Ten-ei, a village of just under 5,000 residents with only around 10% under the age of 18, is in a quiet rural area known for its rice and sake. The Yumoto area has hot spring inns on the mountains and is dotted with ski rental shops and campsites. There are also "beware of bears" signs.
The village at its peak in the 1950s had more than 10,000 residents, supported by agriculture and manufacturing. But the area's growing inconvenience and remoteness prompted residents to leave.
Depopulation picked up speed after the March 11, 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant less than 100 km (62 miles) away, with Ten-ei suffering some radioactive contamination that has since been cleaned up.
The Yumoto school, a two-story building located in the center of the district, had some 50 graduates a year during its heydey in the 1960s.
Photos of each graduating class hang near the entrance, going from black and white to color - with the number of students visibly and suddenly dropping from around 2000.
There is no picture from the last year.
Eita and Aoi, together since three, were in a five-person class through elementary school but were the only two to go on at Yumoto.
Their desks sat side-by-side in the center of a classroom designed for 20, and during their first year they "fought a lot", Eita said.
But tensions eased and they adapted, trying to simulate a normal school experience. For the afterschool club activity that is a key part of Japanese schooling, they selected pair sports, mainly table tennis.
On graduation day, teachers pinned corsages on the laughing graduates, usually a job for younger students.
"People are very disappointed there's no longer a source of culture," said principal Mikio Watanabe of the decision to close, taken in consultation with village residents. "The place will be quieter without children's voices."
Experts warn that rural school closings will widen national disparities and put remote areas under more pressure.
"The school closure means the municipality will eventually become unsustainable," said Touko Shirakawa, a sociology lecturer at Sagami Women's University.
Ten-ei will discuss repurposing the school building. In other parts of Japan, closed schools have become wineries or art museums.
Aoi, who dreams of being a nursery school teacher in her hometown, will attend a different school from Eita starting in April.
"I don't know if there will be any children in the village when I am a teacher," Aoi said. "But if there are, I want to come back."
REUTERS
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