（2）The Promulgation of the Various School Orders

On the basis of the educational thinking of Education Minister Mori, the Ministry of Education set about the overall renovation of the school system. The approach used was to establish a separate school order for each type of school in the educational system. In contrast with earlier educational orders such as the Education System Order and the 1879 Education Order (Kyoikurei) whose original drafts had been written by commissions, the drafts of these orders were written by a handful of educational officials of the Ministry of Education. Mori drew up the draft for the 1886 Elementary School Order himself. Considering the narrow circle responsible for writing these orders, we can understand how it was possible to introduce major departures from traditional educational practices.

During 1886 four new school orders were promulgated: the1886 Elementary School Order, the 1886 Middle School Order, the 1886 Imperial University Order, and the Normal School Order. According to the new policy these four types of schools were to become the core of the educational system, and indeed while there were subsequent orders creating new school types, these four types of schools continued to occupy the most important and central position in the school system.