By NOBUHIRO SHIRAI/ Staff Writer
June 16, 2023 at 06:00 JST
Fitted with about 100 seats, a 25-meter swimming pool with five lanes at a now-closed elementary school in Osaka has been turned into a barbecue venue. (Nobuhiro Shirai)
OSAKA--A swimming pool at a former elementary school in the city's Ikuno Ward is making a big splash again, this time as a barbecue venue where diners can grill meat and beat the heat on sizzling summer nights.
The BBQ spot opened at the now-defunct Miyukimori Elementary School in May.
Customers can indulge in barbecue in the outdoor pool on the rooftop of a school building as they enjoy the night cityscape with a view of the Abeno Harukas commercial facility and other skyscrapers.
After the school was closed in March 2021, it was converted into a base for the revitalization of the local community, called the Ikuno Co-Lives Park.
About 100 seats are set up at the bottom of the 25-meter-long, 0.9-meter-deep pool with five lanes, while jumping stands, depth indicators and other equipment are kept intact.
"It is probably the only chance to climb into a pool with no water, except when you clean one," an official said. "We hope customers can enjoy the remnants of their grade school days."
Non-native salamanders stuck between rock, hard place
December 23, 2019
PARALYMPICS/ ‘Queen of Water’ graces the pool at 51 in final race of storied career
August 31, 2021
MTB route with 100-meter height difference opens near closed mine
September 14, 2022
Blue nemophila flowers bloom early and dot Japan’s hillsides
April 13, 2023
Endangered African bird finally caught outside Tokyo
June 6, 2021
Kochi restaurant offers a terrace ‘floating’ on the Pacific Ocean
April 26, 2022
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
