“Learning should be done in one’s free time; in other words, one should go out to learn. There is no value in forcing oneself into tedious study.”

Rumor quickly spread in Wakayama that Kumagusu was a child prodigy. Recognizing the potential in his son, Kumagusu’s father gave him permission to pursue a life of scholarship, which was rare for a merchant family. In 1879, Kumagusu enrolled in the newly opened Wakayama Junior High School. Look at the panel entitled “Grades at Wakayama Junior High School” and you’ll notice that Child Prodigy Kumagusu did not thrive in school. In an 1883 exam, Kumagusu ranked third from last, out of seven classmates. Incidentally, his good friend, Takesaburo Kitahaba, was the last on the list, but went on to graduate from the Kyoto Prefectural School of Medicine and become a doctor.

In 1883, Kumagusu graduated from junior high school and moved to Tokyo, where he enrolled in what would later become the Kaisei Academy, a preparatory program for university preparatory schools. A year and a half later, he was admitted into the prestigious Preparatory School of Tokyo University. We have a grade report from his time there as well, located next to his junior high school report. Out of 113 students, 66 passed the difficult examination, and 47 failed. Kumagusu was 59th on the list, but he still failed.

If you can read Japanese, you might notice a few other famous names on the list. Fourth from the right is “Kinnosuke Shiobara”, later known as the novelist Natsume Soseki. Five lines to the left of Kumagusu is “Butaro Yamada”, later known as Mimyou Yamada, another renowned novelist and poet. Third from the bottom is Tsunenori Masaoka, now known as the famous poet Shiki Masaoka. His classmates also included novelist Ryokū Saitō, Japanese studies researcher Yaichi Haga, and Saneyuki Akiyama, future vice-admiral of the Japanese Imperial Navy.

You might notice that Shiki Masaoka has a higher point total than Kumagusu, but he also failed. That’s because he received failing marks in geometry. The Preparatory School of Tokyo University was extremely strict and would not pass a student who failed even one subject. Even diligent Kumagusu, who wasn’t even interested in university studies but who traveled to Ueno Library to study every day for two years, failed several subjects in the December 1885 exams.

Kumagusu had the option to continue his studies and take the exam again, like Shiki, who failed it two more times and took six more years to graduate. But Kumagusu chose not to. Two months after failing his exams, he was struck with a terrible headache, so he telegraphed his father, and together they returned to Wakayama, leaving the Tokyo University Preparatory School behind.