Terakoya

thumb|right|Terakoya school in the Edo period|upright=1 were private educational institutions that taught reading and writing to the children of Japanese commoners during the Edo period.

==History== The first terakoya made their appearance at the beginning of the 17th century, as a development from educational facilities founded in Buddhist temples. Before 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.