* Japanese school uniform : activities military drill







Japanese School Uniform: Activities--Military Drill


Figure 1.--Here we see Japanese boys presumably from a secondary school involved in military exercises. We are not sure when the photograph was taken, but probably during the 1910s or 20s, before or after World War I. The boys look to be about 13 years old.

Drill was a very common part of European and American education in the 19th and early-20th century. This primarily consisted of marching and learning marching moves. It was adopted primarily because it taught discipline. It was more common for boys than girls. Japan after the Meiji Restoration established a national educational system for the first time and used European models for their new system. The physical educational (PE) program as designed by the new Ministry of Education (MoE) at first involved light gymnastics, but over time, drill, and eventually overt military training became part of the phyical education system. The first PE program designed by the MoE was light gymnastics (1878). The primary purpose of the PE program was to promote health. The Moe made PE a required subject and adopted military gymnastics (1886). The MoE reorganized the PE and adopted military drill (early-20th century). The MoE gradually turned to military personnel for PE instructors. During the Taisho era (1912-26) about 50 percent of school PE teachers were military personnel. Schools began assigning military officers secondary and tertiary schools to teach military drill. This included both marching and avtual military exercises. The military began to see school PE as preparing students for subsequent military training. [Okuma] At the end of World War II this was extended to training children, including primary school children, to participate in resisting an anticipated American invasion--Ketsugo.

Sources

Okuma Hiroaki. "The significance of adopting the military gymnastics and drill at the formation and reorganization of physical education system, especially in the Meiji and Taisho Era," Bulletin of Institute of Health and Sports Sciences Vol. XXIV, pp. 57-70 (2001). (University of Tsukuba, Institute of Health and Sport Science.)






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Created: 6:11 AM 7/17/2010
Spell checked: 11:36 PM 5/27/2020
Last updated: 11:36 PM 5/27/2020