hankō

In Japan's Tokugawa era, hankō were domain schools established in castle towns. These institutions were primarily for the education of samurai retainers and were modeled after the shogunate's Confucian Academy, the Shōheikō. By the end of the era, over 200 hankō existed throughout Japan. Their curriculum focused on Confucianism, Chinese classics, and brush writing, with some later incorporating Western learning. These schools played a significant role in the educational system of the time, alongside terakoya (temple schools) for commoners.1