d. Middle Level Foreign Language Schools

No special provisions were made for foreign language schools in the Education System Order as initially proclaimed. There were, however, many such schools, and so on April 28, 1873, regulations were supplemented to the Education System Order to include provisions for the establishment of foreign language schools and specialized schools. A two-year course in the lower level of a foreign language school was specified as one of the entrance requirements for the specialized schools, and hence the lower level of the foreign language school came to be characterized as facilities for middle level education. To the general public the middle schools and foreign language schools were viewed as similar institutions except that one emphasized general subjects and the other foreign languages.

The foreign language schools of this period were often small and offered a limited curriculum. Nevertheless, due to the interest in the Civilization and Enlightenment thought, during the early years of the Meiji Restoration they were quite popular. By far the great majority specialized in English. In 1874 there were 91 foreign language schools and the next year their number had risen to 103. However, in 1876 they dropped back to 92 and by 1878 there were only 34 schools. The majority of the foreign language schools throughout this period were private: for example, of the 103 institutions in operation in 1875, 86 were privately run. The year for the largest enrollment of students was in 1875 when there were 6,765 (of which 3,940 attended private foreign language schools). As in the case of middle schools, girls also attended foreign language schools and certain of these institutions were run exclusively for girls. From about 1877, with the waning of the Civilization and Enlightenment thought, the number of foreign language schools declined rapidly. Many of them were reorganized as regular middle schools.