Recorded Joy·Rakuchū / Nijō

Site of the Kobun-in

The Kōbun-in is said to have been an annexed college (daigaku besso) founded by the Wake clan in the early Heian period. Hiroyo, a son of Wake no Kiyomaro, is said to have converted a private residence south of the state university into the school during the Enryaku era (782–806), housing thousands of volumes and endowing it with forty chō of reclaimed land. Though counted among the earliest of such family colleges, it decayed as the Wake clan's fortunes waned and was eventually abandoned. It is said to have been struck by lightning in 848, and Sugawara no Michizane composed a poem, "A Night's Lodging at the Kōbun-in," in 885. Today only a stone marker notes the site, set up by the City of Kyoto in 1917.

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These notes come from desk research. Local traditions vary.