Guide to the Meiji Era Ministry of Education Textbook and Printing Block, 1875 SPEC.RARE.0332 Finding aid prepared by Casey Blackmore Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections
1858 Neil Avenue Columbus, OH, 43210
2024 July This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2024-08-21T16:39-0400 English Describing Archives: A Content Standard Meiji Era Ministry of Education Textbook and Printing Block SPEC.RARE.0332 Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections 0.28 Cubic feet 1875 Between 1868 and 1912, Japan entered the Meiji era, a period of modernization and the beginning of Japan becoming more Westernized. Public education became a priority during this time and the Ministry of Education began the process of reforming public schools. The Meiji Era Ministry of Education Textbook and Printing Block collection contains one printed textbook and one of the printing blocks used to print the textbook. Material is dated 1875. (1) flat box Japanese Japan. Monbushō Arrangement of Materials

Materials are arranged in the order created.

 Acquisitions Information

Accession No. RARE.2024.0048: Purchased, 2024 February.

 Preferred Citation

[identification of item], Meiji Era Ministry of Education Textbook and Printing Block, SPEC.RARE.0332, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, Ohio State University

 Access to Materials

Materials in this collection are available for use, but may be used in the Thompson Library Special Collections reading room only.

 Use of Materials

Materials in this collection may be protected by copyright, and are made available for research and educational purposes. In general, the OSU Libraries do not own the copyright for materials from our collections and cannot grant copyright permissions for these materials. The user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status. If copyright protection applies, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exceptions to the law. Works in the public domain are not protected by copyright and do not require permission to use.

 Processing Information

Processed by: Casey Blackmore, 2024 July; Finding aid written by: Casey Blackmore, 2024 July.

 Historical Note

Between 1868 and 1912, Japan entered the Meiji era, a period of modernization and the beginning of Japan becoming more Westernized. Public education became a priority during this time and the Ministry of Education began the process of reforming public schools. The Ministry of Education in Japan began to create textbooks that would not only teach, but entertain school children. Schoolbooks created from printing blocks were text heavy as many children were educated at home and the text aided family members in teaching lessons.

 Scope and Contents

The Meiji Era Ministry of Education Textbook and Printing Block collection contains one printed textbook and one of the printing blocks used to print the textbook. Material is dated 1875. The contents of the textbook follow a young child as he starts his day with his grandparents. The forecast is watched so the child can decided what to wear outside, a shopping list is created by the grandparents and then a trip to the bank is taken to get money for shopping. The text ends with the child and grandparents shopping for groceries.

 Children's literature, Japanese--19th century Education reform--Japan--19th century Education--Japan--19th century Japan--Social life and customs--19th century Textbooks Wood blocks (printing blocks) Printing block 1 1 1875 Textbook 1 2 1875