Page:Japan by the Japanese (1904).djvu/292

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JAPAN BY THE JAPANESE

College of Science.—Mathematics, 7; Astronomy, 1; Physics, 29; Chemistry, 6; Zoology and Botany, 11; Geology, 9. Total, 63.

College of Agriculture.—Agriculture, 18; Agricultural Chemistry, 13; Forestry, 30; Veterinary Medicine, 4. Total, 65.

Full total, 2,202. The full number is 3,213, including 449 students in the University Hall, elective students, and others.

The percentages are as follows:

Law, 44.3; Medicine, 17.9; Engineering, 19.3; Literature, 12.6; Science, 2.9; Agriculture, 3.0.

These numbers, compared with those of the graduates of the last ten years, at the first glance seem to show a decrease of students of Engineering, Literature, and Agriculture. It is by no means to be taken in that sense. The following table will show the number of graduates of the colleges in 1897 and 1902:

1897. 1902.
Law
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
067 141
Medicine
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
025 094
Engineering
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
078 117
Literature
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
062 067
Science
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
026 012
Agriculture
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
016 020
274 451

Comparing the two columns, one sees that there is an increase in every college except in that of Science; in the College of Engineering the absolute numbers, instead of a decrease, show an enormous increase. In fact, in all the colleges except that of Science the absolute number of graduates have increased, but at different rates, so that the percentage, for instance, for the Engineering College has decreased; that is to say, the increase has been relatively small compared to those of the Colleges of Law and Medicine.

There is a great outcry among some educationalists against the length of the time spent in education. Supposing that one is always successful in all the competitive examinations, it is not till he is twenty-three or twenty-four years of age that he succeeds in finishing his education. We are, they say, a race that matures early and decays early, and so cannot afford to spend so much precious time in a mere preparation for the struggle of life. Moreover, the mean age of the graduates of the Tokyo University for the three years from 1899 to 1901 is twenty-six years and nine months, which is far too high. The divergence of the actual mean age from the minimum age is due partly to the competitive examinations and partly to failure to pass annual and graduation examinations on the part of the students. There are reasons to believe that the failures will become less frequent in the future. There is no reason

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