Yamabe-Daiichi Elementary School is about a 10 minute-ride from Yamabe Station on the Nemuro main line. Pastoral scenery extends around the school, and it commands a distant view of Mt. Ashibetsu (1,727 m) at the back. Its wooden schoolhouse with a history of 98 years gives people feelings of warmth and nostalgia.

The theme of this workshop was “Let’s commemorate Yamabe Daiichi in photos!” It was a photo session with an eye to a photo exhibition marking  the school’s closing. The teachers had prepared detailed “Learning sheets” in advance, and children’s expectations grew very high. During the field session, the children ran about looking for subjects to photograph : their schoolhouse, elm trees in the schoolyard, and flowers in bloom in flower beds, and small insects in the garden. They tried to take impressive photos of their beautiful school. Also, in the vegetable garden at a corner of the schoolyard, vegetables of different kinds are cultivated. Ripe, red tomatoes were the subjects of their delicious-looking photos.

Coming back to the classroom, each child printed a favorite photo, and gave a title to it to finish the work. At the presentation meeting, they wrote descriptions of their works, their feelings, what they enjoyed doing, etc., to fill out the learning sheets. Then, each child from the 1st to the 5th grades gave a presentation in turn. All did a splendid job.