December 19, 2007 Blacksburg, VA Keywords: Industrialization, National Identity, Bushido History of Technology, Technology Transfer Copyright 2007, Masanori Wada Engineering Education and the Spirit of Samurai at the Imperial College of Engineering in Tokyo, 1871-1886 Masanori Wada Abstract The Meiji Restoration was the revolution that overthrew the feudal regime of the Tokugawa period in late nineteenth-century Japan. It was also the time of the opening of the country to the rest of the world, and Japan had to confront with Western powers. The Meiji government boldly accepted the new technologies from the West, and succeeded in swiftly industrializing the nation. However, this same government had been aggressive exclusionists and ultra-nationalists before the Restoration. In light of this fact, I investigate how national identity is linked to engineering education in Japan. My focus is on the Imperial College of Engineering (ICE), or Kobu-daigakko, in Tokyo during the late nineteenth century. The ICE was at the forefront of Westernization in the Meiji government. I specifically examine Yozo Yamao and Hirobumi Ito, who studied in Britain and were the co-founders of the college; Henry Dyer, the first principal; and the students of the ICE. As a result of the investigation, I conclude that the spirit of samurai (former warriors) was the ethos for Westernization at the ICE. They followed ethical code for the samurai, the essence of which was lordly pride as a ruling class. They upheld their ethical standard after the Meiji Restoration. Their spirit of rivalry and loyalty urged Yamao, Ito, and the students to emulate Western technology for ensuring the independence of Japan. The course of the ICE's development reveals that non-engineering motivations shared a mutual relationship with the engineering education of those at the ICE. iii Acknowledgements I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my committee members. I am especially grateful to Gary Downey for his help, guidance, and understanding throughout this research. I would like to thank Daniel Breslau and Barbara Reeves for their invaluable assistance and suggestions for improvement. Thanks to Sylvia Yoncich for helping me to polish my English at the end of the writing process. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Tetsuro and Françoise Mizutani for their immeasurable support while I was staying in Blacksburg. iv Explanatory Notes The custom in Japan is to put the surname first and the given name last, as in: Yamao Yozo (Yamao is the family name). In this thesis, all the names of Japanese figures are shown in the Western tradition of given name first and family name last, for example: Hirobumi Ito (Ito is his family name). There are many Japanese sources referenced in this thesis. In the bibliographic information section, I have put English translations of the titles in parentheses and brackets after the original Japanese titles. If the English translation is provided by the authors of the book and/or paper, the translation is in brackets. If it is not, I have put a tentative translation of the title in parentheses. For example: Author, Original Title [Official Translation by the Author] (Tokyo: Publisher, 2007). Author, Original Title (Tentative Translation of the Title) (Tokyo: Publisher, 2007). v Table of Contents Abstract............................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements............................................................................................................................. iii Explanatory Notes.............................................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents................................................................................................................................ v Section 1, Introduction........................................................................................................................ 1 The Meiji Restoration.......................................................................................................... 4 Section 2, Literature Review............................................................................................................... 8 Education at the ICE............................................................................................................ 9 Technology Transfer............................................................................................................ 13 National Identity and Engineering....................................................................................... 18 Section 3, Before the ICE—Yamao and Ito........................................................................................ 22 Studying Abroad.................................................................................................................. 24 Establishment of the College............................................................................................... 27 Unquestioning Adoption...................................................................................................... 32 Section 4, The ICE (1873-1882)—Dyer............................................................................................. 35 The First Principal, Henry Dyer........................................................................................... 36 System of the ICE, and its Reputation................................................................................. 38 Evaluation of the ICE by Dyer............................................................................................. 41 Section 5, Toward the End of the ICE—Students............................................................................... 46 Scale Down of the Ministry of Public Work........................................................................ 48 Merger with the University of Tokyo.................................................................................. 51 Students from Samurai........................................................................................................ 54 Continuous Samurai Mentality............................................................................................ 56 Bushido as the Spirit of Samurai......................................................................................... 59 West as Authority................................................................................................................. 64 Conclusion and Implications.............................................................................................................. 68 Bibliography....................................................................................................................................... 72 1. Introduction The purpose of this thesis is to show how engineering education is linked to the formation of national identity in late nineteenth-century Japan by focusing on the Imperial College of Engineering (ICE).1 After Tokugawa shogunate opened the country, Japan aggressively absorbed knowledge from the West by using foreign employees and sending students abroad. One of the typical institutions that promoted Westernization was the ICE in Tokyo, founded in 1871. Japan is often thought of as a mysterious country.2 The Restoration leaders, such as Toshimichi Okubo (1830-1878), and Yoshitaka Kido (1833-1877), the co-founders of the college Hirobumi Ito (1841-1909) and Yozo Yamao (1837-1917) were the ultra-nationalists who advocated sonno joi (honor the emperor, expel the barbarians) under the feudal system. A few years later, these leaders became the proponents of bunmei kaika (civilization and enlightenment), which virtually made Japan comparable to Western ways. How can we understand reasonably their “inconsistent” actions without concluding that Japanese people are mysterious or exceptional? The Meiji government carried out rapid industrialization and Westernization in Japan by imitating Western science and technology. What, however, was the purpose of imitation? I assume that Japanese engineers did not passively accept, but actively acquired Western technology, thus creating the hypothesis that Japanese national identity was the main factor that moved Japan toward Westernization. Then, I add 1 The name of the college has changed several times, and there are some differences of translations into English. When the college was established in 1871, it was called Kogaku-ryo. The name was changed into Kobu-daigakko in 1877. In this thesis, I will use the name of the college the "Imperial College of Engineering (ICE)." Since 1873, it had been less than fourteen years that the college put its unique education into practice. Two hundred eleven students graduated from the ICE in its history. The college was merged with the University of Tokyo in 1886, and the name of the university was changed to the Imperial University at that time. The faculty of engineering has been, specifically, called the "Imperial University, the College of Engineering"
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