![Bungaku-Bandai_no-Takara-Terakoya-School-by-Issunshi-Hanasato](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Bungaku-Bandai_no-Takara-Terakoya-School-by-Issunshi-Hanasato.png)
were private educational institutions that taught reading and writing to the children of Japanese commoners during the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
.
History
The first ''terakoya'' made their appearance at the beginning of the 17th century, as a development from educational facilities founded in
Buddhist temple
A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...
s. Before the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
, public educational institutions were dedicated to the children of
samurai
were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...
and ruling families, thus the rise of the merchant class in the middle of the Edo period boosted the popularity of ''terakoya'', as they were widely common in large cities as
Edo and
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
, as well as in rural and coastal regions.
The ''terakoya'' attendance rate reached 70% in the capital Edo at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. The ''terakoya'' were abolished in the
Meiji period
The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912.
The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...
, when the government instituted the in 1872, when attending public schools was made compulsory to give basic education to the whole population.
Curriculum
![Terakoya_for_girls](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Terakoya_for_girls.jpg)
''Terakoya'' focused on reading and writing, but they dealt with extra subjects and disciplines, as counting with the
abacus
The abacus (''plural'' abaci or abacuses), also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool which has been used since ancient times. It was used in the ancient Near East, Europe, China, and Russia, centuries before the adoption of the Hin ...
(''
soroban
The is an abacus developed in Japan. It is derived from the History of Science and Technology in China, ancient Chinese suanpan, imported to Japan in the 14th century. Like the suanpan, the soroban is still used today, despite the proliferation ...
''), history, and geography. They taught girls sewing,
tea ceremony
An East Asian tea ceremony, or ''Chádào'' (), or ''Dado'' ( ko, 다도 (茶道)), is a ceremonially ritualized form of making tea (茶 ''cha'') practiced in East Asia by the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. The tea ceremony (), literally transla ...
rituals,
flower arranging
Floral design or flower arrangement is the art of using plant materials and flowers to create an eye-catching and balanced composition or display. Evidence of refined floristry is found as far back as the culture of ancient Egypt. Professionally ...
techniques and other arts and crafts.
The classes usually took place in private homes of samurai,
Buddhist priests, or even commoner citizens. The instructors, called ''shishō'' () or ''te-narai-shishō'' () were mostly commoners, but samurai and Buddhist clergy also taught at ''terakoya''. The administration tasks were often taken care of by the teachers themselves. A few ''terakoya'' were administered by
Shinto
Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
priests and medical doctors.
Unlike centers of popular education that taught mainly skills needed in everyday life, ''terakoya'' offered a higher level of education. The curriculum began with
calligraphy
Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
courses, as pupils imitated their instructor examples, the so-called ''tehon'' (). Once the basics of writing were mastered, the pupils advanced to textbooks known as ''ōrai-mono'' (), which dated back to the
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...
and were mainly used for
samurai
were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...
education. These copybooks were compiled by Japanese men of letters and were written in
kanji
are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...
combined with
kana
The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters (kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most pr ...
. They contained useful information about the daily lives of people, as household precepts, conversation skills and moral values, as well as historical and geographical contents, which showed a wider scope of social life to the students.
Although only a handful of ''terakoya'' offered commercial courses for the children of the merchant class, calculating with the abacus became more and more popular at the end of the Edo period.
Through the system of ''terakoya'' and
''han'' schools, the Japanese population had achieved a high degree of literacy at the end of the Edo period. There are no reliable statistics, but it is estimated that 50% of men and 20% of women nationwide were literate and possessed basic calculation abilities.
Contemporary
Today, there have been instances of organisations and events bearing the name of ''terakoya'' in modern Japan, such as the
Nichiren
Nichiren (16 February 1222 – 13 October 1282) was a Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher of the Kamakura period.
Nichiren declared that the Lotus Sutra alone contains the highest truth of Buddhist teachings suited for the Third Age of B ...
-affiliated Hosei-ji temple in Tokyo which held a two-day ''terakoya'' gathering in which elementary schoolers engaged in religious practices such as the copying of Buddhist images (写仏 ''shabutsu'') and disciplined study of
sutras
''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aph ...
while seated in the
seiza
): "proper/correct sitting", seiza ( ja, , link=no): "quiet sitting" , Jing zuo
'' Seiza '' ( or , literally "proper sitting") is the formal, traditional way of sitting in Japan.
Form
To sit ''seiza''-style, one must first be kneeling on the ...
style, in addition to many recreational activities. In
Honjō,
Saitama, the ''Honjō Terakoya'' organisation brings together volunteers, young students, and Buddhist clerics to provide both exposure to spiritual practices, such as the aforementioned ''shabutsu'' and
zazen
''Zazen'' (literally " seated meditation"; ja, 座禅; , pronounced ) is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition.
However, the term is a general one not unique to Zen, and thus technicall ...
, but also personal and social development for the youths.
The Terakoya Network promotes the creation of modern-day ''terakoya'' and have thus far helped to establish more than 40 such institutions around the entire country. These ''terakoya'' involve cooperation between university student volunteers, local business leaders, religious figures, and
humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
professionals with a heavy emphasis on community and regional engagement in addition to personal and interpersonal development.
See also
*
Education in Japan
Education in Japan is managed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. Education is compulsory at the elementary and lower secondary levels. Most students attend public schools through the lower ...
*
History of education in Japan
The history of education in Japan dates back at least to the sixth century, when Chinese learning was introduced at the Yamato court. Foreign civilizations have often provided new ideas for the development of Japan's own culture.
6th to 15th ce ...
References
{{Authority control
Edo period
Schools in Japan
School types
Commoners of Edo-period Japan
Social history of Japan
Educational institutions established in the 17th century
Buddhism in the Edo period
History of education in Japan