Private school - Shigakko

A school for samurai established in Kagoshima in the early Meiji period. In 1874 (Meiji 7), following Saigo Takamori's defeat in the Korean War and his subsequent retirement from government, several hundred Kagoshima-born military and civil servants resigned and returned home. In order to provide these young men with a certain direction and to guide and control them, the school was established on the site of a former stable. There was the Rifle School (500-600 former Konoe infantrymen) supervised by Shinohara Kunimoto, and the Artillery School (approximately 200 former artillerymen) supervised by Murata Shinpachi, where military studies and Chinese studies were taught. Branch schools were also established in various towns. In a broader sense, the Shoten School (an officer training school) and the Yoshino Kaikonsha (accommodating students from the former Army Training Corps) can also be considered private schools. The Saigo faction also had a strong political associational character, and with the active support of the governor of Kagoshima Prefecture, Tsunayoshi Oyama, the Shigakko leaders came to occupy positions such as ward chiefs, household heads, and police executives in the prefecture. During the Seinan War, the Shigakko faction became the core of Saigo's army, and the entire prefectural office became the logistics department of Saigo's army.

[Izumi Haraguchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治初年、鹿児島に設けられた士族の学校。1874年（明治7）征韓論に敗れ下野した西郷隆盛(たかもり)に従い、鹿児島出身の軍人・文官のうち辞職帰郷する者が数百名に及んだが、これらの青年に一定の方向を与え指導統御するために、旧厩(うまや)跡に創立された。篠原国幹(しのはらくにもと)監督の銃隊学校（旧近衛(このえ)歩兵500～600人）、村田新八(しんぱち)監督の砲隊学校（同砲兵約200人）があり、軍事・漢学などを講じた。また諸郷に分校も設けられた。なお広くは、賞典(しょうてん)学校（士官養成所）、吉野(よしの)開墾社（旧陸軍教導団生徒を収容）も私学校に含めて考えられる。西郷派の政治結社的性格も強く、鹿児島県令大山綱良(つなよし)の積極的な支持のもと、県内の区長・戸長・警察幹部などは私学校幹部の占めるところとなった。西南戦争では、私学校派は西郷軍の中心となり、県庁全体が西郷軍の兵站(へいたん)部と化した。

［原口　泉］

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