In Japan and America both, the concept of “home” (故郷） is very important. But we have a phrase, you can never go home again. It seems a little cold. But basicically it means once you move away from home, you change, your town changes, your friends change, and you can never go back to how it was as a child.
Last week, I taught a final class at Tomegawa Elementary School. It will close this month. A few months ago I also taught a final class at Kawazoe Elementary School, which is also closing this month. Kawazoe happens to be the school my wife attended as a child.
In this case “you can never go home again” is proving to be true.
Tomegawa Elementary School:
Kawazoe Elementary School:
Akita is number one in Japan for decreasing population. Do you have any ideas on how we can reverse this trend?
Here is the school I attended as a child.
