The Purpose of Education

What should education make of a human being? A capable worker, an informed citizen, a specialist, or someone able to live generously among others? Nitobe Inazō approaches these questions with the energy of conversation, moving between practical examples and unexpected jokes.

He considers why families pay for schooling, how wages change with training, and why a young carpenter might prefer the navy. He defends learning pursued for pleasure, describes scholarship as an ornament to a nation, and asks what genuine support for research would require. Behind each argument lies a larger concern: an educated person should become more than an instrument for a single task.

The author of Bushido draws upon Japanese experience, European public life, Chinese tradition, and literary stories of created beings to examine education’s moral and social purposes. This complete English translation preserves the essay’s lively voice, historical claims, and concluding challenge, with concise notes on references and unfamiliar terms.