Post by Kanazawa City Admin on Dec 31, 2008 2:05:58 GMT -5
We will help the students to achieve
balanced development in mind and body;
to pursue truth and regard studying as important;
to value justice and self-discipline;
to cultivate a wide range of sensibilities;
to respect their own and others' character;
and to become a productive member of society.
[/size][/right]balanced development in mind and body;
to pursue truth and regard studying as important;
to value justice and self-discipline;
to cultivate a wide range of sensibilities;
to respect their own and others' character;
and to become a productive member of society.
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This is the year 2009.
The city of Kanazawa (pop. 439,000+), sitting in between the Sai and Asano rivers, started its history about 500 years ago, when the Ikko sect of Buddhism established the Kanazawa Gobo temple on the site of the present castle, creating Japan's only independent Buddhist state in history.
Oda Nobunaga sacked the place in 1580, and installed one of his retainers, Maeda Toshii, as the town's new lord in 1583.
The Maeda clan subsequently enjoyed the largest daimyo domain in Japan until the Meiji Restoration of 1868. During the Tokugawa rule, the castle town of Kanazawa rivaled Kyoto and Edo in wealth and splendor, and was Japan's fourth largest city.
Nowadays, with a population of 440,000, Kanazawa only ranks 32nd (see cities' population listing), and has turned into a kind of backwater, far off the shinkansen line joining Kyushu to Northern Honshu.
Kanazawa castle took fire in 1881, and the current castle is a reconstruction, except the Ishikawa Gate which dates from 1788. Note that the castle tower has not been rebuilt after 1881, as Japan's feudal era was over.
The city was spared bombing during WWII and for this reason is one of the best preserved traditional town in Japan.
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