Location Kanazawa University Museum

Kaga Domain School Plaque: Keibukan

This is one of the plaques from Kaga Domain School, which was founded in 1792 by MAEDA Harunaga, the 11th lord of the domain. This item is a plaque from Keibukan, a martial arts school where students learned horsemanship, spearmanship, swordplay, jujutsu, grappling, etc. The calligraphy was done by Maeda Tosanokami Naotada. The face is made from a single piece of zelkova, with the outlines of the letters cut using the katagiribori technique, and the faces of the letters embossed and gold leaf applied to them. The frame work was done by SAWAOKA Chuhei, a wood carver at the Kaga Domain workshop. In 1868, Keibukan was merged with Soyukan, a school of western learning that was also a domain school. After that, the plaque was displayed in the auditorium of Ishikawa Normal School and then passed on to Kanazawa University, where it continues to be held this day. At 270cm (W) x 120cm (H) x 40cm (D) and weighing 100.1kg, it is slightly smaller than the Meirindo plaque (280cm (W) x 130cm (H) x 40cm (D) and 107.6kg). Despite its smaller size, it is still one of the largest existing domain school plaques in Japan, and has been designated as a Kanazawa City Tangible Cultural Property.

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