![]() This is how the first floor can be transformed into a banquet space large enough to fit the entire school. Each floor encircled by a hallway that wraps around the perimeter, leading to the stairwells, but the space in the middle can actually form one single room if all of the sliding screens are taken down. ![]() Three rooms are available for various clubs or outside organizations to rent for the day. Ceremonies, social gatherings, and banquets are hosted on the first floor.Īs with all traditional buildings, none but the outermost walls and a few select interior ones are permanent fixtures. The second, third, and fourth floors have been arranged to accommodate the workplaces of several of the school’s administrators. There is a small library containing rare and precious books here. The third contains a host of magical artifacts along with the unused bedrooms of the former lord of the castle and his immediate family members. The fourth floor at the very top is home to the current headmaster of the school. The hidden third floor is actually not hidden by magic at all since the castle complex was constructed entirely by non-magical means. The castle appears to have three floors, but there are actually four floors and a basement. It is now an administrative building that also hosts a variety of social functions and ceremonies. In reality, the building is ill-suited to such a set up since the castle was originally built as a fortress and the residence of a single family. It is a common misconception that the main keep of Mahoutokoro is the main school building where classes are conducted and students reside. The main keep towers over the castle town that surrounds it from atop a hill. The Japanese word for castle (城) seems inclusive to both structures. ![]() When I say “castle”, by the way, I’m talking about the main keep and castle town. In the past, neither the buildings nor the island were concealed from sight.Īlthough the interior of every building can technically be altered with magic, the Ministry of Education is strict about maintaining the castle’s traditional architecture and decor. The spells and wards surrounding the island prevent it from being seen or approached by anyone, magical or not, who has not first traveled through the torii gates at the Shirahige Shrine. There is a small dock along the island’s southern shore where most enter the school by boat. It is considered uninhabited by the non-magical and often obscured by fog. ![]() The island that Nagumo Castle was built upon has a circumference of ~3.3 mi (5.3 km), an area of ~380 acres (1.5 km 2). Many today still call the school Nagumo School of the Arts instead of Mahoutokoro.Īlthough magic would continue to be used in the non-magical world to some degree well into the Edo Period (1608-1868), Nagumo closed its doors to the non-magical world in the mid 1600s. It would gain the name Mahoutokoro at some undetermined point in the 1500s, when witches and wizards from Europe encountered the Japanese magical society. At this time, however, it was called Nagumo Castle. The founding date of Mahoutokoro is often quoted as 1342, the year the Nagasone began to educate children other than their own. Eventually, the Nagasone became known as excellent educators several friends of the family sent their children to the island to be taught. It wasn’t until the Muromachi Period (1336–1573), when all onmyōdō schools were shut down, that the Nagasone family began to educate its children on the island where they lived and worked. The Nagasone children born with magic were sent to live in Kyōto during this era, since the practice and acceptance of magic was alive and well there.Īlthough the affluent Heian Period drew to a close, the Nagasone children were still educated at onmyōdō schools based in the Kyōto area. Several wizards of the Nagasone held important positions in the imperial capital of Kyōto. The Nagasone family was well known for their magical heritage, as they were prone to produce an equal number of magical and non-magical members. Nagasone Kunihiro himself was not magical, but his eldest son and youngest daughter had magic. Although it had been home to many students since the Heian Period (794-1185), Mahoutokoro was formally founded in 1342 and remains the most prestigious institute of magic in Japan to this day.īefore Mahoutokoro was Mahoutokoro, the island and castle complex were owned and inhabited by a wealthy daimyō, Nagasone Kunihiro, during the Heian Period. The castle and surrounding castle town were the property of a samurai family. Mahoutokoro is located on an island in the middle of Lake Biwa.
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