Tekijuku, Dutch studies school in Kitahama, Japan
Tekijuku is a former Western studies school in the Kitahama neighborhood of Osaka, housed in a two-story townhouse. The rooms are arranged around a central courtyard and include classrooms, a library, and the founder's private quarters.
Physician Ogata Koan founded the institution in 1838 as a private academy where he taught Western medicine through Dutch sources. More than one thousand students studied here before Japan's opening, and many later became leading figures in medicine and government.
The school name combines Chinese characters meaning 'to adapt' and 'self-cultivation,' reflecting how students approached foreign learning. Visitors see the actual desks and reading stands where young physicians sat for hours translating Dutch medical texts by candlelight.
The building stands a five-minute walk from Yodoyabashi Station and opens daily except Mondays from 10 to 16. Visitors can climb the narrow wooden stairs to the upper rooms but should wear comfortable shoes.
The building was originally a merchant house before becoming a school, and its narrow corridors and low ceilings show typical urban architecture from the Edo period. The wooden beams still carry traces of smoke from decades of study by oil lamps.
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