In big cities such as Kyoto and Osaka, private schools, such as Kogido school opened by Jinsai ITO, had existed since early in the Edo period, but after around the middle of the Edo period, private schools called village schools appeared in rural areas.
また、京都や大坂などの大きな町では江戸時代初期から伊藤仁斎が古義堂を開くなど私塾を構えるところもあったが、江戸中期くらいから郷村で村塾といわれる私塾が出てきた。