After visiting the memorial site on Iimori hill we headed for the castle. We quickly walked around the ground and took pictures of the cherry blossom. The rain was still pouring. We then made our way to Nisshinkan Samurai School. The school attended by the Byakkotai (white tiger brigades).
Just as we pulled in, the rain stopped. What a relief! We made our way inside the school. First off was a movie explaining the historical background:
The Nisshinkan school was founded by Genko Tanaka in 1803. During his lifetime he introduced wide scale political changes to the clan. His personal motto was "The Aizu clan's prosperity depends on educating its people." So he started the Nisshinkan school on the west side of Tsurugajo Castle. It was a school set up to educate the boys of the samurai rank retainers from the age of 10. The boys studied confucianism, mathematics, astronomy, and medical science using Japanese sources and information gathered from the Dutch. They also had to train in the martial arts, archery, spear-throwing, shooting, horse-riding and swimming. The school had its own swimming pool and observatory and it is said to have been in the top 3 out of 300 such clan schools in Japan at that time. (Visit this web site for more information)
The school was used to film the most recent movie about Byakkotai. You can watch here a preview. Unfortunately I must say that other than the historical aspect, this 4 hours long movie has very little to go for. The acting and the special effect are especially horrible.
Then we walked the grounds and explored all the building. We didn't have much time before closing. We had to hurry. But before leaving, we painted our very own Akabeko!
Akabeko(赤べこ,Akabeko, red cow) is a traditional toy from the Aizu region of Japan. The toy is made from two pieces of papier-mâché-covered wood, shaped and painted to look like a red cow or ox. When the toy is moved, the head thus bobs up and down and side to side. Aizu legend claims that the toys are based on a real cow that lived in the 9th century and showed its devotion to Buddha by willing its soul away or by refusing to leave the site of a temple it had helped to construct. Akabeko has become one of Fukushima Prefecture's most famous crafts and a symbol of the Aizu region.
Before departing the wonderful city of Aizu, we stopped for lunch. Konnyaku, fish and meat grilled over fire, covered by a yuzu-miso sauce.
As they fought to defeat the enemy, the Byakkotai had to retreat. They were fighting in familiar territory. What was once their playground was now a battlefield. They headed for a secret passage way through the mountain. And that is how they reach ed Iiemori hills. Still to this day, the secret passage way remains. It is but a hole on a cliff. But it stands as a testimony of the story that unfolded.
There are many sights to see between the secret passage way and the memorial monument. The most striking one is perhaps the round temple. In which you go up and down without ever changing direction. It is but one straight path!
The truth is that I had never heard about Byakkotai. As a matter of fact, the chances are : neither have you!
Unless you are a hard core Tomohisa Yamashita fan and happened to have watched the 4 hours made for TV Japanese movie. (Which I had never heard of either before traveling to my friend family house in Chiba).
My friend lives in the prefecture of Chiba near Narita city but her father is from Fukushima. He's an Aizu boy ;-) Knowing that I love history, he had planed on taking us to his hometown and show me all the sight the great city of Aizu-Wakamatsu had to offer. Long before going, my friend had been telling me all about it. She would always mentioned the Byakkotai. I had no idea what she was talking about. All I had in my mind was Yoshitsune!
We got up really early one April morning and took of in the family minivan for Aizu. outside : pouring rain. We drove for about 4 hours and reached Aizu. We first made our way to the famous hill where the memorial for the Byakotai lays. There stands a little museum. And that is when I understood what Byakkotai was...
In short : such as Hiroshima and the children peace memorial. Byakkotai is the synonym of the infamy of war. Children and war. Kids that shouldn't have been sent to war and for lack of better knowledge, committed ceremonial suicide thinking they had been defeated. Teenagers who had been train by the best. And who did the best thing they could do when they saw the castle, they were meant to defend, burning. What they did not know was that the castle was not engulf in flame and that they had not been defeated yet.
So there I stood. At the top of the hill. Looking over 19 graves. With the castle standing strong in the valley. (It has since been rebuilt). The cherry blossoms. The pouring rain. It hit me harder than the Atomic bomb site in Hiroshima.
Probably because the site was so modest. Probably because although they are respected, they are in no way heroes.
Fools.
That's what they were. Yet you can't help but understand the reason behind their act. The ultimate testimony of pride. Everyday I see kids. Teenagers. With no sense of pride. With no integrity. Teens that have no directions or nothing they hold near and dear to their heart and would give their life to protect.
Granted, Byakkotai represent youth foolishness just the same way Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet does. But Byakkotai also represent the ultimate act of loyalty. Would you do the same for the country you love?
As I write this post, Japan is far behind me. But I cannot ignore the wonderful last 2 weeks I spent there last April. Here is an account of how I spent two amazing weeks in the care of my Japanese friend Ayumi and her family.
First off, we met in Tokyo and took off, early morning for Takasaki. My Japanese friend had never been there but she had heard all about our previous adventure in the town of Daruma!
We easily reached the town, and grabbed some Daruma bentos at the train station. We had planned on having an outdoor lunch at the Daruma temple. We were a little bit behind schedule and miss the before noon bus. We ended up having to wait a good hour before the next mean of transportation to the temple, which was on a local train. By the time we reached the temple, we had very little time left so we zoomed up the hundreds of stairs and made our way to the main building. We snapped tons of pictures and bought Daruma-shape omikuji (300yen). My fortune was not exactly stellar so I decided to fold it up and tie it at the temple.
We then walked across the bridge to the Daruma factory. I was glad for once to have a Japanese translator to talk to the old man who had been so nice for us!! In fact he was so happy to see that we had brought our Japanese friend! As always Ayuchan did an amazing job at translating everything I wanted to say!!!
The old man invited us to the second floor of the workshop and served us lunch! We had delicious Soba and tempura. We were not expecting such generosity. But we were really happy, since it hadn't had lunch yet! We still had our bentos with us but decided to keep them for dinner.
After the lunch, we headed back to the station and started the long journey back to Tokyo, then Narita then Sosa. I was finally going to meet her family!
Since today is the Sixth of January, I decided to post about one of my favorite Japanese talisman of good luck : Daruma Dolls.
Why today, you might ask? Well today marks the beginning of the 2 days fair in Takasaki where people go to buy their Daruma Doll.
But what is a Daruma doll?
Essentially, Daruma dolls are paper maché dolls. A big round head that represent Dharma (Bodhidharma). It is usually painted in red with a white face where you can find the design of a crane (the eyebrow like feature) and a turtle (the moustache like feature) two animal considered as being lucky for Japanese people.
The best-known legends say he attained enlightenment after meditating in a cave for seven years (some say nine years) without blinking or moving his eyes. In most legends, this occurred while Bodhidharma was facing a cave wall at the Shorinji Temple on Mt Song in China. During those years of meditation, his arms and legs atrophied, shriveled up, and fell off. Legend also credits Bodhidharma with cutting off his eyelids. Apparently he dozed off during meditation, and in anger, he cut off his eyelids, which fell to the ground and sprouted into China's first green tea plants.
To know more about Daruma dolls I strongly suggest you visit Wikipedia and this web site.
But Where can I find a Daruma doll?
Although Takasaki produces 80% of the dolls, you can find them for sell all over Japan. The price varies greatly and so does the size. You can buy small ones the size of a golf ball or as big as a Child. There is a Daruma-ji temple at the Mt.Shorinzan in Takasaki City. At that temple, you can buy the talisman as a doll or as an omikuji.
The Takasaki JR station also carries Darumas in every shape and form.... You can even buy an Hello Kitty daruma bento box!
But what do I do with a Daruma doll?
Here comes the fun part! Once you buy your Daruma, you should make a wish and paint the right eye in black (from the painter's perspective). When the wish comes true, paint the other eye. You can display the doll at home, at work or in your business.
But how is a Daruma doll made?
Years ago, I was watching the japanese variety program Muchaburi. On that program, they traveled to Takasaki to visit a Daruma manufacture. That is when I first learn about the doll. I was really impress and wanted to see it for myself. A few months later, I was on my way to Japan and made sure to stop by Takasaki. There I had the chance to have a local artist teach me the painting process. I gave it a try and had horrible results!!!
Here is a little video that shows the fabrication process:
The Daruma Project 2009
In 2009, I decided with my grade 7-8 class to Make Darumas as a year end project. The idea behind it was that my class did not want to participate in the year end concert (which they found to kiddish). Since the following year, the grade 7 and 8 were moving to a new school, they had decided to make a gift they would leave behind and one they would offer to the principal of the new school.
The gift had to be meaningful, and bring luck to the new establsihement. The end of year concert (which was to take place in the new school) would be the occasion to offer both gift to the 2 principals. The kids had all heard about my trips to Japan and showed a lot of curiosity towards Darumas! We quickly agreed as a class : Daruma would be the special gift!
So 2 months before the end of the school year we started. We could not follow the traditional way of making them (lack of equipment and material) so we decided on using a balloon that we would cover with papier maché. After many layers to give it the proper shape and feature (nose, flat face, heavier base) we coated it with primer. Then we painted the doll with a red paint mix with gloss.
For the face, I told my student they could follow the traditional pattern or they could be creative. Most of them decided to use their creativity. Some kids decided to try the traditional way.
In the end, we were really please with the results! The student decided on 2 dolls and offered them on stage to the principals. The principals were really surprise by this. The students had prepare a powerpoint explaining the concept and asked the principals to make a wish for their respective school. 2 years later, those dolls are still being displayed in the entrance hall of both schools!
The following summer, as I traveled back to Takasaki, I met with the local artist and showed him the picture of my students, hard at work! He was clearly surprise and couldn't stop laughing. He said, we definitively has no skills in Daruma making, but we had motivation and talents!
Takasaki is on the Nagano Shinkansen train line. When you get to the JR station you can either transfer on a local train line to Gunmayawata station or you can take the bus. Your best bet is to ask when you get to the station since both the bus and the train run on very different schedule and at any given time, you must take one or the other.
From the temple, you can easily walk to the Daruma factory. If you want more detailed information, feel free to contact me!
The truth is: I remember really little about this concert!
We were sitting first row! Less than a meter from the stage! It was amazing! Needless to say Yoko was great. I have to admit thought, he was not as great as when we say him in Osaka. He seemed worried and bottered by something. Enough that he messed up in the lyrics or in the dances a few times. He was sweating a lot too. During the MC, it became clear that something was on his mind. That's when he started messing arround with the audience... saying... I have some guest for the MC... or not... maybe it's kanjani8... sorry I'm just lying!!... it went on for a good 5 minutes. The crowd became very restless. That's when the whole group walked on stage. The crowd went wild!!! We went wild. They did the MC with Yoko. Ryo and Ohkura were standing right in front of us. Ryo came closer and said hi to us. Then the whole group sang Hitotsu no uta. I was amazed. I could not believe our luck!!! Turns out in the whole tour, that was the only time the whole group showed up. That also explained why Yoko seemed so nervous.
Towards the end of the show, Yoko threw 4 sign boards. Marie and Ani caught one. Ani gave it to Marie. (it is now framed in her bedroom)
After 7 very long days, and since the rain was still in the forecast, we decided on taking a day off!! That means, we spent the day at the nearby Onsen!
I love onsen! Like you would not believe it! I love them! I love them! I love them all! It makes my skin so soft. It makes my body NOT hurt! I love it!
So at the onsen, I met a couple of really lovely ladies. One of which, an old lady, fallowed me around for half the day! She was so happy to *find a canadian in Osaka*. She kept asking me if I was single since she had a son about my age.... lol
She presented me to all the ladies in attendance. As good Osaka women, they lived up to the Obachan name as they were all very noisy and nosy! So all afternoon we chatted in Japanese about Osaka, Canada... and food!!! (That's why I love Osaka...) They kept asking me where in Japan the food was the best... I made them really happy when I said Osaka!
They also were asking me lots of questions about our dear-canadian-beautiful-figure skater Joannie Rochette! They kept saying how amazing she was! How great she was for having competed even after her mother had passes away.
So that's how my day went... in the evening, we spent all night watching different TV show. We watched Space Shower ranking (NYC was first!! lol) then we watched VS. Arashi which is always so funny.
The next day, the rain was still pouring down! But lucky us, we didn't get any snow like Saitama and Gunma did! So we went a few station down the street and headed to Shidax for 8 hours of Karaoke!!!!! Here during the day, you can buy free time Karaoke. That means it is a set price and you stay how long you want. So we sang for 6 hours straight before we had to start singing the same songs again. All this without the romanji lyrics!! I have to say, we really came along a long way since our first time 3 years ago.
We ended the night by working on our concert Uchiwa for Yoko's concert in Tokyo next week!!! First row baby!!!
And we were back in Osaka! The plan for today was to go to Kanazawa but since rain was on the forecast there, we decided instead to go to Nagoya. But first we were to stop at Fukushima station in Osaka to quickly see another Yoshitsune mark stone. The famous place where Yoshitsune said: "Nothing good can come from thinking of retreat before you even start. We shall fight just with oars at the stern of the boat."
So we set off and fallowed the direction according to what I had found out about the place. Now, I shall make a brief pause here to explain that unlike the rest of the world, Japan has a really different way to number houses. First you have the city. Osaka. Then the neighborhood: in this case Fukushima. Then you have the Chome... here 2 *which is the numerical subdivision of the neighborhood but which does not always fallow a numerical order in its placement.* Then you have another number which equals to the block in the chome. Here 2 as well. Then you have another number which would be the house number within the block, here 4. So the only information I had went as fallowed: Osaka, Fuhushima-ku, 2-2-4.
So we got to the place I had marked on the map only to find out it was the wrong Chome!!! So we asked some construction workers and after looking it up on their GPS, pointed us in the right direction. Once we found the right Chome, we thought it would be easy to find the block, but no... we wondered around for about half and hour and had to ask a few people for direction. At the same moment, we magically happened to walk right by it!!! So we took a few pictures and that was it!
We then stopped by a small shop and had an Okonomiyaki top celebrate our victory!! We ordered a Kimchi Okonomiyaki! It was good but not as good as the ones we had had so far in Osaka.
Then we hoped on the Shinkansen and headed for Nagoya! We got there in about 1 hour and realized the weather was a LOT colder than in Osaka! So we stopped by Uniqlo to buy some warmer cloths. We also went to very big Daiso and ended up spending almost all afternoon shopping. Then we headed to the castle. We walked for about 1 hour, fallowing the map they gave us at the station, and NEVER found the damn castle!!!! We must have been really close by at one point because we could see tour bus, but with little time left before our train back home, we had to turn around and go back to the station! Overall Nagoya is Blah...... Just another big city... but very very very American. No charm. Expensive. And not for me.
The next morning, we once more got up early and headed to Shimonoseki on my Yoshitsune's foot step Odyssey. We had plan the outing well and the was no reason for which we should fail. Well...
We got to Shimonoseki is less than 30 minutes on the Shinkansen. Once at the station, we found the information booth and proceeded to ask direction. The over zealous clerk was so happy to see tourist that they started marking ALL attraction in the area. We had to explain to them that we were only here for a few hours (not a few weeks) and that we were only interested in Dan no ura. The disappointment on his face.... Anyway, he directed us toward a bus as it turned out we were still a good 30 minutes away from the historical point. A transit employed took care of us as we navigated through the city and the different bus change.
That's where the adventure began!! As we sat on the bus, we realized Marie and I had no change to pay for the fare. We only had a 10000 yen bill and a 5000 yen bill!!! The fare was about 260 yen each! we started panicking. We kept trying to explain that the transit employee but he kept saying "no problem, no problem". he obviously was not understand us!! So we showed him the bills and he understood!!! But to our rescue came and old old old lady!!! She had heard our conversation and assured us she had change for our 5000 yen bill! Thank's god for her!!! She really saved us!!!
The next day, after resting well at the Hostel, we took an early train out for Kumamoto. About 2 hours south of Hakata, half-way to Kagoshima. Kumamoto was the reason for our trip in Kyushu. Like most places we visited on our many stay to Japan, we came about that place while watching Japanese TV. This castle was featured in 47 live the documentary. Ever since we had thought about going there. But being so far off the way, it had never been an option until today.
Kumamoto is one of the biggest castle in Japan. Unfortunalty, it was almost completly destroyed by an angry samourai who set it on fire in the late 1800s. In the 1960s, it was reconstructed according to the few pictures pre-fire state.
The castle itself is beautiful and I have to say, it was well worth the trip. Of all the castle in Japan, this one offers the most building to visit and possibly the biggest ground space. The inside of the main tower is a museum about the history of the castle but also about all the other castles in Japan.
As you first enter, you also see walls covered with name plates. Those name plates are the one of the people who donated money for the reconstruction of the different building of the castle.
It took Marie and I about 3 hours to visit the castle and its surrounding. Of which, 1 hour was spent trying to locate on the name plates, Murayama Ryuhei and Murakami Shingo. We did find Maruyama's plate but had to give up on finding Hina's. But as we recall, even in the documentary they had trouble locating Hina's plate.
Overall, we had a great day in Kumamoto. It's too bad the weather was rainy and gray, it prevented me from taking beautiful pictures.
(On the picture, my finger is pointing at Maruyama's plate but you can hardly see it since it was so high over head.)
I am very unsure what to write here. Overall our day in Hiroshima and Miyajima ended up exactly like my trip there last year!! Stuck under the pouring rain.
We left Osaka early in the morning. Jumped on the Shinkansen and headed for Hiroshima. From there we transferred to Miyajima and arrived around 10 am under a heavy rain. I am sure Miyajima is a beautiful and magical place but somehow I am starting to have a very bitter feeling about that place. Whenever I think of Miyajima, I think of cold freezing rain, wet feet, wet pants, wet everything.
Even thought it was raining, the place was crowded with tour group. We walked around a bit, saw the majors site, took the money shots and went in a little restaurant for the famous Oyster Okonomiyaki, Hiroshima style.
By then, the island was almost covered by a thick fog. We took the ferry boat and went back to Hiroshima. There, still under the rain, we made our way tot the Castle, played around with the costumes, walked to the Peace Garden, took a few pictures.
Since we were tired of walking under the rain, we spent the rest of the day under the covered shopping street, did some Purikura, bought Flip Flop, and ate an Okonomiyaki in the special Okonomiyaki building.
Overall, Hiroshima does not score really high with me. The city itself is ok, it is worth visiting the Peace Park but that is about it. The Okonomiyaki are not anywhere near as good as the ones in Osaka.
But since Hiroshima is on the way to Kyushu, and since Marie had never been here, I thought it was important to stop by.
After our day soaking in the rain, we jumped back on the Shinkansen and continued our trip towards our main goal: Kumamoto!
We reached Hakata (Fukuoka), found our staying place Khaosan Hakata (a great hostel that I would recommend to anyone visiting the area).
In hope of beating the tourist rush madness, we hoped early on a train and headed for Nara. We were expecting another Kyoto type of day with it's share of frustration.
Just as we thought, as early as 9 am, the place was already crowded with tourists. From the station, we fallowed the flow of people and walked straight towards the Daibustu. We passed a few temples and a 5 story pagodas. We stopped to take a few pictures with the deers. Pet some of them. Then reached the giant boudha (daibustsu).
The entrance fee was 500 yen but it was well worth it. I know there are a few daibustsu in Japan but it was my first time seeing any of them. It is very impressive. We made our way around the temple and found a fundraiser activity where for 1000 yen you could write a message on a tile that would then be used to renovate the roof of the temple. We thought it was a cool idea so we did one and wrote a little message from our Plastre Langlois family. We took many pictures and kept on walking around the town to visit a few more temples.
In all, it was a 3 hours walk through nice scenery. As the day went on, as the tour bus arrived, it started getting overly crowded but by then we were done. Getting there early proved to be a great decision!
In the afternoon, Marie went for a haircut as I roamed around arcade games. We finished our day in Nara with a Purikura and a good tonkatsu meal.
We left early on the Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka and started with a little visit to the famous authentic castle of Himeji. From the outside, the castle was stunning. Especially with the cherry blossom surrounding it. But that's as far as we got. The crowd! Oh the crowd! It was just too much for me. Waiting in line to visit the inside of the castle meant not going to Kobe... that was out of the question so we left. Instead we made our way to some old covered shopping street and did some purikura.
After having lunch, we jumped back on the train and made our way to Nada station. From there we headed to the Kobe Oji Zoo to see PANDAS!!!! I had never seen a panda before so this was going to be exciting. Well turns out it was and made us forget all about our failed trip to Himeji. We spent a few hours roaming the zoo and headed to Sanomiya station to go up the Kobe city hall tower and enjoy the view from there.
That concluded our trip to Kobe and Himeji.
I should add, on a comic note, at the zoo, they had squirrels on display, in cages!!! Marie and I thought it was hilarious!!!!
I didn't mean it but I started my tracking down of Yoshitsune by the beginning of the story. But let's look back at yesterday's near disaster first.
Kyoto! Kyoto! Kyoto! As some of you might remember from my previous trip, this city always failed to impress me. It just doesn't do it for me. I will refer to it as the Disney land of temples. Just like the Vatican, it leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth. Oh! Sure it is beautiful. Full of historical site, cherry blossom, culture... but FAKE! FAKE! FAKE! Well, I shouldn't be too harsh here, definitively not as fake as Vegas. Fake on a different level! Here, they sell you history! They don't allow you to appreciate it. They sell it to you, with a day pass, a lucky charm and an omiyage. Sure there is nothing wrong with that. So does the rest of Japan. But here to make the matter worst, try doing it while fraying your way amongst thousand of dumb tourists!! There you got it. A nightmare.
So that's how our day started. In the over zealous crowd of history-go-getter. We made our way to Nanzen-ji. Grand, beautiful... no different than the other 100 temples and shrines. We walked along the canal and enjoyed the Cherry Blossoms. Had a little Hanami of our own by the art gallery. By then I had enough. Time for me to head out of town. Somewhere far, somewhere still meaningful... Marie headed to the Gold temple (Which I had already visited on my first trip there). I jumped on the train to Mt. Kurama.
It took me about 30 minutes to reach Kurama station. From there I started an 1 hour hike up the mountain. It is hard to describe the hiking trail. There wasn't much to it except beautiful tall trees, bamboo and cherry blossoms. Along the path, many shrines or stone markers. The main temple, not the biggest, not the richest, not the most beautiful one of Japan. But from it front steps, you could enjoy one hell of a view over the surrounding area!!
The reason I wanted to go that far, was not only to get away from the tourists (did I forget to mention, that on my way there a saw but a handful of them) but to visit the site where Ushiwakamaru (Yoshitsune) grew up. That temple was the one where he was sent as a toddler to study.
At the main gate, after paying your 200 yen, you are given a map that marks all the important places along the path, including the water stream Yoshitsune drank from, the stone where he marked his height and the field where he learned his swordmanship skills.
After wondering for 2 hours around that holy site, I went back to Kyoto and met with my sister at Gojobashi (once more ignored by the tourists) where stands a stone scene of Yoshitsune and Benkei's mythical fight.
You can never go wrong with a day at the onsen. And best of all turns out there is a really nice one just a 10 minutes walk away from where we are staying! Well it is not a traditional Onsen, more like a public bath but it has all the fun stuff including the slat scrub and the electrify water bath. We spent all morning there and in the afternoon watched random japanese TV.
Now on another note, today we are starting our 7 days mini-trip project called Yoshitsune's footstep! First stop is Kyoto and Fushimi Inari. Tomorrow will be Hiroshima and Miyajima.
Well it was suppose to be. But with the weather hitting 25 degree and the sun shinning, we decided to go for a stroll around the neighborhood. We had notice a few mounts and parks near by and thought we should check it out.
Turns out the mount are not park but actual burial mount in a key shape with moat, dating back to 4th century! They are known as the Mozu Necropolis with the biggest Tumilis being right next to our house: Nintokuryo Tumulus. These Tumulis, or emperor burial ground are the third biggest Emperor burial structure after the Kufu Pyramid and the Imperial Tomb of the first emperor of China.
Unfortunately there is really nothing to see.
But just across from the mound, there is a park in which lays a beautiful Japanese garden *200 yen* to visit. We spent an hour there walking around the beautiful setting. It reminded us a lot of the Kanazawa garden.
After walking all around the moat garded mound we ended up in downtown Sakai city. There we went up the Sakai city hall. On the 21 first floor you can enjoy a 360 degree view of the area. From the top, you get to see the Key-shaped burial mound but also Osaka.
We grabbed lunch, did a little shopping and found the biggest Daiso Mart I had ever seen!! Probably about double the one from Harajuku!! As we were shopping, a weirdo started fallowing me around. A creepy foreigners. After loosing him, we walked around some more and made our way home.
We did our laundry, watched TV and planned the next few days.
For those interested in visiting the burial ground, you can take the Nankai subway line from Tennonji and get off at Mikunikaoka station *which also serves the JR line*. Or you can get off at Sakai-Higashi station to go up the city hall building or to grab a walking map from the tourist information center.
The Nisshinkan school was founded by Genko Tanaka in 1803. During his lifetime he introduced wide scale political changes to the clan. His personal motto was "The Aizu clan's prosperity depends on educating its people." So he started the Nisshinkan school on the west side of Tsurugajo Castle. It was a school set up to educate the boys of the samurai rank retainers from the age of 10. The boys studied confucianism, mathematics, astronomy, and medical science using Japanese sources and information gathered from the Dutch. They also had to train in the martial arts, archery, spear-throwing, shooting, horse-riding and swimming. The school had its own swimming pool and observatory and it is said to have been in the top 3 out of 300 such clan schools in Japan at that time. (Visit this web site for more information)
