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A Japanese student of 1801 was compelled to study at night by the dull light of a pith wick floating in vegetable oil, or by the fitful flame of fifty fireflies imprisoned in a small bamboo cage. The student of 1901 burned midnight oil from Russia or America, or studied by the aid of gas or electric light. The studies in 1801 were confined to Japanese and Chinese classics. It was considered practically a crime to seek learning outside of Japan and China, but in 1901 the studies included the whole range of Oriental and Occidental learning; and one school in Tōkyō tried to attract students by assuming the name "School of One Hundred Branches." And while in 1801 Dutch books were read only by a very select few, and mostly in secret at the risk of one's life, in 1901 it was possible to find readers of Dutch, English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Sanskrit, and other books. In 1801 education was practically confined to the priestly and military classes, but in 1901 there were no such limitations, and elementary education was made free.

In 1801 there were no newspapers in Japan; in 1901 papers and magazines galore, printed in almost all parts of the empire. Indeed, in 1801, books were either copied laboriously by hand or printed from wood-cuts; but in 1901 all the modern improvements in printing were utilized. Moreover, fonts of type of many languages might be found; and in fact, anything needed in the printing line could be manufactured at the Tsukiji Type Foundry, Tōkyō.