Preface

Dear new ALT, you'll be coming to Chokai! This is good news, because Chokai is a great place to work and live. Here's some information for you.

About Chokai

Chokai (鳥海町) is a town in the city of Yurihonjo (由利本荘市), which is in southern Akita prefecture. Technically speaking, "city" and "town" are political units based on population, so though it's called a city, much of Yurihonjo is rural. You can drive for 60km and still be in the same city! Yurihonjo is divided into towns, and the two of these most relevant to you are Chokai and Yashima (矢島町), where your schools are located. For information on Yurihonjo, see Wikipedia (⇗) or the AkitaJET wiki (⇗). The urban center of Yurihonjo is called Honjo, and it has large supermarkets, City Hall, and all sorts of businesses. Chokai is far from Honjo — a 30-60 minute drive, depending where you want to go. Chokai itself is composed of villages and hamlets, the most notable of which are Kawauchi, Jinego, and Hitane. For pictures, see Wikimedia Commons (⇗) or my photo gallery (⇗). For other relevant information, see elsewhere on my website (⇗).

Schools

The position I had, which you'll have, is an elementary and junior high school ALT. There are five schools: Yashima Junior High School (矢島中学校), Chokai Junior High School (鳥海中学校), Hitane Elementary School (直根小学校), Jinego Elementary School (笹子小学校), and Kawauchi Elementary School (川内小学校). Yashima JHS is in Yashima, and the other four schools are in Chokai. Number-wise, there are only four schools in Chokai, and you'll work at all of them. There are three schools in Yashima, and you'll work at one of them (the other two are Yashima Elementary School and Yashima High School). For more on these schools, see the AkitaJET wiki (⇗ and ⇗). When you first visit the schools, they may or may not explain to you the general rules for teachers. As I remember it, here are the rules they told to me (with side comments in italics).

• Your work day is 8:00-4:00. In rare cases, you'll work after 4:00, but most of the time you should not do so, because it is neither in your contract nor a good use of your time. After 4:00 you can leave. If you want to stay at school, you can help out with, join in, or go watch a club activity. When and how to go about this is up to you. Participating in club activities is great use of your time — you'll learn a lot, you can play sports if you like, and the impact on the students is large. Unfortunately, ALTs cannot be official coaches of sports teams, but you can help out in practice, either occasionally or regularly, if the coach is OK with it.
• Except where noted, you work Monday through Friday. There is no school on national holidays. On occasion, there is a special event on a Saturday or Sunday, and if so, there will be a comp day around that time. Because you visit multiple schools, sometimes your comp day won't be the same as the rest of the school (i.e., the day they took off is a day you went elsewhere). If this happens, you should ask that school when they want you to take the comp day. Also, because you visit elementary schools rarely, they can't always give you a comp days for a special event. If an event is not on your work calendar, you can go to it in your free time if you like, but this is entirely up to you, and even if you go (because it looks fun), you don't have to stay the whole time.
• If you are going to be significantly late for work, call the school and tell them. If you unexpectedly can't go to work for some reason, call Chokai Junior High School, even if you are scheduled to visit another school. They will relay the information. If you're taking a sick day, it's generally expected that you'll go to (or have recently gone to) the hospital. Also, traditionally you should be talking to the vice principal if you can't make it to school, because the vice principal oversees this kind of thing. If your Japanese is not up to speaking with the vice principal on the phone, you can talk to an English teacher instead, and then the next time you go to school, briefly talk with the vice principal about why you were gone. If you're unexpectedly absent for several days in a row, contact the school each morning. If you get sick and need to go to the hospital, I recommend talking with the school. The school nurse can recommend a hospital to visit, and the school can call ahead and make sure the hospital is prepared to receive you. If needed, the school can send an English teacher with you to help translate. For work-related communication regarding matters such as these, it is best to use the telephone to call the school directly (unless it's after hours or you've arranged otherwise). Emailing the English teacher's cell phone is a bad idea.
• At school, your direct supervisor is the vice principal. For academic matters, your English teacher is in charge. For scheduling matters, there is a teacher in charge of scheduling for the entire school who makes your calendar. If you want to bring an outside guest to school, you need advance permission (which you can probably get) from the principal.
• Technically speaking, you are a public servant (公務員; kōmuin), like the secretary and the maintenance man, and you work for the town. Other teachers at school work for the city. This means that you won't change schools between years (other teachers transfer schools every few years), your paperwork is different from other teachers', and the holidays you have might be slightly different.
• You should wear presentable clothing every day. Something like what the other teachers wear is reasonable. For graduation and commencement, you should wear a suit or something comparable. For Sports Day, you should wear something suitable for running or sports. Many of the teachers wear ties and suits on a regular basis. Unless the vice principal or principal tells you to do this, you don't need to be so formal.
• Your teaching responsibility is to do team teaching for English lessons. At junior high school, you'll work with an English teacher who generally plans most of the lessons. At elementary school, first through fourth grade lessons are part of the period for integrated study, which means there is no textbook or syllabus, so you should confer with homeroom teachers about what topics to cover. For fifth and sixth grade, there is a textbook and syllabus. Elementary school teachers are not English experts, so there's room for you to do quite a lot. Your first lesson will likely be a self-introduction lesson. Strictly speaking, you are not supposed to be teaching alone, though if your fellow teachers feel that you can, you might occasionally do so. It is likely that you'll do most of the work for first-fourth grade elementary school classes.
• During summer vacation, you'll coach junior high school students for the annual speech contest. The English teachers will oversee this, though perhaps your instruction will be the most signficant.
• You must pay for school lunch. Typically, you can pay at the end of the term. A day's lunch is something around ¥300. School lunches are very large, so maybe small breakfasts are in order.
• You might be asked to pay into a teachers' coffee/tea fund. Coffee and tea are available as much as you like in the staff room. They might ask for ¥500-1000 a month. If they never ask you to contribute, you don't need to. Either way, you can have coffee.
• Try to use supplies from a school at that school. A common complaint from junior high schools is that ALTs use a lot of color toner or make dozens of photocopies in preparation for an elementary school visit, which means the junior high school is paying for the elementary school's supplies. This upsets the office person at the junior high school, which is not a good thing. Using school supplies for personal use is not permitted. You will probably do prep work for elementary school at junior high school. Just keep an eye on not using too many materials. If you occasionally use a color printer to print something for another school, nobody will worry about it. But if you want to do a lot of laminating, ask the destination school to order you a box of laminating paper (which you can use wherever you like). Similarly, if you know you need a lot of supplies for elementary school, get them ahead of time from the elementary school. When preparing for work-related conferences, anything involving the education office, or similar work-related events, feel free to use materials from whatever school you're visiting.
• Student privacy is very important. Students' test scores and health are things that you shouldn't talk about with third parties. If you want to use closeup pictures or videos of students on your public blog or on YouTube, you must get permission from their parents (which is to say, you generally can't). Distance shots are fine, though.

I've made a file that has a lot of useful information like maps, teachers' names, rosters, and other such materials. It will be in your desk when you arrive at Chokai Junior High School. Learning the names of teachers and students is very important — it would be hard to overemphasize how much this matters. There are also some JET Program publications from past years which might be of interest. At both Chokai and Yashima, there's a computer at your desk. You can use it to surf the internet for lesson plans, to check email, and to read the news. If you're just wasting time on the internet, try to be slightly discreet. All school internet traffic goes through a city proxy server, and while presumably nobody monitors what sites you're visiting, they could if they were so inclined. On this blog, there are entries with pictures and history for each of the five schools (Chokai ⇗, Yashima ⇗, Jinego ⇗, Kawauchi ⇗, Hitane ⇗). Chokai Junior High School's phone number is 0184-57-2309. The address is 〒015-0504 秋田県由利本荘市鳥海町上川内字西野１０８, or in English, Nishino 108, Kami Kawauchi, Chōkai, Yurihonjō, Akita 〒015-0504 JAPAN.

The Board of Education

The Yurihonjo Board of Education (由利本荘市教育委員会; Yurihonjō Kyōikuiinkai) office is in Honjo, and it is in charge of all elementary and junior high schools in Yurihonjo. You won't visit the Board of Education much. Instead, you will be supervised by the Chokai Education Office (鳥海教育学習課; Chōkai Kyōiku Gakushuka), which is a branch of the Yurihonjo Board of Education. At the moment, the guy who signs your contract is the head of the Chokai office, Mr. Sato Kakuei (佐藤 覚栄), though he might be retiring this March. He is in charge of elementary school and junior high school education for Chokai, but in reality he doesn't have much to do with the ALT directly. Instead, one of the other office workers at the branch office will handle your paperwork. Generally speaking, your schools determine your schedule — Chokai Junior High School is your main school, so if you want to change your schedule, talk to them. The education office wants to know where you've visited because they pay a portion of commuting costs, so please keep track of what schools you went to on what days. And at the end of the semester or school year, they might also want to know how many times you taught each class, so try to keep track of this. If you're going to a distant place on vacation (especially if it's international), you should probably tell the education office where you're going, how long you'll be there, where you're staying, and how they can contact you in case of emergency (ideally, email and a phone number). When I went on international trips, I found it convenient to make a printout of my itinerary, give a copy to Chokai Junior High School, and put a second copy in my desk at the education office. Probably nobody will ever need this information, but in rare cases it matters, and regardless it's a professional gesture. Nobody speaks much English at the office, so if you have something complicated to convey over the phone (like some kind of emergency situation), it might be a good idea to call the junior high school and speak with an English teacher there. If you go in person, you can use online translation websites. The education office will help you with many logistical things, including: picking you up when you arrive, taking you to your schools the first time you go to them, buying a car, getting car insurance, paying car and income taxes, getting a hanko (a stamp), getting a bank account, showing you your housing (which they manage), getting internet (optional), getting cable TV (optional), getting a cell phone, your transportation allowance, how to pay bills, renewing or ending your contract, informing you of upcoming conferences, and anything else like this. For the first few days after you arrive, you'll be at the education office all day. During this time, you'll visit each of your schools once and meet the principals and English teachers. Then you'll have a short welcoming ceremony at Chokai Junior High School, and from that day on, you'll go to school every day. I typically visit the education office once a week for about half an hour so I can chat with the staff there, pick up unpaid bills, put paid bills in an envelope for safekeeping, and do any necessary paperwork. Visits to the education office are part of your job, so you can visit during working hours — ask your school for permission to go during some free time. The Chokai Education Office's phone number is 0184-57-3020. The address is 〒015-0592 秋田県由利本荘市鳥海町伏見字久保193, or in English, Chokai Education Office, 193 Kubo, Fushimi, Chokai, Yurihonjo, Akita 015-0592 JAPAN.

Housing

There is teacher housing in Jinego (笹子), a village of Chokai. Teacher housing is called kyouin juutaku (教員住宅) in Japanese. Your house is a duplex, but the common wall you share with your neighbor is your garage, so noise won't be a problem. You have a garage, which is rare and nice. The house is relatively large, in comparison with other ALTs' places in Honjo, and because it's owned by the town, rent is cheap. You'll have to pay rent, electric, water, propane (for cooking), and kerosene (for hot water). Electric and water bills will come in the mail to either your house or to the education office. These can be paid at the bank. Probably you'll use JA Bank, which is technically an agricultural cooperative (this distinction matters for obscure paperwork). There are branches of JA Bank all over the place, and you can use any of them. The propane/kerosene bill is dropped off in your mailbox, and you can pay it in person at Sato Toshinobu Shoten (佐藤寿信商店). Sato Toshinobu Shoten fills your propane on a regular basis, but they only fill your kerosene tank (in the back of the garage) when you ask them to. If you run out of kerosene, you'll have no hot water, so when the tank gets slow, either call the store or go there in person and ask them for a refill. The phone number for Sato Toshinobu Shoten is 0184-59-2020, and it's located at 39.10632, 140.291444. There's a very powerful kerosene heater in the living room. You'll have to buy kerosene at the gas station or hardware store and fill the tank by hand (using the two red plastic 20L kerosene containers). The air conditioner can produce heat, and there's a portable electric space heater, but using electricity to heat your entire house on a regular basis is not economical in winter. In case of a power outage, there's also an old kerosene space heater in the garage which doesn't use electricity. Also, water and gas are not affected by power outages. In a power outage, house phones won't work, but the local cell towers have batteries that last for 5-10 hours. The apartment is fully furnished, including: a bed, several futons, sheets, blankets, a kotatsu, all of the standard things you'd need in the kitchen, a washing machine, a dryer, shovels (for snow), and some other stuff. There is an old TV that the education office might replace, though they haven't decided yet. Of the above items, most of them came with the place when I moved in, but over time, things wear out and need to be replaced. If anything big breaks — the air conditioning, the stove, a window, etc. — contact the education office and they can deal with it. For cheap small things like pillows or floor mats, you're better off replacing them on your own as needed. There is some parking next to the house for guests, and when that is full of snow in the winter, people can park at the rest area 200m away. There's also a small police branch station next to the house. A police officer lives there, and the building has a small office, but he typically works at the Yashima Police Station, so you might not see him around very much.

Trash

Burnable trash days are Monday and Friday. Recycling and non-burnable trash day is Wednesday, but not every Wednesday, and what they collect varies by week. Trash pickup is sometime between eight and ten in the morning. I generally look Wednesday morning to see what they're collecting and then drop that off. If a trash day is a national holiday, it is skipped. If you only have a small amount of recyclables, you could take them to the convenience store. The trash collection point is halfway between the Jinego Police Station and the traffic light. There are two small sheds by the side of the road. Usually, the one closer to the police station is for trash and the one closer to the traffic light is for recycling, but if one were full, you could freely use the other one. People generally take out their trash the morning of trash day, but it's fine to take your trash out the night before. Taking your trash out several days in advance is not generally recommended, but you can do so on occasion if you like. There are three kinds of trash bags: yellow for burnable, blue for non-burnable, and something else for recyclable that you don't need. These can be purchased at any local store. You should write your name on the trash bag before taking it out. Write your name in katakana, and for the location, write 下野 (Shimono). Objects larger than trash bags cannot easily be thrown out, so think carefully before buying large objects. In Chokai (unlike Honjo, perhaps), you don't need bags for recycling. There are large plastic bins that people put by the collection point the morning of recycling pickup, and you should put your recyclables into the bins directly. See the AkitaJET wiki for a description of what's burnable, unburnable, and recyclable (⇗).

Things to bring

There's a nice list of what to bring on the AkitaJET website (⇗). Most of what you'll need or want is mentioned there. Additionally, make sure you bring your driver's license. Otherwise, whatever you feel like bringing should be fine.

Transportation

The public bus service in Chokai will be largely discontinued March 31, 2012. Even when it existed, it was impractical for daily use. There are no trains, either. You'll need to buy a car. Some people in northern Akita lease cars, apparently, but I don't know of any places in southern Akita that have reasonable leasing deals. There's a lot of snow in the winter, so getting front wheel or four wheel drive is wise. Because of the large volume of snow in the winter, small light kei cars (with yellow license plates) are not recommended, because if a road or parking lot hasn't been plowed or shoveled, you'll get stuck. And you probably won't find any reasonable deals on used kei cars. If you're looking to save money, a small-ish sedan or hatchback is a good way to go. The simplest way to purchase a car is from one of the dealers in Honjo. Dealers are more expensive than private car lots, generally speaking, but they can offer very good service, which matters when your car breaks down 30km from the garage. If you buy a car from another ALT who is selling one, you can probably save even more money, but make certain to get extensive photography and a history of maintenance, accidents, repairs, and car inspection — it's bad for everyone if you commit to buying a car when you don't really know what kind of shape it is in. In the winter, you'll need snow tires. Large snow tires are significantly more expensive than small ones. There's a lot more car information on the AkitaJET website (⇗ and ⇗). You'll no doubt buy a cell phone. If you get a smart phone, you can use its maps. It's good to think about cell coverage and GPS. iPhones don't have real GPS — they use cell towers to determine location — so they are not as precise in the countryside, which is slightly inconvenient. Androids tend to have real GPS. Perhaps you'll want to buy a road atlas from a gas station or bookstore, in case you're driving in the boonies. For finding obscure places in Yurihonjo, OpenStreetMap (⇗) and Google Maps (⇗) are quite nice.

Recreation

There are a great many things to see and do in Chokai and Japan in general. Within Chokai, the most famous things are skiing (Yashima Ski Area), hiking (Mt. Chokai), and onsen (Foresta Chokai or Chokaiso). There are some adult baseball, basketball, indoor soccer, and volleyball teams. There's also a taiko drumming circle. At small local festivals, you might help carry a float, if you want to. Honjo and Yuzawa are a bit of a drive, but they have a lot more people and thus a lot more opportunities. Traditional Japanese pursuits like karate, judo, aikido, flower arranging, and Japanese musical instrument playing can be found, and taking up a Japanese hobby is a good way to meet people and learn more about Japanese culture. There are non-Japanese pursuits in abundance, as well. The easiest way to find out about things is to ask other ALTs. If they don't know (or even if they do), try talking to teachers at school. It might be necessary to talk to many teachers, though, so don't be shy about information gathering. You can also travel both in and out of Japan. There are direct flights from Akita to Korea. For other international travel, you'll probably go through Tokyo. The easiest way to get to Tokyo is via shinkansen (high speed train) from Shinjo. You can drive to Shinjo and leave your car there for up to a month. See Hyperdia for train time tables and fares (⇗). There may also be relevant information on the AkitaJET wiki (⇗) or Wikitravel (⇗).

Shopping

The Jinego A-Coop, a small grocery store, is at the traffic light near the house, and it's open until 7:00. Conbini Sato is on Highway 108 about 3km NW of the house, and it's open until 9:00 or 10:00. The nearest large supermarket is the Max Valu in Yashima. For general purpose shopping, there are Aeon Supercenters in Yuzawa and Honjo. For foreign food, the nearest places are in Akita City and Shinjo. Ugo, a short drive down Highway 57, has a small shopping center, though most people who live in Jinego would spend an extra ten minutes going to Yuzawa. Online shopping can be handy — Amazon Japan (⇗) has English on it. If you're occasionally getting packages sent to you from Amazon or overseas, having them delivered to school or the education office is a good idea, because if you aren't home to sign for a box, you'll have to call the shipping office back and arrange a delivery time. Nobody really knows why, but clothes in Japan are often sold for the coming season, not the current one, so if you wait until August to buy a swimsuit, for example, they might not have many left on the shelf. Dry cleaning takes a long time in rural areas, because they take the clothes by van to Honjo or Yuzawa, and that adds a few days to the process. Maruyasu Shoten in Kawauchi has the best hours in Chokai, and it's close to Chokai Junior High School. They might give you tea and snacks if you chat with them for a while, too. The dry cleaning place in Jinego, downstairs from Time and next door to Sato Toshinobu Shoten, is a short walk from the house, and their prices are comparable. In terms of clothes sizes, even those wearing XXL can find stuff to buy. If you have large feet, though, the local footwear selection might be limited or nonexistent. See also Wikitravel Yurihonjo (⇗) and the AkitaJET website (⇗).

Contact

Once you arrive and get an alien registration card, you can get a cell phone, and you'll want to do so (the alien registration card system will change in July, 2012, and the rules about getting a cell phone might change, too). In terms of cell coverage, Docomo cell towers cover the most area, but Docomo is quite expensive. The three major carriers (Docomo, AU, and Softbank) can be used at the house and the schools in Chokai, so many locals use Softbank and AU despite the smaller coverage area. Though data plans are pricey, ALTs tend to get smart phones. If you want to travel a lot within Japan, the maps and web browser of a smart phone will come in handy, since for much of Japan the best travel guide resources are online — for example, Wikitravel (⇗). Despite having internet access at school, you probably want to get internet at home, because, among other reasons, VOIP (e.g., Ekiga, Skype, or Google Talk) is the cheapest way to make international phone calls. I had fiber optic internet, which means the house is already wired and the box is already sitting there, so if you decide to get the same service, setup should be very quick. The education office can help you figure out your choices and who to talk to for setup and installation. Japanese people tend to have email on their cell phones, and some of them set their cell phones to block non-cell phone email, which is inconvenient if you want to use your regular email account exclusively. Though some teachers have adapted to email, many are more comfortable with faxes, and official school communication is typically sent by fax or post. You can get cable or satellite TV, but I didn't bother, because you can rent DVDs, and English-language news is available online, so the only big thing missing, in my view, is Japanese sports coverage. And if you want to watch sports, you can go to a restaurant, bar, or friend's house anyway. Japanese postal service is blindingly fast. Packages travel within the country in two days, routinely. When sending boxes to the U.S., air mail is expensive but fast (less than a week, typically). Sending packages by boat is cheap but slow (think months). Letters and post cards always go air mail ... I don't know if it's possible to send them by sea even if you wanted to.

Alcohol

If you get caught drinking and driving (and the legal limit here is around zero), you'll be sent home. That's pretty horrible, so getting a personal breathalizer is a good idea if you plan on drinking much. The cops are known to look for people sleeping in their cars after a night on the town and pull those people over the next morning, and they would be very happy to give a DUI to a civil servant (it's a police pride thing). If you wake up in the morning and realize you aren't fit to drive to school, either take a taxi or call the school and ask them if you can come to work a few hours late. Getting a ride to school from another teacher might be possible, too. Certainly other teachers at your school will occasionally carpool or show up late because of drinking, though you might not notice, because it's discussed quietly. While missing work because alcohol's still in your system isn't ideal, the fact that you are responsible enough to stay off the road reflects well on you, as long it's a rare thing. One of my acquaintances here in Akita got a DUI several years ago — out drinking at night, pulled over the following morning, failed a breathalizer — and we were quite sad, but there was nothing to be done about it. Putting a change of clothes in your car is a nice idea, whether or not you drink much. That way you can stay over at someone's place (if you have a beer or if the weather is bad) and not have to drive home in the morning before going to work. Staying over at someone's house is a fairly common thing in rural Akita. Daiko is expensive, taxis are ridiculously expensive, and houses in the countryside are large enough where putting you up for the night is easy to do.

Here are some pictures of Chokai Junior High School (鳥海中学校). It's located in Chōkai, which is a part of Yurihonjo City in Akita Prefecture, Japan. The lat/long is 39.181005, 140.19447. Students from 3 elementary schools come here — Jinego Elementary School, Kawauchi Elementary School, and Hitane Elementary School.

The above maps are from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA 2.0). Here's some history of Chokai Junior High School. The Japanese is taken from the school's records at http://www.city.yurihonjo.akita.jp/edu/chokai-jh/chokaichu.html, and I translated it to English.

Date		年	月日
2009-10-31	Chokai Junior High School 10th anniversary.	平成２１年	１０．３１	鳥海中学校創立１０周年記念式典・祝賀会。
2009-09-14	Honjo-Yuri English Recitation and Speech Contest. Recitation: Excellent. Speech: Very Good.		９．１４	英語暗唱弁論大会　弁論の部最優秀賞、暗唱の部優秀賞。
2009-08	All-Akita art contest: Winner, design.		８月	秋田県美術展覧会　デザインの部入賞。
2009-07-18	All-Akita track meet: 1st place, girls 100 meter hurdles.		７．１８	（７．１８～２０）全県総合体育大会　女子１００ＭＨ優勝。
2009-02-17	Honjo Yuri health contest: Prize for Excellence.		２．１７	本荘由利学校保健会優秀賞受賞。
2008-11-06	Building a brighter society essay contest: Prize for Excellence.	平成２０年	１１．　６	社会を明るくする運動作文コンクール　優秀賞。
2008-10-04	All-Akita newcomers track meet: 1st place, 100 meter hurdles.		１０．　４	秋田県新人陸上競技大会　１００ＭＨ優勝。
2008-09-12	Honjo-Yuri English Recitation and Speech Contest. Recitation: Very Good. Speech: Very Good.		９．１２	英語暗唱弁論大会　ベリーグッド賞。
2008-09-11	Yurihonjo crime and fire prevention speech contest: 1st place.		９．１１	由利本荘市少年非行防止防犯防火弁論大会　最優秀賞。
2008-08-10	Sister city painting contest: Special prize.		８．１０	姉妹都市オリンピック絵画競技会　特別賞。
2008-07-23	Building a brighter society public research seminar.		７．２３	社会を明るくする運動「公開ケース研究会」　発表。
2008-07-01	All-Akita art contest: Honorable Mention, design.		７．　１	秋田県美術展覧会　デザインの部奨励賞。
2008-02-14	Honjo Yuri sports acknowledgement. Baseball: 4 consecutive annual victories. Skiing: 3 consecutive annual victories.		２．１４	本荘由利中体連表彰　チーム賞野球部(４連続優勝)、スキー部(３年連続優勝)。
2007-09-13	Honjo-Yuri English Recitation and Speech Contest.Recitation: Excellent. Speech: Very Good.	平成１９年	９．１３	本荘由利英語暗唱弁論大会　暗唱の部最優秀賞。
2007-06-24	All-Akita art contest: Honorable Mention, design.		６．２４	秋田県美術展覧会　デザインの部特別賞(県知事賞)。
2007-02-16	Honjo Yuri sports acknowledgement. Baseball: 3 consecutive annual victories.		２．１６	本荘由利中体連表彰　野球部チーム(３年連続優勝)。
2007-02-16	Honjo Yuri health contest: Prize for Excellence.		２．１６	本荘由利中学校保健会優秀賞受賞。
2006-10-13	Honjo Yuri area education research group public instruction meeting.	平成１８年	１０．１３	本荘由利へき地教育研究部交流会県超過移築公開授業研究会。
2006-07-10	All-Akita table tennis tournament: 1st place, girls singles.		７．１０	県卓球選手権大会　女子個人優勝。
2006-05-28	All-Akita table tennis tournament: 1st place, girls singles.		５．２８	県春季卓球大会　女子個人優勝。
2006-03-14	58th annual Tohoku table tennis tournament participants.		３．１４	第５８回東京卓球選手権大会　女子ジュニアの部出場。
2006-01-21	75th annual northern Japan table tennis tournament: 1st place, cadet group.		１．２１	第７５回北日本卓球大会　カデットの部優勝。
2005-08-27	All-Akita table tennis tournament: 1st place, doubles. (Later joined the national tournament.)	平成１７年	８．２７	県総体卓球選手権大会　個人ダブルス優勝(全国大会出場へ)。
2005-08-26	All-Japan PTA public relations magazine contest: Japanese Education Newspaper Director's Prize.		８．２６	全国ＰＴＡ広報誌コンクール　日本教育新聞社社長賞受賞。
2004-11-07	All-Akita newcomers table tennis tournament: 1st place, girls.	平成１６年	１１．　７	全県新人卓球大会　卓球女子個人優勝。
2004-06-23	Hometown exploration helicopter project.		６．２３	郷土探索ヘリコプター飛行事業。
2004-04-01	MEXT designation: Plentiful experience opportunity region, plentiful experience opportunity implementation.		４．　１	文部科学省指定「豊かな体験活動推進地域」「豊かな体験活動推進校」。
2003		平成１５年
2002-11-26	All-Japan Junior Olympic Cup table tennis tournament participants.	平成１４年	１１．２６	全日本卓球選手権ＪＯＣジュニアオリンピックカップ　カデットの部出場。
2002-07-26	Akita Chuo district brassband contest: Gold Medal.		７．２６	吹奏楽コンクール中央地区大会　金賞。
2002-03-17	Town sports award. Girls table tennis: award for glory, 2 awards for promotion.		３．１７	町スポーツ賞　栄光賞女子卓球部、奨励賞女子卓球部２名。
2002-02-26	Yashima Rotary Club acknowledgement. Girls table tennis: award for glory. Ski, track, and tennis: award for promotion.		２．２６	矢島ロータリークラブ表彰　栄光賞女子卓球部、奨励賞団体スキー部・陸上部・テニス部。
2001-11-12	Essay on taxes. Honjo Yuri regional taxes and savings association chair prize, Honjo Yuri taxation cooperative chair prize, Tohoku taxation group Honjo branch chair prize.	平成１３年	１１．１２	税についての作文　本荘市由利地区納税貯蓄組合連合会長賞、本荘由利納税関係団体協議会長賞、東北税理士会本荘支部長賞。
2001-11-09	All-Akita human rights essay contest: Honorable Mention.		１１．　９	秋田県人権作文コンクール　奨励賞。
2001-11	Calligraphy contest prize.		１１月	幽玄会書道展　幽玄会賞。
2001-11	District literature contest: 5 prefectural endorsements.		１１月	郡市読書感想文コンクール　県推薦５名。
2001-06-02	All-Akita table tennis tournament: 1st place, girls.		６．　２	全県春季卓球大会　卓球女子団体優勝。
2001-01-30	Tohoku ski tounament: 1st place, boys giant slalom.		１．３０	東北中学校スキー大会　男子大回転優勝。
2001-01-19	All-Akita ski tournament. 1st place, girls giant slalom. 1st place, boys slalom.		１．１９	全県スキー大会　女子大回転優勝、男子回転優勝。
2000-10-21	Calligraphy contest: Lead Judge's Prize.	平成１２年	１０．２１	幽玄会書道展　審査委員長賞。
2000-10-21	District literature contest: prefectural endorsement.		１０．２１	郡市読書感想文コンクール　県推薦。
2000-07-28	Akita Chuo district brassband contest: Gold Medal.		７．２８	吹奏楽コンクール中央地区大会　金賞。
2000-07-23	All-Akita cadet table tennis tournament: 1st place, 2nd grade cadet girls singles.		７．２３	全県カデット卓球選手権大会　２年カデット女子シングルス優勝。
2000-07-23	All-Akita track meet: 1st place, 3rd grade girls 100 meter dash.		７．２３	全日本通信陸上秋田県大会　女子３年１００Ｍ優勝。
2000-07-15	All-Akita track meet: 1st place, 3rd grade girls 100 meter dash.		７．１５	（７．１５～１７）全県総合体育大会　陸上３年女子１００Ｍ優勝。
2000-06-03	All-Akita table tennis tournament: 1st place, girls.		６．　３	全県春季卓球大会　女子団体優勝。
2000-04-29	Akita invitational Yashima table tennis tournament: 1st place, girls.		４．２９	全県選抜卓球矢島大会　卓球女子団体優勝。
2000-03-14	School's first graduation ceremony.		３．１４	第１回卒業式。
2000-02-01	Tohoku ski tournament: 2nd place, girls slalom.		２．１	（２．１～２）東北スキー大会　女子回転第２位。
2000-01-21	Akita ensemble contest: silver medal.		１．２３	アンサンブルコンテスト県大会　混成８重奏銀賞。
1999-11-07	All-Akita newcomers' track meet: 1st place, girls team.	平成１１年	１１．　７	全県新人卓球大会　女子団体優勝。
1999-10-19	District literature contest: 6 endorsements.		１０．１９	郡市読書感想文コンクール　推薦６名。
1999-10-02	All-Akita newcomers' track meet: 1st place, girls 100 meter dash.		１０．　２	全県新人陸上競技大会　女子１００Ｍ優勝。
1999-08-09	Tohoku track meet: 2nd place, 2nd grade girls 100 meter dash.		８．　９	東北陸上競技大会　２年女子１００Ｍ第２位。
1999-07-16	All-Akita track meet: 1st place, 2nd grade girls 100 meter dash.		７．１６	（７．１６〜１９）全県総合体育大会　陸上２年女子１００Ｍ優勝。
1999-04-06	Bronze unveiling ceremony.		４．　６	ブロンズ像除幕式。
1999-04-02	School-opening ceremony.		４．　２	開校式挙行。
1999-04-01	Chokai Junior High School established.		４．　１	鳥海中学校開校。

Here is a PDF of sheet music for the school song.

Shuri Sato, a 2nd grader at Hitane Elementary School won the Grand Prize in NHK's 8th annual New Years Card Contest. Shuri's card was chosen out of 89,369 submissions. When asked to comment, she said, "I want to give this to my grandfather [next year]. I had fun for about an hour drawing the card. I'm very very happy to get a prize."

• Japan Post website: http://www.post.japanpost.jp/contest/08/etegami/E053599.html?TB_iframe=true.
• Yurihonjo monthly paper: http://www.city.yurihonjo.akita.jp/icity/browser?ActionCode=content&ContentID=1305434860912&SiteID=0000000000000.

When I was researching the history of Hitane Elementary School (直根小学校), I found reference to Teshirosawa Elementary School (手代沢分校), which was open from 1948 to 1961, according to the Hitane Elementary School history records (http://www2.chokai.ne.jp/~hitane/enkakusi1.htm). But Teshirosawa Elementary School doesn't show up on the major map websites — neither does Teshirosawa or Teshiro. The school and hamlet itself revolved around the timber industry, which apparently died off in the late 50s. After much searching, I found an old map showing the general location -- Momoyake, a hamlet now part of Hitane. Hitane is located in Chokai (鳥海), Yurihonjo (由利本荘市), Akita, Japan.

Ms. Sumiko, a resident of Hitane, explained that Teshirosawa was a branch school with only a few students, the kids who couldn't make the walk into Momoyake Elementary School (百宅分校). The road to Teshiro starts SW of the highway's main fork in Momoyake. The school and other buildings were located just before the bridge over a small stream, and are no longer there. These days, that road leads to the Momoyake Trailhead of Mt. Chokai and is almost exclusively used by adventurous hikers, and perhaps occasionally by motorbikers (see http://www.cyclingtalk.net/rindo/touhoku/yamagata_tyoukai/ or http://www.rindo21.com/touhoku_minami/yamagata_tyoukai/akita_tesirosawa/). The hamlet was located around lat/long 39.101458, 140.127268.

Here are pictures from Hitane Elementary School (直根小学校) in Chōkai, Yurihonjo, Akita.

The above maps are from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA 2.0). Hitane Elementary School goes back to 1874 — here's the school's history. The Japanese is copied from http://www2.chokai.ne.jp/~hitane/enkakusi1.htm, and I translated it to English.

Year		Era	年
1874-10-15	Hitane Elementary School is formed. The temporary location is Shōjūji. Hitane Elementary School is in University 7, Middle School 62-64 Group. At this time, the country's education is divided into 8 university groups, each containing 32 middle school groups, each containing 210 elementary school groups. Also, elementary school is divided into lower (6-9 years old, 3 years) and upper (10-13 years old, 3 years).	明治	7.10.15	直根学校として本校の創意をみる。 （仮校舎正重寺，修業年限3年の下等小学校） ※直根学校は第７大学区13番中学区62〜64小学区であった。これは学制発布が全国を８大学区とし，1大学区に32中学区を，１中学区に210小学区を設けたことによる。　また，下等小学は６〜９才の３年間，上等小学は10〜13才の３年間であった。
1879-01-11	First graduates of lower grade elementary school.		12.1.11	下等小学校の最初の卒業生を出す。
1880-04-10	Hitane Elementary School instruction tour to Momoyake, Kami-Hitane, and Sarukura.		13.4.10	直根学校の巡回教授所を百宅・上直根・猿倉に置く。
1880-12	A major education revision occurs. Schools are split into a 3 year primary course, a 3 year intermediate course, and a 2 year upper course. This school has only elementary level students.		13.12	教育全改正により初等科３年，中等科３年，高等科２年となり，本校は初等科のみ。
1883-08-12	Shōjūji is destroyed by a fire. The school temporarily moves to 3 new locations at houses of local residents: Jūbē Satō, 新田宗祥太, and Denjūrō Takahashi.		16.8.12	正重寺焼失により，佐藤重兵ヱ・新田宗祥太・高橋伝十郎方に分散仮校舎とする。
1886-04-01	Momoyake Branch School is established.		19.4.1	百宅に分教場を設置する。
1887-04	A major education revision occurs. Schools are split into a 4 year ordinary elementary course and a 4 year higher course. The school becomes 直根簡易小学校.		20.4	学制改革され，高等小学４年，尋常小学４年，簡易小学３年となり，本校は直根簡易小学校となる。
1887-05-31	Kami-Hitane Branch School and Sarukura Branch School are established.		20.5.31	上直根・猿倉に分教場を設置する。
1889-10-01	Momoyake Branch School, Kami-Hitane Branch School, and Sarukura Branch School close.		22.10.1	百宅・上直根・猿倉の３分教場を廃止する。
1892-06-05	An elementary school reform is ordered. Under the new age grouping, the common section level is 3-4 years, and the upper level is 2-3 years. The school becomes 直根村立尋常小学校. The school adds a 4th grade class.		25.6.5	小学校令の改正により，尋常科（３〜４年）高等科（２〜３年）となり，直根村立尋常小学校と改称，修業年限４年となる。
1893-02-01	Small branch schools are opened in Kami-Hitane and Momoyake.		26.2.1	上直根に分教場を設置し，百宅分教場と称する。
1897-11-25	In Chikoshi, a private house of 116m² is purchased. In 1901, it is enlarged to 132m², and in 1908, it is enlarged to 172m².		30.11.25	打越に民家を購入，35坪の校舎を建築する。（34年40坪増築，41年模様替と増築52坪)
1898-02-19	In Kami-Hitane, the Momoyake Small Branch School gets a new building in the neighborhood of Nakamura. On the same day, in the village of Mamenashi in Kami-Hitane, Kami-Hitane Small Branch School is opened. In 1902, Momoyake Small Branch School moves to a new building located in Yama no Sawa.		31.2.19	上直根に設けた百宅分教場を百宅字中村に移し，百宅分教場を建築。 同日上直根字豆梨に上直根分教場を新築する。 （百宅分教場は35年山の沢に改築）
1902-03-12	Kami Hitane Small Branch School becomes Kami-Hitane Ordinary Elementary School. On 1911-03-18, the school is demoted back to a small branch school. At that time, the branch school was located in Momoyake.		35.3.12	上直根分教場は上直根尋常小学校に昇格する。 44年3月18日再び分教場に降格する。独立校当時は百宅は上直根の分教室。
1908-04-01	By imperial edict, the length of compulsory education is extended to 6 years. 5th and 6th grade are added to the school.		41.4.1	勅令により義務教育年限は尋常科６年，高等科２年となり，本校は修業年限６か年。
1911-01-19	In Sarukura, a special winter classroom is added, teaching 1st-4th grade in a single classroom.		44.1.19	猿倉に冬季特別教場を置く。（４年まで単級）
1912-01-11	At 11:40 a.m., fire breaks out. All of the school's official documents burn. Following this, a new graduation ledger is created.		45.1.11	午前11時40分学校より出火，校舎書類の一切を焼失する。（卒業台帳はこの年度より新たになる。）
1914-10-01	To replace the school destroyed in the 1912 fire, a new building is constructed in Nakamura, Shimo-Hitane.	大正	3.10.1	火災により焼失した校舎を下直根字中村に再建落成する。
1919-04-01	Upper grade levels are added and the school becomes a regular elementary school with the new name "直根村立尋常小学校".		8.4.1	高等科を併置し，直根村立尋常小学校と改称する。
1927-11-22	Addition to school building complete.	昭和	2.11.22	校舎増築落成する。
1936-12-30	Momoyake Branch School building renovation complete.		11.12.30	百宅分校改築落成する。
1941-04-01	The school becomes Hitane National Elementary School. Because of the wartime nationalistic influence, elementary schools in Japan changed to this system from 1941 to 1947.		16.4.1	直根村立直根国民学校と改称する。 尋常科は初等科という名に変わる。
1947-04-01	In an educational reform, schools are divided with 6 years for elementary and 3 years for junior high. The school becomes 直根村立直根小学校.		22.4.1	６・３制実施にともない，直根村立直根小学校と改称する。
1948-11-30	Sarukura Branch School building renovation complete.		23.11.30	猿倉分校改築落成する。
1948-12-01	Teshirosawa Branch School opens. 1st-6th grade use a single classroom.		23.12.1	手代沢に分校設置。（１〜６年の単級）
1950-02-10	Major structural repairs are completed on Kami-Hitane Branch School. In 1958-1959, the gymnasium is renovated. In 1971, the building is extended.		25.2.10	上直根分校改築落成する。 建物粗悪で33年，34年に校舎体育館を再建築する。 46年一部増改築。
1952-04-04	In Sodegawa, a branch school is established, containing 1st-5th grade. The building is renovated in 1959.		27.4.4	袖川に分校設置。（１〜５年の単級）34年改築。
1954-09-15	School celebrates its 60th anniversary. A publication is produced, a commemorative event is held, and playground equipment is improved.		29.9.15	創立80周年記念式典を行う。 記念誌発行・記念行事として記念文庫・遊具などの整備。
1955-03-31	The three villages of Kawauchi, Jinego, and Hitane combine to form Chōkai. The school name becomes 鳥海村立直根小学校.		30.3.31	川内・笹子・直根3村の合併により鳥海村誕生，鳥海村立直根小学校と改称する。
1956-05-08	The school flag is established.		31.5.8	校旗を樹立する。
1959-12-04	The school song is created. The lyrics are written by Takahashi, from Naka-Hitane. The music is written by Komatsu, from Higashiyuri.		34.12.4	校歌を制定する。作詞:高橋亮吉氏（中直根出身）作曲:小松耕輔氏（東由利町舘合出身）
1961-10-01	Teshirosawa Branch School closes.		36.10.1	手代沢分校を廃校にする。
1961-10-23	In 1960-1961, Kami-Hitane Branch School is designated a "Teaching Japanese for Combined Class Instruction" school by the Akita Prefectural Board of Education. The school receives a commendation from the Akita Board of Education on October 8, 1962.		36.10.23	上直根分校を会場に35・36年度県教委指定の「複式学級に於る国語科同単元学習指導の研究」を公開する。（37年10月8日県教委より表彰）
1963-04-01	Momoyake Branch School separates from Hitane Elementary School and becomes 鳥海村立百宅小学校.		38.4.1	百宅分校は本校より分離して鳥海村立百宅小学校となる。
1966-11-14	Renovation of Sarukura Branch School complete.		41.11.14	猿倉分校を改築落成する。
1968-03-31	Sodegawa Branch School closes.		43.3.31	袖川分校を廃校にする。
1969-11-19	In Nakamura, Shimo-Hitane, school building renovation complete. Full school lunch is introduced.		44.11.19	下直根字中村に校舎改築落成する。（校舎完成とともに学級給食はじまる。）
1970-11-15	In Nakamura, Shimo-Hitane, gymnasium construction complete.		45.11.15	下直根字中村に体育館落成する。
1974-10-25	School's 100 year anniversary ceremony.		49.10.25	創立百周年記念式典を挙行する。
1976-07-03	Schoolyard enlarged by 180m².		51.7.3	校庭180m²の拡張工事完了する。
1979-07-03	"Town-designated Special Activity Research Project" exhibition occurs.		54.7.3	「町指定特別活動研究」を公開する。
1981-03-31	Kami-Hitane Branch School closes. Its students move to Hitane Elementary School. A school bus route is created.		56.3.31	上直根分校を廃校する。（上直根の通学はスクールバスになる）
1983-09-22	As part of a prefectural rural area research project, a town-designed "Educational Guidance" research meeting occurs.		58.9.22	県へき地教育研究会，町指定「学習指導研究会」を公開する。
1984-03-31	Sarukura Branch School closes. Its students move to Hitane Elementary School.		59.3.31	猿倉分校を廃校する。
1984-04-01	Momoyake Elementary School closes. Its students move to Hitane Elementary School. A school bus route is created.		59.4.1	百宅小学校を統合する。通学はスクールバスになる。
1985-08-08	Hitane Elementary savings group receives commendation from farm cooperative treasury director.		60.8.8	直根小学校貯金会，子ども信用協同組合農林中央金庫理事長表彰を受ける。
1986-11-13	Hitane Elementary School PTA receives commendation from All-Japan PTA organization chair.		61.11.13	直根小学校PTA日本PTA全国協議会長表彰を受ける。
1987-10-10	Chōkai area public research meeting with the theme, "Educational planning on how to improve math and science fundamentals."		62.10.10	鳥海地区学習指導公開研究会，研究主題「算数科における基礎学力の向上を図る学習指導」
1988-11-25	School facade and lunch room walls resurfaced. Gymnasium exterior wall repainted.		63.11.25	校舎正面及び給食室の壁面全張替と体育館外部壁面張替塗装完成。
1989-03-30	6 classroom ceilings and 5 special use room ceilings resurfaced.	平成	1.3.30	教室（6），特別教室〈5）の天井，壁面の塗装完成する。
1989-04-30	School yard and driveway are paved with asphalt 4m wide.		1.4.30	校庭通学路全面改修舗装（巾員4.0mアスファルト）
1989-08-23	In the school yard, a athletics facility (with 5 parts) is constructed using donations from the PTA.		1.8.23	校庭にアスレチック施設（５種類）をPTA奉仕作業で完成する。
1989-02-08	School designed as part of Ministry of Education's "Diligent Service Manufacture Practice" program. Hallway walls resurfaced. Staff bathrooms completed.		1.2.8	文部省指定「勤労生産学習」初年度，校舎廊下のし板全面張替，職員トイレ完成。
1991-10-02	Ministry of Education's "Diligent Service Manufacture Practice" exhibit occurs. Gymnasium is refurbished.		3.10.2	文部省指定「勤労生産学習」公開，体育館内装張替。
1993-02-25	School is presented with a thank-you letter from the Akita Prefectural Children's Museum for "Tomato Universe Cultivation".		5.2.25	宇宙トマト栽培の功績により，秋田県立子ども博物館より感謝状と記念品を贈呈される。
1994-10-15	120 year anniversary.		6.10.15	創立120周年記念の年を迎える。
1995-12-13	A new school flag is introduced.		7.12.13	校旗及び略旗を新調する。
1996-07-31	Hitane Elementary savings group receives commendation from farm cooperative treasury director.		8.7.31	直根小学校貯金会，子ども信用協同組合農林中央金庫理事長表彰を受ける。
1997-10-02	Chōkai area public research meeting with the theme, "Raising children who can vividly express themselves with thought and passion."		9.10.2	鳥海地区公開研究会，研究主題「思いや感動を生き生きと表現できる子どもの育成」
1998-10-29	The Ministry of Education designates the school as a "Rural Area Research School" for 1998-1999.		10.10.29	文部省より，へき地教育研究校に指定される。（H10〜Hll）
1999-10-07	As part of the Ministry of Education's "Rural Area Research School" project, there is a research meeting. The meeting theme is, "Think independently; raise and teach children in a lively fashion."		11.10.7	文部省指定へき地教育公開研究会，研究主題「主体的に考え，生き生きと学ぶ子供の育成」
2000-04-01	The former Hitane Junior High School building is renovated and becomes the Hitane Elementary School building. At this time, Chōkai Town's three junior high schools — Kawauchi, Hitane, and Jinego — merge to form Chōkai Junior High School.		12.4.1	旧直根中学校を増改築した新校舎に移転する。

The current school building is not so old. It was created to house Hitane Junior High School. In 1999, Chokai Junior High School opened and Hitane Junior High School closed, so the elementary school changed from its old building (near the nursery school in Nakamura, I believe) to the current location. According to the above documentation, the school building at Nakamura was first built in 1914 and significantly renovated in 1969. As described above, there were branch schools in several locations: Momoyake, Sarukura, Kami-Hitane, and Teshirosawa. The largest and longest-lasting of these was in Momoyake, which also had a junior high school. Some of the Momoyake school buildings are still there, though they aren't used for anything these days.

• Hitane Elementary School (2000 — 2013): 39.165535, 140.162705.
• Hitane Elementary School (pre 2000): 39.155, 140.166. I don't know the exact location, but this should be fairly close.

Here are the lyrics to the school song.

１	空高き　鳥海山を 仰ぎつつ　生いたち来にし ほこらかに　共に学ばん 山の子われら　心けだかく
２	雪の中　こぶし花咲き ぶな芽ぶく　清き故郷 いきいきと　共に学ばん 山の子われら　生命光りて
３	澄みわたる　丘べの空に てりはえて　たてる学舎 いそしみて　共に学ばん 山の子われら　望み輝く
４	幸を　明日にのぞみて 新しき　世のみちびきに たくましく　共に学ばん 山の子われら　力あわせて

If you want to see what these schools and students look like, see my photo gallery or do a web search for the school websites. You can find a map using the latitude and longitude shown below. Try OpenStreetMap or Geohack. The Akita JET website may also be of interest.

Name	学校	Lat/long
Hitane Elementary School	直根小学校	39.165510, 140.162719
Jinego Elementary School	笹子小学校	39.109151, 140.289370
Kawauchi Elementary School	川内小学校	39.189577, 140.193805
Chokai Junior High School	鳥海中学校	39.181451, 140.194441
Yashima Junior High School	矢島中学校	39.234190, 140.140507
Old Yashima Junior High School	旧矢島中学校	39.225410, 140.135848

Chokai ALTs
2007-2012	Douglas Perkins	North Dakota, USA
2005-2007	Kevin Kelly	Ireland
2004-2005	Cisco Dilg	California, USA
2002-2004	Greg	California, USA
2001-2002	Tracy	Canada