Mito Domain - The Mito School

The Mito School

The Mito School (Mitogaku) was an influential school of Japanese thought which advocated isolationism, nativism, and reverence of the emperor. The origins of this Neo-Confucianist movement date to Mitsukuni's decision to establish a historiographical organization known as the Shōkōkan in 1657. Mitsukuni recruited educated scholars to the Shōkōkan to study the history and philosophy of Japan. Mitsukuni initiated the creation of the Dai Nihon-shi by the scholars in order to compile a history of Japan which would focus on the imperial line. Each chapter of the "Annals" in the Dai Nihon-shi concentrated on the rule of a specific emperor. The project took more than two hundred and fifty years to finish, and it was officially published in 1906.

While scholars were compiling the Dai Nihon-shi, the Mito domain experienced agricultural and economic problems. Beginning as early as 1688, financial ruin plagued Mito and discontent grew in the domain. In addition to the financial issues, famines and natural disasters were common occurrences. In 1709, dissatisfied peasants staged the largest rebellion in the history of the domain. An increasing number of discontent citizens in Mito embraced the works of the early Mito scholars for their reverence of the emperor and their anti-foreign ideology. These works inspired waves of nationalism and loyalty to the imperial family during the 17th century.

During these disorderly years, the Mito scholarship grew into a renowned school of thought in Japan. Under Mitsukuni's leadership, the Dai Nihon-shi significantly expanded to seventy-three chapters of the "Annals" and one hundred and seventy chapters of "Biographies" by the time of his death in 1700. In 1720, the Mito scholars finished the "Annals" and "Biographies" and offered them to the bakufu. These events signalled the end of the early Mito school. For the next seven decades, the Shōkōkan made very little progress with the Dai Nihon-shi without the guidance of Mitsukuni. in 1786, Tachihara Suiken took over leadership of the Shōkōkan and resumed work on the compilation. Fujita Yūkoku became the head of the institute after Tachihara, and he pushed for more focus on the history of that period. During the late 18th century, two factions within the Shōkōkan emerged. Fujita and the other opponents of Tachihara called for the removal of Asaka Tanpaku's "Appraisals" as well as the changing of the name Dai Nihon-shito "Nihon" or "Yamato". The struggle between the two factions eventually led to the house arrest of Fujita in 1797. By 1807, Fujita was once again in power and Tachihara had left the institute.

As Mito thought developed during the 19th century, the scholars began to emphasize anti-Western sentiment and the importance of the emperor in Japanese society. In particular, Mito scholars embraced the political slogan "sonnō jōi" which means "Revere the Emperor and Expel the Barbarians". The scholar Aizawa Seishisai was the first advocate of this philosophy in Japan. In 1825, he wrote New Proposals, which presented his ideas about the need to protect Japan from the Western 'barbarians'. He promoted nativism and opposition to Western force, trade, and belief systems. He was particularly a fierce opponent of Christianity, which in his view undermined Japanese values. Seishisai likewise advocated support of the emperor as a method of confronting the Western threat from abroad. In the work, Seishisai also advanced the idea of kokutai ("national essence") which combined Confucian morals, Shinto myths, and other philosophies. According to Seishisai, the Japanese imperial family were direct descendants of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, so Japan was supposed to establish the proper standard for other nations to emulate. New Proposals served as an inspiration for Japanese nationalists throughout the 19th century leading up to the Meiji Restoration-1869.

Mito thought stressed other ideas concerning the role of morality in Tokugawa Japan. Fujita, a prominent scholar, argued that Japanese civilization would end as a result of internal problems rather than external threats. Other writers of the late Mito school such as Fujita Toko and Seishisai also agreed that lack of moral leadership would weaken Japan from within and expose the country to the invasion of Westerners. Many of the Mito scholars worried about economic collapse, and Fujita especially recognized that many financial troubles in Mito were present throughout Japan. Basing his argument on Neo-Confucianism, Fujita reasoned that the emperor grants power to the shogun to confront domestic and foreign dangers. Fujita and the other Mito scholars decided that the shogunate had not upheld its duty to preserve the defense or economic prosperity of Japan. Fujita suggested that the bakufu should push for reforms, and the daimyo should implement the reforms. Fujita's ideas represented radical challenges to the bakufu system because he was arguing that the bakufu had failed to address important issues. Fujita concluded that the shogunate had caused the domains to become economically and militarily weak.