[Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture] “Nissinkan”, where Byakkotai studied, is one of the leading clan schools in Japan! Anything that doesn't happen is something that doesn't happen

Aizu Clan School "Nissinkan" is a domain school of the Aizu Clan that was built and opened in 1803 adjacent to Aizuwakamatsu Castle.

The Nisshinkan was one of the largest schools in the country, and supported the educational standards of Aizu, which was said to be one of the best in Japan.It taught guidelines for human resource development, such as ``What should happen is not what should happen.''

It disappeared during the Boshin War, and was completely restored in 1987 in Kawato Town, on the outskirts of Aizuwakamatsu City. Even today, you can see a faithful reproduction of the children studying in the vast grounds.

Not only do you see valuable facilities such as Japan's first swimming pool, but you can also get a feel for what the samurai education was like at the time.

The success of the Aizu clan is due to the Nisshinkan.

Although the samurai of the Aizu clan were in the position of a defeated army, they achieved many achievements, especially in the field of education.

Niijima (Yamamoto) Yae, famous for her role in the NHK taiga drama ``Yae no Sakura'', also left behind other achievements such as working towards the opening of what is now Doshisha Women's University.

It is believed that Aizu's high-quality education has been able to produce many results that remain in the world today.

During the Edo period, a domain school was established in each domain to provide education to become a worthy samurai.

The Aizu clan school, Nisshinkan, was open not only to samurai but also to children from farmers and merchant families, and children from the Aizu clan were required to enter Nisshinkan when they turned 10 years old.

Place where the later Byakkotai learned

The Byakkotai, which is famous nationwide for its tragic story, also studied here.

In addition to studies such as Confucianism and etiquette, martial arts such as archery, swords, spears, and horses were also established as compulsory subjects. There were also elective subjects, and it is said that children chose them depending on their family's income.

In particular, it is said that if you achieved excellent results in Confucian reading, you would eventually be able to travel to Edo to study.

Restored Nisshinkan

When you enter the Nisshinkan south gate, the projection room is on your right. When you enter the museum, you first watch a video here and learn what kind of place Nissinkan is.

An audio guide that can be listened to on your smartphone or tablet is also available.

As you continue along the route, you will come to a large gate called ``Gekimon.'' At that time, a drum was placed in the left chamber of this gate, and it seems that the sound of the drum was used instead of the chime we call today. .

Taisei-den, a university, and a resource room are lined up on a site half the size of Tokyo Dome.

As you pass through the gate, you will find a large garden that is the center of Nisshinkan, and in front of it is a particularly large building called Taisei-den. The university is on the right and the museum is on the left. The route leads to the inside of Higashijuku, which is located on the right, before the university. This facility used to be a reading room where children studied.

There are dolls of children from that time, and you can see them arm-wrestling while studying or taking breaks. You can tour the university, Taiseiden Hall, and the museum.

Taisei-den is the symbolic building of Nisshinkan, with a statue of Confucius, said to be the founder of Confucianism, in the center, and statues of his disciples enshrined on either side.

At the museum, you can see a variety of materials, including materials related to the Aizu Matsudaira family, various documents from the time, and the achievements of Nisshinkan graduates.

There is an experience corner such as painting.

As time passes by inside, you will feel like you have traveled back in time to the Edo period. In such a mood, you can experience archery (300 yen per session, 5 arrows), painting experience (Akabeko: 870 yen, Osari Koboshi: 730 yen), tea ceremony experience (540 yen), zazen experience (500 yen), etc. Is possible.

Videos of each experience are available on the Nisshinkan website.

Nisshinkan: http://www.nisshinkan.jp/experiencing#zazen

A painting contest is being held. If you receive an award, your photo will be published on Nisshinkan's official website and in the sponsored Fukushima Minyu Shimbun newspaper. The grand prizes of the contest held during Golden Week 2018 have been uploaded to the website.

Nisshinkan: http://www.nisshinkan.jp/news/10025.html

Japan's first pool

Mizunari Mizuma Pond (now known as the school pool, 153m in circumference) is also one of the highlights. This is known as the first swimming pool in Japan.

Although it is a water drill, it is not as easy as playing pool in today's school PE classes. At that time, it seems that they practiced swimming while wearing armor. Swimming with clothes on is quite tiring, but wearing armor must have been unimaginably tough.

They learned a unique swimming style called Mukai-ryu, and sometimes moved around the pond on horseback. In addition, there were times when they ``crossed while eating'' and ``swimmed while doing calligraphy.''

The music video for Nogizaka46's "Negegemizu" is set at Nisshinkan. I recommend it because you can get a good idea of ​​the atmosphere and what’s inside ↓

There are also plenty of other attractions such as an astronomical observatory and an archery range.

Nisshinkan is a merit-based school

Promotion was based on merit. Family status and age didn't matter. Since he valued both literary and martial arts, people who excelled in both studies and martial arts and worked hard every day rose to the top.

It was a merit-based school, so it was common for younger brothers to overtake their older brothers. It seems that children from prestigious families were valued for their grades at Nisshinkan, and if they were unable to graduate, they would not be allowed to inherit the family.

It is said that a person who won first place at Sodokusho at the age of 15 had the academic ability to graduate from what is now known as a national university.

Because Nisshinkan had such a strict system in place, it had an outstanding reputation among the 250 clan schools nationwide at the time. It is said that he had the highest admission rate to the University of Tokyo.

What is life at Nisshinkan?

What was the life like for the children of feudal samurai who actually attended Nisshinkan? In the morning, we go to school in groups. It's like the current school squad.

Class hours are from sunrise to sunset, and are longer in the summer and shorter in the winter. The total number of students was about 1000.

I will mainly study Confucianism, and first I will enter a reading room. The reading room had grades from 4th grade to 1st grade.

The grade that had to be caught differed depending on the family.

As I mentioned earlier, it was a merit-based school, so age didn't matter to get a grade. It feels like completing the first grade at the age of 18 is neither good nor bad.

There are some students who pass Grade 1 at the age of 14, which is an extremely excellent category. Great figures of the Meiji era, such as Hideo Takamine and Tsunori Minami, were so highly regarded at this reading center that they were called "children of God."

The grades that had to be completed differed depending on the family; the eldest son of a family with a stipend of less than 500 koku was required to pass the second grade, and the eldest son of a family with a stipend of 500 koku or more was required to pass the first grade.

If you were unable to complete the required grades, you had to continue studying, and you were allowed to study until the age of 35.

It's great to fight even in class! I can't afford to lose

Apparently the class was very noisy. When you see school scenes in TV dramas, you get the impression that everyone is quietly studying.

However, in reality, this was not the case, and large fights sometimes broke out during classes. Nowadays, teachers and people around you stop you, but it is still the world of samurai. Parents and teachers had the attitude that children should do whatever they wanted, with a no-nonsense mentality.

If you lose the fight and try to go home, your parents will get angry at you. That's why the fight was so serious.

Summary about Nisshinkan

Nisshinkan is a domain school where all the great people from Aizu attended. Yae's older brother Kakuma Yamamoto, who appeared in the NHK Taiga drama ``Yae no Sakura,'' and her first husband Naonosuke Kawasaki were professors at Nisshinkan.

Teijiro Ito, who lived next door to Yae and would later join the Byakkotai, was studying at Nisshinkan.

Yae loved Teijiro like a younger brother, and once said, ``Teijiro always closes his eyes when he fires a gun.That's why I used to scold him for being a coward.''

At the Nisshinkan, you can vividly feel the Byakkotai, who were active and attending school. Little did they know that they would later commit mass suicide on Mt. Iimori.

As you walk around the Nisshinkan, imagining the lively faces of children of yesteryear, various emotions such as melancholy and sadness come and go, and you are transported by the solemn waves of time.

Nisshinkan＜Information＞

• Name: Aizuhan School Nisshinkan
• Address: 10 Takatsukayama, Minamikoya, Kawato-cho, Aizuwakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture
• Phone number: 0242-75-2525
• Official URL: http://www.nisshinkan.jp/

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