Tsuneki Mori

Image: Keio Institute of Liberal Arts and Heritage

It was the fourth headmaster, Tsuneki Mori, who created the system of having the same homeroom teacher for all six years, which is a characteristic feature of Yochisha. Mori was the last headmaster to receive direct instruction from Yukichi Fukuzawa.

February 3, 1901, was coincidentally the day Fukuzawa passed away. Mori published an article titled "Yochisha Education" in the Jiji Shinpo. In the article, Mori introduced the "scoldings" he had "received" from Fukuzawa. "Children must be raised like children; if you interfere in every detail and lead them like adults, they will become timid, which is very harmful to their development. It is not good to interfere recklessly in trivial matters." He also noted, "The current educational methods are problematic because they try to teach children things that are far too difficult." Furthermore, "Rather than putting things in through the ears, it is better to show examples where they can be seen, and instead of just being noisy with the mouth, it is better to use the eyes." Fukuzawa is said to have often visited Yochisha classes and given such advice.

Mori continued in his own words, stating that when adults "suppress activity and tell them to be quiet, not to make a fuss, and to behave," such "restraint causes them more pain than the pain an adult feels when imprisoned," and it "hinders physical and mental development." He wrote that interference is "even more harmful than leaving them to natural development," and that in order to handle children, one should "use various abilities freely, equally, and in many ways," and "develop abilities harmoniously according to their strength."

In the 'Biographies of Famous Keio University Figures,' Mori is described as "our ideal elementary school educator" who "did not care for appearances, did not envy the wealth of others, and single-mindedly aspired to the true meaning of education."

Tsuneki Mori was born in 1859 in Sashiki, Ashikita District, present-day Kumamoto Prefecture, as the eldest son of Yashichi and Hachika Mori. In his childhood, he studied under Tenta Takafuji at the domain-run school, Keibido. In 1872, at the age of 13, he became an assistant at Sashiki Elementary School, where Tenta's son, Masana Takafuji, served as the first principal. At that time, while various Western-style textbooks were beginning to circulate, Sashiki Elementary School adopted Fukuzawa's works, such as "Junior Book of Ethics with Many Tales from Western Lands" and "Sekai Kunizukushi" (Geography of the World), as textbooks.

When Mori was 18, the Satsuma Rebellion broke out. Mori joined the local defense unit and was caught up in the conflict between the government forces and the Satsuma army. He survived life-and-death situations, sometimes escaping into the mountains under the cover of darkness to hide for a month, and at other times participating in front-line combat.

In 1878, he went to Tokyo to study. Mori served under Chikanobu Tonami and studied English in his spare time. The following year, in March, he entered Keio University. It is said that his life was difficult due to a lack of funds.

He was a classmate of Fukuzawa's second son, Sutejiro, and during his time at the Juku, he frequently visited the Fukuzawa household, seemingly having opportunities for direct contact with Fukuzawa. Mori graduated at the top of his class. Upon the launch of the Jiji Shinpo, Fukuzawa invited him to join the editorial staff, but Mori declined due to circumstances in his hometown. At 24, he worked at Sashiki Elementary School and became the principal two years later. Fukuzawa could not give up on Mori, and letters remain from this period urging him to come to Tokyo.

In 1887, he became the first principal of Ashikita Higher Elementary School, but five years later, the school met the misfortune of sudden closure due to a revision of the Elementary School Ordinance. Mori taught the hundreds of children who were left stranded by himself and continued to support them until the school reopened the following year.

In 1897, the 38-year-old Mori responded to Fukuzawa's repeated invitations and moved to Tokyo alone, leaving his wife and children in Kumamoto (he later brought his family over). Following the custom since the first headmaster, Yoshiro Wada, he established a residence within the school grounds and looked after the children 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. His appointment as headmaster occurred almost simultaneously with the completion of the integrated education system that progressed from Yochisha to the general course and then to the university.

In the first issue of the Keio University Bulletin, the characteristics of Yochisha were described as a place to "cultivate a healthy spirit, with education centered on English to prepare students for entering the university from the Keio Futsubu School," and where students are "cared for so kindly, from clothing and food to the minor details of bathing, that it feels just like being at home." It also stated that the elementary school system at the time was underdeveloped, with schools being a "mixture of wheat and tares" and public safety being poor. Furthermore, aristocratic schools were "too aristocratic and not suitable for educating the children of commoners, which was a source of distress for conscientious parents," hence the need for Yochisha.

As headmaster, Mori personally planned and executed the construction of a new main building, auditorium, and science classroom, the establishment of a singing department, the creation of a botanical garden, and the refinement of various regulations, successively renovating Yochisha.

The impression Yochisha students had of him was that he seemed "gentle" and "friendly" but was "somewhat scary" and "very proper." It is also written that they could "spend time as if it were an extension of home," being treated to pears from Kumamoto or playing with Mori's son.

Mori valued moral training (shūshin) so much that he personally took charge of the moral training classes for the upper grades. His commitment was such that he was dissatisfied with the moral training textbooks available in the city and even consulted Fukuzawa about compiling his own textbook.

According to the recollections of graduates, Mori's moral training was "plain" and easy for children to understand, and it was "carried through with Yukichi Fukuzawa-ism, without touching upon the feudalistic Imperial Rescript on Education." Furthermore, those who transferred from other schools were "shocked to the core" because while "at municipal elementary schools, it was all about loyalty to the Emperor and patriotism day in and day out, at Yochisha it was completely different, with not a single word mentioned about loyalty or patriotism."

Mori believed that "the influence of good books is truly great and one should read biographies of great people," so he used the "Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin" and "The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa" as materials for moral training. In addition, he personally established the "Ten Virtues and Ten Commandments," which defined ten words each as guidelines for action, and the Yochisha "Shūshin Yōryō: Fukuzawa's Moral Code" as the pillars of his teaching.

The "Shūshin Yōryō: Fukuzawa's Moral Code" is a moral code consisting of 29 articles with the slogan "independence and self-respect," representing the culmination of the Fukuzawa spirit.

In 1900, Mori requested Fukuzawa, who was recovering from an illness, to visit the school, but it was not possible. Instead, he received a calligraphy piece stating, "The way of independence and self-respect for those who are children today is simply to follow the lessons of their parents in their conduct." Since "independence and self-respect" was a term intended for "those with firmly established thoughts," it was given so that children would not misunderstand it. After Fukuzawa's death, Mori established Yochisha's own 10-article (initially 6-article) moral code based on this idea. He chose simple words for children and referred to works like "Hibi no Oshie" (Daily Lessons), which Fukuzawa had written for his own sons. Mori utilized these in actual situations; for example, when there was a fight, he would have the students recite the relevant part, such as "Article 7: You must treat everyone, not to mention siblings and friends, with kindness and gentleness." According to Mori, after reciting it, the parties involved would start smiling, admit their faults, and apologize, so the matter could be settled just by saying "Very well."

One of the characteristics of Yochisha is the system where the same homeroom teacher stays with the class for six years. Mori questioned the common practice of setting moral training in the timetable and lecturing with sophisticated, "stiff language" to make students listen with seemingly solemn "proper posture." As a mechanism to overcome this, he advocated for "total class charge," where "as much as possible, one teacher takes charge from the first to the sixth grade." During these six years, "the teacher takes responsibility to infuse the spirit of moral training into all instruction," "teaches lessons based on incidental events" that occur among the students, and corrects them by "occasionally giving stories and folk tales." By doing so, "one can pay attention to the students' words and deeds beforehand without making the children feel that this is a 'moral training' subject." Furthermore, although teachers' personalities vary, if the homeroom teacher changes every year, "students will compare and criticize the previous teacher with the next, and the teacher-student relationship naturally becomes cold," but if the teacher is fixed, students do not get lost in adapting.

Before Mori's appointment, Yochisha students of different ages, like middle and high schoolers, were mixed and studied in groups organized by ability. Mori explained the harmful effects of this, stating that advancing to a "grade unsuitable for one's age" places an excessive burden, "causing fatigue that hinders normal development and instead ruins the future." He argued that in early childhood, consideration must be given to providing appropriate "leeway for physical and mental rest."

In the aforementioned "Yochisha Education," Mori conveyed an anecdote that Fukuzawa's principle for educating children was to "develop the animal body before cultivating the human spirit," and thus he was "quite strict about physical education." He noted, "When the teacher's grandchildren come over, he does not rejoice even if told they did well in school subjects, but he praises them when they return from a hike in high spirits without having used a carriage. This is the opposite of parents in the world who are prone to saying 'study, study' and only praise children for being quiet and reading." Mori himself included "Health" as one of the pillars in his "Ten Virtues and Ten Commandments," telling students, "It is said that a healthy spirit resides in a healthy body; therefore, a person must first be physically healthy. If the body is weak, even if one has talent and wisdom, they will be unable to utilize them, and it will be a waste of a treasure. Therefore, one should always value hygiene and strive to increase health as much as possible by keeping regular hours for sleeping and eating."

Regarding specific exercise, he believed that "making a whole class perform the same activity as one mass might be effective for some, but some feel considerable pain due to differences in physical strength. Making a large number of people do the same thing strictly all at once is something that requires much thought," and he stated that "free play is the best form of physical exercise." He said, "Play is suited to one's own strength... and because it is accompanied by the pleasure of interest, it is quite effective for physical development." He cited sumo as an example, noting that the skill with which children give names to wrestlers or make loincloths out of paper is superior to what a teacher teaches in the classroom, and they "continue for a long time and are doing it with great interest and devotion."

At the 1915 school opening ceremony, Mori said, "In general, no matter what a person does, if they do not have a pleasant and cheerful mood, not only will the work not progress, but it will become a burden and they will tend to be lazy." He spoke the words, "If you go about it with the feeling of testing the strength of your limited self, even painful things will not be a burden and you will enjoy your work. It is important to enjoy studying." This resonates with Fukuzawa's calligraphy "Geki-kyo Geki-rai" (Playful Coming and Going) currently displayed in the Yochisha auditorium, Jisonkan (Auditorium of Keio Yochisha Elementary School), or the term "Greatest Happiness" mentioned in the final article of the "Shūshin Yōryō: Fukuzawa's Moral Code," showing the underlying current of Fukuzawa's thought.

Mori resigned as headmaster in 1919 at the age of 60. His tenure of 21 years and 5 months is the longest in history. For Mori, who in his later years said, "Educating young children and forgetting old age through enjoyment is the ultimate bliss of life," the 21 years and 5 months of playing with the children must have been happy and enjoyable days.