Eita Sato, 15, and Aoi Hoshi, 15, who are the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School, attend a Japanese traditional calligraphy class to write a message that will be engraved into the school's closing memorial stone, a few days before their graduation and the institution's closing ceremony, in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 9, 2023. Eita and Aoi, who have been together since three, are the last two graduates of Yumoto Junior High, a public school established in 1947 that in its prosperous years sent out more than 50 graduates, but with only a few enrolments expected in the coming years, the village decided to close the school for good. "We heard rumours about the school closure in the second year, but I didn't really think it would happen. I was shocked when I heard the news," Eita said. REUTERS/Issei Kato
- As Eita Sato and Aoi Hoshi walked towards their junior high school graduation ceremony, their footsteps echoed in polished halls once crowded and noisy with students.
The two were the only graduates of Yumoto Junior High in a mountainous part of northern Japan - and the last. The 76-year-old school will shut its doors for good when the school year ends on Friday.
Eita Sato, 15, and Aoi Hoshi, 15, who are the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School, attend a photo session with their Eita's mother Masumi Sato, 46, and Aoi's grandmother Hisako, 68, and father Kazuhisa, 37, after the students' graduation and the institution's closing ceremony, in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan March 13, 2023. Eita and Aoi, who have been together since three, are the last two graduates of Yumoto Junior High, a public school established in 1947 that in its prosperous years sent out more than 50 graduates, but with only a few enrolments expected in the coming years, the village decided to close the school for good. "We heard rumours about the school closure in the second year, but I didn't really think it would happen. I was shocked when I heard the news," Eita said. REUTERS/Issei Kato
"We heard rumours about the school closure in our second year, but I didn't imagine it would actually happen. I was shocked," Eita, who like Aoi is 15, said.
As Japan's birthrate plunges faster than expected, school closures have picked up pace especially in rural areas like Ten-ei, a mountainous skiing and hotspring area in Fukushima prefecture, dealing a further blow to regions already struggling with depopulation.
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Eita Sato, 15, and Aoi Hoshi, 15, walk along the corridors of Yumoto Junior High School, where they are the only two students, a few days before their graduation and the institution's closing ceremony, in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 9, 2023. Eita and Aoi, who have been together since three, are the last two graduates of Yumoto Junior High, a public school established in 1947 that in its prosperous years sent out more than 50 graduates, but with only a few enrolments expected in the coming years, the village decided to close the school for good. "We heard rumours about the school closure in the second year, but I didn't really think it would happen. I was shocked when I heard the news," Eita said. REUTERS/Issei Kato
Falling births are an Asian regional issue, with the costs of raising children dampening birthrates in neighbouring South Korea and China. But Japan's situation is especially critical.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has pledged "unprecedented measures" to boost the birthrate, including doubling the budget for child-related policies, and says maintaining the educational environment is crucial.
But little has helped so far.
Eita Sato, 15, and Aoi Hoshi, 15, the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School, attend their graduation ceremony, in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 13, 2023. Eita and Aoi, who have been together since three, are the last two graduates of Yumoto Junior High, a public school established in 1947 that in its prosperous years sent out more than 50 graduates, but with only a few enrolments expected in the coming years, the village decided to close the school for good. "We heard rumours about the school closure in the second year, but I didn't really think it would happen. I was shocked when I heard the news," Eita said. REUTERS/Issei Kato
Births tumbled below 800,000 in 2022, a new record low, according to government estimates and eight years earlier than expected, dealing a knockout blow to smaller public schools that are often the heart of rural towns and villages.
About 450 close every year, government data shows. Between 2002 and 2020, nearly 9,000 shut their doors forever, making it hard for remote areas to lure in new and younger residents.
"I'm worried that people won't consider this area as a place to relocate to start a family if there is no junior high school," said Eita's mother Masumi, also a Yumoto graduate.
Eita Sato, 15, and Aoi Hoshi, 15, the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School, and their teachers attend a celebratory class before the students' graduation and the institution's closing ceremony at the school in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 9, 2023. Eita and Aoi, who have been together since three, are the last two graduates of Yumoto Junior High, a public school established in 1947 that in its prosperous years sent out more than 50 graduates, but with only a few enrolments expected in the coming years, the village decided to close the school for good. "We heard rumours about the school closure in the second year, but I didn't really think it would happen. I was shocked when I heard the news," Eita said. REUTERS/Issei Kato
FIGHTING GIVES WAY TO FRIENDSHIP
Ten-ei, a village of just under 5,000 residents with only around 10% under the age of 18, is in a quiet rural area known for its rice and sake. The Yumoto area has hot spring inns on the mountains and is dotted with ski rental shops and campsites. There are also "beware of bears" signs.
The village at its peak in the 1950s had more than 10,000 residents, supported by agriculture and manufacturing. But the area's growing inconvenience and remoteness prompted residents to leave.
Eita Sato, 15, and Aoi Hoshi, 15, the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School, attend a photo session with guests for the institution's closing ceremony after their graduation, in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 13, 2023. School closures are happening across Japan, with about 450 public schools closing every year, amid faster-than-expected declining births in the country, which have plunged to a new record low in 2022, according to official estimates, dropping below 800,000 for the first time, eight years earlier than the government had expected. "It is grave in a sense that the loss of schools means that the municipality itself will eventually become unsustainable. The real implication of Japan's current phenomenon of declining birth rate and ageing population is that such areas will be increasing rapidly," said Touko Shirakawa, journalist and lecturer at Sagami Women's University specializing in sociology. REUTERS/Issei Kato
Depopulation picked up speed after the March 11, 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant less than 100 km (62 miles) away, with Ten-ei suffering some radioactive contamination that has since been cleaned up.
The Yumoto school, a two-storey building located in the centre of the district, had some 50 graduates a year during its heydey in the 1960s.
Photos of each graduating class hang near the entrance, going from black and white to colour - with the number of students visibly and suddenly dropping from around 2000.
Eita Sato, 15, who is one of the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School, attends his last English lesson on the day before his graduation and the institution's closing ceremony, in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 10, 2023. Eita and Aoi, who have been together since three, are the last two graduates of Yumoto Junior High, a public school established in 1947 that in its prosperous years sent out more than 50 graduates, but with only a few enrolments expected in the coming years, the village decided to close the school for good. "We heard rumours about the school closure in the second year, but I didn't really think it would happen. I was shocked when I heard the news," Eita said. REUTERS/Issei Kato
There is no picture from the last year.
Eita and Aoi, together since three, were in a five-person class through elementary school but were the only two to go on at Yumoto.
Their desks sat side-by-side in the centre of a classroom designed for 20, and during their first year they "fought a lot", Eita said.
Eita Sato, 15, and Aoi Hoshi, 15, the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School, take the last school back home as their teachers see them off on the day before their graduation and the institution's closing ceremony, in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan March 10, 2023. Yumoto Junior High is a public school that was established in 1947 and in its prosperous years sent out more than 50 graduates, but with only a few enrolments expected in the coming years, the village decided to close the school for good, with some parents and villagers say that the school closure should have been avoided. "People are very disappointed that there's no longer a source of culture, and that the place will be quieter without children's voices," said Mikio Watanabe, 54, the school's principal. REUTERS/Issei Kato
But tensions eased and they adapted, trying to simulate a normal school experience. For the afterschool club activity that is a key part of Japanese schooling they selected pair sports, mainly table tennis.
On graduation day, teachers pinned corsages on the laughing graduates, usually a job for younger students.
"People are very disappointed there's no longer a source of culture," said principal Mikio Watanabe of the decision to close, taken in consultation with village residents. "The place will be quieter without children's voices."
Eita Sato, 15, and Aoi Hoshi, 15, the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School, clean a classroom on the day before their graduation and the institution's closing ceremony, in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 10, 2023. Eita and Aoi, who have been together since three, are the last two graduates of Yumoto Junior High, a public school established in 1947 that in its prosperous years sent out more than 50 graduates, but with only a few enrolments expected in the coming years, the village decided to close the school for good. "We heard rumours about the school closure in the second year, but I didn't really think it would happen. I was shocked when I heard the news," Eita said. REUTERS/Issei Kato
Experts warn that rural school closings will widen national disparities and put remote areas under more pressure.
"The school closure means the municipality will eventually become unsustainable," said Touko Shirakawa, a sociology lecturer at Sagami Women's University.
Ten-ei will discuss repurposing the school building. In other parts of Japan, closed schools have become wineries or art museums.
Eita Sato, 15, and Aoi Hoshi, 15, the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School, take part in their last English class on the day before their graduation and the institution's closing ceremony, in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan March 10, 2023. Eita and Aoi, who have been together since three, are the last two graduates of Yumoto Junior High, a public school established in 1947 that in its prosperous years sent out more than 50 graduates, but with only a few enrolments expected in the coming years, the village decided to close the school for good. "We heard rumours about the school closure in the second year, but I didn't really think it would happen. I was shocked when I heard the news," Eita said. REUTERS/Issei Kato
Aoi, who dreams of being a nursery school teacher in her hometown, will attend a different school from Eita starting in April.
"I don't know if there will be any children in the village when I am a teacher," Aoi said. "But if there are, I want to come back."
(Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu, Tom Bateman and Issei Kato; Editing by Elaine Lies and Michael Perry)
Masumi Sato, 46, and her sons Riku, 11, and Eita, 15, who is one of the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School and graduates this month, have dinner in their kitchen, at home in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 10, 2023. Masumi, a single mother of three and alumnus of Yumoto Junior High, runs a hot spring inn on the mountain and added that her youngest son, who is currently a fifth grader in an elementary school nearby, wanted to share the memory of attending the same school as many of his other family members did. "He told me, 'The adults made the decision one-sidedly without us,'" she said. "I'm worried that people won't consider this area as a place to relocate to when there is no junior high school." REUTERS/Issei Kato Eita Sato, 15, and Aoi Hoshi, 15, the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School, head home on the village school bus, a few days before their graduation and the institution's closing ceremony, in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 9, 2023. Eita and Aoi, who have been together since three, are the last two graduates of Yumoto Junior High, a public school established in 1947 that in its prosperous years sent out more than 50 graduates, but with only a few enrolments expected in the coming years, the village decided to close the school for good. "We heard rumours about the school closure in the second year, but I didn't really think it would happen. I was shocked when I heard the news," Eita said. REUTERS/Issei Kato Principal Mikio Watanabe, 54, waves a crossing warning flag as Eita Sato, 15, and Aoi Hoshi, 15, arrive at Yumoto Junior High School, where they are the last two students, on the day before their graduation and the institution's closing ceremony, in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 10, 2023. Yumoto Junior High is a public school that was established in 1947 and in its prosperous years sent out more than 50 graduates, but with only a few enrolments expected in the coming years, the village decided to close the school for good, with some parents and villagers say that the school closure should have been avoided. "People are very disappointed that there's no longer a source of culture, and that the place will be quieter without children's voices," said Watanabe. REUTERS/Issei Kato Eita Sato, 15, who is one of the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School and graduates this month, serves meals to guests at his family's home and hot spring inn in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 10, 2023. Eita's mother Masumi Sato, who is also an alumnus of Yumoto Junior High, runs a hot spring inn on the mountain and added that her youngest son, who is currently a fifth grader in an elementary school nearby, wanted to share the memory of attending the same school as many of his other family members did. "He told me, 'The adults made the decision one-sidedly without us,'" she said. "I'm worried that people won't consider this area as a place to relocate to when there is no junior high school." REUTERS/Issei Kato Eita Sato, 15, and Aoi Hoshi, 15, the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School, and their family members leave the school after their graduation and the institution's closing ceremony in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 13, 2023. Eita and Aoi, who have been together since three, are the last two graduates of Yumoto Junior High, a public school established in 1947 that in its prosperous years sent out more than 50 graduates, but with only a few enrolments expected in the coming years, the village decided to close the school for good. "We heard rumours about the school closure in the second year, but I didn't really think it would happen. I was shocked when I heard the news," Eita said. REUTERS/Issei Kato Eita Sato, 15, and Aoi Hoshi, 15, the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School, have their last school lunch with their teachers before their graduation and the institution's closing ceremony, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 9, 2023. Eita and Aoi, who have been together since three, are the last two graduates of Yumoto Junior High, a public school established in 1947 that in its prosperous years sent out more than 50 graduates, but with only a few enrolments expected in the coming years, the village decided to close the school for good. "We heard rumours about the school closure in the second year, but I didn't really think it would happen. I was shocked when I heard the news," Eita said. REUTERS/Issei Kato Masumi Sato, 46, pins a rosette reading 'Congratulations!' on her son Eita, 15, one of the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School, on the day of his graduation ceremony, in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 13, 2023. Aoi Hoshi, 15, and Eita, who have been together since three, are the last two graduates of Yumoto Junior High, a public school established in 1947 that in its prosperous years sent out more than 50 graduates, but with only a few enrolments expected in the coming years, the village decided to close the school for good, with some parents and villagers say that the school closure should have been avoided. "I'm worried that people won't consider this area as a place to relocate to when there is no junior high school," said Eita’s mother Masumi, who is also an alumnus of the school. REUTERS/Issei Kato Teacher Yumemi Kanazawa, 30, Eita Sato, 15, and Aoi Hoshi, 15, the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School, attend a class a few days before their graduation and the institution's closing ceremony, in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 9, 2023. Eita and Aoi, who have been together since three, are the last two graduates of Yumoto Junior High, a public school established in 1947 that in its prosperous years sent out more than 50 graduates, but with only a few enrolments expected in the coming years, the village decided to close the school for good. "We heard rumours about the school closure in the second year, but I didn't really think it would happen. I was shocked when I heard the news," Eita said. REUTERS/Issei Kato Eita Sato, 15, and Aoi Hoshi, 15, who are the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School, serve their last school lunch for themselves and their teachers, a few days before the students' graduation and the institution's closing ceremony in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 9, 2023. Eita and Aoi, who have been together since three, are the last two graduates of Yumoto Junior High, a public school established in 1947 that in its prosperous years sent out more than 50 graduates, but with only a few enrolments expected in the coming years, the village decided to close the school for good. "We heard rumours about the school closure in the second year, but I didn't really think it would happen. I was shocked when I heard the news," Eita said. REUTERS/Issei Kato Eita Sato, 15, and Aoi Hoshi, 15, the only two students at Yumoto Junior High School, keep warm next to a stove during break time between lessons, on the day before their graduation and the institution's closing ceremony, in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 10, 2023. Eita and Aoi, who have been together since three, are the last two graduates of Yumoto Junior High, a public school established in 1947 that in its prosperous years sent out more than 50 graduates, but with only a few enrolments expected in the coming years, the village decided to close the school for good. "We heard rumours about the school closure in the second year, but I didn't really think it would happen. I was shocked when I heard the news," Eita said. REUTERS/Issei Kato
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