As the assistant officials of the Minister there are a vice-minister, two parliamentary secreta ries, three heads of bureaus, councillors, a pri vate secretary, secretaries, inspectors, an officer of school hygiene, a superintendent officer of schoolbooks, examiners and compilers of school books, architects, clerks, etc. The three bureaus are styled respectively the General, the Special and the Religious. The secretariat of the Min ister is divided into five sections, viz., those of private secretary, drafting, accountant, school books and charts, and architecture. and each section has a director. The vice-minister assists the Minister in managing the affairs of the de partment and has the immediate superintend ence of the works of the different bureaus. Each head of the bureau takes the charge of his own bureau and is responsible for its affairs. The Bureau of Special Education takes charge of the affairs relating to higher education ; the Imperial universities, high schools, special schools, the Imperial Academy, etc., coming under its control. The Bureau of General Edu cation takes charge of the affairs relating to general education ; normal schools, middle schools, high schools for girls, elementary schools, kindergartens, schools for blind and dumb, educational associations, libraries, muse ums. It also takes charge of the affairs relating to school hygiene and investigates for the improvement of the Japanese. language. The Bureau of Religions which formerly be longed to the Department of Home Affairs was removed to that of Education in 1913. It supervises the ecclesiastical affairs of the country. But it must not be sup posed that by this combination religion forms any part of school education, as these two are kept entirely independent of each other. The Bureau of Special Education also takes charge of the affairs relating to technical education; industrial schools, agricultural schools, commer cial schools, apprentices' schools, supplementary technical schools, etc., being under its cogni zance. For the purpose of inspection seven reg ular inspectors act for the Minister. Their duties consist in inspecting the state of educa tion throughout the country, but while they are in Tokio they also serve in the different bureaus and assist in managing their affairs. They in spect the condition of educational administra tion and the state of school education, hygiene and finance, etc., giving such advice and instruc tion as may be necessary. During their tour they submit to the consideration of the Minister any question calling for speedy action, and when they return at once report to the Minister orally, and within a month send in a written memorandum. Besides these permanent inspec tors there are professors in higher and other schools, etc., who are provisionally charged with additional and special duties of inspector ship on particular subjects.
The education investigation committee is under the control of the Minister of Education and was first appointed in 1913. Its duty is to investigate important matters relating to educa tion, to express an opinion upon questions sub mitted to it by the Minister, as well as to pre sent to him its own opinion upon various mat ters. The committee is composed of represen tatives not only of educational authority, but also of all circles outside of them, and conse quently it is many-sided in its nature. Under the superintendence of the Minister there are also several standing commissions for special matters. For instance, the Commission for Ex
amining the Qualification of Teachers has the charge of testing and examining the candidates who wish to become teachers of normal, middle or high schools, etc. The schoolbooks and charts Investigation committee is under the su pervision of the Minister of Education and compiles, examines and discusses the school books and charts on morals, history and the Jap anese language, used in the elementary schools. It also examines matters relating to other schools, books and charts, if they are sub mitted to it by the Minister. The Board of Seismology investigates and experiments to find the best suitable construction for guarding against the effects of earthquakes, and pursues scientific investigations for pre dicting earthquakes. The Board of Geodesy manages affairs connected with the Inter national Geodetic Society and investigates various subjects bearing on geodesy. The Spe cial Observatory for the Measurement of Lati tudes is occupied with affairs connected with the measurement of the variation of latitudes in accordance with the contract entered into be tween the government and the International Geodetic Society. The Commission for the Compilation of Catalogues of Scientific Litera ture conducts the affairs connected with the International Committee organized for the same purpose. The Commission for the Examina tion of Medical Practitioners takes upon itself the work of periodical examination of physi cians. A similar commission exists for the examination of pharmaceutists. The aim of the Imperial Academy is to promote the ad vancement of the sciences and arts and gives assistance in propagating the salutary influence of education in general. It has 60 members. chosen from among the most distinguished men of learning; foreigners who have rendered special service to science and art are made hon orary members. There are also a Board for Editing and Collecting Materials of the Restora tion (of Meiji), and an Institute for the In vestigation of Contagious Diseases. Besides these the minister has the control over the Im perial Library and the Central Meteorological Observatory.
The principal local instrument of education is the governor. The whole empire with the exception of Chosen (Korea), Taiwan (For mosa) and Karafuto (South Saghalien), is di vided into one Do, three Fu and 43 Ken, each of which has a local governor. Each governor takes charge of administration of his locality. All Do, Fus and Kens are local administrative districts and are at the same time self-govern ing corporations. Each governor has inspectors under him who attend to school matters under his jurisdiction and is mainly responsible for the expedition of educational affairs. Fu and Ken are divided into Gun, and each Gun has its chief official called who is in turn assisted by an inspector on matters re lating to schools. Cities, towns and villages are also self-governing corporations, and have a mayor or a headman. The mayor or headman manages the educational affairs relating to cities, towns and villages, respectively. It is designed that a school committee should exist in every Fu, Ken and Gun, as well as in every city, town and village, but at present they exist only in cities, towns and villages. The local governors specially appoint school physicians for every public school, but at present those schools established by villages, as well as those of poorer districts with a population of less than 5,000, may be exempted.