c. The 1890 Elementary School Order

The 1890 Elementary School Order was promulgated on October 7, 1890. (As for the enforcement of this 1890 Order, refer to appended provisions of this Order.) The various articles of this 1890 Order were determined in accordance with the system for local autonomy which was in process of realization at that time with the enforcement of the 1888 City System and Town and Village System Law (Shisei Chosonsei), the 1890 Prefecture System Law (Fukensei) and the 1890 County System Law (Gunsei). The 1890 Elementary School Order differed from the 1886 Order in that it spelled out the elementary school system in great detail. In all there were 96 articles, divided into eight chapters. These were entitled 1 ) The Main Purpose of Elementary Schools and Their Types, 2) The Organization of Elementary Schools, 3) Attendance, 4) The Establishment of Elementary Schools, 5) Tuition and the Burden of Prefectures, Counties (Gun), Cities, Towns, and Villages with Respect to Elementary Schools, 6) Elementary School Principals and Teachers, 7) Management and Supervision, and 8) Appended Provisions.

In terms of changes to the system, the points to be noted include the abolishment of the simplified elementary course, the division of the elementary school into two types, the ordinary elementary school consisting of compulsory education for either a three or a four year course and the higher elementary school consisting of a further two, three, or four year course. In addition, provisions were made for adding special courses (senshuka) to higher elementary schools and supplementary courses (hoshuka) to ordinary and higher elementary schools, and apprentice schools and vocational supplementary schools were also classified as elementary schools. Where a special course was joined with a higher elementary school, this resulted in the addition to, or the substitution for, the regular curriculum of some course in practical education - for example, agriculture, commerce, or engineering. Along with the apprentice schools and the vocational supplementary schools, these higher elementary schools with special courses made an important contribution to the development of industry.

As for rules concerning the establishing of ordinary elementary schools, it was stated that each city, town and village should establish sufficient ordinary elementary schools to permit the attendance of all school-age children. In the event that it was recognized by the county head (guncho) that a single town or village lacked the capital for assuming the burden of establishing sufficient ordinary elementary schools, that town or village could join with another town or village in a school association to establish the required schools. Moreover, in the event that there was a private ordinary elementary school in a city, town, or village, that school could substitute for the required city, town, and village ordinary elementary schools. Regulations were provided for these situations in the 1890 Law concerning General Regulations for Local School Matters (Chiho Gakuji Tsusoku) promulgated on October 3, 1890.

One point in the 1890 Elementary School Order to which particular attention ought to be paid is Article 1 where the purpose of elementary schools was outlined: "The purpose of elementary schools is to attend to the development of the bodies of children and to furnish them with the skills and knowledge necessary for daily life together with basics of moral education and education fundamental to the members of the Japanese nation." Thus the purpose comprised these three essential parts: moral education, education for citizens, and education for skills and knowledge. Prior to this 1890 Order, the role of elementary schools had been conceived simply as a vehicle for general education, and thus this Order signified a step toward a broader goal for elementary education - behind this shift was an appreciation of the school regulations prevailing in Germany.

This aspect of the 1890 Elementary School Order was not changed in the subsequent 1900 Elementary School Order and its revisions, and continued in effect until the enforcement in 1941 of the National School Order (Kokumin Gakkorei). Thus, the fundamental goal of elementary education defined at this time stood for more than fifty years.

The enforcement of the 1890 Elementary School Order required many detailed provisions, and in 1891, mostly in November, a large number of related regulations were issued. Among them was the Outline of the Course of Study for Elementary Schools (Shogakko Kyosoku Taiko).