Closure

　　My wife's original house is in another Prefecture and is located in a little sparsely-settled town. One of today's news items features the closure of an elementary school, which sits near my wife's birthplace. According to the news item, the elementary school was founded in 1873. In due course, as the number of pupils increased, additional schoolhouses were built. One of those schoolhouses, which was constructed in 1909, has been used as the elementary school until today which put an end to the role of the school. On March 20th in 2012, both of the graduation and closing ceremonies were held. This schoolhouse is the oldest wooden schoolhouse in Japan. The area is known as one of the places which have heavy snow every year. This schoolhouse has survived a century span of tough climate. I'll upload two pictures of the schoolhouse. Enjoy them.

最古の木造小学校で卒業式・閉校式
２０１２年３月２０日

   現役の木造校舎として国内最古とされる吹屋小学校（県指定重要文化財）。　明治６年（１８７３）に開校し、同３２年（１８９９）に吹屋尋常高等小学校と改称して、現在の場所に移転、同３３年(１９００)には木造平屋建の東校舎・西校舎が落成。同４２年（１９０９）に建てられた木造２階建の校舎本館は、現在まで小学校として使われていた。平成２４年３月２０日、卒業式と閉校式が行われた。