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Education in school

Why suicide operation was possible among Japanese soldiers?

Military ideology
Youth camp in 1920s
Seinen
Government decided to assign 2,000 military officers to train under 20 years old boys in school in 1925. Government established youth military camps for 16 to 20 years old in 1926. The number of the camps was 15,930 much than all the 11,948 towns and villages of Japan.
Seinen kunrensyo

Education Ministry revised text books in 1933. Hinkokoku, p245

George Washington
My mother told me the story of George Washington and the cherry tree, when I was a boy. My mother was born in a poor family. She was not educated fully in an elementary school. She had to help her parents farming in spring and fall since 10 years old. So she went shool in summer and winter only. But she had remembered all the text in Japanese. She bought me a book of George Washington at a small book store in a market. I rember pictures, of which George Washington was scolded by his father and he measured land survey. I was interested in tools of measurement, when a boy. Although there were not such a cherry tree in fact, ther may be a device that Washington used to measure land in Mount Vernon.

I checked books about him for kids at Amazon.jp. 2 books are listed, but both were publised in 1984 and unavailabe now. Parents of kids are not interested in Washington in Japan any more. It looks that Washington fever or respect have ended since the end of Edo era.
Maunto Banon

Hommage of Washington
Leaders of Meiji era might refer spirit of US, they intended to teach diligence, respect and independence. Japanese moral textbook had treated George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln. George Washington was an example of honesty, independence and warlord, maybe. Ministry of education made an honor song of George Washington (in Japanese). I put into the meaning of the song in English. It follows as,

God may not admit tyranny, disgrace of common people's freedom
Blood of 13 states spurting, Washington rouses himself here

Windy Rockey blows
Waves stand in the Hudson Bay
Clash of swords sounds, Horses neighs
Battle cry

Winning sound of trumpet

Arm
Take a sword
Go forward, forward
Freedom or death

It looks hommage of revolution and war to me. Bringing down Edo Bakufu(Government), leaders of Meiji overlapped themselves fathers of US.

Blood of prime ministers in Japan
A leader of a political party of Japan who lost his father in his childhood, making his own way was disthroned a few years ago in Japan. It reminds Japanese law makers have respect for blood of prime ministers as Edo era even now. A man who was a wood cutter or a tailor, will not be a prime minister of Japan at all. Aso, grand son of prime minister, Yoshida Shigeru, became Prime Minister. Former prime minister, Abe was a grand son of a prime minister, Kishi Nobusuke. A few clans of Fujiwara, Genji, Hojyo, Ashikaga and Tokugawa governed Japan for a long time. However, Shogun or Kanpaku governed without an agreement of his mayors or local lords in power. So they were not in favor of an intelligent shogun as well as a prime minister. Commons think Aso is KY(Kanji Yomenai). It means that Aso could not read Kanji that commons learn in a high school. If he pretends to do so, he is great. Some Shogun or local lord of Edo era sometimes pretended to be a fool for political reason.

Fukuzawa was shocked to find that sons or grand sons of President Washingon had not governed US yet, when he travelled around US as an official accompanying personnel of Bakufu(Government). He was a samurai of local Nakatsu-han in Kyushu then. He translated United States Declaration of Independence into Japanese in 1866 before Meiji Restoration. Local lords of Japan knew it soon. 14 Books about Fukuzawa for kids are hit at Amazon.jp!
Fukuzawa Yukichi
Dokuritu-sengen

USS Washington
By the way, USS Washington or Lincoln will be welcomed than USS Truman in Yokosuka.

USS Washington, CVN-73 entered in Yokosuka Port on 25th Sep 2008, where is very near Uraga. Edo Bakufu(Government) began building Yokosuka Shipyard designed by a French engineer there in 1866.

Greats among kids in Japan