Yujiro Motoyoshi - Yujiro Motoyoshi

Psychologist. Born in Sanda, Harima Province (Hyogo Prefecture), he was adopted into the Motoyoshi family. After studying at Doshisha English School in Kyoto, he taught at Tokyo Agricultural College and was instrumental in the founding of Aoyama Gakuin. In 1883 (Meiji 16), he traveled to the United States and studied philosophy at Boston University for two years, then spent three years at Johns Hopkins University, where he received his doctorate from G.S. Hall, a leading figure in the early days of American psychology. After returning to Japan in 1888, he became a lecturer in psychophysics at Tokyo Imperial University, and in 1890 became a professor, and in 1893 taught the first course in psychology, ethics, and logic. He also became a professor at the Imperial Normal School, a member of the Imperial Academy, and participated in the International Psychological Society. In addition to establishing a psychology laboratory at Tokyo Imperial University (1903), he played the role of an intellectual leader as Japan's first psychologist, lecturing, writing, and translating on philosophy, psychology, and ethics. Psychology, which was introduced from the West by Nishi Amane, Nishimura Shigeki, Inoue Tetsujiro and others at the beginning of the Meiji era, was established as an academic field by Motoyoshi and was later passed on to Matsumoto Matataro, who lent his support to the establishment of the laboratory. Motoyoshi's system of psychology is described in his posthumous work "An Introduction to Psychology" (1915), and is said to be distinctive in that it attempted to systematize general psychology, which had a natural science tendency, entirely through speculation.

[Utsugi Tamotsu]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

心理学者。播磨(はりま)国（兵庫県）三田(さんだ)に生まれ、元良家の養子となる。京都の同志社英学校に学んだのち、東京農学社で教え、青山学院の創設に尽力。1883年（明治16）渡米してボストン大学で2年間哲学を学び、さらにジョンズ・ホプキンズ大学に3年間在学、アメリカ心理学草創期の第一人者であるG・S・ホールのもとで博士号をとった。1888年帰国後は、東京帝国大学の精神物理学講師となり、1890年教授、1893年心理学・倫理学・論理学第一講座を担当。また、高等師範教授、帝国学士院会員となり、国際心理学会にも参加。東京帝国大学に心理学実験室を創設（1903）するほか、哲学、心理学、倫理学の講演、著述、翻訳など、日本最初の心理学者として知的リーダーの役割を果たした。明治の初めに、西周(にしあまね)、西村茂樹(しげき)、井上哲次郎らの手によって欧米から導入された心理学は、元良によってアカデミックな地位を確立し、その後、実験室の創設に力を貸した松本亦太郎(またたろう)に受け継がれた。元良心理学の体系は遺稿『心理学概論』（1915）に述べられており、自然科学的傾向をもった一般心理学を、もっぱら思弁によって体系化しようとした点に特色があるといわれている。

［宇津木保］

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