The site of the Nisshinkan samurai school

The Nisshinkan school was founded by Genko Tanaka in 1803. He served the fifth, sixth and seventh generations of Aizu clan daimyos as their chief retainer.

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.

The Nisshinkan was burnt down during the Boshin Civil War but it is still possible to see parts of the stone observatory wall.

The Aizu tradition of placing great importance on education continues today in the shape of the University of Aizu which opened in1993.