There are many studies which have analized how evolutionism was prevalent during Meiji Era in Japan and deeply influenced Japanese thoughts in various aspects. However the influence of evolutionism upon education has not yet examined enough. The aim of this paper is to clarify the process of how the idea of evolutionism was rooted in Japan, and how it was connected with the principles of educational thought by focusing on one of Meiji Japan leaders, Hiroyuki Kato. The finding of this study are as follows. Evolutionism played an important role in prevailing 'meritocracy' to Japanese eductional thoughts, especially it is shown clearly in the case of Hiroyuki Kato. The concept of "meritocrcy" in his sense is connected with a nationalistic idea of educational thought that regards nation state as an organic whole, and it is characteristic of education thought of Hiroyuki Kato.
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