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Part-time Consultant, Waseda University History Museum Yasuko Okado

A low-quality document from the Meiji period, when Waseda University was still Tokyo Senmon Gakko, was found among unsorted materials. It contains a number of intriguing phrases, such as "Application for Tuition Exemption," "Regional Earthquake," and "Good Behavior and Academic Study." As a result of the investigation, three things became clear.

Tuition exemption application

This is a piece of Tokyo Senmon Gakko letterhead entitled "Application for Tuition Exemption." It was written by Ito Akira, a second-year student in the Japanese Language and Law Department, to Ichishima Kenkichi, who was in charge of school affairs as the school's executive director.

Application for tuition exemption written on Tokyo College form

The writing is a bit messy, so it's impossible to tell if it was just a copy, or if it was actually submitted and accepted, and what the outcome was. So, using the names, dates, and the word "earthquake" that could be read from the context of the document as clues, I tried to trace it further. First, I checked the Tokyo Senmon Gakko graduate lists for several years around the year in question (1894), but unfortunately Ito Akira's name was not there. It seems that he was not able to graduate.

Shonai earthquake occurs

The document begins with the words "Regional Earthquake." When and where does this "regional earthquake" refer to? Based on the context, we can infer that the earthquake occurred around October 1894 (Meiji 27). When we searched the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun, we found that there was a major earthquake in Yamagata Prefecture at 5:40 p.m. on October 22, 1894 (Meiji 27).

The damage was most severe in the area around present-day Sakata City. In a report sent by the Governor of Yamagata Prefecture to the Minister of the Interior in November, he described numerous aftershocks, as well as 739 deaths, 1,009 injuries, 2,968 houses completely destroyed, 1,751 partially destroyed, 6,003 destroyed, 1,520 burned, and hundreds of collapsed and raised land cracks (Yamagata Prefecture History, Documents 19). However, this alone does not explain the relationship to students.

First report of the earthquake that occurred in the evening of October 22, 1894. Tokyo Asahi Shimbun, October 24, 1894.

The severe damage in the Sakata area is described in the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun, October 25, 1894.

What I learned from the school fees receipts

So, are there any records of the enrollment of a person named Ito Akira? Since confirmation of a student's enrollment status is information that can only be requested by special parties such as relatives or surviving family members, it is not possible to make a request to the Waseda University Academic Affairs Division, which has jurisdiction over student records. In such cases, the History Museum Archives relies on a document called the "tuition receipt book" in the collection of former materials held in Building Building No. 3, which is held at the museum. This document is a ledger of tuition payment for students enrolled at the time, so enrollment information can be obtained from it.

At that time, the academic year began in September, and the instructions stated, "If you are unable to pay the full tuition at the beginning of the semester, you must pay in installments of 1 yen 80 sen per month," and "When paying tuition in installments, you must pay at the office by the 3rd of each month." When I took out the booklet, "September 1894 Faculty School of Law Tuition, Housing Fees, and Monthly Salary Receipt Book [I-Na]," I was able to confirm the name of Ito Akira.

Photo: "September 1894, School of Law Tuition, Housing Fees, and Monthly Salary Receipts Book [I-Na]" (Formerly held material 60-0104 Building No. 3)

There was no mention of his place of birth, but in the summary column, it was written in red ink, "Because of the earthquake in Yamagata and Akita, all houses were burned down, and I was unable to send my school funds. I applied for a tuition exemption from my hometown, signed by my guarantor and friend, and the application was approved by the secretary, and the exemption will not be announced until July 28th, which will be this month. November 13th, 1894." In other words, it seems that the request for tuition exemption was accepted.

Unexpectedly, inside the sealed section of the book, we found the actual "Application for Tuition Exemption" that Ito had submitted. The carefully written text, character by character, is the same as the previously discovered document, and this one also has a date and a seal. The document introduced at the beginning of this article was a copy of this one.

Ito Akira's official "Application for Tuition Exemption" was discovered inside the sealed portion of the bag.

Incidentally, the "Tokyo Senmon Gakko Rules" at that time did not mention disasters or tuition exemptions. Kenkichi Ichishima, the secretary, quickly made the decision to exempt Ito after he determined that "during my time at school, I will of course abide by the school rules, maintain good behavior, and study hard," and the form was likely tucked between the receipts.

According to tuition receipts dating back to 1894 preserved in the History Museum Archives, there were cases of students being exempted from tuition due to illness or conscription, but as far as I know, no students had been granted a tuition exemption due to a natural disaster.

However, after the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, measures were taken such as exempting tuition fees for 356 students affected by the disaster (A Hundred-year History of Waseda University, Volume 3). After the Hokuriku earthquake in 1948, a document was posted informing students affected by the disaster that tuition fees would be halved (Waseda University Headquarters Documents 5-067-414). It appears that the university has also conducted appropriate investigations and taken appropriate measures in the event of other disasters.

Currently, under the "Detailed rules regarding tuition fee reductions for students and pupils affected by disasters, etc." enacted in November 2003, we provide support for students affected by disasters through tuition fee reductions and scholarship, and we also offer exemptions from entrance examination fees and enrolment fees, as well as tuition fee reductions and exemptions for applicants from disaster-stricken areas.