TOCHIGI, Tochigi -- A building believed to be a "hoanden," a small shrinelike structure used to house portraits of emperors and the nationalistic Imperial Rescript on Education in prewar Japan, has been found at a private home here. A war heritage researcher says such buildings are valuable as a "negative legacy" reflecting Japan's prewar education.

Soon after Japan lost World War II, the hoanden was apparently moved from Fukiage No. 2 national school (today's municipal Chizuka Elementary School) to the residence of the chairman of the parents' association at the time. Kyugo Ogura, 87, a former superintendent of education in the town of Tsuga (now part of the city of Tochigi) who is versed in wartime educational history, told the Mainichi Shimbun, "The national government supposedly demanded such structures be removed after being instructed by the General Headquarters of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (GHQ), but people may have found it difficult to destroy a facility that was once an object of reverence."

The structure was recently discovered at the residence of local farmer Hachiro Takaku, 88, near Chizuka Elementary School. The structure is made of stone, measuring 3 meters in height, 1.8 meters in width and 1.4 meters in depth. It has a gabled copper roof decorated with ornamental ridge-end tiles, and a metal double door measuring 91 centimeters across at the front. Inside, the plastered stone walls are 20 cm thick, and a small Shinto altar with a bamboo blind remains.

The structure is built on a 3-m by 2.5-m platform that is 0.5 m high, surrounded by 12 stone pillars that were once linked with iron chains, though all but one chain on the front are now missing.

Takaku, who was 8 when WWII ended, said his grandfather, Kunisaburo, who passed away in 1947, relocated the hoanden from the school. "I didn't hear the details, but after it was moved, my grandfather told me it was originally the school's. Many school officials, including teachers, attended the unveiling ceremony," he recalled.

According to a commemorative publication on Chizuka Elementary School's 125th anniversary in 1999, the hoanden was installed at the school in July 1929 and removed in August 1946. After the structure was dismantled, the supposedly "removed" materials including stone and roofing were delivered to the Takaku residence and reconstructed. A torii gate erected at the same time bears the inscription "Showa 22 (1947) Hatsuuma (first day of the horse)," referring to a day falling in February that year, suggesting the unveiling ceremony of the reconstructed facility likely occurred then. It is believed the relocation was semi-officially endorsed by the school.

Takaku explains that his family members have long served as village heads in the area, and his grandfather served as chairman of the school's parents' association for 18 years from 1928. "My grandfather knew a lot about school affairs and possessed a degree of influence. I think the decision to relocate the hoanden wasn't a result of discussions with the school or parents but was made unilaterally," he said.

In prewar Japan, hoanden buildings were installed in schools to enshrine portraits of emperors and the Imperial Rescript on Education, but most were dismantled and removed under GHQ orders during the postwar occupation. According to research by Keisuke Kiyomizu, 77, a former teacher in Nagoya's Atsuta Ward and member of the war ruins research association, four outdoor hoanden are confirmed to remain in Tochigi Prefecture, including two relocated from former national schools to private homes in the prefectural capital of Utsunomiya. Kiyomizu notes, "There are some cases in the country where these structures have been designated or registered as cultural properties. They hold value as negative legacies symbolizing prewar education and should be preserved."

Ogura, who has studied wartime student evacuations, adds, "The removal of the hoanden buildings was part of a complete rejection of prewar education. It's not hard to imagine that some people couldn't adapt to the abrupt shift. While it was relocated, the (recently discovered) hoanden preserved in its original form is significant both in terms of educational heritage and as an architectural example from the early Showa era."

(Japanese original by Yuzuru Ota, Ashikaga Local Bureau)