Former Minochi Elementary School
Minochi Elementary School, which closed in March 1984, was located in Shinshu-Shinmachi Town, Kami-minochi County. Shinshu-Shinmachi became part of Nagano City through a merger in 2010.
Though 40 years have passed since its closure, part of the former Minochi Elementary School building still remains. I had the opportunity to visit recently and would like to share it.
The photo above shows one of the remaining buildings, originally the gymnasium.
Here is a recent aerial photo.
The building with the red roof in the center is the school building from the first photo. To its right stands another building, used as a special-purpose classroom.
This is the two-story special-purpose classroom building.
These two buildings are the only ones remaining today.
A school isn’t made up solely of a gymnasium and special-purpose classrooms. First, it needs classroom buildings.
Let’s look at the layout of the school buildings from an aerial photo taken when the school was in use. It was taken in 1976.
Two red-roofed school buildings, which no longer exist, are lined up on the left. The one on the far left is the administration building, which housed classrooms and staff rooms. The second one is the regular classroom building.
I’ve written the year each was built. The classroom building was constructed during the Meiji era, while the gymnasium and special-purpose classrooms were built during the Showa era.
Please look again at the gymnasium in the first photo. While the gymnasium now has an entrance, the older aerial photo shows it did not. You can see the entrance is attached to the far left administrative building.
This suggests that when the classroom buildings were demolished, the entrance section was relocated to the gymnasium site as a memorial. Although I couldn’t find records indicating when the demolition work took place.
This photo shows the gymnasium taken from the northwest road, and there is a flat concrete ground in the foreground. This is where the classroom building once stood.
A statue of Ninomiya Kinjirō also stands near where the administration building used to be.
Tracing the school’s history, it opened in 1874 under the name Minochi School.
Subsequent reorganizations changed its name to Shinmachi School Minochi Branch in 1886, Minochi Elementary School Kanda Branch in 1889, and finally Kanda Branch Room in 1893.
In 1903, the branch school became independent, establishing the Minochi-higashi Elementary School. The administration building, constructed in 1906, served as its schoolhouse. It was a single-story structure, apparently housing two classrooms, a staff room, and “Hoanshitsu" (a room keeping a photograph of the Emperor).
In 1909, a classroom building was added. Aerial photos show it connected to the administration building, though it seems initially built with a gap between them.
The gymnasium was constructed in 1927.
The photo shows the gymnasium as seen from the road.
Subsequently, in 1931, classrooms were added between the classroom building and the administration building (one classroom on the first floor and two classrooms on the second floor), connecting the administration building and the classroom building.
After the war, under the School Education Act, it became known as Minochi-higashi Elementary School.
The special-purpouse classroom building was constructed in 1950. It was built initially as classrooms for junior high school students when the new junior high school system was established. After the junior high school became independent and moved, it was used as a special-purpose classroom building.
In 1955, Shinmachi Town, Hihara Village, and Nobushina Village merged to form Shinshu-shinmachi Town. The school name was changed to Shinshu-shinmachi Municipal Minochi Elementary School.
Later, Shinshu-shinmachi also incorporated parts of Makisato Village (1956) and parts of Yasaka Village (1959).
At the time of the merger, there were six elementary schools and several branch schools and branch rooms. Integrating these became a major town issue starting in the 1970s, with proposals for either consolidating into one school or creating three schools.
The swimming pool was completed in 1970. Before that, students apparently swam in the Saigawa River, but due to deteriorating water quality in the river at the time, the need for a pool was strongly requested.
Regarding elementary school consolidation, Nobushina Elementary School and Hihara Elementary School were first merged in 1975 to establish Saimei Elementary School.
Tsuwa Elementary School incorporated part of the Branch School No.1.
The consolidation of Minochi, Makisato, and Shinmachi Elementary Schools was considered, but residents of the Minochi district formed the “Save Minochi Elementary School Association” and protested against the merger. Over several years, the group’s name changed from the “save association” to the “consideration association,” and it seems the residents’ feelings gradually shifted.
Later, Makisato Elementary School and Shinmachi Elementary School merged to become Shinshu-shinmachi Chuo Elementary School (1982). The following year, the town assembly decided to merge Minochi Elementary School with Shinshi-shinmachi Chuo Elementary School.
In March 1984, Minochi Elementary School closed.
To mark the closure, a commemorative publication was compiled and a monument erected.
This stone monument stands in front of the special-purpose classroom building.
The large stone monument bears the inscription “Site of Minochi Elementary School,” while the smaller stone monument to its left is engraved with the school song.
Snow still lingered on the road east of the special-purpose classrooms and gymnasium at that time.
Walking along the snowy path to the entrance of the special-purpose classrooms, I saw a sign reading “Minochi Community Center,” suggesting it is still used as a local facility today.
I didn’t check inside the gymnasium, but a notice at the entrance labeled “Disaster Prevention Equipment Stockpile” indicated it is likely also used as a disaster preparedness warehouse.
As mentioned earlier, I haven’t been able to determine when the main school building was demolished. However, the decision to preserve this entrance area likely reflects the local residents’ attachment to the school.
Due to factors like declining birthrates, schools are closing across Japan. Where possible, I believe it’s best to continue using the buildings as community facilities. Yet, sometimes demolition becomes unavoidable due to deterioration, or there may be a lack of personnel or funds for maintenance. Even in such cases, I think it’s necessary to preserve some form of record and memory.
[Reference]
“Commemorative Publication for the Closure of Minochi Elementary School” (Edited by the Shinshu-Shinmachi Town Minochi Elementary School Closure Commemorative History Editorial Committee / Published by the Minochi Elementary School Closure Commemorative Project Executive Committee / 1984)