Heading through the mountains, I stopped at Takane to take a few photos. Takane is one of Takayama's eastern-most neighborhoods. Back in the day, all of the pockets of modern day Takayama had thriving neighborhoods in the middle of nowhere. The people there worked in mines or with logging companies.
Because of their remoteness, these neighborhoods had their own elementary and junior high schools. During winter, there was so much snow that the roads became difficult and dangerous to drive. However, over time, people who grew up in these neighborhoods moved closer to Takayama proper for jobs. Mining and Logging jobs went away. Few young people remained. Also, with modern snow plows and busses (and also with climate change) traveling on those mountain roads were no longer that difficult.
Both Takane Junior High and Elementary closed, and any students living in Takane now had a bus to bring them to the next nearest school.
I visited Takane last year and peered around the old schools which were still there. Even though the schools closed, they were reused at community centers for cooking classes and other community classes. Now, one year later, the elementary school still stood, but the junior high has been completely demolished.
Below are the photos.
Note: This post was made in Feb 2025 and back-dated to the time of the events
Note: The post is a stub. In the future, more information could be added to create a full post.
