Kodokan is a domain school founded in 1841 by Tokugawa Nariaki, the 9th lord of the Mito domain, and at the time was one of the largest schools in Japan with site area of 10.5 hectares.
After becoming the lord of the domain, Tokugawa Nariaki promoted various reforms in the domain’s administration, one of which was the establishment of a domain school to train and promote human resources.
In his masterpiece “Kodokan-ki”, he describes the school’s founding spirit as “both literary and military arts”. A wide range of education was provided in the school, such as history, arithmetic, astronomy, medicine, swordsmanship and swimming in addition to Confucianism.
Currently, an area of 3.4 hectares of the site of the former Kodokan is designated as a special national historic site, and the buildings that remain on the site, such as the main gate, government office, and Shizen-do Hall, are designated as national important cultural properties.
Information
■Location: 1-6-29 Sannomaru, Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture
■Telephone number: 029-231-4725
■Access: 20 minutes by car from Mito Interchange on the Joban Expressway / 10 minutes on foot from Mito Station
■Admission fee: 400 yen for adults, 200 yen for elementary and junior high school students, 200 yen for seniors (over 70 years old)
■Opening hours: 9:00-17:00 (9:00-16:30 from October 1st to February 19th)
*This page cites the following source: https://travelogues.jp/sightseeing/mito_city/
Historic Site in Japan 