File No. 156 Old School Building 旧校舎

A wooden school building that was built over 40 years ago. The floorboards creak and the doors are hard to open. The building is only lit by miniature naked lightbulbs, which show the passage of time.

The wooden school building that was built in 1944. It used to be called Sakura National School back then. There were no students during the first year the school opened, as all students were enlisted or had entered the labor force.

(National Schools were started in 1941, and many of the current schools were converted into them. Influenced by nationalism and facism, national schools taught children the basic training necessary for citizens of the country. They aimed to train their body and mind, and asked them to give their lives for the nation and for the Emperor. Many schools trained children in military tactics, as well as group training and rituals. By 1947, these schools were reformed under a new system, turning the focus back to education.)

It was originally two stories, but they added a west building in 1985 that’s three stories high.