Century-old school closes forever in aging Japan

NAMEGATA, Japan — Fading photos of smiling children still adorn the staircase walls at the Ashigakubo primary school, one of the thousands that have shut in aging Japan over the past 20 years.

The school, which was more than a century old, was forced to close in 2009 when the last few dozen children left to join a bigger one "because they couldn't make any friends", Mayor Yoshinari Tomita told Agence France-Presse.

The playground was removed after it became dangerous due to lack of maintenance, and the swimming pool is now used by ducks and dragonflies.