ABSTRACT
In the early stages of the language modernization movement, or gembun’itchi movement as it was known in Japan, two of the major areas in which the language issue emerged as important were education and the press. This chapter explores that the early moves towards stylistic reform in the areas of popular education, formal education, and the press is divided into two stages: pre-1877 and post-1877. The early instances of the use of colloquial style resulted from purely pragmatic motives of profit and instruction, and were intended to benefit only the common people rather than society at large. Education both popular and formal, became a major focus of language reform debate and experimentation during the ensuing twenty years. The outstanding early Meiji writer was Fukuzawa Yukichi, who introduced western civilization to his countrymen with a range of books on various of its facets. In its early stages, the press was sponsored by a combination of private and public interests.
