Kuramochi Primary School

For an old building lover like me, there’s few places in Japan like the Meijimura in Aichi prefecture right in the centre of Japan, a park where buildings come to retire. Actually it is an outdoor architectural museum where buildings torn down in different areas around the country is rescued and reassembled. Most of the buildings in the park are from the Meiji era of Japanese history, 1868-1912. This building is a beautiful old school building, although not all of it remains today there’s enough to try and imagine what it must have been like for the local children who first moved into this school house. It’s full name is “Mie Prefectural Normal School and Kuramochi Primary School”, and it was originally erected in 1888 in the city of Tsu, and later moved to Nabari in Mie prefecture and finally to this park in 1973. It’s a beautiful combination of the mid-Meiji era western and traditional Japanese building styles. I wish my school had been as beautiful as this! Not much of the interior remains but one of the class rooms were partly recreated and even though it’s more than a hundred years earlier, it actually looks pretty similar to the elementary school I went to. If you are ever in Aichi prefecture with a day or two to spare, Meijimura is a great place to visit! More photos to come!