Why on Earth is it called "Tennessee Terakoya?"

初めまして！First, let me tell you I didn't brainstorm or sit around trying out cool-sounding names before I came up with this. It was simply a matter of wishing for an alliterative descriptor to go with "Tennessee," which is my base of operations. A terakoya is a school run out of a Buddhist temple usually, that teaches boys, girls, and often young women the arts and sciences of feudal Japan in the Edo period (1603-1868): reading, writing, history, tea ceremony, ikebana, the use of the soroban (abacus) and such. Now I'm not really a soroban whiz, but I'm pretty good at algebra! I do have a soroban around here somewhere, so when I learn to use it, I'll post my experience here! While I'm not necessarily qualified to teach all subjects to all people, I find the idea of a rural online "terakoya" or Temple School to be appealing, as much of my online life is devoted to learning more about the world and especially about Japanese history and culture. So I'm both teacher and learner. For that purpose, I utilize this particularly helpful Japanese language learning site: Nihongoup . Also this wonderful, active forum for the pursuit of all things Japanese (especially the history of the Samurai) is here: Samurai-Archives Japanese History Forum. There are many more ways to connect with the history and culture of this most fascinating country, but, as I am, for the most part, stuck without a car in the deepest of rural Tennessee 'hollers, I rely on the internet, printed word and Netflix (for entertainment).

You can find my other internet hangouts here:
Sadie Heilemann's Yahoo! Contributor Network profile
Sadie's Twitter (as @NagasakiOsada)
Sadie's Facebook page
Sadie's Klout index (I'm rather pitiful, I'm afraid, but social status ain't everything! Don't tell those Tokugawa samurai I said that!)
Samurai Fiction on Samurai-Archives.com (I've published several stories here under the moniker "Onnamusha" )

Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy reading my blog, and feel free to contact me here if you have any suggestions for great subjects to pursue at the old rural Terakoya!