 The Hirata academy had attracted over 500 disciples during Atsutane’s lifetime and over 4,200 total disciples by the early years of the Meiji period including posthumous disciples who had joined after the master’s death in 1843. One of the major centers of Hirata disciples was in Shimōsa province of today’s northern Chiba and Ibaraki prefectures, whose registrants numbered over 200 by the time of the Meiji Restoration. Members of the Hirata family visited Shimōsa—Atsutane gave lectures, while adopted son and administrator of the academy, Hirata Kanetane (1799–1880), raised funds for publishing.