Seiyō Elementary School

From Akita Wiki
Seiyō Elementary School Logo - The sky blue element represents the pure (清) waters of the Osarube River; the darker blue element represents a strong hawk (鷹) with wings spread to the future. Together the two elements spell "SE," the first two letters in the romanization "Seiyō."
Name Seiyō Elementary School
Name (Japanese) 清鷹小学校
Location Takanosu, Kitaakita
Telephone ☎ 0186-63-2315
Fax 0186-63-2317
Website http://www.kumagera.ne.jp/seiyo/
Email ✉seiyo@kumagera.ne.jp
Address (Japanese) 〒018-3454 秋田県北秋田市脇神字塚ノ岱165番地1
Address 165-1 Wakigami Aza-tsukanotai, Kitaakita-shi, Akita-ken 〒018-3454

Seiyō Elementary School was founded on April 1st, 2021 as the merger of Takanosu Chūō Elementary School and Takanosu Minami Elementary School. The Takanosu Minami Junior High School building was repurposed as the school building for this school (after a year of renovations following the closing of Takanosu Minami JHS on March 31st, 2020).

Naming history

Year Established
1969 1967 2005 2009 2021
沢口小
Sawaguchi ES
中央小
Chūō ES
鷹巣中央小
Takanosu Chūō ES
清鷹小
Seiyō ES
七日市小
Nanokaichi ES
南小
Minami ES
鷹巣南小
Takanosu Minami ES
鷹巣南小
Takanosu Minami ES
坊山小
Bōyama ES
竜森小
Ryūshin ES
竜森小
Ryūshin ES
葛黒小
Kuzoguro ES

The path to Seiyō

Seiyo Elementary School
Seiyo ES Speech Stand

The original decision of the Merger Committee overseeing the merger of Takanosu Chūō ES and Takanosu Minami ES was to poll the residents living within the merged school's area for the name which the new school would adopt. A two-part polling process was decided upon. First, residents were asked to freely submit any and all name ideas for the new school; with the only caveat being that the new school could not have the name of either of the schools merging into it (Takanosu Chūō Elementary School/鷹巣中央小学校 or Takanosu Minami Elementary School/鷹巣南小学校). Second, those collected ideas were made into a list which the residents voted on. Each household was allowed to cast one vote for any one name on the list.

The name that garnered the most votes on this poll was Osarube Elementary School (おさるべ小学校; in hiragana), named after the Osarube River which runs through the area. Other variants of Osarube ranked highly as well, such as 小猿部小学校 in kanji, and オサルベ小学校 in katakana. However, there was a vocal, public backlash when it was announced that the name Osarube Elementary School had topped the ranking. Some felt that the presence of "saru" (猿; monkey) in the name would be an embarrassment to the school children, and make them the target of bullying from children at other schools when they were out on excursions. A majority of the student bodies at both of the two merging schools, especially, were against the name Osarube; even after the schools took measures such as explaining its meaning: an Ainu word meaning "riverbank lush with reeds," no relation to monkeys. The character 猿 (monkey) in the kanji name is only ateji.

With no end in sight, the Merger Committee eventually reneged and decided to conduct a second vote to decide the name of the new school. The new ballot contained three candidates for the new school name:

  1. Osarube Elementary School (おさるべ小学校)
    Named after the Osarube River, and the surrounding Osarube Area; a name which has a long history, and is used and loved by many who live there. This name was chosen as a candidate in the hopes that it would carry the name Osarube into the future, and create a sense of unity among the community.
  2. Seiyō Elementary School (清鷹小学校)
    A name suggested by the students at the two schools. The character 清 (sei; pure) represents the pure water of the Osarube River, and is also a symbol of peace. The character 鷹 (; hawk) lends an image of strength, as a hawk soaring through the open sky; the same character also appears in the name of both merging schools, where it is pronounced taka in both cases.
  3. Takanosu Chūō Minami Elementary School (鷹巣中央南小学校)
    A name chosen to bear the legacy of both of the merging schools. Takanosu (鷹巣) being the name of the town before it merged into Kitaakita City. Chūō (中央; central) and Minami (南; south) being representative of the new school's location in the old town.

For this ballot, each member of each household was allowed a single vote, with the option that some members of a household could vote differently from others in that same household. The name Seiyō topped this final ballot, and become the Merger Committee's official recommendation for the new school's name.

The name Seiyō (清鷹) did not appear on the initial list of name ideas collected for the first ballot. However, the phonetically identical name Seiyō (青鷹) did appear on the list, using the character 青 (young; blue) for sei, rather than 清 (pure).

ALT History

Year Seiyō ES
2021-2022 Mariah ScholesUnited States of America

School Song

清鷹小学校校歌

三浦 栄一 作詞
川口洋一郎 作曲

せいようしょうがっこうこうか

みうら えいいち さくし
かわぐち よういちろう さっきょく

校舎に笑顔 はずませながら
ひとみ明るく 新しく
季節織りなす 森吉山に
届けるみんなの シンフォニー
大地をわたる 風を感じて
今をはばたけ 清鷹小学校

目指すはるかな 大海原へ
心豊かに 清らかに
命はぐくむ 小猿部川に
届けるみんなの ハーモニー
大地うるおす 流れ感じて
明日へはばたけ 清鷹小学校

かたいきずなと あつい勇気で
希望のつばさ たくましく
やさしさ香る わがふるさとに
届けるみんなの 宝箱
未来を創る 夢輝かせ
永遠にはばたけ 清鷹小学校
永遠にはばたけ 清鷹小学校
いち
こうしゃにえがお はずませながら
ひとみあかるく あたらしく
きせつおりなす もりよしざんに
とどけるみんなの シンフォニー
だいちをわたる かぜをかんじて
いまをはばたけ せいようしょうがっこう

めざすはるかな おおうなばらへ
こころゆたかに きよらかに
いのちはぐくむ おさるべがわに
とどけるみんなの ハーモニー
だいちうるおす ながれかんじて
あすへはばたけ せいようしょうがっこう

かたいきずなと あついゆうきで
きぼうのつばさ たくましく
やさしさかおる わがふるさとに
とどけるみんなの たからばこ
みらいをつくる ゆめかがやかせ
とわにはばたけ せいようしょうがっこう
とわにはばたけ せいようしょうがっこう

See also

Schools in Kitaakita
V • T
High Schools Akita Hokuyō
Junior High Schools TakanosuMoriyoshiAikawa
Elementary Schools TakanosuTakanosu HigashiTsuzurekoSeiyōYonaizawaMaedaAikawa
Compulsory Education Schools Ani Gakuen
Other Schools Hinai Special Education School TakanosuAkita Refresh Academy
Former
Schools
High Schools TakanosuTakanosu AgriculturalYonaizawaAikawa
Junior High Schools Takanosu MinamiAni
Elementary Schools Takanosu ChūōTakanosu MinamiTakanosu NishiRyūshinTenjinUrataAniaiŌaniAikawa HigashiAikawa NishiAikawa MinamiAikawa Kita