松本城 (Matsumoto Castle) and a Museum of Japanese Education

Last weekend I went to 松本城 (Matsumoto Castle) and a former elementary school, turned museum, in Nagano. 中山先生 (Nakayama Sensei) took his daughter and me. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive, which meant getting up early-- on a Saturday! I wasn't excited about that at all, but it turned out to be a great day! The drive through the mountains full of fall-colored trees reminded me of Colorado. The castle is spectacular, inside and out! It has one more level than it appears to from the outside. Also, the bottom floor has grated windows that are parallel to the ground; these were for dropping rocks out of when enemies were trying to climb up the stone base. Cool, huh?!

Another strategic feature are these small, wire-slatted windows,
which were for shooting arrows through.

So tall! See those tiny square and rectangle windows?
Those are the ones the arrows were shot through.

With Nakayama Sensei

Momiji! One of my favorite things in Japan!

"I don't mean to brag, but this school is the best elementary school building in Japan."
-Shinpi Newspaper, 21 April 1876
Former Kaichi School, which has now been made into a museum of Japan's educational history and school artifacts, including textbooks in which militaristic and Emperor-centered ideology portions were blacked out following Japan's defeat in WWII. To learn more about this,
check out pages 124-127 of Democracy in Occupied Japan
(Edited by Mark E. Caprio and Yoneyuki Sugita).

Nakayama Sensei taking a moment to relive his childhood days.
He said these solid wood desks and chairs are the same as when he was a student.

Students used these small chalkboards to do their work.
The "eraser" is gauze rolled up and taped.

A "stove" heater!! It bears a striking resemblance to the ones that are in my school now-- more than a century later!

Seeing this was a highlight of the day. Like the "stoves", the school rules haven't changed much in a century either! #2 is something that has really amazed me here-- Japanese kids don't tattle on each other. In 2 1/2 years, I've only seen kids tell on each other two times. AND #4: ..."Say 'Good Morning' to your parents" is just what I'd expect the school rules to say! The Almighty Japanese あいさつ (aisatsu- greeting)!! LOL!