The purpose of this paper was to clarify the ideal of a human being in the discourse of “Yojo” and “Eisei”, examining the acceptance of the anatomy and the role of “Kaika”, the view of cultural and social development.
The main results were summarized as follows;
i) “Yojo”, “Eisei” and “health” made peoples approach the ideal of a human being in “Bunmei Kaika”, the spirit of the time in early Meiji era. So they gave good reasons for the new westernized customs in those days. The “strongly-built” body and “incisive brain”, which based on the anatomy, were the characteristics of the ideal of a human being in the custom of “Kaika”.
ii) “Yojo” in the Edo era had no idea of “strongly-built” body. The “strongly-built” body proceeded from the acceptance of modern medical science on “Yojo” and the combination of physical activity and production of things.
iii “Yojo” in the Edo era had no relation to the incisiveness. The ideal of the “incisive brain” which was able to bring to “Kaika”, proceeded from the understanding that a brain had been the center of mental function.
iv) The idea of “Kaika” in the discourses of “Yojo” and “Eisei” caused the anatomically explained body to be combined with the social value and the national interests.