The Former Site of Yoshida Elementary School
- Modification: 2024/01/11
- Area: yoshida
The area that currently houses the social heart of Yoshida village, the Yoshida Community Center, was once Yoshida Elementary School. The school opened its doors in April of 1876 and underwent some changes through the years, first becoming the Yoshida Citizen’s School in April of 1941 (Shōwa 16), then becoming Yoshida Elementary School in the spring of 1947 (Shōwa 22), following the postwar educational reforms. The postwar period saw the school’s highest enrollment, with a maximum student body of 119 in 1963 (Shōwa 38). By the time it was closed in 1973, there were only 57 students left.
While the buildings from Yoshida Elementary School no longer exist, the Manten Hall (which is a renovated lecture hall of the school’s) situated behind the Community Center is currently used as a media archive for the 2002 NHK morning drama, “Manten,” which was set on Yakushima.