Kyoiku no koto
There is nothing in the world that is greater than education. The virtuous teaching of one person can spread widely to ten thousand people, and the cultivable instruction of one generation can extend to one hundred generations.
(Summary) Education is the greatest thing in the world. All great statespersons, businesspeople, and wealthy people come to an end in one generation, but with education, the teachings of one person can have a wide influence, reaching tens of thousands of people, and such teachings may be passed on for a hundred generations even after that person’s death.
There is no activity in the world as great and as enjoyable as education. […] People do many different kinds of work, but most of what they do disappears after some time without leaving any trace. Even the glorious actions of extraordinary heroes in political, diplomatic, or military affairs will—after a few decades have passed on the short side, and few centuries on the long side—be rendered invisible. This is something we see constantly in history. The power of education, however, is that it allows for endless transmission from person to person even after a hundred years or a thousand years have passed, and the enormous influence that it has could hardly be imagined by a superficial observer.
To express this in spatial terms, in the course of a single lifetime, one person may be able to provide education to at least several thousand people and at most several tens of thousands people. To express this in temporal terms, the results of education provided in a single generation can have a power that extends some thousands of years or tens of thousands of years beyond that. *1
Whether in political, industrial, or military affairs, people who are in the very lowest ranks will find it difficult to accomplish great work—no matter what their personage, and no matter what effort they may make—so long as they have not achieved a certain position. In the case of educators, on the other hand, even an elementary school teacher in a village in a poor country will be able, by their own determination, abilities, and efforts, to cultivate a great personage.
[…]
The great power of educators tends to be overlooked. […] If we consider the state to be something that persists for hundreds or thousands of years, then we must see that rather than offering service only for the brief period of the present era, it is more important to offer service that extends long into the future. In that case, the work of education, which creates personages who will be needed to play active roles in the next generation and the generations that follow, should certainly be the type of work that is most highly valued by society. […] It is according to the state of education that politics becomes better or worse, and that industry likewise declines or develops. This is also the case with military matters, which rise and fall accordingly. With all other myriad matters of society, as well, the result in every case must depend on the activity of education, by which the person is developed and specialized learning is pursued.
[…]
Looking at history, we find that even the results of a great statesperson’s actions often end up being completely transformed after just fifty to a hundred years. This is also the case with great military works, where in just a short time the positions of attack and defeat can be reversed; likewise with great fortunes of the kind accumulated by one or two people, some of which also disappear without a trace in two or three generations. Whether we look at works in terms of their success or failure, or the rise and fall of nations, it is an inevitable constant in politics, industry, and military matters that they do not endure.
With education, however, works accomplished by a single person can extend their power to as many as tens of thousands of people even within that person's lifetime. Then, beyond that, after the person's death, the power of those works can extend even to a hundred generations. I have expressed the meaning of this in the following words, which I have often told to people. There is nothing in the world that is greater than education. The virtuous teaching of one person can spread widely to ten thousand people, and the cultivable instruction of one generation can extend to one hundred generations.
If those who seek to become educators do not fully and thoroughly understand that this is the nature of education, then even if they do eventually become educators, they will end up not having become aware of the nobility of their own lifework. That is why this spirit must definitely be cultivated as part of the teacher education. The reason some educators become cynical or servile, or some among them lack discretion and judgment, is that they lack the assurance that comes from bearing this responsibility. They must discipline themselves. *2
[Ever since I] devoted myself to teacher education, I have concentrated myself on it heart and soul, and applied myself to the struggle for the teacher education in our country. There is something that I was always telling the students when I had a position at the Higher Normal School. That is:
There is nothing in the world that is greater than education. The virtuous teaching of one person can spread widely to ten thousand people, and the cultivable instruction of one generation can extend to one hundred generations.
There is nothing in the world that is more enjoyable than education. Fostering brilliant young people can also make the world a better place. So that even if an educator perishes in that act, the glory of it will remain forever.
That is what I told them. It is my hope that this spirit of the great and the enjoyable will become an even more thoroughgoing presence in today's the Tokyo University of Liberal Arts and Science and the Higher Normal School. *3
Notes
*1. “Consider the need to clarify the nature of education” on Chuto Kyoiku [Secondary Education] no.45, 1923
*2. “General policy of the teacher education” on Sakko [Promoting] no.10, vol.8, 1929
*3. “The Essence of Judo and teacher education incorporated into autobiography” on Kyoiku [Education] no.10, vol.3, 1935