Shintokukan was the domain school of the Takato Domain in Shinano Province, established within Takato Castle in what is now Takato Town, Ina City, Nagano Prefecture. Founded in 1860, during the late Edo period, it operated for only 13 years until the early Meiji period, yet educated and produced many people who went on to play important roles in modern Japan.
The survival of a domain school building within the grounds of a former castle is relatively rare in Japan. Recognizing its historical importance, the site was designated in 1973 as part of the Takato Castle Ruins National Historic Site. The surviving wooden buildings still convey the atmosphere of an Edo-period school and provide a valuable glimpse into the educational culture of the Takato Domain.
Shintokukan was established on the recommendation of Nakamura Motoki, a Confucian scholar of the Takato Domain who had studied at the Shōheikō, the leading Confucian academy of the Tokugawa shogunate. The school’s founder was Naito Yorinao, the eighth lord of the Takato Domain.
It opened on the 24th day of the intercalary third month of 1860, on the former site of the residence of Naito Kurando in the castle’s Sannomaru enclosure.
The name Shintokukan comes from a passage in the Book of Changes: “A noble person advances in virtue and cultivates his work.” The name expresses the school’s ideal that people should strengthen their character through sincerity and loyalty while pursuing learning. It is traditionally said to have been named by Hayashi Daigaku no Kami Gakusai of the Shoheizaka academy.
At the opening of the school, Lord Naito Yorinao emphasized that domain warriors should value filial piety, respect for elders, loyalty, and sincerity, while studying Confucianism without losing sight of its practical purpose.
He also stressed the importance of developing the domain’s people through both scholarship and martial training. Rather than pursuing learning simply as an academic exercise, Shintokukan encouraged students to acquire knowledge and skills that could be applied to real life.
Students were the sons of domain samurai and were divided into age-based groups. Children from approximately 8 to 15 years old belonged to the younger division, while older students studied in the intermediate division.
The original curriculum included Chinese studies, calligraphy, etiquette, martial arts, and military science. As the times changed, Japanese studies and mathematics were added. During the Meiji period, Western-style military drills were also introduced, reflecting the school’s willingness to adapt its education to a changing society.
Martial training included archery, jujutsu, horseback riding, spear fighting, and gunnery. Horseback riding and gunnery were taught practically at dedicated training grounds outside the school.
This combination of academic study and martial training embodied the traditional ideal of “bunbu ryodo,” or balancing scholarship and martial arts, and became one of the defining characteristics of Shintokukan.
Shintokukan employed a progressive teaching system suited to each student’s level of ability. Beginners started with instruction known as shōjuju, focusing on reading and understanding classical texts. They then progressed to chūjuju and daijuju before advancing to more specialized study under the school’s senior instructors.
This system provided students with a structured path from basic knowledge to advanced scholarship, while allowing instruction to be adapted to individual ability.
The school’s teachers included leading scholars and martial figures of the Takato Domain. Okano Koheiji served as director of both literary and martial education, while Nakamura Motoki and Unno Koseki served as instructors.
Other scholars, including Takahashi Hakuzan and Nagao Mumoku, also taught as assistant instructors. Together, these teachers created an educational environment that combined traditional scholarship with practical training.
Among the school’s students was Isawa Shuji, who later became a pioneer of music education in Japan. He was involved in the establishment of the Tokyo Academy of Music, now part of Tokyo University of the Arts, and played an important role in the development of modern Japanese education.
The history of Shintokukan came to an end after the Meiji government’s abolition of the feudal domains. In 1871, following the abolition of the domain system, the school became the Takato Prefectural School. It was finally closed in 1873.
Although it existed for only 13 years, Shintokukan educated more than 500 people. Many graduates went on to become teachers, and more than 300 are said to have taught at schools established in the former Chikuma Prefecture under the new national education system.
Through these graduates, the educational ideals and knowledge cultivated at Shintokukan spread throughout the region and contributed to the foundations of education in Shinshu during the early Meiji period.
Today, Shintokukan is preserved within Takato Castle Ruins Park. Visitors exploring the park, particularly during the spring cherry blossom season, can see the surviving wooden school buildings among the historic surroundings.
The quiet, single-story wooden architecture retains the atmosphere of a school from the final years of the Edo period. Its modest appearance contrasts with the significance of the people and ideas that once filled its classrooms.
Walking through the grounds offers an opportunity to imagine the young samurai of Takato studying classical texts, practicing calligraphy, and training in martial arts as they prepared for a rapidly changing Japan.
Shintokukan is a valuable historical site that preserves the educational heritage of the Takato Domain and the transition from the Edo period to modern Japan. Its philosophy of combining learning with practical skills, scholarship with martial training, and knowledge with personal character reflects the ideals of the era.
Although the school existed for only 13 years, its influence extended far beyond its short lifespan. The people educated here contributed to the development of schools and modern education throughout the region.
Today, surrounded by the historic landscape of Takato Castle Ruins Park, Shintokukan quietly conveys the ambitions of a former domain and the changing educational ideals of nineteenth-century Japan.