Educational Color Woodblock Prints

Full Color Prints Issued by the Ministry of Education in 1873

(文部省発行教育錦絵 Monbushō hakkō kyōiku nishiki-e)

PRINTS IN THE COLLECTION 

[BELOW PRINTS GIFTED TO THE JORDAN SCHNITZER MUSEUM OF ART, UNIVERSITY OF OREGON]

click on image for details

Improving the Education of Families with Young Children


In October 1873, the Ministry of Education proclaimed that it would “improve the education of families with young children” by producing “a variety of art and toy products appropriate for children soon entering schools.”1 It then issued over 100 nishiki-e (color woodblock prints) as an aid for the education of young children and for adults. The total number of prints made and distributed is unknown but there are records of the Ministry distributing seven sets to Tokyo and a set each to other regional prefectures.2 Some prints were specifically targeted for home use with pre-school age children while others were issued to make up for “the lack of textbooks in Japan.”3 


The Ministry advertised these prints "As an aid to the education of the young child (yōdō) 幼童) within the home… use these pictures as a toy when the child is sitting or lying down. And when the child reaches the age to enter elementary school, the effect will be no small matter.”4  A set of 80 prints is listed by the Ministry as costing 26 sen and six ri.5 


These prints are referred to as Monbushō hakkō kyōiku nishiki-e 文部省発行教育錦絵 (often shortened to simply Kyōiku nishiki-e 教育錦絵) which is seen variously translated into English as “Pedagogic Brocade Prints published by the Ministry of Education,” “Full-color prints issued by the Ministry of Education” and  “Pictures for Children and Home Teaching.” The prints covered subjects including the basic principles of mechanics and physics, the accomplishments of great Western inventors and authors and lessons that can be drawn from their diligence, proper moral behavior, the importance of play and home economics. Educational prints for adults were also issued, including the basics of home construction and various agricultural pursuits. 


As can be seen below, some of the prints have extensive text, to assist a parent or teacher in explaining the pictures to a child. 

More Ministry of Education Color Woodblock Prints (not part of this collection)

数理図　斜面 

The Inclined Plain

[The Study of Natural Laws - Principals and Applications]

浮力

Buoyancy

[Study of Natural Laws]

英国の瓦徳 (蒸気機関)

Englishman [James] Watt

(Steam Engine)

[Legends of Great Westerners]

杉の用

Use of Cedar

[Housing]

難渋者ヲ侮辱ムル童男

Children Insulting a Suffering Man from the series Little Child Pictures for Home Entertainment

[Moral Lessons]

勉強する家内（かない） 

A Studious Wife from the series Little Child Pictures for Home Entertainment

[Home Schooling]

○基數／一二三四五六七八九／大數／一十百十十千十百萬十千／十萬百萬十萬億／少數／分十厘釐或作十毛厘毫

Mother teaching her children small and large numbers

[Home Schooling]

家屋の設計・割付

House Design and Layout

[Housing - until completion of Framework] 

新貨幣と両替屋

New Currency and Exchange for Old Currency

稲　稲の種類

Types of Rice Plants

[Food] 

西洋人形着せ替

Dress up Western Dolls

[Paper Models] 

幼童繪鮮運動 養生論說示圖

Children's Illustrated Exercise and Health Preservation Theory

For the Ministry of Education, it was important that children be educated from a young age not only at school but also at home. Therefore, it published educational prints aimed at helping families educate their children. This one details the ideal schedule for a day and reminds us that it is important to alternate between study and physical activity. It is partly inspired by "The Condition of the West," by the thinker and educator Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901), who spent time in the United States and Europe and sought to promote a more modern education.*

*translated from the press release for the 2022 exhibition "Les enfants de  l'ère Meiji" held at the Maison de la culture du Japon à Paris - https://www.mcjp.fr/fr/agenda/les-enfants-de-lere-meiji (accessed 4-1-24]

Origin of Subject Matter

The subject matter for many of the prints has been linked to the Chinese translation of “Chambers’s Information for the People", 1842 by William and Robert Chambers, (essentially an encyclopedia)6, and Nakamura Masanao’s Saikoku rishi hen 西国立志編, a translation of Samuel Smiles 1859 "Self-Help With Illustrations of Character and Conduct."7  

Artist(s)

Ministry of Education seal

The prints often, but not always, carry the seal of the Ministry of Education (Monbushō) reading 文部省製本所発行記 (Ministry of Education Publication). 


Most of the prints do not carry a signature, but 30 prints are signed 国輝 Kuniteru [Utagawa Kuniteru II (1830-1874)] and those not carrying a signature are attributed to “disciples of Utagawa Kuniteru” or “the studio Utagawa Kuniteru” or “the school of Kuniteru.” It is reasonably argued that while the signature of the well-known Utagawa school artist Kuniteru on prints would enhance their popular appeal, the signatures of his lesser known disciples would add little value to the print.8

Resources for Additional Information


English Language

“A Study of ‘The Full Color Prints issued by the Ministry of Education’ in Meiji Era Japan”, Okano Motoko https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/56631724.pdf [accessed 3-31-24]

Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, “Pedagogic polychrome nishiki-e prints published by the Ministry of Education,” Hirano Akira

https://www.sainsbury-institute.org/library-treasures/pedagogic-polychrome-nishiki-e-prints-published-by-the-ministry-of-education/ [accessed 3-31-24]

"Raising Subjects: The Representation of Children and Childhood in Meiji Japan," Rhiannon Paget an article from New Voices: A Journal for Emerging Scholars of Japanese Studies in Australia and New Zealand, Volume 4, 2011. https://newvoices.org.au/volume-4/raising-subjects-the-representation-of-children-and-childhood-in-meiji-japan/ [accessed 3-31-24]

University of Tsukuba Library: Educational Color Woodblock Prints  https://www.tulips.tsukuba.ac.jp/pub/kichosho/kyoiku-nishikie-eng.html [3-31-24]

Kumon Museum of Children's Ukiyo-e https://www.kumon-ukiyoe.jp/en/ 


Japanese Language


明治初期における視覚教育メディア政策の思想的背景に関する考察  “A Study on the Ideological Background about the Media Policy of Visual Education in Early Meiji Era,” Takako FURUYA, University of Tokyo, 2006. Download .pdf file KJ00004683087.pdf (1.6 MB) at https://repository.dl.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/records/31335 [accessed 4-1-24]


近代教育錦絵の研究―『文部省発行教育錦絵』における図像解釈とその典拠  筑波大学大学院人間総合科学研究科芸術専攻 ["A Study of Modern Educational Prints: Interpretation of Images and Their Sources in 'Educational Prints Issued by the Ministry of Education'] Download .pdf file DA07005_abstract.pdf at https://tsukuba.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/33321 [accessed 3-31-24]


Images Online


University of Tsukuba Library Kyoiku Nishikie (The Full Color Prints issued by the Ministry of Education)

https://www.tulips.tsukuba.ac.jp/lib/ja/collection/rare-kyoiku-nishikie [accessed 3-31-24]

https://www.tulips.tsukuba.ac.jp/exhibition/Ibuki/nisikie/nisikie.html [accessed 3-31-24]

https://www.tulips.tsukuba.ac.jp/exhibition/bakumatu/nisikie/ijinden.html#ca [accessed 3-31-24]

National Institute of Japanese Literature https://kokusho.nijl.ac.jp/biblio/300008009/1?ln=ja [accessed 3-31-24]

Smithsonian Libraries https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/yoydoyjizu00utag [accessed 3-31-24]


1 "Pedagogic polychrome nishiki-e prints published by the Ministry of Education" by Hirano Akira - Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, University of East Anglia https://www.sainsbury-institute.org/library-treasures/pedagogic-polychrome-nishiki-e-prints-published-by-the-ministry-of-education/ [accessed 4-1-24]
2  ibid.
3 “A Study of ‘The Full Color Prints issued by the Ministry of Education’ in Meiji Era Japan”, Okano Motoko, p.4 https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/56631724.pdf  [accessed 4-1-24]
4 "Raising Subjects: The Representation of Children and Childhood in Meiji Japan," Rhiannon Paget an article from New Voices: A Journal for Emerging Scholars of Japanese Studies in Australia and New Zealand, Volume 4, 2011. https://newvoices.org.au/volume-4/raising-subjects-the-representation-of-children-and-childhood-in-meiji-japan/ [accessed 4-1-24]
5 Paget points out that it is unknown whether this was the wholesale, re-sale or end consumer price.
6 The Japanese translation of this work, Hyakka zensho, was not published until 1876.
7 Nakamura Masanao 中村正直 (1832-1891), was a proponent of education for women and children and served as the first principal of the Tokyo Girl’s School (Tokyo Joshi Shihan Gakko).
8 op. cit. Okano Motoko

last revision:

4/01/2024

11/28/2019

4/22/2019

1/30/2019

1/17/2019