Kodokan - Kodokan

The Mito Domain School in the late Edo period. It was planned by Tokugawa Nariaki, the domain's lord, as part of the domain's government reforms, and was provisionally opened in August 1841 (Tenpo 12). The principal directors were Aoyama Sessai (Nobuyuki) and Aizawa Yasushi (Seishisai). However, due to political upheavals such as Nariaki's downfall by order of the shogunate and his finally being allowed to be involved in domain government in 1849 (Kaei 2), the official opening ceremony was finally held in May 1857 (Ansei 4), during the Mito Domain's Ansei Reforms. The domain school continued for about 30 years until 1871 (Meiji 4), when the domains were abolished and prefectures were established. One theory is that the school was founded in 1838 (Tenpo 9), because the Kodokan-ki, a record of the school's founding written by vassal Toko Fujita at the behest of Nariaki, was completed in the same year, but in fact the building was almost completed in the same year, after the residences of senior vassals in the Sannomaru area of ​​Mito Castle were moved elsewhere. There were five domain schools with the same name that preceded Mito, including those in Saga, Fukuyama, and Hikone, but Mito's Kodokan is especially famous for its vast grounds of 187,000 m2, and the Kodokan-ki, which is considered to be a concentrated expression of Mitogaku. Furthermore, due to the policy of "reverence for the gods and Confucianism" in the Kodokan-ki, the grounds also housed a Confucian shrine and a Kashima Shrine, which are rare across the country. It is also noteworthy that a medical school was also built, which served as the base for administering vaccinations to the domain's residents.

[Yoshihiko Seya]

"Reprint of "The Great View of the Mito Kodokan" by Nagoshi Hakuzen (1981, Hitachi Shobo)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸後期の水戸藩校。藩主徳川斉昭(なりあき)が藩政改革の一環として計画し、1841年（天保12）8月仮開館した。総裁青山拙斎（延于(のぶゆき)）、会沢安(あいざわやすし)（正志斎(せいしさい)）。しかし斉昭が幕命で失脚、1849年（嘉永2）ようやく藩政関与を許されるなどの政変のため、本開館式はやっと1857年（安政4）5月、水戸藩安政(あんせい)改革中に挙行された。藩校は1871年（明治4）廃藩置県まで、およそ30年間続いた。創立を1838年（天保9）とする説があるのは、斉昭の命で家臣の藤田東湖(とうこ)が建学の大意を記した『弘道館記』が同年に完成しているためであるが、実際に水戸城三の丸の重臣らの屋敷をほかに移して、建物がほぼ竣工(しゅんこう)したのは、仮開館の年である。水戸に先行する同名の藩校は佐賀・福山・彦根(ひこね)藩など5校あるが、水戸の弘道館がとくに有名なのは、敷地が5万7000坪にも及ぶ広大なこと、『弘道館記』が水戸学の集中的表現とみなされることである。そして館記の「敬神崇儒」の方針により、敷地内には学館のほか、孔子廟(こうしびょう)とともに鹿島(かしま)神社が祀(まつ)られている点などは、全国的に珍しい。また領民に対する種痘(しゅとう)の本拠となった医学館が併設されたことも注目される。

［瀬谷義彦］

『名越漠然著『水戸弘道館大観』復刻版（1981・常陸書房）』

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