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Japan
Teruo Jinguh
Edo Era: 1603–1868The establishment of the Tokugawa government in 1603 marked the beginning of 250
years of peace, the Edo Era. It was also the starting point for books for children.
In the middle of the seventeenth century, a few lesson books for children were
published: the best of them was Kin mo Zui [The Illustrated Encyclopedia for Children]
(1666) by Tekisai Nakamura (1629–1702). Basing his work on a Chinese book,
Nakamura produced an illustrated book for his daughter, and its success stimulated the
production of similar books. Another notable work of this period was Wazoku Dôji Kun
[The Popular Book on the Upbringing of Children] (1710) by Ekiken Kaibara (1630–
1714) a celebrated Confucian, naturalist, and educationalist, which was the first book of
systematic thought on child care.
The appearance of these books suggests the existence of a fair number of literate
children, and the adults’ concern for children. The private elementary school, the
terakoya (temple school), which had been started for the education of the children of the
common people in the middle of the Muromachi Era (1336–1573), became popular in
the middle of the Edo Era.
The literacy rate for children was, therefore, quite high even before the beginning of
compulsory education in 1872, and many kinds of books such as kana zôshi (story
books written in Japanese syllabary) and otogi zôshi (entertainment books) were
published for the amusement and instruction of both adults and young people. These
books generally had pictures of a higher standard than those in European books of the
same period, a standard which may have derived from the famous Chôjû Giga (Picture
Scrolls of Frolicking Animals) which were published anonymously at the end of the
twelfth century and the beginning of the thirteenth.
Story books especially for children came into being as early as the 1670s; they were
called Akahon (Red Books), as they were books of myth, legend, folk or fairy tales in red
bindings.
Meiji Era: 1868–1911After the fall of the Tokugawa Dynasty in 1867, the new government began to promote
Westernisation in every aspect of life. Compulsory elementary education meant more