Masataro Sawayanagi

He was an education official and educator during the Meiji and Taisho periods. He was born in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture in 1865. He graduated from the Faculty of Letters, Tokyo Imperial University in 1888 (Meiji 21). He joined the Ministry of Education and served as the principal of the Second High School and the First High School, among other positions. He was appointed Director of the Ministry's General Education Bureau in 1898 and Vice Minister of Education in 1906 (Meiji 39). During this time, he played a central role in the revision of the Elementary School Act in 1900 (unifying ordinary elementary schools into a four-year program and waiving tuition fees) and in 1907 (extending compulsory schooling to six years). He became the first president of Tohoku Imperial University when it was established in 1911, and opened the doors of an imperial university to women for the first time. He became president of Kyoto Imperial University in 1913 (Taisho 2), but resigned the following year in 1914 due to the so-called Sawayanagi Incident. He subsequently became chairman of the Imperial Education Association in 1915, and founded Seijo Elementary School in 1917. He had a major theoretical and practical impact on the new education movement of the Taisho period. His collected works include the "Complete Works of Sawayanagi Masataro" in 10 volumes and 1 supplementary volume (1975).

[Ozaki Mugen]

"Masataro Sawayanagi: His Life and Achievements" by Takayo Nitta (1971, Seijo Gakuen Sawayanagi Research Society)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治・大正期の文部官僚、教育者。慶応(けいおう)元年長野県松本に生まれる。1888年（明治21）東京帝国大学文科大学卒業。文部省に入り、第二高等学校校長、第一高等学校校長などを歴任、1898年文部省普通学務局長、1906年（明治39）文部次官。この間1900年の小学校令改正（尋常小学校を4年制に統一、授業料不徴収）、1907年の小学校令改正（義務就学年限を6年に延長）で中心的役割を果たす。1911年東北帝国大学新設とともに初代総長、初めて女性に帝国大学の門を開いた。1913年（大正2）京都帝国大学総長となったが、翌1914年いわゆる沢柳事件のため辞任。以後1915年に帝国教育会会長に就任、1917年には成城(せいじょう)小学校を創設。大正期の新教育運動へ理論的、実践的に大きな影響を与えた。著作集に『沢柳政太郎全集』10巻・別巻1（1975）がある。

［尾崎ムゲン］

『新田貴代著『沢柳政太郎・その生涯と業績』（1971・成城学園沢柳研究会）』

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