Stories of ideal Japanese subjects from the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923

This article examines stories of ideal subjects published by the Ministry of Education within three months of Japan's most devastating natural disaster, the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake. The education materials, entitled Shinsai ni kansuru kyōiku shiryō, are a collection of stories of exemplary behaviour based on experiences of the earthquake and are imbued with moral values, such as loyalty to the Emperor and self-sacrifice. In this article I will demonstrate that widespread concerns about decaying moral values in Japanese society compelled the government to use these education materials in order to extol the moral values they considered necessary for creating ideal Japanese subjects.link_to_subscribed_fulltex