（8）The Establishment of Middle Schools and Girls' Schools

As mentioned previously, the University drafted the University Regulations and the Middle and Elementary School Regulations in 1870 and it was in the latter Regulations that the concept of a middle school was clearly set forth. This middle school differed from the general type middle schools set up after the proclamation of the Education System Order in that it provided a specialized curriculum. These Regulations were not issued nor applied to the nation as a whole, but nevertheless many prefectures and fiefs imitated these by establishing schools called middle schools. These schools represented the first steps in Japan toward a three-level educational system.

Actually in Kyoto, middle schools were planned before the Middle and Elementary School Regulations. This planning was elaborated in 1869 in the Proposal for the Establishment of Middle and Elementary Schools which was presented by the prefectural government of Kyoto to the Grand Council. According to the terms of this Proposal the city was to be divided into two precincts with a middle school in each. Further plans called for the establishment of elementary schools throughout the city by neighborhood organizations. This was the origin of the school district system for future middle and elementary schools. It was further envisioned that these middle schools would function as centers for the administration and the social and cultural activities of the local area. Though this plan of establishing middle schools was not implemented, it served as part of the background of experience that made future implementation possible.

As has been mentioned earlier, many of the prefectures and fiefs established middle schools in their attempts after the Middle and Elementary School Regulations. But often these schools did not conform to the terms of the Regulations. In many cases plans for modernization consisted of no more than the addition of courses in Western learning to the existing Chinese curriculum of traditional subjects. Actual conditions existing at that time differed from one middle school to another. There was no fixed curriculum. Nevertheless, these middie schools represented the highest form of education for most local areas. They also served as centers for local educational administration and teacher training.

Many girls' schools (jogakko) were also founded after the Meiji Restoration. Although the girls' schools varied in their objectives, most established by the time of the proclamation of the Education System Order were of the elementary level. In terms of content, the girls' schools ranged from those concerned with training girls in the tradition of the Edo period to those that emphasized Western learning. The fiefs of Fukuyama,Izushi, Matsue, and Nagoya were especially noted for their girls' schools. Kyoto Prefecture set up the New English School (Shin Eigakko) with its attached girls' practical arts school (nyokoba) in 1872. This School was actually a girls' school that taught English along with sewing and handicrafts. An English couple was hired as the girls' teachers. In 1874 the School changed its name to the English Girls' School (Eijogakko) and developed as a girls' middle level school. The first girls' school established by the Department of Education was the Government Girls' School (Kanritsu Jogakko) opened in 1872, which was renamed Tokyo Girls' School (Tokyo Jogakko) un that same year. It became a model for similar institutions in the new era as stated in Chapter 2 and was the best equipped school of its kind. The major difference between schools for boys and schools for girls was that the latter emphasized courses in handicrafts.

There were also several private girls' schools established by missions that were especially notable for their modern education. A private English school was founded at Yokohama in 1870 by Mary E. Kidder (1834-1910). This later became Ferris School for Girls. Another institution of the same type opened in the following year under the direction of three female missionaries and was named Yokohama Kyoritsu Gakuen after the port city where it was located. The A-Rokuban Jogakko opened in Tokyo in 1870. All of these schools were remarkablef or their rapid growth once established. Generally, however, the growth of girls' schools was much slower than that of boys' schools, because of the lesser view of women inherited from the Edo period. Indeed the predominant stimulus in promoting education for women in the early years of the Meiji era was the efforts of the Christian missionaries.