No. 22 Attendance at the 140th Anniversary Ceremony of Inagi Daiichi Elementary School

(Inagi Newsletter August 15, 2013 issue)

On Saturday, July 6, 2013, a commemorative ceremony was grandly held with the attendance of many related parties.
Inagi Daiichi Elementary School, along with Inagi Daini Elementary School, was established in 1873, making it the oldest elementary school in the city. However, when considering its origin, the Naganuma Village School (established in 1871) makes it the third oldest elementary school in Tokyo.
By the way, the oldest elementary school is Tachikawa Daiichi Elementary School, which originated from Shibasaki Village School established on March 3, 1870, and the second is Wakabayashi Elementary School, which originated from Taishido Village School established on April 3, 1871. The Naganuma Village School in Inagi was established a week later on April 10.
By the way, what kind of school was a village school? During the Meiji Restoration, the new government took over from the Edo Shogunate. This new government implemented various policies to strengthen the country to prevent it from becoming a colony of Western powers. One of the pillars of this was educational reform, and they quickly worked on establishing schools.
In February 1870, the new government established the "Prefectural Administrative Order" to indicate the administrative policies of Tokyo and each prefecture, encouraging the establishment of schools based on villages (administrative areas consisting of multiple villages). The village school was established based on this.
At that time, the Tama area belonged to Kanagawa Prefecture, and in 1871, the establishment of village schools was instructed within the prefecture. According to this instruction, 15 schools were actually established. Nearby, Ono Village School was established in Machida Onoji, Fuda Village School in Chofu, Yuki School in Horinouchi Village, Takahata School in Takahata Village, Hino School in Hino-juku, and Mukogaoka School in Renkouji Village.
In August 1872, the "School System" was promulgated, and new elementary schools based on this new system were established, leading to the village schools completing their roles in a short period.
In 1873, three campuses, Daien, Hakubun, and Junshin, were established in the Naganuma Village School area, which were handed over to the new elementary schools. In the same year, in the Sakahama area, "Risshi Elementary School" was opened, originating from a private school at Hōzōin.
Students learning in such a historically and traditionally rich school should take pride in it. Moreover, the accumulation of such time has been made possible thanks to the teachers of past generations and the support of the local community, to whom I express my heartfelt respect and gratitude.