b. Middle Level Education for Girls

From the period of the Education System Order on, schools which provided a higher level of general education for girls were classified as middle schools. However, in July, 1882, a model girls' high school (koto jogakko) was established as an institution attached to Tokyo Women's Normal School and gradually many similar institutions were opened in the various prefectures. This began a truly separate system of middle level education for girls. These girls' institutions attracted girls of the upper level of society and aimed at an education based on the wifely virtues of modesty and gentleness. By 1885, there were nine schools of middle level education for girls; one government and eight local public with a total enrollment of 616 girls. While there were also several private institutions including a number of Christian girls' schools and girls' sewing schools, those came to be classified as miscellaneous schools rather than girls' high schools.