ABSTRACT
Shiga's formative years coincided with the end of the 265 year Tokugawa shogunate and the birth of the new Japan. The transition that took place during this period represents one of the most significant changes in Japanese history. In education, for example, it resulted in a switch from a system which focused on Confucian moral teaching to one which included or was dominated by western modern thought. This chapter outlines his early education and the beliefs of his mentors, Kondo Makoto and Fukuzawa Yukichi, whose ideas Shiga's later work would parallel.
