During the early years of the Meiji era, there was intense debate among Japanese leaders and intellectuals. One side wanted to build loyal subjects who could be depended upon to support government programs. The other side wanted to build citizens who could be depended upon to be independent and self-assured. The final answer was to build subjects. This decision became part of in the Constitution of 1889 and the Imperial Rescript on Education of 1890.
Makiguchi’s entire educational career was a protest against the production of subjects. Although he didn’t challenge government policy directly, he criticized Japanese teachers and educators for their tendency to accept popular educational ideas. But it wasn’t his educational philosophies and activities that led to his imprisonment. In the end, it was his religious convictions and refusal to accept the military government’s declaration of Shinto as the state religion that led to his arrest in 1943.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Tsunesaburo Makiguchi
Tsunesaburo Makiguchi was born on June 6, 1871, in a small village in northwestern Japan. He was the first son of Chomatsu Watanabe; his mother’s name was Ine; his parents named him Chohichi. Makiguchi’s father abandoned him and his mother when he was very young. When he was three years old, he was left with the family of an uncle, Zendayu Makiguchi. His mother met with him secretly from time to time, eventually attempting murder-suicide by jumping into the Japan sea with Makiguchi in her arms. They were both rescued but he never saw his mother again.
In his mid-teens Makiguchi moved to Hokkaido and lived for a time with an uncle, Shiroji Watanabe. He took a job as an errand boy and studied to pass a government exam that would qualify him to take college entrance exams. His studiousness and dependability impressed the chief of police who invited him to accompany him to Sapporo.
Just before he graduated from Sapporo normal school in 1893 he changed his name to Tsunesaburo Makiguchi. He was accepted a position as a supervising teacher in the primary school attached to the normal school. He held the position for eight years.
In 1894 Makiguchi married Kuma. They had eight children, four boys and four girls. Tragedy struck repeatedly during the last twenty years of his life. Four of his children died between 1924 and 1932. In 1944 he was consigned to solitary confinement in Sugano Prison for refusing to cooperate in government required religious practices. During this incarceration his remaining son was killed in battle in World War II. Makiguchi died on November 18, 1944, at the age of seventy-three.
In his mid-teens Makiguchi moved to Hokkaido and lived for a time with an uncle, Shiroji Watanabe. He took a job as an errand boy and studied to pass a government exam that would qualify him to take college entrance exams. His studiousness and dependability impressed the chief of police who invited him to accompany him to Sapporo.
Just before he graduated from Sapporo normal school in 1893 he changed his name to Tsunesaburo Makiguchi. He was accepted a position as a supervising teacher in the primary school attached to the normal school. He held the position for eight years.
In 1894 Makiguchi married Kuma. They had eight children, four boys and four girls. Tragedy struck repeatedly during the last twenty years of his life. Four of his children died between 1924 and 1932. In 1944 he was consigned to solitary confinement in Sugano Prison for refusing to cooperate in government required religious practices. During this incarceration his remaining son was killed in battle in World War II. Makiguchi died on November 18, 1944, at the age of seventy-three.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Soka Gakkai Founded in 1930
The Soka Kyoiku Gakkai (Value Creation Education Society) was founded on November 18, 1930, by Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda. Born in 1871, Makiguchi was an educator and author passionately dedicated to educational reform. The theory of Soka (value-creating) Education was first set out by Makiguchi in the book Value Creating Pedagogy, in which he voiced criticisms of the Japanese pre-war education system, many of which continue to be leveled today. Makiguchi asserted that the purpose of education is the development of the unique creative potential of each child - not the "manufacture" of obedient servants of the state. Makiguchi's relentless critique of existing philosophies in his search for a basis for his educational views eventually led him to take faith, in 1928, in the Buddhism of Nichiren. Josei Toda, a young teacher, had met Makiguchi around 1920 and joined his mentor in his conversion. The Soka Kyoiku Gakkai was founded in order to promote humanistic education based on Buddhist principles.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Bowie SGI News 10-14-07
Study Review 10am Saturday 27 October and 2pm Sunday 28 October at the Wolpert’s, 2838 Belair Dr., Bowie 301 262 6643
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SS Toso 7pm Wednesday 17 October at Denise Greene’s, 15021 Newcomb Ln., Bowie 301 218 1414.
“Therefore, when you chant the daimoku of this sutra, you should be aware that it is a more joyful thing than for one who was born blind to gain sight and to see one’s father and mother, and a rarer thing than for a man who has been seized by a powerful enemy to be released and reunited with his wife and children.” (WND 1, 143)
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SS Toso 7pm Wednesday 17 October at Denise Greene’s, 15021 Newcomb Ln., Bowie 301 218 1414.
“Therefore, when you chant the daimoku of this sutra, you should be aware that it is a more joyful thing than for one who was born blind to gain sight and to see one’s father and mother, and a rarer thing than for a man who has been seized by a powerful enemy to be released and reunited with his wife and children.” (WND 1, 143)