The Children’s Town

Yamatsuri Town is located at the southern end of Nakadori in Fukushima Prefecture, on the prefectural border of Ibaraki Prefecture. Yamatsuri Elementary School, which integrates five elementary schools into one, is the culmination of child-rearing support measures promoted by the town.

The center of the town is called Higashitate. The Kuji River runs southward on the flatlands in the mountains and the JR Suigun Line, which connects Mito and Koriyama, and Route 118, which connects Mito and Aizu, run in parallel. Traditional houses with entrances on the gable side line the road.

The site is located at the south entrance of Higashitate. The two-story school was placed on the north-south axis on the high land on the back side, and a tall gymnasium was placed on the low part along the national route. The gabled roofs that have uniform ridges line up with and correspond to the Higashitate cityscape and the surrounding mountains at the same time.

We sought to build a “children’s town” here. We imagined that the lively figures of the children that commute from the entire area would rejuvenate the town and the school would become the alma mater to the townspeople when those children become adults. In the morning, the buses that carry all the children that commute from various neighborhoods approach the front of the gymnasium. The path of the morning sun passes through the school from the national route towards the playground. And in the evening hours when all the children are gone, on days when the gymnasium is open to the townspeople, the lights are all aglow.

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Yamatsuri Elementary School

Yamatsuri, Japan

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Yamatsuri Elementary School

Yamatsuri, Japan

Other Projects by MIKAMI Architects

Konan City Hotei Station East Complex Public Facility

Hitachi City Nakazato Elementary and Junior High School

Mito City Shimoirino Health Promotion Center

The Learning Forest: Nonoichi Kaleid

Anjo City Library: Anforet

Pal System Tochigi Center

Hitachi City Hanayama Certified Child Center

Shimotsuma Junior High School

Hokota City Hokota-minami Elementary School

Hitachi City Hidaka Elementary School

Tonami Public Library

Librio YUKUHASHI Library

Yamatsuri Elementary School

Yamatsuri, Japan

Product Spec Sheet

Collaborating Firms

Team

Articles