The was the largest

han school The was an educational institution in the Edo period of Japan, originally established to educate children of ''daimyō'' (feudal lords) and their retainers in the domains outside of the capital. These institutions were also known as ''hangaku' ...

Bakumatsu period was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji govern ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Located in

Mito Mito may refer to: Places *Mito, Ibaraki, capital city of Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan *Mito, Aichi, a Japanese town *Mito, Shimane, a Japanese town * Mitō, Yamaguchi, a Japanese town * Mito District, a district in the province of Concepción, Per ...

Ibaraki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

, three of its buildings have been designated Important Cultural Properties and the school is a Special Historic Site.

History

The Kōdōkan was founded in 1841 by

Tokugawa Nariaki Tokugawa Nariaki (徳川斉昭, April 4, 1800 – September 29, 1860) was a prominent Japanese ''daimyō'' who ruled the Mito Domain (now Ibaraki Prefecture) and contributed to the rise of nationalism and the Meiji Restoration. Biography C ...

, ninth ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

'' of

Mito Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Hitachi Province in modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture.Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

and a strong proponent of efforts to defend the country against encroaching foreigners. His pro-''

sonnō jōi was a ''yojijukugo'' (four-character compound) phrase used as the rallying cry and slogan of a political movement in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s during the Bakumatsu period. Based on Neo-Confucianism and Japanese nativism, the movement sought ...

'' views often were at odds with the ''

tairō ''Tairō'' (, "great elder") was a high-ranking official position in the Tokugawa shogunate government of Japan, roughly comparable to the office of prime minister. The ''tairō'' presided over the governing ''rōjū'' council in the event of an e ...

Ii Naosuke was ''daimyō'' of Hikone (1850–1860) and also Tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858, until his death, assassinated in the Sakuradamon Incident on March 24, 1860. He is most famous for signing the Ha ...

and he was also influenced by the nativist ''

kokugaku ''Kokugaku'' ( ja, 國學, label=Kyūjitai, ja, 国学, label=Shinjitai; literally "national study") was an academic movement, a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period. Kokugaku scholars worked to refo ...

'' philosophy, both of which laid the foundations of the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

as well as the development of

State Shinto was Imperial Japan's ideological use of the Japanese folk religion and traditions of Shinto. The state exercised control of shrine finances and training regimes for priests to strongly encourage Shinto practices that emphasized the Emperor as ...

The academy he founded in Mito also promoted to

Mitogaku refers to a school of Japanese historical and Shinto studies that arose in the Mito Domain (modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture). Early The school had its genesis in 1657 when Tokugawa Mitsukuni (1628–1700), second head of the Mito Domain, commiss ...

school established by

Tokugawa Mitsukuni , also known as , was a Japanese daimyo who was known for his influence in the politics of the early Edo period. He was the third son of Tokugawa Yorifusa (who in turn was the eleventh son of Tokugawa Ieyasu) and succeeded him, becoming the seco ...

. It was located in the third bailey of

Mito Castle Mito Castle was a 12th-century Japanese castle with an extensive history, now in ruins, located in what was Hitachi Province."Mito Castle" Japanese Castle Explorer http://www.japanese-castle-explorer.com/castle_profile.html?name=Mito The castle r ...

, and construction work on its buildings was not completed until 1857. Admission was at age 15; however, in line with Mito Domain's philosophy on education, classes were open to all ages provided that academic ability was above a certain level. The number of days a student attended was also dependent on his social standing. The curriculum included widespread topics, including medicine, mathematics, astronomy,

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

, history, music, and military arts. From 1863 to 1864, the Kōdōkan was the epicenter of the

Mito rebellion The , also called the Kantō Insurrection or the , was a civil war that occurred in the area of Mito Domain in Japan between May 1864 and January 1865. It involved an uprising and terrorist actions against the central power of the Shogunate in fav ...

, a civil war within Mito Domain which involved an uprising and terrorist actions against the central power of the Shogunate by proponents of more rapid and direct action against the foreign powers. In April 1868,

Tokugawa Yoshinobu Prince was the 15th and last ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful. He resigned of his position as shogun in late 1867, while aiming ...

(who was himself a native of Mito Domain and once a student at the Kōdōkan), abdicated his position as

Shogun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

and was ordered by the new

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

to retire under

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

to a building within the Kōdōkan. However, the situation in Mito Domain was very unstable during the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

, and he was ordered to relocate to

Shizuoka Shizuoka can refer to: * Shizuoka Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture * Shizuoka (city), the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture * Shizuoka Airport * Shizuoka Domain, the name from 1868 to 1871 for Sunpu Domain, a predecessor of Shizuoka Prefecture ...

a few months later. The Meiji government's fears were well-founded, as only a few months after he relocated, survivors of the

Battle of Aizu The Battle of Aizu (Japanese: 会津戦争, "War of Aizu") was fought in northern Japan from October to November in autumn 1868, and was part of the Boshin War. History Aizu was known for its martial skill, and maintained at any given time a s ...

barricaded themselves within the Kōdōkan. In the ensuing battle with government troops, many of the structures in the school were damaged or destroyed. The school closed in 1872 after the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

and the introduction of the new school system and the site was designated as a public park. Most of the library was taken over by the Mito High School, were destroyed by the air raid on Mito (水戸空襲) in August 2, 1945. The park is planted with some 60 varieties of ''

Prunus mume ''Prunus mume'' is an East Asian and Southeast Asian tree species classified in the ''Armeniaca'' section of the genus ''Prunus'' subgenus ''Prunus''. Its common names include Chinese plum, Japanese plum, and Japanese apricot. The flower, long ...

'', some of which date from the time of Tokugawa Nariaki. The Kōdōkan was designated as a national historic site in 1922 and became a special historic site in 1952.It is about a 10-minute walk from Mito Station on the

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

Joban Line. Some of the buildings were damaged in the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

Notable buildings

* (1841) (

ICP ICP may refer to: Business * ICP srl, Italian manufacturer of automotive equipment and kit aircraft *Ideal customer profile: see Qualified prospect * International Comfort Products Corporation, US air conditioning and heating company * Indonesi ...

) Main Gate, Pillars have bullet holes from the 1868 battle * (1841) (ICP) The administration complex of the Kōdōkan. It includes the Bunkan (consisting of four dormitories for studying, training, and boarding), a training ground sword practice, and ground for martial arts training. * (1841) (ICP) Four rooms located in the northeast of the main office. wereused as a waiting room for the daimyo and a place for learning for his children

Gallery

File:Kodokan Plan.jpg, Map of the kōdōkan File:The gate of Kodokan, Mito.jpg, Seimon File:弘道館八卦堂.JPG, Octagonal chapel File:学生警鐘.jpg, Belfry File:Kodokan-Kashima Shrine.jpg, Kashima Shrine File:水戸弘道館.jpg, Seichō

References

External links

Kōdōkan - English language page

Ibaraki Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kodokan (Mito) Tourist attractions in Ibaraki Prefecture Mito Domain Mito, Ibaraki Education in Ibaraki Prefecture Buildings and structures in Ibaraki Prefecture Special Historic Sites 1841 establishments in Japan

History

Notable buildings

Gallery

See also

References

External links