The aim of this paper is to consider the trends and problems of Japanese educational science from the viewpoint of Tokugawa educational thought. Firstly, I reexamine the past main works of the studies on Tokugawa educational thought, and conduct a survey of the trends of these studies. Second, through critical analysis of these studies I try to elucidate problems regarding Japanese educational science, and discuss viewpoints on the studies of Tokugawa educational thought in relation to future educational studies in Japan. In conclusion, we can ascertain the following two points on the characteristics of the trends; (1) most studies on the history of Tokugawa educational thought have been entirely-focused in their research on Tokugawa thought through educational theories valued by modern educational science or the degree of familiarity to modern Japanese education; (2) as a result, the so called "theory about the lack of educational thought in pre-modern Japan" has been held as the most common evaluation of Tokugawa thought. With our full attention on the above two points, we must adopt research methods which first try to grasp Tokugawa educational thought in the historical context of the Tokugawa era, and second, try to examine various problems of modern education and educational science from the reverse perspective of the pre-modern era. We should be able to see another world of modern education and educational science from these viewpoints. (Contains 25 notes.)