Dōjinsha was founded in 1873. Alongside Keio Gijuku and Sansagakusha, it was one of the three major Western-style schools in Japan that taught English during the Meiji period.[1] The school also offered classes in Western Studies and Chinese. There was also a Dōjinsha girls' school, which was established in 1875, and a school for the disabled.
Masanao Nakamura started the school to get closer to Yukichi Fukuzawa, the founder of Keio Gijuku, and to educate his friends' children. Jūgō Sugiura, a former journalist, managed the school.[2] Nakamura invited Tsurutaro Senga to be the head teacher. George Cochran, a Canadian missionary, taught Bible classes at the school that were well—attended.[3] During his time teaching at Dōjinsha, Cochran converted Nakamura to Christianity, and baptized him in December 1874. Shortly thereafter, a group called the Koishikawa Christian Band (named for the district the school is in) formed at Dōjinsha.[4]
At its peak, Dōjinsha had more than 300 students. Unfortunately, as the number of students gradually decreased and as the school's administration ran into financial difficulties, the school closed in 1891.[5]
