Toyosato Elementary School: the School of K-ON

One might think that elementary school buildings are all blunt and the same, but some elementary schools are exceptionally well-known for special reasons. Toyosato Elementary School in Toyosato Town is one of these special elementary schools. Built by a famous architect, the school is the same one seen in the anime K-ON .

Toyosato Elementary School 

Toyosato Elementary School is located along the Nakasendo Trail in Toyosato Town. As a major road connecting Tokyo and Kyoto, Nakasendo has many things along the way.  Actually, I found it completely by chance while walking along the Nakasendo Trail. 

Toyosato Elementary School was donated by Tetsujiro Furukawa, the director of Marubeni Corporation, one of Japan’s largest companies. The school, constructed in 1937, was designed by William Merrell Vories. Vories’ buildings can be found, not only in Shiga but, also in Kyoto and Osaka, with many of them still recognized as culturally important. Although he initially came to Japan as a missionary, his contributions extended from selling the popular medicine, Mentholatum, to designing various buildings.

Today, this elementary school is no longer in use. The first floor houses a library and other facilities but the second and third floors are open to the public and have been renovated to retain their original appearance.

The outside may not look that amazing, but the inside is a great example of Merrell’s Western architecture. Also, at the time, the building was equipped with heating facilities—pretty high-tech for a school then.

The school building, the memorial library, and the auditorium are registered as a cultural asset as the Old Toyosato Elementary School Buildings.

The third floor of K-ON 

The reason Toyosato Elementary School is so popular is that the school was depicted in the anime “K-ON” (2009~2010) as Sakuragaoka High School.  The meeting room on the third floor was used as the band club room in K-ON, and it is still a sacred place for fans. 

Indeed, the interior is exactly as it appears in the anime. If you have ever seen K-ON,  you will immediately recognize it.

Many of the items placed in this room were brought in by fans. Since “K-ON” was so popular, I guess lots of people came here even after almost a decade since the anime aired. 

Toyosato Elementary School was planned to be torn down at one point, but the city finally decided not to after local people’s efforts to preserve this culturally important school.

It is now one of the most famous elementary schools in Japan. I guess it is very lucky to have preserved it!