The French military assistance advisory, which visited Japan in 1867, placed emphasis on “development of the body” as basic training for soldiers, and actually gave instructions for this purpose. The textbook used for this instruction had never been identified, but as a result of reviewing Mokuba no Sho (“the book of the wooden horse”, published around 1867) written by Hayashi Shojuro (1824–1896), their interpreter, it was found that this is a translation of the part describing wooden horse exercises in the French manual of army gymnastic exercises, “ Instruction pour l'enseignement de la gymnastique ”, which was the gymnastics textbook brought to Japan by the French military delegation. In addition to the 200-page text, a total of 18 pages of figures illustrating 33 pieces of gymnastic apparatus and exercises using them, and a plan of an outdoor apparatus gymnastics field with apparatus for 200 to 300 people are attached. The “ Instruction ” continued to be studied mainly by the army. On the other hand, the Ministry of Education established the taiso denshu jo (Physical Training Institute) in 1878, and invited the American medical doctor, George Adams Leland (1850–1924), to conduct research there. Through his study, the Ministry of Education selected light gymnastics as the most suitable method for the Japanese school physical education system, and it became popular nationwide around 1885 as alumni of the Physical Training Institute spread throughout Japan. In 1883, however, the Ministry of Education instructed the implementation of hohei soren (infantry training) and heishiki taiso (military exercises) for secondary schools in addition to the normal gymnastics. This marks the introduction of the French gymnastics, employed by the army, into school physical education. As we can see, the French military assistance advisory's visit to Japan at the end of the Edo Period and the “ Instruction ” they brought with them, were quickly followed by the establishment of the Japanese army gymnastics system. Along with the implementation of infantry training and military exercises around 1885, it also left clear traces in the formulation of the modern Japanese physical education system.