国民学校

Japanese

Kanji in this term
国	民	学	校
こく Grade: 2	みん Grade: 4	がく > がっ Grade: 1	こう Grade: 1
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
國民學校 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

Compound of 国民(こくみん) (kokumin, “nationals, citizens”) + 学校(がっこう) (gakkō, “school”). Calque of German Volksschule (“primary school”, literally “people-school”).

Noun

国(こく)民(みん)学(がっ)校(こう) • (kokumin gakkō) 

1. (historical) elementary school, national elementary school
   • 2018 December 8 (last accessed), “Kokumin gakko”, in Kodomo-tachi no mita sensō [The war children saw]‎^[1], Hiroshima Virtual Museum:

Usage notes

The term was used officially from 1941-1947, later replaced by the term 小(しょう)学(がっ)校(こう) (shōgakkō, “primary school”).

Descendants

• → Indonesian: sekolah rakyat (calque)
• → Korean: 국민학교 (gungminhakgyo)

References

• Gibney, Frank (ed.). 2014. Buritanika kokusai dai hyakka jiten. Tokyo: TBS Britannica.

See also

• Education in the Empire of Japan on Wikipedia.Wikipedia