Numazu Military Academy

This educational institution for Western studies and military science was opened by the Shizuoka (Sunpu) Domain in the early Meiji period to train officers. It was established in December 1868 (Meiji 1) in Numazu Castle (Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture), and an attached elementary school was also established. With the "Restoration of Imperial Rule," the Tokugawa clan became a domain with a fief of 700,000 koku, but here they attempted to train officers based on the Western culture and Western scholars that had been under the jurisdiction of the shogunate. With Nishi Amane (Shusuke) as head, and professors such as Ban Tetsutaro, Tsukamoto Akitake (Kanpo), Akamatsu Daizaburo (Noriyoshi), Tanabe Yasukazu, and Otsuki Yasutaro (Naoshi), it was said to be the only and greatest center of science and technology in Japan as of 1869-1870. This is why it is said to have opened the door to modern science in the Meiji period. With the abolition of the feudal domains and establishment of prefectures in 1871, the school was transferred to the Military Academy, and abolished the following year.

[Akira Tanaka]

"Western Culture and the Numazu Military Academy at the End of the Tokugawa Period" by Umeyoshi Yoneyama (1934, privately published) " "Numazu Military Academy and its Human Resources" by Torao Ohno (1983, Yasukawa Shoten)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治初年、静岡（駿府(すんぷ)）藩が士官養成のために開いた洋学・兵学の教育機関。1868年（明治1）12月、沼津城内（静岡県沼津市）に設置され、附属小学校も置かれた。「王政復古」により徳川氏は70万石の一藩となったが、ここでこれまでの幕府所管の西洋文物と洋学者を基礎に士官の養成を試みた。西周(あまね)（周助）を頭取に、伴(ばん)鉄太郎、塚本明毅(あきたけ)（桓甫）、赤松大三郎（則良(のりよし)）、田辺太一(やすかず)、大築(おおつき)保太郎（尚志(なおし)）らの教授陣をそろえ、69～70年の時点では、日本では唯一かつ最高の科学技術の拠点だったとされている。明治時代の近代科学の端緒を開いたといわれるゆえんである。71年の廃藩置県により兵学寮に移管、翌年廃止された。

［田中　彰］

『米山梅吉著『幕末西洋文化と沼津兵学校』（1934・私家版）』▽『大野虎雄著『沼津兵学校と其人材』（1983・安川書店）』

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