(6)The Treatment of the Imperial Rescript on Education; and the Establishment of the Constitution of Japan and the Fundamental Law of Education

Traditionally in Japan, educational systems had been regulated by imperial orders (chokurei) rather than by laws; concerning the aims of education there was the Imperial Rescript on Education (Kyoiku ni kansuru Chokugo). The Meiji Constitution itself contained no specific references whatsoever to education. The new democratic reforms rejected many of the concepts and values that had supported the old educational system as well as the broader moral structure of the nation, yet the common people experienced difficulty in grasping the essential principles of the "new education." Due to this void, many Japanese educators, including those who worked with the United States Education Mission to Japan, advised the government to issue a new Imperial Rescript on Education. While the three, early postwar Ministers of Education (Maeda Tamon (1884 - 1962), Abe Yoshishige (1883 - 1966), and Tanaka Kotaro) appreciated these suggestions, they were fearful that anew Rescript might acquire some of the same negative associations as the Meiji Rescript and thus sidestepped the issue.

The question arose again during debate on the adoption of the new constitution and discussion of a basic law for education. By the fall of 1946 the decision had been made that the concept of the "new education" should be rooted in law rather than an imperial Rescript (chokugo, shosho, etc.) and in October the Ministry of Education issued a notice, which announced that the old belief that the Imperial Rescript on Education provided the proper foundation for education in Japan should be abandoned; Rather, educators were told to seek guidance for their work from the ethical, philosophical, and religious heritage shared by all nations. Furthermore, the customs of reading the Imperial Rescript on Education on national holidays and of regarding the contents of the imperial rescripts as divinely inspired were to be abandoned. Further debate on the Imperial Rescript on Education was effectively terminated, although official action on the part of the Diet to eliminate the Imperial Rescript on Education was not taken until June, 1948. This position was reiterated in a notice issued by the Ministry of Education in that same month.

The decision that educational reform in a democratic society should be rooted in law had been finalized by the establishment of the new Constitution of Japan, which after the passage through the Imperial Diet on October 7, 1946, was promulgated on November 3, 1946, and put in force on May 3, 1947. Prescriptions relating to education formed an important part of Chapter 3 of the new Constitution, "Rights and Duties of the People." In particular Article 26 stipulated that 1) "All people shall have the right to receive an equal education correspondent to their ability, as provided by law"; 2) "All people shall be obligated to have all boys and girls under their protection receive ordinary education as provided for by law." It was further specified that "Such compulsory education shall be free." Thus the right to an education was recognized as one of the fundamental human rights of the Japanese people and the provision for compulsory education was guaranteed by the new Constitution, a document which declared that sovereignty rests with the people. The way was paved for the creation of a new educational system through legislative action.

In March, 1947, the Fundamental Law of Education combinig the fundamental ideas and principles of the Report of the United States Education Mission to Japan, A Guide for the "New Education," and the proposals of the Education Reform Committee passed the Imperial Diet. This Law was promulgated on March 31, 1947, and put in force on that day, prior to the above-mentioned May 3, 1947 enforcement of the Constitution of Japan. A preamble attached to the Law stated that the realization of the ideals of the new Constitution depended ultimately on the effectiveness of education and that the provisions of the Law had been drawn up in conformity with "the spirit of the Constitution of Japan."

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