By NOBUHIRO SHIRAI/ Staff Writer
March 29, 2023 at 18:36 JST
Sakura cherry trees bloom March 28 at Ukyo Elementary School in Nara, which closed last year. (Nobuhiro Shirai)
NARA--Spring in the playground of the Ukyo Elementary School here was always a special time for the children because the cherry blossom trees were in full bloom.
But this year, even though the trees are at their glorious best, there are no children to witness the spectacle because the school closed last year.
A teacher reflected on when times were different.
In spring 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, 27 first-graders carrying brand new “randoseru” school backpacks sat on long benches under the blue sky.
Their entrance ceremony was held in the schoolyard of the Ukyo Elementary School.
When the wind blew, petals rained down on the children from cherry blossoms in full bloom above their heads.
One month earlier, the school had to temporarily close due to the pandemic.
Muneharu Furukawa, 46, taught children in the second grade, but as the school year ended in March, he didn’t get a chance to talk to them properly.
When the principal asked him to switch to a first-grade class at the end of March, Furukawa felt uneasy.
“How am I going to build relationships with new pupils (during the pandemic)?” he wondered.
Even during online homeroom activities that began in May, the children’s faces on the screen were tense.
In late May, the children began going to school in staggered shifts. Children’s voice could finally be heard in the school.
The children were nervous at first, but started talking to him all at once.
He said he was delighted to meet the children in person, rather than on screen, and to hear their energetic greetings.
Furukawa felt strongly that he should make the best of this time with them.
The elementary school closed last year and was integrated into a newly established school.
The children who entered the school at that time now attend the new school.
The school building is scheduled to be demolished, and the cherry blossom trees on the school grounds are also to be cut down.
The entrance ceremony that was once held under the cherry blossoms will never happen again.
But the students’ smiles amid falling petals will forever remain in Furukawa’s memories.
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This article is part of a series of stories about memories of cherry blossoms solicited from readers.
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