Remains of the Shigakko Private School

These historic ruins were the site of the private military academy established by Saigo Takamori after resigning from his government positions in protest following the so-called Political Upheaval of 1873. The academy was comprised of an infantry school and an artillery school created for the sake of the young men who followed Saigo in leaving the government and returning home to Satsuma. Branch schools were later established across Kagoshima Prefecture in 1876. Many young men would be educated by these schools, which were originally intended to train soldiers in the event of a national crisis. However, they would end up serving as an outlet for the discontent of the region's former samurai, eventually triggering the Satsuma Rebellion. The area around the school saw intense fighting during this conflict, which would leave the school's stone walls marred by bullet holes to this day.