Martial Arts Education in Japan During The Tokugawa Period

Centers of instruction for children in military lineage and especially for the offspring of provincial governors were opened in the provinces, thus removing the buke (military class) from the direct influence of those schools and universities in around Kyoto where the intellectual and exclusive influence of the kuge (court nobles) still predominated (...) Among the centers of instruction frequented by the buke were the renowned Yokendo in Sendai, the Kojokan in Yonezawa, the Kodokan in Mito, the Chidokan in Kagoshima, and the Meirinkan in Hagi, to mention only a

A scholar, Koike Kenji, has described the history, organization and training program of one of these centers, the Nisshinkan in Wakamatsu, which was primarily concerned with the literary and physical education of the provincial lords, higher retainers, and leading administrators of the ancient Aizu clan. The training of high-ranking children of this clan began systematically and officially when they were eight or nine years old. Before that, as was customary, these children had already been prepared through preliminary indoctrination in martial etiquette, and at the age of five, boys had already received their first samurai costumes and swords (which they would never again be without).

After receiving his first swords, a boy would join other children in groups divided according to various sections of the town and follow one or more leaders who would be responsible for him to a teacher in a temple or at the institute. Under the strict surveillance of these teachers, the children memorized the literary texts of instruction (without explanation), beginning at about their tenth or eleventh years. From the ages of ten to fourteen, they were taught and expected to practice official etiquette. At thirteen they began to study archery, swordsmanship, and spearfighting, which they would henceforth practice regularly throughout their lives. At fifteen they approached the chinese classics, and individual inclinations in the various branches of military administration were encouraged and cultivated by a personal tutor. At sixteen, the group divided, and each youth was indoctrinated by a series of teachers in their specialties (literary subjects, including chinese classics, religious literature, calligraphy, etiquette, classical music, mathematics, medicine and astronomy, plus military subjects: archery, spearmanship, swordsmanship, jujutsu, artillery and firearms (hojutsu), fortifications (chikujojutsu), horsemanship and swimming; The optional subjects were tea ceremony, poetry, hunting, etc.)
This program continued until the boy's twenty-second year. Then, if he had satisfactorily absorbed and completed the program, he could either stay on at the Nisshinkan Institute or further his education by visiting other institutions throughout the country. In general, he was encouraged to embark upon a specialized career, in accordance with the rank held by the head of his family, whom he was expected to succeed when the latter retired or passed away. (...)