Shenyang Manchurian Education Specialized School

Built in 1924 and completed in 1926, the three-story brick-and-stone structure at No. 100 Nanyi Road in Shenyang originally housed the Chiyoda Elementary School, an attached school of the Manchurian Education Specialized School. Under its first principal, Hobo Ryui, the institution operated under the motto “Freedom and Progress”. Hobo rejected the standard imperial curricula and worked with faculty members like botanist Oga Ichiro to write localized textbooks, filling the pages with descriptions of local flora and fauna rather than unfamiliar Japanese flora and fauna. To attract top talent, the South Manchuria Railway Company exempted students from tuition and provided a monthly stipend of thirty silver yuan.

The building features a single-sided corridor, where sunlight once warmed the wooden floorboards, and four separate internal staircases designed to handle the daily rush of students. This progressive environment shaped brilliant minds, including the future avant-garde writer Abe Kobo and future Bank of Japan Governor Mieno Yasushi.

The main Specialized School closed in March 1933 due to high operational costs, but the Chiyoda Elementary School continued until 1945. The campus later housed Changbai Normal College and the Wenli Women's College before becoming the Northeast First Yucai School in May 1949. Today, the red bricks remain well-preserved as the North Campus of Northeast Yucai School. Designated a municipal cultural relics protection unit, the structure preserves the memory of an era when educators attempted to build a unique world of learning within these walls.