Digital Exhibition: The Hiraga Papers

After graduating from Taimei Elementary School in Kyōbashi, Hiraga took the entrance examination for Tokyo Prefectural Middle School in Tsukiji on April 11, Meiji 23 (1890), and was admitted with the highest score. The course of study at the middle school was five years.

At the certificate presentation ceremony held at Kōseikan on April 6, Meiji 25 (1892), in the presence of Tokyo Prefectural Governor Tomita Tetsunosuke, Hiraga received a second-year passing certificate and, as the second prize for excellence in conduct and studies, a copy of The Union Fourth Reader. He also received the original edition of Robinson Crusoe as a diligence prize for serving as group leader. Hiraga’s Group 2 selected its leader by student election.

Aspiring to enter the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, Hiraga underwent a physical examination at the Naval Staff College in Tsukiji on August 4, Meiji 27 (1894). He wrote in his diary: “First, I took the ophthalmological examination, and unfortunately failed. I was reexamined and failed again; in the end I was completely unsuccessful. How regrettable . . . (examiner: Surgeon General). The eye examination tested only visual acuity (alphabet, iroha, katakana, etc.).” Since a diagnosis at Tokyo Hospital in Atagoshita on June 4 had stated that “there is as yet no need to use spectacles for myopia,” the failure must have been difficult for Hiraga to accept. Hoping to improve his eyesight, he sought treatment from Inoue Tatsuya, a leading ophthalmologist in Kanda Surugadai, but the results were not encouraging.

The meticulously kept monthly accounts clearly reveal Hiraga’s methodical character and sense for money. The “Swinton World History” purchased on October 1 was William Swinton’s Outlines of World’s History, used at the University of Tokyo Preparatory School as a textbook for exegesis and history; it was probably not the Japanese translation Bankokushi. In March Meiji 19 (1886), under the Imperial University Ordinance, the University of Tokyo was renamed Imperial University, and in April of the same year, under the Middle School Ordinance, the University of Tokyo Preparatory School was renamed the First Higher Middle School.

Notes on geometric construction methods and Japanese history from Hiraga’s first year at Tokyo Prefectural Middle School.

Botany lecture notes from Hiraga’s fourth year at Tokyo Prefectural Middle School.

Lecture notes on botany. Academic year unknown.

Lecture notes on world geography from Hiraga’s second year at Tokyo Prefectural Middle School.

Lecture notes from a Japanese history course in Hiraga’s first year at Tokyo Prefectural Middle School. Katsuura Tomoo, who became principal in Meiji 23 (1890), developed the school into a preparatory school for First Higher School. Textbooks included Kōkoku shiyō (Essentials of Imperial History) (Yoshikawa Hanshichi, Meiji 28 [1895]).

A lecture notebook on Japanese history from Hiraga’s fifth year at Tokyo Prefectural Middle School.

Lecture notes on Japanese history from Hiraga’s fifth year at Tokyo Prefectural Middle School.

The entry for July 25 in Hiraga’s pocket diary for Meiji 26 (1893) states, “Had a photograph taken with Kumakawa, Abe, and Nakagawa at Egi.” From right: Hiraga, Abe Mitsutaka, Nakagawa Asanosuke, and Kumakawa Yutaka. “Egi” refers to the Shimbashi branch of the Egi Photo Studio. That day, Hiraga received his school report and, learning that he ranked fifth in his year (fourth in Class B), wrote in his diary, “Regrettable.” His final class standing was ninth, and as a second prize he received the main and sequel volumes of Bunshō Kihan Hesuchingu.

The entry for July 10 in Hiraga’s pocket diary for Meiji 27 (1894) reads, “Photographed with my friends Morimoto Keitarō and Nakamura Misao (at Egi).” From right: Hiraga, Nakamura, and Morimoto. “Egi” refers to the Shinbashi branch of Egi Photo Studio, and “T. NARITA” at the lower right of the photograph refers to Narita Tsunekichi, who worked as a photographer there from the branch’s opening in Meiji 24 (1891) until Meiji 40 (1907). The July accounts in the diary show that the “share” for the photograph on the 10th was 15 sen, indicating that the three split the cost of the photograph.

At Tokyo Prefectural Middle School, drawing was taught for five years in two forms: freehand drawing and instrument drawing. “Freehand drawing” refers to pictures drawn without the use of drafting instruments. This drawing was made by Hiraga as an assignment in his second year.

The prize was an original-language book. The “Union Fourth Reader” refers to Sanders, C. W., Sander's Union Forth Reader, a reading textbook used at the University of Tokyo Preparatory School.

On March 31, Meiji 28 (1895), Hiraga graduated from Tokyo Prefectural Middle School, ranking 8th in a class of 74. Tokyo Prefectural Governor Miura Yasushi attended the graduation and completion ceremony. After the ceremony, the graduates, bearing arms, performed company drills before the guests. Unlike today, at the time a certificate-awarding ceremony was held each time students advanced to the next grade, and certificates of completion were issued.

After losing his father to stomach cancer on June 13, Hiraga sat the entrance examination for the First Higher School with only a few days to prepare, and passed, ranking 10th among 39 students in the engineering course. In his diary entry for July 10, he wrote, “At that moment my joy was truly beyond compare; all that came to mind was the memory of longing for the deceased.”

Hiraga, who was undecided about whether to study mining, electrical engineering, or naval architecture at university, learned from a notice posted on January 9, Meiji 29 (1896), that the deadline for submitting his choice was the end of the month. On January 21, on the advice of his elder brother, an Imperial Japanese Navy officer, and his brother-in-law Maki Yujiro, a navy paymaster, he decided on naval architecture. In his diary he wrote: “I have resolved to study naval architecture. I had not yet fixed my purpose and was greatly torn—electrical engineering, naval architecture, or mining—and was troubled over which to choose. But in accordance with my elder brother’s wishes, and with the agreement of Brother Maki as well, I have finally settled on naval architecture. Ah, if even an ordinary man’s resolve should not falter, how much less should mine, now that I have made this decision. How could I fall by the wayside and bring shame upon the family name? I here write this respectfully and swear it.”

Lecture notes from an English composition course in Hiraga’s first year at First Higher School. The instructor was the Englishman W. D. Cox, who came to Japan in November Meiji 9 at the invitation of the Meiji government. Beginning at Komaba Agricultural School, he went on to teach at the University of Tokyo Preparatory School, First Higher Middle School, and First Higher School (renamed from First Higher Middle School under the Higher School Order of June Meiji 27). He died in June Meiji 38 while still in service. His textbooks included The Principles of Rhetoric and English Composition for Japanese Students.

During his three years of dormitory life, Hiraga devoted himself to more than his studies. He also practiced judo. The “Heishin Winter Training Attendance Record, First Higher School Judo Club,” pasted into his diary for Meiji 29 (1896), shows that during the 30 days of winter training from January 11 to February 9, he took part in as many as ten bouts of randori on some days and as few as two on others, for a total of 161 bouts.

At the First Higher School, students were assigned ten impromptu compositions and three homework compositions each year. “Opening a Book and Recalling the Past” was the homework assignment for October 1. According to Hiraga’s diary for Meiji 29 (1896), the impromptu topics were “Railways” in February (a January assignment postponed to February), “On a Map of the Earth” in March, “The End of Spring” in April, and “Occupation” in May; the homework topics were “Electricity” in February and “The Phonograph” in May.

Hiraga began working on the composition assignment “Electricity,” assigned on February 4, Meiji 29 (1896), on March 1, and finally completed it at 1:30 a.m. the following night before submitting it. Reading this composition makes clear why Hiraga chose electricity as one possible field of study at university.

First-year engineering students at the First Higher School, as well as third-year students intending to study civil engineering, architecture, mechanical engineering, or naval architecture, learned freehand drawing from Watanabe Bunzaburō. “Freehand drawing” refers to drawing without the use of drafting instruments. This drawing depicts the clock tower of the main building, made by Hiraga as a third-year assignment in freehand drawing. The First Higher School moved from Hongō to Komaba in Shōwa 10 (1935).

At the First Higher School, Kojima Noriyuki taught engineering students projection drawing and descriptive geometry in their second year, and descriptive geometry and mechanical drawing in their third year. This drawing was made by Hiraga in June Meiji 31 (1898), shortly before graduation, as one of his mechanical drawing assignments. It is a copy of Plate 41 (“MACHINES LOCOMOTIVES”) from Stanislas Petit’s collection of drawings, Le Praticien Industriel.

Students intending to study engineering learned surveying in their third year. The first instructor was Hara Ryūta, an engineer with Tokyo Prefecture; after Hara moved to the Department of Civil Engineering in the College of Engineering at Tokyo Imperial University, successive assistant professors in that department taught the course. Hiraga was taught by Hattori Shikajirō. This drawing copies the map symbols from Surveying Diagrams.

The graduation ceremony was held in the Ethics Lecture Hall on July 7, Meiji 31 (1898), in the presence of Minister of Education Ozaki Yukio. According to a survey conducted at the end of December Meiji 25, the average full age of the 998 graduates was 23 (age 20: 115; 21: 159; 22: 199; 23: 219; 24: 145; 25: 79; 26: 41; 27: 22; 28: 10; 29: 7; 30: 2). Hiraga, who graduated at age 20, was among the youngest group.

Of the 18 students who entered the Department of Naval Architecture in the College of Engineering at Tokyo Imperial University on July 8, Meiji 31 (1898), nine—including Hiraga—were from the First Higher School. At the time, the only imperial university other than Tokyo was Kyoto Imperial University, founded in Meiji 30 (1897) with indemnity funds from the Sino-Japanese War; students could enter either university without examination. The College of Science and Engineering at Kyoto Imperial University, however, did not establish a Department of Naval Architecture.

An exercise notebook on naval architecture from Hiraga’s second year. The problems, answers, and comments are all in English.

While still a student, Hiraga passed the examination to become an Imperial Japanese Navy shipbuilding student, a status that provided a Navy scholarship during his studies and appointment after graduation. On April 1, Meiji 32 (1899), he was appointed a Navy shipbuilding student.

Hiraga was selected as a scholarship student on July 10, Meiji 32 (1899).

A notebook compiled by Hiraga after becoming a naval architecture student for the Imperial Japanese Navy, containing numerous excerpts from domestic and foreign books and magazines on warships, merchant ships, weapons, shipyards, and related topics.

A sectional drawing of a torpedo boat built by the German firm Schichau, copied by Hiraga for his graduation thesis.

The reverse is inscribed: “June, Meiji 34 (1901), on the eve of completing the course in naval architecture at Imperial University, expressing the feelings of farewell among classmates, in the reference room of the Department of Naval Architecture, College of Engineering.” Hiraga is seated at the far right in the front row; behind him to the right is Hara Masamoto. Three years later, Hiraga would marry Hara’s younger sister, Kazu.

On July 10, Meiji 34 (1901), Hiraga graduated at the top of his class from the Department of Naval Architecture, College of Engineering, Tokyo Imperial University. Kazu, whom he would marry three years later, was the younger sister of his classmate Hara Masamoto. Of the 14 graduates, five entered the Imperial Japanese Navy.