JOURNAL
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Should a Closed School Be Sold or Leased? The Forms and Amounts Municipalities Show for Schools on Offer, and 14 Casebook Cases That Chose Transfer or Paid Lease
… when considering whether to sell or lease a school. MEXT's survey covers three items: the number of closed schools, their utilization status, and the status of consideration toward utilizat…
Small Concession vs Park-PFI — A Deep Dive into the Differences【2026 Edition】
…n Park Act special provisions apply directly Abandoned school as complex facility (childcare + café) Small Concession Facility outside urban park; long-term contract needed Park sports facil…
A Guide to Repurposing Closed Schools for Welfare Operators: Leasing, Building Checks, Subsidies, Designation Standards and Cases [2026 Edition]
What to Check Before Using a Closed School for Welfare Conversion to welfare and medical facilities stands at 735 cases (7.1%) . How many of those are rent-free or low-cost is not tallied in…
Financing Public Asset Revitalization — From Green Bonds to SIBs and Hometown Tax
…Essential MEXT states that approximately 450 schools are abandoned each year across Japan. Its own survey, read year by year, shows 279 to 405 closures a year since FY2016, never reaching 45…
A Guide to Entering Public Space Business — Park-PFI, Closed Schools, and Small Concessions [2026 Edition]
…d by local governments — urban parks, closed schools, idle public facilities, and more. Two published figures give the size of this field. As of March 2026, Park-PFI has been implemented in …
Abandoned Schools × Welfare Facilities in Kyushu — Nagasu Town and CTI Engineering's Initiatives
Current State of Abandoned Schools in Kyushu School closures from FY2004 to FY2023, by prefecture: Kumamoto 282, Kagoshima 262, Oita 204, Fukuoka 191, Nagasaki 185, Miyazaki 101, and Saga 76…
Small Concession in Hokkaido — Strategies for Utilizing Vast Land and Idle Facilities
…re. Hokkaido is the prefecture with the most school closures in Japan. From FY2004 through FY2023, 859 schools closed , comprising 558 elementary schools, 210 middle schools, and 91 high sch…
Abandoned School Reuse in Tohoku — Challenges and Success Stories from Japan's Aging Frontier
Current State of Abandoned Schools in Tohoku Due to declining birthrates, MEXT states that approximately 450 school facilities are closed each year , and its survey records a cumulative tota…
Closed Schools × Community Exchange Hubs — Operating Models for Composite Community Facilities
Why Closed Schools Suit Community Hubs Schools were originally the center of community life. Entrance ceremonies, graduation ceremonies, sports days, cultural festivals — events held at scho…
Closed Schools × Agriculture & Sixth-Sector Industrialization — Plant Factory, Processing, and Direct Sales Conversion Models
Why Closed Schools Suit Agriculture and Sixth-Sector Industrialization The building structure of a closed school is well-suited to consolidating the three functions required for agricultural…
Closed Schools × Childcare (Nurseries & After-School): Floor-Area Standards, Grant Shares, and Cases from Mihara, Saikai and Yokkaichi
What to Check Before Using a Closed School for Child Welfare Conversion to childcare facilities stands at 68 cases, after-school clubs at 124, certified centres for early childhood education…
Closed Schools × IT & Coworking: Ten Cases from the MEXT Casebook, Zoning and Urbanization Control Areas, Trial Satellite Offices and Grants
What to Check Before Using a Closed School as an Office MEXT's survey counts the uses of closed schools that are in use. Business and start-up support facilities number 1,207: 1,138 faciliti…
READING GUIDE
Choose a starting point.
Follow a short route through the basics, examples and practical steps. Community groups, researchers and students are welcome.
ROUTE 01
For municipal planning
Start with the basics, then move through cases, process and dialogue design.
- What Is Public Facility Management? Challenges, Concepts, and Next Steps
- Sapporo Yurigahara Park Park-PFI LiLiLi — Sapporo's First Case, Community-Led SPV Park Operation
- The Complete Park-PFI Process — A Four-Year Roadmap from Concept to Opening [2026 Edition]
- Market Sounding for PPP: 8-Item Question Template and Step-by-Step Guide
ROUTE 02
For prospective operators
Understand the system, test viability and prepare a proposal.
- What Is a Small Concession? A Complete Guide for Local Government Officials [2026 Edition]
- Higashi Yuenchi URBAN PICNIC — Kobe Sannomiya Redevelopment and Park-PFI After 8 Years of Citizen-Led Social Experiments
- How to Build a Park-PFI Revenue Plan — With Simulation Template [2026 Edition]
- How to Write a Park-PFI Proposal — Working Backward from the Scoring Criteria [2026 Edition]
ROUTE 03
Learn from setbacks
See how projects stall and which conditions to avoid.
- Abandoned School Reuse Failures — Why Repurposed Schools Become Idle Again: Structural Causes of Withdrawal and Business Collapse
- 5 Patterns of Park-PFI Project Failure — Structural Analysis of Contract Termination, Financial Deterioration, and Resident Opposition
- The Zero-Response Sounding Problem — 5 Reasons Private Operators Don't Participate and How to Fix It