William Merrell Vories 建築事務所自1908年左右以來，以滋賀縣近江八幡市為中心活躍於日本各地。豐鄉小學校舊校舍群就是出自 Vories 建築事務所的作品。在 Vories 的 1000 多件作品中，公立小學的建築非常罕見。這座建築群配備了當時最先進的設備，比如鋼筋混凝土構造、長而寬的走廊和獨立的圖書館等。豐鄉小學校舊校舍群特別導覽行程的內容，就是在豐鄉町當地導遊的帶領下，去參觀這所被稱為「東洋第一小學校」的舊校舍。
當時還很少見的鋼筋混凝土結構。透過復原當年的教學樓外觀等修建工程，重新賦予舊校舍以生命
走廊的特徵是又長又寬。幅寬3公尺，長度為1樓100公尺，2樓88公尺。走廊裡竟然還配備有熱水供暖設施！
非常適合小學校舍的巧妙設計。在潛移默化中培養孩子們踏踏實實做事的習慣
現在3樓被用作動漫迷互動的場所。還可以在黑板上寫留言！
可以從平時不對外開放的屋頂眺望整個豐鄉的秀麗風光
禮堂看起來像一個小教堂。現在這裡仍然是舉辦學校各種儀式及活動的會場
Experiencing how Japanese classrooms were set up and the facilities they had. Enjoyed seeing the anime room from the famous K-ON anime.
Toyosato Elementary School is a beautiful school. From it`s remarkable long wooden hallways to it`s church like auditorium, the school is both Japanese and Western in style.
During the tour I came to learn that the reason for this is because the school was designed by the American born designer, William Vories. I liked how Mr. Furukawa, the man who donated the buildings, incorporated a lesson of perseverance a teacher of his once taught him through the story of the turtle and the hare. On the staircase handrails you can see small cute sculptures of both a turtle and a hair depicting their race going all the way up to the top floor. My favorite room in the school was the science room. They had many preserved scientific instruments. From an early ultraviolet light generator and a massive electrometer to a wide variety of taxidermy, I could get a feeling that the students had wonderful science classes. The school is also famous for being the setting for the anime, K-On. I did not know much about this anime, but was able to appreciate it due to all the fans that were visiting while we were there. Lastly, the volunteer guides were extremely friendly and talkative and made us feel very welcome.
Visit to the science room.
Seeing the old classrooms.
Really interesting to see a unique school within Japan and to get a look at how classes were arranged.
