Motoda, Eifu (or Nagazane)

(1818-1891)

   A brilliant Confucian scholar from Kumamoto in Kyushu. Appointed to the Imperial Household Agency in 1871 he became the trusted close personal tutor of the Meiji emperor. By 1888 he had risen to become an advisor to the privy council. At the request of the emperor he provided a commentary on the proposals for the Meiji constitution. In his own draft constitution he rejected the principle of religious freedom, arguing that Confucianism should be established as the patriotic state religion with the power of divine rule vested in the emperor. He also wrote ethics textbooks for young people and worked with Inoue, Kowashi to draft the Imperial Rescript on Education (kyOiku chokugo) whose aim was to provide a basis for public morality.