At this point, the old branch school of Taikanba is the most remote school I have visited. It is located in the Toga valley deep into the mountains continuing along the thinner and thinner Toga River. It is 12km away from the heart of Toga Village, which doesn't seem too far by today's standards, but 80 years ago in the depth of winter, you could only travel there by foot.
It was first opened in 1935 to 15 students who lived in the Taikanba neighborhood. The full title was 利賀村立坂上小学校大勘場分校 or Toga Village Sakagami Elementary School Taikanba Branch School. In 1976, when Sakagami ES merged with Toga ES, it was renamed to 利賀小学校奥大勘場分校 or Toga Elementary School Oku-Taikanba Branch School. At this time, the Taikanba neighborhood had grown to 35 students living in 8 households. (I'm not sure how that works.) With advancements in infrastructure, automobiles, and a further depopulation of the area, the branch school was closed in 1996.
The school was designated as a Grade 4 Remote School, nearly Grade 5, the highest rank. These ranks are given based on distances away from grocery stores, post offices, and general daily amenities. While travel was impossible, teachers lived in these remote schools, never leaving for weeks or possibly months at a time. Their salaries were increased by a factor based on this grade.
This information comes from Heyaneko's reports:
http://heyaneko.web.fc2.com/zs24.html
https://heyaneko.jugem.jp/?eid=1059
Haikyo Rider also did a report:
https://ameblo.jp/hiho-haiko/entry-11934259064.html
The Haikyo site also has an entry for this place:
https://haikyo.info/s/15544.html
I visited in early summer 2025. These guys visited in 2014 and 2017. The Haikyo site went there in 2021.
It's interesting looking at the differences between my photos and theirs. The building itself really hasn't changed. According to Heyaneko, 10 years ago, an old woman was living in this building. Apparently, it was possibly to rent these old schools as a place to live for a while. Now, she's gone and apparently a construction company uses it for storage.
The branch school acts as an entrance way to the now abandoned neighborhood of Taikanba. Going up the street behind the school leads to the neighborhood and where the homes used to be. In Heyaneko's post and the Haikyo's post, they show a home in increasing states of decay.
For me, this home had completely collapsed, crushed under the weight of each year's snowfall. I searched through the rubble a little bit and found some old TVs and magazines. Maybe the construction company used this home as a place to rest after the owners moved away or passed away.
While the area seemed largely abandoned, there was a shrine further up the road that was in pretty good condition.
This is the area's Hachiman Shrine 八幡宮. The area around the shrine was overgrown, but not so much that is was choking out this building. The road coming from the branch school was all cleared and open. The shrine's building was still strong. The inside was clean and maintained. Someone was still coming out here. Maybe some of the residents of the old neighborhood are still around.
The only other building still standing in the area was a small fireman's garage. The building was still sound, even though the edges of the roof had been creased and bent from years of heavy snow. The electrical wiring leading from the poles to the building had snapped, so they hung low over the road.
Looking inside the garage, there was some fire equipment, but also a motorcycle and a moped. There were a few other things not related to fire fighting, so I think some people were using the garage as general storage before they left.
Unlike other abandoned villages and schools in the valleys of Gokayama, this neighborhood feels like it serves no purpose. It's not a remote stop on the way to a larger village center. There's some space out here, but there aren't any vast fields for farming. I don't think the area was really renowed for anything. It doesn't really seem like there's any reason for anyone to live out here.
I suppose the settlers must've broken away from the people in the villages further in to get away from them and try to establish something for themselves.
Either way, I think it's very difficult to imagine a life out here. Prior to the 1960s, once the snow fell in October or November, you weren't leaving until March or April. Your whole summer was spent farming the food that would eat for the year until the next harvest. The river probably didn't have an abundance of fish as villages down the river would get most of them. Hunting was probably good, but enough to sustain everyone?
Somehow they managed for the time they lived here. But, like everywhere in these mountains, once the roads connected these remotes areas to the city centers, and once television became more common, people began moving inward and abandoning their past for a better life.
I can't imagine this building being around in 10 years. The Toga government has begun demolishing many of these old schools. Once these schools start to fall apart, the asbestos gets everywhere and it becomes a real hazard. You gotta get in your photos when you can.
