Hamamatsu City
Higashi Elementary School

On November 27, 2000 our FMF group visited Hamamatsu City Higashi Elementary School. We had a wonderful time and everyone was gracious.



The school day begins with the students walking to school. All students walk to school. They gather in their neighborhoods and walk together. They wear helmets.


At the front of the school, students take off their shoes and put on their slippers. You can see the cubbies for their shoes, helmets, and backpacks.


Music was an important part of the day. The school day started with the students singing to us. It was beautiful. Above we see the students practicing their musical instruments. The third grade teacher taught her students to play these instruments. They did not have a special music teacher.



The students were preparing for a track meet. All teachers and students changed clothes to go outside to practice. The older students led the exercises for the entire school and then the students ran around the dirt track. Notice in the picture above that all first graders wore the same color hat.



The students practice their writing skills. Each child has his own ink well, brush, and ink for writing the kanji (Japanese characters).



The first grade classroom had forty students. The students practiced their reading skills and read aloud to us and then they participated in a center activity.



The students all eat each lunch together in their classroom. The students get the food from the caferteria and wear masks to prevent the spread of germs when they serve the food. The lunch period was an hour long.



The students all clean the school each day after lunch.



They sweep the floors and dust.



They clean the sinks and scrub the floors.

We enjoyed our stay and learned a lot about Japanese schools. This school had 191 students in grades 1-6. Kindergarten is not cumpulsory in Japan. So students attend private kindergarten schools for 1-3 years. At the end of each class the students thank the teacher and bow. Below are other pictures of Higashi Elementary School.