The Ethics Textbook Fushi Dōtokugaku during the Tenure of Mori Arinori: Examined through the Critical Reaction to it in Nihon KōdōSōki

This paper explores the character and aim of moral education during the tenure of Mori Arinori, by focusing on an ethics textbook that Mori chose for middle and normal schools, entitled Fushi Dotokugaku, and the critical reaction to it in Nihon Kodo Soki, the journal of the Nihon Kodokai. This paper captures the interrelationship between the nature of Fushi Dotokugaku's contents and the logic held by the Imperial Rescript on Education (Kyoiku Chokugo). Namely, the nationalism manifested in Fushi Dotokugaku and Mori's moral education are characterized by their emphasis on family and social solidarity through contractual relationships of rights and duties, rather than the emotional bonds that sustained the family-nation sentiment of nationalism in the era after the Imperial Rescript. Furthermore, Fushi Dotokugaku is notable for its affirmation that the demands of the nation do not trump those of universal moral values, and that the former should thus be restrained by the latter