 Situated at the northern edge of Honshū were the Tsugaru group of Hirata disciples living in Hirosaki castle town of Hirosaki (or Tsugaru) domain. They were among the enthusiastic followers of Atsutane’s teachings on spirits and the spirit world of kakuriyo or yūmeikai. Of the eighteen students who registered with the academy from Hirosaki, group leader and merchant-class poet Tsuruya Ariyo (1808–71), along with classmate and friend Hirao Rosen (1808–80), a merchant-class painter and scholar, were especially interested in the realm of spirits that affect the visible world of human beings. 