（1）The Introduction of Modern Science and Development of Science in the Meiji Era

The introduction of modern science into Japan dates back to the later days of the Edo period when Western scholarship was viewed as the new learning. However, attention to Western learning during this period consisted primarily of the study of foreign languages and foreign scientific ideas rather than involving independent academic research. It was only after the Meiji government began to vigorously promote the introduction of foreign civilization as part of its "Rich Nation, Strong Arms" and rapid industrialization policies that modern science made real inroads.

In the early years of the Meiji era, the government invited many foreign teachers and technicians to Japan and sent Japanese students abroad for study. In the case of scientific study, the University of Tokyo (from 1886 the Imperial University) came to play such an important role that the development of modern science in Japan can be traced through this institution alone until the establishment of Kyoto Imperial University in 1897. The introduction and development of technology was promoted by the Department of Industry Kobusho), which established the Engineering Grand School (Kobu Daigakko) in 1877 under its direct control to train personnel to work with imported technology, particularly the techniques of iron manufacturing, shipbuilding, the manufacture of gunpowder and other similar areas that would contribute to military know-how and assist in the development of an industrial base.

While science and technology are intrinsically related, they developed separately in this early period, and this pattern significantly influenced the later development of scientific techniques in Japan. The two areas were unified administratively when the Department of Industry was dismantled in 1885wuth the establishment of the Cabinet system and the Engineering Grand School was placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education. In 1886 the Engineering Grand School was merged with the University of Tokyo when the latter was renamed the Imperial University, but the areas of science and technology continued to be treated as separate entities for a considerable period thereafter. For example, at the Imperial University separate Colleges (Bunka Daigaku) were established respectively for science and for engineering as already stated in Chapter 3.

Following the early period of importing scientific knowledge, by the second half of the 1880s modern science in Japan achieved somewhat of an independent status. One example is the rapidity with which teaching positions in the University of Tokyo were handed over to Japanese scholars. In 1877 when the Faculty of Science was founded, only four out of sixteen positions were given to Japanese and one of these was not a regular position; the remaining twelve regular professor ships were held by foreign scholars. One by one the positions occupied by foreigners were awarded to young and energetic Japanese scientists who had studied abroad. By 1886, when the Faculty of Science was reorganized into the College of Science, only two among thirteen professorships were held by foreign scholars. By 1893 there was not a single foreigner.

A second example is provided by the establishment of academic societies as an outlet for the presentation of research results. Professional academic societies were founded successively in the fields of mathematics (1877), chemistry and biology (1878), earth science and engineering (1879), seismology (1880), pharmaceutics (1881), botany and meteorology (1882), anthropology (1884), agriculture and medicine (1887), and electrical engineering (1888). By 1890 academic societies had been founded in nearly every field of natural science. These societies not only constituted a forum for discussion, but performed such vital functions as providing a center for the standardization and dissemination of technical terms in the course of translating foreign scientific works into Japanese. The activities of these societies as well as the publication of the Proceedings of the Imperial University in European languages from 1887 helped to introduce Japanese scientific research to foreign countries, making great contributions to further academic development.

A third example is the large number of government scientific agencies which came to be founded: for example, the Hydrography Department (1874), the Tokyo Institute of Hygienic Sciences and the Tokyo Meteorological Observatory (1875), the Geological Survey Institute (1878), the Board of Statistics and the Land Survey Department (1884), the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory (1888), the Electric Laboratory (1891). In addition to these government agencies, the private Infectious Diseases Institute was also established in 1892 (from 1899government agency).

A fourth example of the development of modem science in Japan is the creation of organizations devoted to scholarship. The state's first modern university was considerably expanded and improved in 1886 when the 1886 Imperial University Order was promulgated as stated in Chapter 3. The Tokyo Academy, later known as the Imperial Academy, had been established in 1879 as a "place for discussion of educational affairs and debate about science and the arts." The promulgation of the Tokyo Academy Order (Tokyo Gakushikaiin Kitei) in October, 1890,enlarged and improved this facility as well.

A final example is that from the end of the 1880s the work of Japanese scholars such as Kitao Jiro in the field of meteorology, Nagaoka Hantaro in physics, and Kitazato Shibasaburo in bacteriology began to be published and receive international re cognition.

The close of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth century saw the continuing development of modern science in Japan, stimulated considerably by rapid industrialization and the Sino-Japanese and the Russo-Japanese Wars. In the latter half of the Meiji era, laboratories and research institutes under the direct jurisdiction of the government increased in number. Three additional Imperial Universities were established - Kyoto Imperial University in 1897 Tohoku Imperial University in 1907, and Kyushu Imperial University in1910 - and by 1912, the last year of the Meiji era, there were a total of fifteen colleges within the four Imperial Universities. It should be noted that the social mission of these Imperial Universities was much greater than in the classical universities of Europe, as exemplified by their inclusion of technological and agricultural colleges.