Kyuugasha

...The size of the associations varied from town/village units, several towns/villages, counties, several counties, to prefectures. Well-known samurai associations include To-o Gijuku in Hirosaki (established in 1872 as a Christian school, Honda Yoichi and others were prominent), Kugasha in Morioka (founded in 1873, the first civil rights political association in the Tohoku region, Suzuki Shajo and others), Tenkyo Gijuku in Miyazu (founded in 1875, led by Komuro Shinsuke and Sawabe Masanobu, with approximately 400 members), Rishisha in Kochi (founded in 1874, the epicenter of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, Itagaki Taisuke, Kataoka Kenkichi, Ueki Emori and others), and Soaisha in Kumamoto (founded in 1878, Ikematsu Toyoki, Arima Gennai and others, with over 580 members). Most of these were based on ties from the old feudal period, and were formed with the aim of mutual aid and learning activities to help the samurai adapt to the new era, sometimes with the support and encouragement of former feudal lords, and gradually took on the color of a political association advocating the expansion of civil rights and national power. Samurai associations were based on the emotional and local ties of former feudal lords, so their ties were strong, but at the same time they were closed off and did not easily include other classes.

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Kugasha" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…結社の規模も町村単位，数ヵ町村単位，郡単位，数郡単位から府県単位にいたる多様な地域規模の結社が存在した。　士族結社として著名なものに，弘前の東奥義塾(1872年キリスト教主義による学校として出発，本多庸一らが著名)，盛岡の求我舎(1873年創設，東北最初の民権政社，鈴木舎定ら)，宮津の天橋義塾(1875年創設，小室信介･沢辺正修らが中心，社員約400)，高知の立志社(1874年創設，自由民権運動の震源地，板垣退助･片岡健吉･植木枝盛ら)，熊本の相愛社(1878年創設，池松豊記･有馬源内ら，社員580余)などがあるが，これらはおおむね旧藩時代の結合を土台とし，士族の新時代への適応のための相互扶助と学習活動を目的として，ときには旧藩主の支持と支援のもとに結成され，しだいに民権や国権の拡張を唱える政治結社の色彩を強めていった。士族結社は旧藩士としての情誼（じようぎ）的地縁的な紐帯（ちゆうたい）を背景としたから，その結合は固かったが，同時に他の階層を含みにくい閉鎖性を伴った。…

※「求我舎」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報