Ogikubo

This rounded building has caught my attention every time I come to Sukiyabashi Park. When I learned that it was actually an elementary school, I wondered what it had looked like in the past. I checked a 1941 (Showa 16) map of Kyobashi Ward and was surprised to see it in exactly the same location, on a site with exactly the same shape as today. It really has been here since before the war. The outer moat and Sukiyabashi Bridge still existed at the time, and the map also shows a park resembling Sukiyabashi Park. The present school building had already been constructed by then, so it has watched the history of Sukiyabashi unfold from the era of the outer moat, through the filling of the moat and the construction of the KK Line (Tokyo Expressway), all the way to the closure of the KK Line.

Uino

I certainly know Taimei Elementary School and its beautiful main gate, but I did not realize that this picturesque building on the park side was also part of the school.

Ogikubo

When I come to Ginza, I usually walk from Hibiya Station, so I have quite familiar with this view from the park that I see along the way. I have been looking forward to being able to visit today. Now, where is the entrance?

Uino

Sukiyabashi Park is behind the school. Let us go to the main gate on Miyuki Street.

Ogikubo

That is a remarkably stylish gate. It is called the French Gate and was relocated here in 1992 from an aristocratic residence in southern France. Photography is normally prohibited, but because neither pupils nor kindergarten children are present during this period, we have received special permission to take photographs. The gate is closed, however, so it does not look as though we can enter here.

Uino

That is right. The French Gate opens when pupils arrive at and leave school, so we will enter through the main entrance here.

Ogikubo

The stacked-cups-like pillars and the eaves give the main entrance such an imposing and unique appearance. Since the building was constructed after the Great Kanto Earthquake, it was probably designed to be strong enough to withstand earthquakes.

Uino

That explains why it remains in active use nearly one hundred years after it was built. Where should we begin our tour?

Ogikubo

I would like to take a careful look at the school building from the playground. I am curious about its overall shape, since we rarely have an opportunity to examine it closely.

Uino

Yes, if an outsider stood around closely examining an elementary school, people would probably start reporting a suspicious person.

Ogikubo

Here is the full view of the school building from the playground. Perhaps because of the shape of the site, it extends a long way horizontally, with both ends bending slightly forward.

Uino

When the ivy covering the school turns green, the building looks even more historic and is makes it all the more impressive. At this time of year, though, with the ivy bare, you can see the whole building more clearly, which has an appeal of its own.

Ogikubo

I’m also curious about the balcony and clock in the center of the building. The balcony is not normally used now, but since it offers a view over all the children assembled in the playground, it must have served some purpose when the school was first built.

Uino

The window frames are worth noting as well. It is beautiful how every window on the top floor is arched.

Ogikubo

The school building is three stories high. By present-day standards that might seem low-rise, but I think it is just the right height for children.

Uino

Now let us have a look inside, starting at the entrance used by the children. The doors are modern, but details such as the columns made up of inverted triangular forms remain just as they were in its early days.

Ogikubo

We have passed the shoe lockers and entered the school building. When we asked a teacher whether they found anything inconvenient about continuing to use a building from the early Showa period, the answer was that there are a great many stairs. When I was in elementary school, stairs seemed perfectly normal in a school, but from an accessibility standpoint they must create some difficulties. We had barely started along the first-floor corridor before coming to some steps. We were told that this staircase is the only one that remains exactly as it was, and it makes an interesting contrast with the renovated corridor and walls.

Uino

Once you step inside, it is a modern elementary school, with the interiors and facilities extensively renovated, but here and there you can still find traces of the original design and materials. If graduates from decades ago, now parents or even grandparents, came back to visit, all kinds of childhood memories would surely come flooding back. These steps alone must hold so many memories.

Ogikubo

With a staircase this broad and impressive, we would certainly have played around on it as children and been told off for misbehaving. The landing window has a lovely arch, too, and the light coming through must make the space very bright. The school also kindly showed us a classroom on the top floor. A room with arched windows like these must be wonderfully bright. A blackboard looks perfectly at home in an early Showa school building, while the large monitor beside it brings the room firmly into the present day.

Uino

The arched window at the end of the corridor is lovely too. Since it faces Miyuki-dori, the buildings are right there in front of you. Having the city immediately across the road is also very characteristic of an elementary school in Ginza.

Uino

The playground is used during recess and physical education classes. Space is limited, as you would expect in Ginza, so during recess the children follow rules that allow different groups to take turns using it.

Ogikubo

There was a cherry tree standing right between the playground and the park. The park to the left of the tree is used as part of the elementary school grounds on weekdays, then opens to the public when the school is closed. Now let us have a look at the rooftop as well. Since there is not enough room for a large playground, the rooftop has been fully equipped for exercise and play. That is something unique to an urban elementary school.

Uino

Morning glories and vegetables are grown in the rooftop garden as well. Speaking of summer exercise, that naturally brings us to swimming, and Taimei Elementary School does indeed have a swimming pool.

Ogikubo

Where could they possibly fit a pool on this site? I have seen schools with pools on the roof, but there was certainly no pool on the rooftop we just visited.

Uino

It is actually tucked between the school building and the KK Line, which was still the outer moat when the school was completed. Beside it is the kindergarten pool, with a charming penguin statue.

Ogikubo

So there really is one, neatly hidden where it cannot be seen from outside. I hear that the penguin statue has been here for a long time as well.

Uino

The penguin was kept even when the pool was renovated. It has clearly been loved for many years. And once all that exercise has made everyone hungry, there is school lunch to look forward to. Meals are prepared in the kitchen here at the school. There is a lovely lunchroom, too. Even the lighting has been carefully considered, and although the individual fittings have been replaced with modern ones, we were told that the room still preserves the atmosphere and design of the original interior.

Ogikubo

The lunchroom was created as a place where children from different grades and classes can mix freely at mealtimes, something that is apparently common in schools overseas. It can also be used for pupil committee activities and for meetings of various kinds.

Uino

Now, shall we see the gymnasium and auditorium as well, both indispensable to school events?

Ogikubo

At the elementary school I attended, more than fifty years ago, the gymnasium also served as the auditorium. Does this school really have one of each? And if it does, where could there possibly be room for both?

Uino

They are right next to the main school building. Let us start with the gymnasium.

Ogikubo

The ceiling is not especially high, but yes, this is definitely a gymnasium.

Uino

And when you open the door beside the gymnasium… there is a spiral staircase. Go ahead and climb it.

Ogikubo

This spiral curve… could it be?

Uino

Exactly. The rounded section you can see from Sukiyabashi Park is this staircase. Climb it and you find that the auditorium sits directly above the gymnasium. The stairs emerge backstage, so during performances such as school plays and concerts, they probably serve as the backstage entrance.

Ogikubo

Let us go back into the main school building for a moment and approach the auditorium again by the same route the children take when they enter. You climb the stairs from the school building, open the door, and there before you is a splendid auditorium.

Uino

A graduation ceremony was held here only recently. The stage has both a main curtain and a draw curtain, and the decorative border above them bears the Taimei Elementary School emblem, “The Star of the Heavens.” What a wonderful stage. The next children to be welcomed here will be the new first-year pupils.

Ogikubo

The site is by no means large, so I was amazed to find that the school has managed to provide both a gymnasium and an auditorium simply by stacking one above the other.

Uino

There was one more facility that caught our attention on this visit: the broadcasting room just inside the main entrance.

Ogikubo

A broadcasting room is a standard feature of a school, but this one has a splendid sign identifying it as the “Taimei Broadcasting Station.” Both the name and the lettering are brilliant.

Uino

Between the auditorium and the broadcasting room, these slightly grown-up facilities must add so much richness to everyday school life.

Ogikubo

Let us finish by looking at the building from outside. Since the school is closed today, we can view it from the small adjoining park. Just remember, though, that the park is not open when school is in session.

Uino

It is nice to see the spiral staircase leading up to the auditorium from Sukiyabashi Park as well.

Ogikubo

I knew in theory that there was a municipal elementary school in Ginza still using an early Showa-era building, but actually visiting it brought home to me just how distinctly Ginza it is. The number of elementary school children has risen and dropped dramatically over the years, yet the school has continued to use this early Showa-era building while preserving the atmosphere of its time. That is quite an achievement. The number of children increased sharply during the years of rapid economic growth, but fortunately, given the character of Ginza, the rise was not as great as it was in residential districts. That may be why the school was able to continue without rebuilding or adding extensions. Today, by contrast, fewer people live in Ginza, so the school has introduced a system allowing children from outside the district to attend, helping it remain viable as an elementary school. That makes it all the more precious, and I hope it will continue to be used for many years to come.

Most of the old buildings that remain in Ginza are commercial properties. Among them, Taimei Elementary School may be the only cultural institution that keeps the history of the district alive in tangible form. We were also struck by the thought that this precious building has endured with the support of the many graduates who spread their wings from here and have never lost their affection for their school. The proud spirit of a Ginza local is alive and well here!