San Elementary School Building

A School Built to a US Civil Administration Standard Plan

The San Elementary School Building (山小学校校舎) is a two-storey reinforced concrete school building of 1955 at San, Tokunoshima Town, Oshima District, Kagoshima Prefecture, which in 2022 was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a building area of 334 square metres, extended in 1969, owned by Tokunoshima Town and registered for its contribution to the historic landscape.

The Agency places it in the northeast of Tokunoshima.

Structure

According to the Agency, each floor has two classrooms on the north and an open corridor on the south, with a stair tower at the west end.

A further classroom was later added on each floor to the west. The plan matches the two-storey, four-classroom standard design of the Public Works and Transportation Department of the US Civil Administration.

What to Look For

The Agency highlights its striking open corridors along the front. Look at the two tiers of open corridors facing south.

Its plan, shared with a standard design from the period of US administration, is what makes this school historically notable.

Visiting the San Elementary School Building

It is a school facility, so take care not to disturb school activities. No official information on visiting conditions could be found.

Enquiries go to the Tokunoshima Town board of education.