Terakoya

Terakoya (寺子屋 terako-ya^?, lit. temple schools, private elementary schools in the Edo period^[1]) were private educational institutions that taught writing and reading to the children of Japanese commoners during the Edo period.

Terakoya focused on reading and writing, but they dealt with extra subjects and disciplines, as counting with the abacus (soroban), history, and geography. They also taught girls sewing, tea ceremony rituals, flower arranging techniques and other arts and crafts. The classes usually took place in private homes of samurai, Buddhist priests or even commoner citizens.

Unlike centers of popular education that taught mainly skills needed in everyday life, terakoya offered a higher level of education. 

The first terakoya made their appearance at the beginning of the 17th century, as a development from educational facilities founded in Buddhist temples. Prior to the Edo period, public educational institutions were dedicated to the children of samurai and ruling families, thus the rise of the merchant class in the middle of the Edo period boosted the popularity of terakoya, as they were widely common in large cities as Edo and Osaka, as well as in rural and coastal regions.

The terakoya were abolished in the Meiji period, when the government instituted the Education System Order (gakusei 学制) in 1872, when attending public schools was made compulsory as a measure to give basic education to the whole population.