Kōdōkan, Han school in Mito, Japan.
Kōdōkan is a historic educational institution in Mito, comprising several wooden buildings with curved roofs and paved walkways. The compound includes tatami-matted lecture halls, a dark wooden main gate, and a landscaped garden where plum trees flower in March.
Tokugawa Nariaki established the school in 1841 to reform warrior education in his domain and incorporate Western influences. Classes ended in 1872 when the Meiji government introduced a unified educational system across Japan.
Samurai spent years here studying Confucian philosophy and practicing combat techniques in the wide courtyards. Students followed a strict daily schedule that combined intellectual discipline with physical training, preparing them for leadership roles across the domain.
A ten-minute walk from Mito Station leads to the entrance of the grounds, which open daily except on New Year holidays. The halls cannot be entered with street shoes, so slippers are provided at the entrance.
The school library preserved books smuggled from China and the Netherlands during Japan's period of isolation. These forbidden texts on medicine and navigation were quietly passed among students.
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