Chapter 7. Education and Learning
Yatabe’s career was dedicated at least as much to educational activities as it was to academic research, particularly to the development and improvement of educational systems, including the establishment of school administration. He was motivated by a fundamental philosophy that education and academic research must be carried out in unison.
In a speech entitled “Education and Learning”, Yatabe explained that in order for teachers to do a better job of educating, their positions must be guaranteed, and he spoke of the necessity of securing time for them to explore their disciplines. He assessed that in the same sense, there was integrity in the work of Edo-period herbalists who had devoted themselves to academics in the socially secure environment of the feudal era, which showed that they had not done so just to improve their social standing.
「教頭ノ職務ニ付伺」/“Inquiry about the Duties of the Vice-Chair”
Yatabe served as the Vice-Chair of the College of Science (now the School of Science) at Tokyo Imperial University. In this letter, he requests clarification on the relationship between the duties of the Department Chair and those of the Vice-Chair.
第二回中学校師範学校教員免許学力試験委員の辞令/Appointment of a Member of Committee for the Second Certifying Examination of Secondary and Normal School Teachers
This document demonstrates the varied range of Yatabe’s work in different aspects of education, beyond his contributions at universities.
「矢田部良吉博物館長兼任ノ件」/“On Appointing Ryokichi Yatabe as Director of the Museum”
Yatabe served as director of the Tokyo Museum, the predecessor of the Education Museum. This could also be said to be part of his work for education.
「教育と学問」/“Education and Learning”
A speech given at the Kiryu Education Society in Gunma Prefecture. Multiple copies of this manuscript can be found among Yatabe’s papers.
『本草図譜 巻之十』写本/Handwritten Copy of Honzo Zufu, Vol. 10
A partial manuscript of Kan’en Iwasaki’s Honzo Zufu (completed in 1828). Rather than evidence of the honzogaku training from Yatabe’s youth, it is believed that he obtained this item long afterward.