How to Repurpose an Abandoned School — A Complete Step-by-Step Guide from Site Selection to Proposal [2026 Edition]

The Current State — What 8,850 Schools and Structural Inertia Mean

8,850 cumulative closures and 1,951 unused facilities, with the reasons MEXT's survey gives for undecided uses

School consolidation keeps adding to Japan's cumulative count of closed school buildings. According to MEXT data, the cumulative total of closed schools from FY2004 through FY2023 reached 8,850 schools[3]. MEXT puts new closures at approximately 450 schools per year[2]. Its own survey, read year by year, shows 279 to 405 closures a year since FY2016, never reaching 450, with 298 in FY2023[3].

Of the 7,612 school buildings that still exist, 5,661 (74.4%) are in active use[3], while 1,951 (25.6%) remain unused[3].

Current Breakdown of Active Uses

The breakdown by purpose is shown below. It is not a breakdown of the 5,661 schools. The survey counts school buildings and gymnasiums separately with multiple answers, totalling 10,348 entries[4]. A single closed school with two uses adds two entries.

Compared with the previous survey (as of 1 May 2021), schools (excluding universities) rose from 3,948 to 4,191 and corporate and business incubation facilities from 1,020 to 1,207. Welfare and medical facilities fell from 774 to 735, and within them disability welfare facilities barely moved, at 177 against 176.[4]

Why Uses Stay Undecided

Of the 1,951 unused facilities, 1,503 have no decided use.[5] The survey asks why no use has been decided, with multiple answers. For school buildings (n=2,177), "no demand from the community" was cited 903 times (41.5%), "building deterioration" 902 times (41.4%), "poor location" 387 times (17.8%) and "no funding secured" 327 times (15.0%).[6]

Where demand could surface. Of the 7,211 school buildings at existing closed schools, 3,580 (49.6%) report that residents' opinions were never sought[7]. That figure is not limited to unused facilities. Read alongside the fact that "no demand from the community" tops the list of reasons, it suggests the channel through which demand would surface may not exist.

The age of the buildings. "Building deterioration" is cited almost as often as the top reason. A building built under the old seismic standards calls for a seismic diagnosis and, if performance falls short, a retrofit or rebuild (Step 4).

Costs that come even without use. Keeping a building means maintenance costs, and demolishing it costs money too. Nagaoka City, Niigata, writes in the case collection that having a corporation use its closed school helped cut the costs of maintaining and demolishing the facility.[8]

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5 Reuse Categories — Revenue Structures and Prerequisites

Welfare, education, tourism, community, and mixed-use models with distinct economics and entry conditions

Abandoned school reuse falls into five broad categories. The critical insight is that each has a fundamentally different revenue structure and set of entry prerequisites. Assessing alignment with your own business model is the first step in setting direction.

1. Welfare and Medical

Conversion to elder care facilities, disability employment support centers, nurseries, after-school day services for children with disabilities, and small multi-function care homes. Revenue rests on payments set by public schemes (care reimbursements, disability welfare service fees, childcare commissions), so the business does not have to depend on attracting customers.

Classrooms, gymnasiums, kitchens and grounds can serve as living rooms, workshops and dining halls. Changing the use, however, can require work to meet the Building Standards Act and the Fire Service Act. When the former Shimada Elementary School in Nagaoka City, Niigata, became a disability employment support facility, the work included repairing columns deformed by age, adjusting foundations that had sunk after earthquakes, and bringing the building up to the current Building Standards Act and Fire Service Act, which cost a considerable amount.[8]

Where transport links are poor, a day facility can make up for it with shuttle services. Being able to offset a weak location with scheme-based revenue is what welfare conversions have going for them.

2. Education and Child-Rearing

Conversion to free schools, after-school childcare clubs (gakudō), correspondence high school satellite campuses, and child-rearing support hubs. The largest use category in the survey is schools (excluding universities) at 4,191, while after-school children's clubs number 124.[4]

MEXT's property disposal notice lists, among the items that need only a report, conversion and rent-free lending or transfer for use as special needs schools, schools that teach children who do not attend school under a specially organized curriculum, and similar schools.[9] Free schools are not among them, so check them under the Step 3 procedures.

Revenue models differ by business. After-school children's clubs may run on municipal commissions or subsidies. For free schools, revenue depends on whether they run on fees alone or add municipal subsidies or donations.

3. Tourism and Industry

Conversion to farm stays/glamping sites, craft breweries (whisky, wine, craft beer), coworking/satellite offices, local specialty processing facilities, and farm markets. Some are built as experience-based businesses combining local culture and nature.

Since revenue depends on visitor numbers, look at location and market research first. Among reasons a use has not been decided, 17.8% of school buildings (n=2,177) cite poor location.[6] A plan to attract visitors from outside the area needs services or activities that give them a reason to visit this facility.

4. Community

Use as community centers, local gathering spaces, disaster preparedness hubs, or library facilities. Standalone profitability is hard, so one approach is to combine Designated Manager System fees and government subsidies.

Revenue stability depends on the length of the designation period. Of the 79,332 facilities under the designated manager system, 77.1% have a five-year designation period, 10.9% three years, 3.2% four years, 1.8% under three years and 7.0% more than five years.[10] If you invest in renovation, compare the payback period with the designation period and negotiate the term and conditions up front.

5. Mixed-Use

A model that consolidates multiple functions — welfare, education, community — into a single former school facility. Classrooms become disability employment support workshops; the gymnasium becomes a community sports center; the kitchen becomes a community dining hall — leveraging the inherent spatial diversity of school buildings.

Combining institutional revenue (welfare), designated management fees (community), and usage fees (tourism/industry) gives you more than one source of income.

One closed school that brings several functions together is the former Higashi-Kyohoku Elementary School in Yokkaichi City, Mie. The city converted it into the Kyohoku Community Center, a complex housing Kyohoku Kodomoen with a child-rearing support center, a children and child-rearing exchange plaza and other facilities. Renovation cost about ¥1 billion in total, of which about ¥990 million was borne by the municipality.[8]

The trade-off is coordination across several departments and regulatory frameworks. Yokkaichi writes in the case collection that while its departments examined how best to use each public facility in the area, a major challenge was how to reflect residents' wishes in the policy.[8]

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The 7-Step Roadmap

A bird's-eye view of the journey from site survey to opening

Abandoned school reuse follows 7 steps. While the order may vary, having a bird's-eye view of the full process prevents losing sight of "where am I now?" and "what comes next?"

The durations are this article's estimates. They vary a great deal with the facility's condition and the municipality's procedures.

Operators can drive Step ① (site survey) and Step ④ (building survey) themselves. Steps ②–③ wait on the municipality's procedures, so ask the municipality about its timeline early.

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Step 1 — Site Survey (Minna-no-Haiko Project)

Gathering facility information from MEXT's monthly list and its closed school reuse promotion events

The first place to look for closed school facilities is MEXT's Minna-no-Haiko Project. The list of closed school facilities seeking new uses is updated monthly, and the current edition is based on information as of 1 September 2026.[11] The index lists each facility on one row, with prefecture, municipality, school name and address.[12] Counting the rows of the index retrieved on 14 September 2026 gives 456 (our count).

How to Search — and What to Watch For

Besides the index, the list is published as 12 regional PDFs, with no search screen. Open the files and look through them. Each regional PDF gives one page per facility, showing address, access, contact, zoning, land area, structure, facility type, year completed, building area, total floor area, number of floors, what is being sought, lease or transfer conditions, remarks, exterior photos, floor plans, classroom layout and the surroundings.[13]

The list page asks readers to direct questions about listings and how to apply to the facility office of the local government concerned.[11] Negotiations take place directly between the municipality and the operator.

Using the Closed School Reuse Promotion Events

MEXT held closed school reuse matching events from FY2019 to FY2022 and has held closed school reuse promotion events since FY2023. The FY2025 event took place on 17 October, with a government briefing and three case presentations followed by a matching time, in which municipalities seeking uses for their facilities ran booths.[14] The page states no conditions for participants. Check the event page for the next one, and send questions to the Regional Promotion Section of the Facilities Grants Division (minpro@mext.go.jp).

You can ask officials directly about the building's condition and which uses the municipality wants, which the PDFs do not tell you.

Closures by Prefecture

By prefecture, closures from FY2004 to FY2023 were highest in Hokkaido at 859, followed by Iwate (331), Fukushima (330) and Tokyo (300).[1] Closed schools exist in cities too, so check location and transport case by case.

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Step 2 — Formulating a Reuse Policy

Use selection and designing community consensus, with three approaches from MEXT's case collection

Once candidate facilities have been identified, the next requirement is formulating a "what do we use this for?" policy. What to settle first at this stage is how you will build consensus with residents.

Building Consensus with Residents

MEXT's case collection gives one example from each of the 47 prefectures. We picked three that build consensus with residents in different ways.[8]

• Nishiwaga Town, Iwate Prefecture (small multi-function care home): Representatives of the four administrative districts of the former school zone deliberated more than 10 times and decided to use the school for community welfare; in February 2011, before the school closed, community representatives set up an NPO to run the facility
• Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture (disability employment support): The city asked a local university to coordinate, held twelve meetings each in four working groups of residents and education stakeholders, and also gathered views through a resident survey and other means
• Yokkaichi City, Mie Prefecture (child-rearing support complex): City staff joined, as observers, a council that residents set up to consider how to use the school

In all three, residents had a place to talk before the use was decided. What happens when you proceed without consensus is covered in "3 Failures to Avoid Before You Start" below.

Initial Consultation with the Municipality

At the policy formulation stage, confirm the following with the municipal contact:

1. The municipality's priority order for intended uses (welfare, education, industry, etc.)
2. The community consensus process and timeline
3. Alignment with existing regional plans (depopulation plans, comprehensive strategies, etc.)
4. Relationship with other idle facilities (potential for bundled multi-facility reuse)

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Step 3 — Property Disposition Procedures

Relationship with national subsidies. A rent-free disposal needs only a report once the subsidized work is 10 or more years past completion

When using closed school facilities for purposes other than education, the property disposition procedures related to national subsidies cannot be bypassed.

Why Procedures Are Required

Using, transferring, lending or demolishing property acquired with public school facility subsidies against the purpose of the subsidy requires the approval of the Minister of Education under Article 22 of the Act on Regulation of Execution of Budget Pertaining to Subsidies (the Subsidies Act).[15] Under the Subsidies Act, a grant decision can be revoked when the law is violated (Article 17), and repayment must be ordered when a grant decision is revoked (Article 18).

What Needs Only a Report

The notice deems approval given, on submission of a report, for the following disposals, except where the school would be left short of facilities. These disposals need no treasury repayment.[15]

1. A rent-free disposal of buildings 10 or more years after the subsidized work was completed
2. Disposals listed in Appended Table 1 of the notice, for example a not-for-profit conversion to public or government use of a building of a school closed through a merger that itself received a national subsidy
3. A rent-free disposal of buildings less than 10 years after completion, under a merged municipality's basic plan

Count from the completion of the subsidized work, not from the year the building went up.

Leasing or Selling for a Fee

For a paid disposal of buildings 10 or more years after completion, no treasury repayment is needed if the municipality puts an amount at least equal to the subsidy that would otherwise be repaid into a fund for its school facility development. Other approvals are, in principle, conditional on repaying the subsidy share of the residual value of the part disposed of; for a time-limited lease, the subsidy share of the fall in residual value over the lease period.[15]

When No Procedure Is Needed, or Approval Is Deemed

Temporarily converting or lending subsidized property no longer used for education, such as a closed school, without altering it and for a use that serves the public interest, is not a property disposal and needs no procedure. Where a local government applies for and receives the Prime Minister's certification of a regional revitalization plan under the Regional Revitalization Act, approval by the Minister of Education is deemed given even within 10 years of completion.[15]

The current notice is No. 1190 of March 31, 2026, replacing the notice of March 28, 2025. The procedure is set out in MEXT's Property Disposition Procedures Handbook. Ask the municipal contact about the facility's construction year and subsidy history.

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Step 4 — Use-Change Permit and Building Survey

The Building Standards Act 200m² threshold, the pre-work asbestos survey, and seismic diagnosis

Once property disposition procedures are on track, attention turns to the building itself. This is the stage that settles the renovation cost outlook, and anything missed here becomes a large loss later.

Building Standards Act: Use-Change Permit

Under the Building Standards Act, changing a building's use so that it becomes a special-use building listed in column (i) of Appended Table 1 (such as a welfare or lodging facility) requires building confirmation procedures when the floor area used for that use exceeds 200m² in total (Article 87(1), Article 6(1)(i)). Changes between similar uses specified by Cabinet Order are excluded. The 200m² test applies to the floor area used for the new use, not to the whole school building.

The Construction Research Institute article notes that under the Fire Service Act a school faces few requirements because only specific people use it, but converting it into a facility used by many unspecified people brings obligations such as adding evacuation guide lights and installing smoke vents, and calls for interpreting the City Planning Act, the Building Standards Act, the Fire Service Act and other laws. It also notes that schools often sit in residential-only zones, where facilities other than housing face strict limits, and Yubari City changed the zoning from a Category 1 medium-to-high-rise exclusive residential zone to a Category 2 residential zone.[16]

Renovation costs vary a great deal with the facility's condition and size. In MEXT's case collection, the small multi-function care home in Nishiwaga Town, Iwate (facility size 489.78m²) cost about ¥41.5 million in total, the disability employment support facility in Nagaoka City, Niigata (2,973.68m²) about ¥235 million, and the child-rearing support complex in Yokkaichi City, Mie (about 6,315m²) about ¥1 billion.[8]

Pre-Work Asbestos Survey

Asbestos may be present in building materials such as ceilings, flooring and insulation, and dispersal during renovation or demolition harms health. Under the amended Ordinance on Prevention of Asbestos Hazards, demolition, renovation and remodelling work on buildings requires checking all materials in the work for asbestos using design documents and visual inspection, and keeping the record for three years (from April 2021). Pre-work surveys of buildings must be done by people who have completed the course set by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare or equivalent (from October 2023). Jobs above a set size must report the survey results electronically (from April 2022).[17] The principal contractor carries out the survey. For buildings, reporting is required for demolition of 80m² or more of total floor area or renovation with a contract value of ¥1 million or more.[18]

If asbestos is found, removal adds cost and time. Fix the renovation estimate only after the survey results are in.

Seismic Assessment

MLIT notes that many buildings built in or before 1981 were built under the so-called old seismic standards, before the standards were strengthened, and lack adequate seismic performance. It urges owners to start with a seismic diagnosis and to consider retrofitting or rebuilding if performance falls short.[19] Seismic diagnosis is legally mandatory for large buildings built under the old standards and similar cases; for elementary and junior high schools, the threshold is two or more storeys and 3,000m² or more of total floor area. The reporting deadline for these large buildings was the end of 2015. For houses and small buildings, diagnosis and any needed retrofit are an obligation to make efforts. The current seismic standards took effect in June 1981.[20]

Ask the municipality whether the closed school building has had a seismic diagnosis and what it found. The case collection notes that the Nishiwaga Town building already met seismic standards before reuse and subsidies were available, so opening costs could be covered with borrowing alone.[8]

Renovate or Rebuild

When the former Nozomi Elementary School in Yubari City, Hokkaido (completed 1986, closed 2011) became a home for the elderly, a survey found the main structure, exterior walls and roof in good enough condition that light renovation sufficed. The final contract amount for the part converted from the old school building (2,145.20m² total floor area, excluding the extension) was ¥158.53 million, or ¥73,900/m², which the article says came to about one-third of the average cost of building new.[16]

If the building is in poor condition, whether renovation or rebuilding is cheaper can change. Compare with demolition and new construction, together with an architect, before deciding.

Pre-Consultation

Consult early about the use-change confirmation with a local government that has a building official, or with a designated confirmation and inspection body. Work out with an architect which parts need what renovation.

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Step 5 — Sounding

Dialogue with the private sector before a call for proposals; check the guidelines for how participation is treated

A sounding-type market survey is a dialogue a municipality holds with private businesses before a formal call for proposals, to gauge feasibility and interest. MLIT's guide describes a process in which the responsible department drafts guidelines and publishes them on the local government's website and elsewhere, then compiles a summary of results from the views gathered in the dialogue and publishes that as well.[21]

How Participation Is Treated

The guide lists indirect benefits for businesses, such as getting information at the planning stage and having their views adopted as conditions for the project, and direct benefits, such as bonus points in the later call for proposals for businesses that made excellent proposals. Its template guidelines give, for the case with no incentive, wording stating that participation in the sounding will not be evaluated in the call for proposals, and, for the case with an incentive, an example that awards points for participation or proposal content.[21] Check the municipality's guidelines to see which applies.

Preparing for Sounding as an Operator

Before taking part, have the following ready:

1. Intended use and business plan overview
2. Estimated renovation scope and rough cost projections
3. Track record (especially experience operating similar facilities)
4. Approach to building community relationships

Sounding guidelines are published on municipal websites and elsewhere, so check the websites of municipalities in your target area regularly.

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Step 6 — Participating in a Proposal Process

An example of selection by proposal, and 5 things to check before writing a proposal

When municipalities publicly solicit operators for closed school facilities, some use a proposal method that selects on the content of the proposal rather than on price alone. Because the plan, business viability and community contribution are evaluated together, smaller organizations have room to compete.

Simplified Evaluation-Type Proposals

After deciding to use the former Shimada Elementary School for welfare-related business, Nagaoka City ran a simplified evaluation-type proposal to select an operator and chose a social welfare corporation.[8] How each item is scored is set out in each call's application guidelines.

5 Things to Check Before Writing a Proposal

Before writing a proposal, check these five things yourself:

1. Feasibility of the business plan (cash flow projections, staffing, opening timeline)
2. Contribution to community needs (jobs, welfare service provision, community access)
3. Community engagement plan (public information meetings, approach to NIMBY concerns)
4. Financial stability (track record, financing plan)
5. Investment in the facility (specificity of the renovation plan, maintenance arrangements)

Community consensus cannot be built in a hurry at the proposal stage. Start building relationships with the community from Step 2.

Calls for proposals are posted on municipal websites. On the Minna-no-Haiko Project list, also check each facility's "what is being sought" field.

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Step 7 — From Operator Selection to Opening

Contract options and designated manager periods

Once an operator is selected through the proposal process, the next steps are contract execution and preparations for opening.

Contract Options

Contract terms vary based on the facility's condition and the municipality's policy.

For how treasury repayment works when leasing or selling for a fee, see Step 3.

At the small multi-function care home "Yukitsubaki no Sato" in Nishiwaga Town, Iwate (former Etchuhata Elementary School), the land is leased for a fee and the school building is lent free of charge. At "Washima tout le monde" in Nagaoka City, Niigata (former Shimada Elementary School), the land was sold and the building transferred free of charge.[8]

Designated Manager System Considerations

Facilities that keep community sports or public hall functions may use the Designated Manager System. Five years is the most common designation period, at 77.1%.[10] If a renovation investment is involved, compare the payback period with the designation period and negotiate up front for a longer contract period or provisions protecting the investment.

Timeline to Opening

This article's estimate for selection to opening is 6–18 months. In the Yubari case, construction took nine months.[16] Design, construction, administrative procedures and subsidy applications run in parallel, so plan backward from the target opening date and watch subsidy application windows that cross fiscal years.

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Subsidy Programs by Ministry

MEXT's list of national subsidy programs (as of April 2026) and how the case collection's examples used subsidies

Which subsidy programs you can use depends on the new use and on who applies. One program may not cover the whole renovation, so think about combinations first. Subsidy rates and how to combine programs are covered in "Subsidies for Closed School Reuse: All 6 Ministries Covered".

MEXT lists the main national subsidy programs usable for closed school facilities by type of new use. The list as of April 2026 is as follows.[22]

The list has no programs from MEXT's main ministry. Where the main ministry comes in is the Step 3 property disposition procedure. Program names and details change from year to year, so check the list and rules for the year you apply.

Subsidies in Practice

In the case collection, the Nishiwaga Town example cost about ¥41.5 million in total, of which subsidies covered about ¥33 million and the operator about ¥8.5 million, using two MHLW subsidies, one for developing care service facilities and one for facility opening preparation costs. The Nagaoka City example cost about ¥235 million in total, of which the Social Welfare Facility Development Subsidy (MHLW) covered about ¥55 million and the operator about ¥180 million.[8]

The Nishiwaga facility opened in FY2012, and the subsidies it used then may no longer exist. At the planning stage, check the rules and application windows for the year you apply, and build them into the plan.

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3 Failures to Avoid Before You Start

No community consensus, unconfirmed seismic status, and a missed pre-work asbestos survey

These three failures can be prevented by checking before you commit.

Failure 1: Proceeding Without Community Consensus

Even when the operator and municipality agree on direction, the project will stall if local residents are neither informed nor persuaded. This can be acute for disability welfare facility conversions, where NIMBY reactions — "I acknowledge the need for the facility, but not in my neighborhood" — can surface.

In Nishiwaga Town, Iwate, representatives of the four districts deliberated more than 10 times, and community representatives set up an NPO to run the facility before the school closed. Starting a new care business drew opposition from providers in the same line of business, who worried that care insurance premiums would rise further, but many briefings on the projected number of older residents won their understanding.[8]

Countermeasure: Design a consensus process (resident briefings, workshops, surveys) before entering the proposal stage. Rather than leaving it all to the municipality, the operator should also take part in dialogue with residents.

Failure 2: Starting Without Seismic Confirmation

This happens when renovation design begins on a school built under the old seismic standards without a seismic diagnosis, and the need for a retrofit comes to light later, adding cost. Retrofit costs can shift the project's finances substantially.

Countermeasure: For a building built under the old seismic standards, ask the municipality whether a diagnosis result exists before starting renovation design, and commission a diagnosis first if not. Estimate renovation costs from the result, then build the cash flow simulation.

Failure 3: A Missed Pre-Work Asbestos Survey

This happens when renovation costs are fixed without seeing the pre-work asbestos survey results, asbestos is found mid-construction, and work stops, costs rise and the schedule slips. Demolition and renovation work on buildings requires a pre-work survey whatever the size of the job (from April 2021).

Countermeasure: Check the survey results before breaking ground, treat the renovation estimate as provisional until they are in, and allow time and money for the survey at the project's initial stage.

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Getting Started

Three first steps you can take today

With the full procedure in mind, here are three first steps you can take today.

Step A: Open the Minna-no-Haiko Project regional PDFs Open the facility list on the MEXT website and note candidates in your target area. Contact the municipal department to confirm the conditions, preferred uses, and timeline.

Step B: Ask first about construction year, asbestos and seismic status When making inquiries, ask for the construction year, renovation history, and whether a seismic diagnosis result exists. Commission a licensed architect for a simple building assessment (feasibility study) to get a rough renovation cost estimate. For a building built under the old seismic standards, check the diagnosis result first; for any renovation, check how long the pre-work asbestos survey will take.

Step C: Discuss applicable subsidy programs with the municipality early Based on your intended use (welfare, education, tourism, etc.), confirm applicable subsidy programs with the municipal contact and the relevant prefectural window. At the planning stage, build the subsidy requirements and application windows into the plan.

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Fundamentals

What Is Small Concession? A Complete Guide for Local Government Officials

Place abandoned school reuse in the context of PPP/PFI. A systematic introduction to target facilities, frameworks, and the three main barriers.

Comparison

Comparing 7 PPP/PFI Methods

Choose the right method for abandoned school reuse (Small Concession, lease, designated management, etc.) using a comparison table and decision flowchart.

The municipality, operator and residents need to discuss the purpose of reusing the school. Their objectives may differ: reducing maintenance and demolition costs, providing welfare services, creating jobs, preserving a familiar place, or developing a viable business. Compare those objectives and the responsibilities each can accept with the building's condition and local demand.

Use the general procedure as a reference, then check the building, residents' views and subsidy eligibility for the specific property. Site visits and discussions are needed because conditions differ from those of other projects.

The procedure outlined here is only the entry point. Verifying the building's condition, gauging resident sentiment, confirming subsidy eligibility — none of this can be completed by reading case studies alone.

For the broader context of PPP/PFI, see also the Small Concession overview.

ISVD offers consultations on framing the preconditions for abandoned school reuse and designing an activation concept.

References

Minna-no-Haiko Project (Everyone's Closed School Project) — Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) (2026)

Minna no Haiko Project: List of Closed School Facilities Currently Seeking New Uses — Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) (2026)

Survey on the Utilization Status of Closed School Facilities (FY2024) — Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) (2025)

Notice on Approval of Property Disposal Relating to Subsidies for Public School Facility Development (No. 1190, March 31, 2026) — Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) (2026)

Property Disposition Procedures Handbook (March 2026) — MEXT Facility Grants Division (2026)

Closed School Reuse Case Collection (March 2023) — Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) (2023)

Main National Subsidy Programs Available for Using Closed School Facilities (as of April 2026) — Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) (2026)

Overview of Property Disposal Procedures for Public School Facility Subsidies — Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) (2026)

Key Points of the Amended Ordinance on Prevention of Asbestos Hazards (Asbestos Information Portal) — Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) (2026)

Promoting Seismic Retrofitting of Buildings Subject to Mandatory Seismic Diagnosis — Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) (2018)

Guide to Sounding-Type Market Surveys for Local Governments (June 2018, updated October 2019) — Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) (2019)

Survey on the Introduction of the Designated Manager System for Public Facilities (as of April 1, 2024) — Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) (2024)

By Use

Free Schools × Closed Schools

A new model for educational access

Listings

55 Closed Schools Seeking New Uses in Kanto

Ibaraki 21, Tochigi 12, Saitama 12, Chiba 6, Gunma 3, Tokyo 1, Kanagawa 0, with the form of each call

Policy

How to Use MEXT's Minna no Haiko Project

From registration to matching