Originally founded during the late 12th-century by samurai lord Ashikaga Yoshikane (or during the first half of the 9th-century according to some sources), the Ashikaga School is the oldest academic institution in Japan. Students came from across the country, even from the Ryukyu Kingdom to study Confucianism, I Ching, Chinese medicine, and strategics. Although the school’s teachers largely consisted of Buddhist monks, it was unusual in that it lacked Buddhist studies in its curriculum, unlike other academic institutions of that period. It was due to the Ashikaga School’s belief that…
