April 14, 2009 Day 15: Ashikaga

The Ashikaga Gakko is renowned as being the oldest school in Japan, and it is said that Japanese school education began here. The present building is a reconstruction of the school in the Edo Period when it was struck by lightning and destroyed by fire. It was recognized as a heritage site of Japan in April of 2015.

Although the instructors were mostly Zen monks, the school was a center for Confucianism and secular learning, with the teaching of Buddhist theology and doctrines expressly excluded. Tuition was free and students were expected to find accommodation at local private houses. The school had a garden to grow its own food and an herb garden to raise medicinal herbs.

Banna-ji is a Buddhist temple of the Shingon sect in the city of Ashikaga. The temple was built in 1195 on the ruins of the ancestral fortified residence of the Ashikaga clan who ruled Japan during the Muromachi shogunate. The temple still retains many remnants of its origins as a fortified samurai residence which date to the 16th century. These features led the temple to be included as one of Japan's Top 100 Castles by the Japan Castle Foundation.

The largest Shinto shrine in Ashikaga – Orihime Shrine – was originally built in 1704 but burned down in 1880. In 1937, the shrine was relocated and rebuilt on Mount Orihime right next to Orihime Park. Both the mountain, the park, and the shrine are named after the Shinto diety Orihime, who plays an important role in the origin story of Tanabata: a festival celebrated each summer in Japan. Orihime Shrine is also a place that celebrates marriage and thus it is considered a sacred place for lovers. For this reason, many couples pay the shrine a visit to pray for their relationship.