The schools for samurai children were known during the Edo Period as hanko, (domain schools.) The larges of them was Kodokan, in Mito, opened in 1841 for the kids of the samurai of the Mito clan.

Beginning at the age of 15, the little samurai were learning here military tactics, horsemanship, the martial arts of sword, spear, and archery, theoretic notions of medicine, astronomy, mathematics, music, Confucianism, and history. After the han system was abolished, Kodokan was closed, but fortunately it was perfectly preserved and today it is an amazingly beautiful and interesting museum.

Kodokan, Mito

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Yatsuhashi and Soribashi, two types of Japanese traditional bridges