The rescript signed by Emperor Meiji on 30 October 1890, a short statement of the moral principles on which education in the Empire of Japan rested; Wikisource's introduction says it was read at all important school events and that students had to study and memorise it. The archive's pages on the Showa regime and the Japanese home front, which cite other imperial rescripts, give the later setting. The English wording here is the Ministry of Education's own translation; the Japanese original is not reproduced.
The text
Download as plain text 249 words, with the provenance header above the text
Know ye, Our subjects:
Our Imperial Ancestors have founded Our Empire on a basis broad and everlasting and have deeply and firmly implanted virtue; Our subjects ever united in loyalty and filial piety have from generation to generation illustrated the beauty thereof. This is the glory of the fundamental character of Our Empire, and herein also lies the source of Our education.
Ye, Our subjects, be filial to your parents, affectionate to your brothers and sisters; as husbands and wives be harmonious, as friends true; bear yourselves in modesty and moderation; extend your benevolence to all; pursue learning and cultivate arts, and thereby develop intellectual faculties and perfect moral powers; furthermore advance public good and promote common interests; always respect the Constitution and observe the laws; should emergency arise, offer yourselves courageously to the State; and thus guard and maintain the prosperity of Our Imperial Throne coeval with heaven and earth.
So shall ye not only be Our good and faithful subjects, but render illustrious the best traditions of your forefathers. The Way here set forth is indeed the teaching bequeathed by Our Imperial Ancestors, to be observed alike by Their Descendants and the subjects, infallible for all ages and true in all places. It is Our wish to lay it to heart in all reverence, in common with you, Our subjects, that we may thus attain to the same virtue.
The 30th day of the 10th month of the 23rd year of Meiji.
(Imperial Sign Manual. Imperial Seal.)
Provenance and rights
- Edition
- Imperial Rescript on Education, 30 October 1890, in the English text credited on English Wikisource to the Japan Ministry of Education; Wikipedia cites the same English wording to the Department of Education, Tokyo, The Imperial Rescript on Education, translated into Chinese, English, French and German (1909)
- Text source
- English Wikisource, "Imperial Rescript on Education"
- Text basis
- Wikisource's proofread transcription of the Ministry's English text; we have not compared it with the 1909 volume. The Japanese original is not reproduced here.
- Rights
- An official Japanese rescript of 1890, public domain by age. Wikisource marks the English translation public domain in the United States as published before 1 January 1931, and the wording matches the Tokyo Department of Education's 1909 English version. Checked October 2, 2026.
- Changes made
- Wikisource's header, introduction and licence notices removed; only the rescript's text and its date and seal line are kept. Wording is the transcription's own.
- Source file checksum
a7aef1a63e8fa489…(SHA-256 of the download this text was made from)