c. The Establishment of the Six-year Compulsory Education System

The extension of the period of compulsory education which became the outstanding question after the promulgation of the 1900 Elementary School Order was realized on April 1, 1908, with the enforcement of the 1907 revision of the 1900 Elementary School Order, which was promulgated on March 21, 1907. This 1907 revision was implemented in connection with a general reordering and expansion of national education after the Russo-Japanese War. According to Article 18 of this 1907 revision, the course of the ordinary elementary school was extended from four to six years thus extending the official period of compulsory education.

The establishment of the six-year system of compulsory education resulted in a large-scale revision of other parts of the educational system. Previously graduation from the ordinary elementary school had been followed by two, three, or four year courses in the higher elementary school and only on the completion of the second year of these courses did students advance to middle schools or to girls' high schools (koto jogakko) under the 1899 Middle School Order and the Girls' High School Order promulgated on the seventh and the eighth of February, 1899, respectively. In contrast, after the realization of the six-year compulsory education system, the six-year ordinary elementary school became a common course for all people, and middle level education and higher education were set above this base. This pattern was to remain until the early days of the post-World War 2 period.