Former Toyosato Elementary School Main Building
I visited Toyosato Town in Shiga Prefecture.
Toyosato Town is famous for the former Toyosato Elementary School, designed by William Merrell Vories and built in 1937. However, the main building of the school used before that structure was built still exists today.
This is the former Toyosato Elementary School Main Building.
It was built in 1887.
Interestingly, it wasn’t called Toyosato Elementary School when it was first built. Its name was “Shijuku Elementary School.”
The present-day Toyosato Town was established in 1956 through the merger of Toyosato Village in Inukami County and Hie Village in Echi County. However, within the area of Toyosato Village, eight villages existed in the early Meiji period, including Shijukuin Village and Anjiki -nishi Village.
In Shijukuin Village, the “Seibun School” was founded at Yuinen-ji Temple in 1873. However, when school districts were established by prefectural ordinance in 1886, it was renamed the “Shijuku Elementary School.” The name “Shijuku” was chosen in reference to Shijukuin Village.
That same year, plans were made to construct a new school building for Shijuku School. The budget was 1,662 yen 50 sen. The plan was to cover the costs through contributions and donations from the ten villages within the Shijukuin Village school district, with Shijukuin Village itself bearing half the expense.
When the new school building faced difficulties securing a site, the village approached Satsuma Jihee (1830-1909), a native of Shijukuin Village who was a successful cotton merchant in Tokyo, asking him to donate land. However, Jihee offered to donate 300 yen instead of land.
This school building was completed in December 1887 as the “Shijuku Elementary School.” It consisted of a main building and two classroom wings connected by covered walkways. Several other buildings, such as a janitor’s room and storage sheds, also existed.
The total cost, including construction, furnishings, and meeting expenses, was 2,520 yen, 4 sen, and 8 rin. Jihee’s donation was the largest contribution.
I looked up at the balcony section on the second floor.
In 1889, eight villages merged to form Toyosato Village. Shujuku Elementary School changed its name to Toyosato Elementary School in accordance with the promulgation of the Elementary School Ordinance in 1892. The standard term of study at that time was four years. Two years later, a higher course (two-year term) was added, and the school became Toyosato Elementary and higher Elementary School.
To accommodate the growing number of students, the school underwent several expansions of its buildings and grounds during the Meiji era.
By around 1935, the student population had exceeded 600, and there was no room left to expand the existing buildings. Consequently, a new school building was constructed at a different location. This was the school building designed by W. M. Vories.
After the new school building was completed, the old building was renovated into housing for faculty and staff. This renovation work was also reportedly handled by Vories. The exterior appearance changed, with the size and position of the windows altered.
It remains unclear how long the old school buildings served as faculty housing, but three structures remained until the 1970s. Aerial photograph show the main building and two classroom wings.
For convenience, these classroom wings are referred to here as the North Wing and South Wing. An aerial photograph from 1982 shows a different building on the site of the South Wing, indicating the old South Wing was likely demolished after 1975.
The North Building was later demolished, and the facility now standing there is called the “Museum of Memory for Our Predecessors”. Since this facility opened in 1997, the North Building was likely demolished sometime in the 1990s.
The photo shows the “Museum of Memory for Our Predecessors”, with the former main building visible slightly to the right.
Looking at even older aerial photo, one can see the location of the old school gate and pathways within the grounds. That said, this photo was also taken more than twenty years after the school relocated. The pathways were likely for the faculty housing.
There should have been a schoolyard when it was used as an elementary school, but its location is unclear in this photo. (I think it was on the south side, but it appears to be farmland.)
Ten years after the opening of the museum, in 2007, the former main building was registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property. A plaque is affixed beside the entrance.
Aiming to create a new tourist attraction and a local gathering place, seismic diagnosis of the former main building began in 2013, and reconstruction work commenced in 2016.
The exterior was restored and refurbished, including the balconies and the shutters on the windows. Inside, the first floor, which had been converted into faculty housing, was restored to its original auditorium layout.
However, the windows are sash windows. While the front is obscured when the shutters are closed, the sash construction is visible on the sides and back.
It was opened as the Satsuma Jihee Memorial Hall in 2019 after construction was completed. While Jihee’s donation towards the school building was certainly one reason for this, it also commemorates his significant contributions to his hometown. He donated 2,500 yen towards widening the road in front of the elementary school and provided relief rice to save the people of Toyosato Village during famines.
The building seems positioned more as a multipurpose hall for local use than as a dedicated exhibition facility, though it is certainly expected to become a tourist spot. A pamphlet published by the tourism association is available.
I wasn’t able to enter the building this time, but upon inquiring at the adjacent Museum, I learned it is open on weekends. I don’t know when I’ll be able to visit next, but I hope I can tour the inside then.
[References]
“Toyosato Village history” (by Fujikawa Sukezo / Toyosato Village History Editorial Committee, Inukami District, Shiga Prefecture / 1963)
“Satsuma Jihee Memorial Hall Pamphlet” (published by Toyosato Town Tourism Association and the Association for Commemorating Our Predecessors)