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The was a school for the common people opened by the Okayama Domain
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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 ...
. The has been designated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
The , also known as MEXT or Monka-shō, is one of the eleven Ministries of Japan that composes part of the executive branch of the Government of Japan. Its goal is to improve the development of Japan in relation with the international community ...
of the government of 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 ...
as National Treasures in the building/structure category.
History
Shizutani school goes back to 1666 whenIkeda Mitsumasa
was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003).html" ;"title="DF 18 of 80">"Ikeda" at ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 14 Bizen_Area,_made_an_inspection_tour_throughout_the_country_and_came_across_Kidani_Village_in_Wake_District,_Okayama.html" "title="Bizen,_Okayama.html" ;"title="DF 18 of ...
, the feudal lord of the Bizen, Okayama">Bizen Area, made an inspection tour throughout the country and came across Kidani Village in Wake District, Okayama">Wake
Wake or The Wake may refer to:
Culture
*Wake (ceremony), a ritual which takes place during some funeral ceremonies
*Wakes week, an English holiday tradition
* Parish Wake, another name of the Welsh ', the fairs held on the local parish's patron s ..., which turned out to be provided with better conditions as a site of education than anywhere else. He then made up his mind to found a school there for the commoners. In 1670, after two years' trial, Tsuda Nagatada, his chief vassal, was set to the duty to complete the school. Since then, this place has been called "Shizu-tani" instead of Ki-dani, meaning "quiet and peaceful valley". Also, he put the fief he had in Kidani Village under the direct rule of the school, so that the school might support itself with what Kidani Villagers offer and pursue the cultural development concentratedly, free from politics, in case the Ikeda family should be shifted. The Lecture Hall was completed by Ikeda Tsunamasa (Mitsumasa's son), the Lord of Bizen Province, in 1701. In that feudal age, there were few cases in which public schools were established by regional lords to educate the promising aristocratic '' bushi''. It is a surprising thing that a school open to the public existed there. Ikeda is attributed with the idea, "Better public morality is all up to the education of the common people".
Features
The first unique feature in Shizutani School is the roof made of Bizen Ware tiles. The top-rounded stone wall surrounds the school, stretching as long as 837 yards. The stone arrangement in the Chinese style is precious and harmonizes with the rest of the school. Building materials consist of wood fromcamphor
Camphor () is a waxy, colorless solid with a strong aroma. It is classified as a terpenoid and a cyclic ketone. It is found in the wood of the camphor laurel ('' Cinnamomum camphora''), a large evergreen tree found in East Asia; and in the k ...
, zelkova
''Zelkova'' (from Georgian ''dzelkva'', 'stone pillar') is a genus of six species of deciduous trees in the elm family Ulmaceae, native to southern Europe, and southwest and eastern Asia. They vary in size from shrubs (''Z. sicula'') to large tr ...
, and Japanese cypress
''Chamaecyparis obtusa'' (Japanese cypress, hinoki cypress or hinoki; ja, 檜 or , ) is a species of cypress native to central Japan in East Asia, and widely cultivated in the temperate northern hemisphere for its high-quality timber and orname ...
trees, which were all selected with care. The main structures are lacquered in black or clear varnish. The lapse of three hundred years has added to the lecture hall floor its gradually accumulated luster.
Close examination reveals the structural care in its construction. The tiles of the roofs are put one over another in three layers so that rain would not leak through the ceiling in case the upper tiles break.
Each roof has a different symbol on its tiles. Those of the lecture hall have a "six leaves" crest, Shizutani Shrine's is the "Swallowtail" which, at one time symbolized the Ikeda clan
was a Japanese clan that claimed descent from Minamoto no Yorimitsu (948-1021) of the Seiwa Genji. Minamoto no Yasumasa, the fourth generation descending from Yorimitsu, and younger brother of Minamoto no Yorimasa (1104-1180), was the first to ...
, and the symbol on those of the Confucian mausoleum mean "Academic Freedom."
By the side of the lecture hall, there is a special room in which Lord Ikeda would rest when he visited the school. It is in the tearoom style and expresses the simple and sturdy spirit of Bushido
is a moral code concerning samurai attitudes, behavior and lifestyle. There are multiple bushido types which evolved significantly through history. Contemporary forms of bushido are still used in the social and economic organization of Japan. ...
.
See also
*List of National Treasures of Japan (miscellaneous structures)
Some of the National Treasures of Japan
A is the most precious of Japan's Tangible Cultural Properties, as determined and designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (a special body of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science ...
*List of Special Places of Scenic Beauty, Special Historic Sites and Special Natural Monuments
To protect Japan's cultural heritage, the country's government selects through the Agency for Cultural Affairs important items and designates them as Cultural Properties under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties. Designated items are ...
References
* {{Coord, 34.797946, 134.219477, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark_region:JP_scale:10000 National Treasures of Japan Schools in Japan Special Historic Sites Buildings and structures in Okayama Prefecture Tourist attractions in Okayama Prefecture Education in Okayama Prefecture